Causes and Effects of Employee Turnover in the Hospitality Industry- A Case of Casablanca Hotel

Causes and Effects of Employee Turnover in the Hospitality Industry- A Case of Casablanca Hotel

Casablanca Hotel

Statement of Problem

The hospitality industry has been growing rapidly over the last decade because of the growth of the travel and tourism sector worldwide. One of the key players in the success of the hospitality industry is employees who act as the direct contact between hotels and restaurants and their employees. According to Liu-Lastres et al. (2023), employees in the hospitality industry are the backbone of the business. Therefore, companies in the hospitality industry invest in their employees to keep them motivated to offer high-quality services that guarantee customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, the COVID-19 pandemic made it hard for many restaurants and hotels to keep their employees motivated. Notably, the hospitality industry was among the sectors that lost most of their customers due to the travel restrictions and social distancing regulations implemented in all countries worldwide to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Many companies within the hospitality industry were forced to fire some of their employees or reduce employee salaries to maintain operations and reduce the losses incurred. The reduced workforce increased the workload for the retained employees, leading to burnout and stress. According to Rydell and Storman (2022), some employees in the hospitality industry retained their work but were required to work fewer hours with a reduced salary. This led to job dissatisfaction and demotivation. The productivity of most employees in the hospitality industry also declined during the pandemic because of reduced wages and an increase in workload.

Additionally, wage cuts, job loss, and leave arrangements impacted the livelihood and mental well-being of employees in the hospitality industry during the pandemic (Liu-Lastres et al., 2023). One of the main impacts of poor mental well-being is reduced productivity and absenteeism, which could lead to involuntary turnover. Many employees also worked under intense pressure because of the risk of infection and job insecurity (Chen et al., 2022). The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work environment in the hospitality industry had a long-term negative impact on the growth and success of many organizations within the industry. For instance, some hotels had to close down because of employee turnover and the lack of financial resources to hire and train other employees. Some hotels also considered hiring less qualified employees to replace employees who quit as a result of the harsh working conditions, leading to reduced organizational performance and productivity. Therefore, it is important to determine the causes and effects of employee turnover in the hospitality industry to help organizations plan ahead to avoid interference in their operations and enhance sustainability.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this qualitative study is to determine the causes and effects of employee turnover in the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative study design will be used, where narrative data will be collected and analyzed to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic increased employees’ intention to leave during the COVID-19 pandemic. These data will represent the causes and effects of employee turnover in the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative data will be gathered, exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the working conditions in the hospitality industry from servers, managers, chefs, and housekeepers at Casablanca Hotel. The reason for using this form of data to generate data is to develop an in-depth understanding of the factors that led to employee turnover at Casablanca Hotel during the COVID-19 pandemic and how employee turnover affected the company. Qualitative data will provide an in-depth understanding of the issue of employee turnover at Casablanca Hotel because it will be based on the experiences of the research participants. According to Hammarberg et al. (2016), qualitative research answers questions about perspective, meaning, and experiences from the research participants’ standpoint. Therefore, qualitative research will facilitate the collection of information about the experiences of the selected staff at Casablanca Hotel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, this will increase the range of information that will be analyzed to address the research questions since each employee had a unique experience based on their position at the hotel and their relationship with management and other staff. The study will also compare the opinions of the employees at Casablanca Hotel on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their work environment and created the intention to leave, leading to employee turnover, and their opinions on how employee turnover affected the company and the work environment.

Research Questions

• What were the causes of employee turnover at Casablanca Hotel during the COVID-19 pandemic?
• How did employee turnover at Casablanca Hotel affect the hotel and its staff?

Theoretical Framework

Figure 1

Research Methodology and Design

This study will use qualitative methodology to develop concepts that can help the research audience understand the causes of turnover in the hospitality industry and understand the perceptions and experiences of employees in the hospitality industry regarding the causes of turnover in the industry. The qualitative research approach has been selected because of its value. According to Agius (2013), qualitative research is the best approach for determining why people behave in a certain way, how people are affected by events, how opinions and attitudes are formed, and how and why practices and cultures have developed the way they are. Therefore, the qualitative research design is essential in the current study because it will facilitate the collection of information that will be used to determine how the opinions and attitudes of employees in the hospitality industry regarding their work environment are formed and how they impact their behavior, leading to a turnover. Qualitative research also helps refine the research questions for better conceptualization, hypothesis generation, and identification of correct research variables that the researcher should measure to address the research questions (Agius, 2013). Therefore, the qualitative research approach can be used in the current study to generate a hypothesis and determine the variables that should be measured before fully understanding the underlying issues relating to the research study.

Qualitative research includes various research designs. The main qualitative research designs include ethnography, grounded theory, narrative, phenomenological, and action research (Gilgun, 2014). This study will use the narrative research design. Narrative research includes collecting data from research participants by listening to their stories and experiences (Miller, 2017). The main features of narrative research design include individual experiences, collecting personal stories, the chronology of experiences, coding to identify themes, and restoring the setting or context. Restorying includes gathering stories from the research participants, reviewing them to identify the main elements such as scene, plot, place, and time, and rewriting the story chronologically. The narrative research design has been selected because it will enable the researcher to gather information on the experiences of the employees of Casablanca Hotel to address the research questions.

Target Population and Sampling Design

The sample size in the current research will be 10 participants. According to Rosenberg (2017), the appropriate sample size in qualitative narrative inquiry is six to 10 participants. This sample size enables the researcher to sample to the point of redundancy, which includes terminating sampling when no new information is being gathered from the participant. Therefore, 10 participants will be appropriate for the current study since the researcher requires at least one employee from each department within the hotel to gather different opinions on the causes and impact of turnover at the hotel. Convenience sampling will be used to sample the research participants. According to Etikan (2016), convenience sampling includes selecting participants based on their availability and willingness to participate in the research. For instance, in the current study, the researcher will contact employees at different departments to get their consent to participate in the research and schedule an interview for the data collection process. The researcher will then select the employees available within the shortest time possible and those who sign the informed consent form within one week.

Data Collection Steps

Data will be collected through structured interviews that will be conducted online. The interviews will be organized into single interviews lasting 15 minutes to enable the researcher to understand the research participants’ experiences based on the stories they tell about their workplace. The research participants will be sent a reminder on the day before the interview to confirm their availability. The researcher will then send a link to the Zoom interview to the research participants on the day of the interview. Each research participant will be interviewed individually to reduce the likelihood of receiving similar responses to the interview questions. This will enable the researcher to collect a wide range of data that will then be transcribed for data analysis.

Ethical Protection of Human Subjects

Ethical protection of human rights during research is vital because it guarantees the participants’ safety and ensures that their well-being is observed throughout the study (Saunders et al., 2023). One of the ethical protections that will be considered in the current study is protecting the confidentiality of the research participants. The researcher will ensure that the names and other personal information provided by the participants are not shared with anyone. The researcher will also consider acquiring consent from the research participants before engaging them in the research. All research participants will be required to sign a consent form before they are interviewed. The consent form will include information about the purpose of the study, the benefits and risks of participating in the study, and a voluntary participation statement. The participants will be informed that they can leave the study at any time without facing any retaliation from the researcher. Another ethical consideration will be acknowledging any data sourced from secondary sources using in-text citations.

Steps in Data Analysis

Data analysis is vital in research because it enables the researcher to convert raw data to data that can be understood by an audience seeking information relating to the research topic (Lewis-Beck, 2010). The researcher will begin by organizing data using the CQA process. The CQA process focuses on analyzing, identifying, and reporting patterns in qualitative data (Richards & Hemphill, 2018). The process has been selected because it is appropriate for thematic analysis, which is the main data analysis strategy that will be used in the research. The data will also be analyzed using content analysis to derive a sound conclusion on the research questions. Notably, Watson and Lacy (2017) argue that content analysis focuses on determining how often specific concepts or words appear in a sample of qualitative data. Thematic analysis, on the other hand, includes identifying recurring themes in a sample of qualitative data by categorizing and reviewing data (Terry & Hayfield, 2021). Combining thematic and content analysis will enable the researcher to consider all important information shared by the research participants when conducting data analysis.

Addressing the Four Elements of Trustworthiness

Establishing trustworthiness requires creating transferability, credibility, authenticity, conformability, and dependability (Connelly, 2016). The researcher will address transferability, credibility, authenticity, and dependability by conducting a pilot study. The pilot study will be conducted online and will involve employees at Casablanca Hotel, who will be set aside from those interested in participating in the study to ensure that the participants in the pilot study do not participate in the actual research. Further, conformability will be addressed by requesting those involved in the research to share the contact information that can be used to reach them if they need to confirm the research. However, the contact information will be confidential and only be shared after the owner confirms that it is okay to share it.

References

Agius, S. J. (2013). Qualitative research: Its value and applicability. The Psychiatrist, 37(6), 204–206. https://doi.org/10.1192/pb.bp.113.042770

Chen, C.-C., Zou, S. (Sharon), & Chen, M.-H. (2022). The fear of being infected and fired: Examining the dual job stressors of hospitality employees during COVID-19. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 102, 103131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.103131

Connelly, L. (2016). Trustworthiness in qualitative research. Medsurg Nursing, 25(6).

Etikan, I. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11

Gilgun, J. F. (2014). Writing up qualitative research. The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research, 657–676. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199811755.013.032

Hammarberg, K., Kirkman, M., & de Lacey, S. (2016). Qualitative research methods: When to use them and how to judge them. Human Reproduction, 31(3), 498–501. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dev334

Lewis-Beck, M. S. (2010). Data Analysis: An introduction. Sage.

Liu-Lastres, B., Huang, W., & Bao, H. (2023). Exploring hospitality workers’ career choices in the wake of COVID-19: Insights from a phenomenological inquiry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 111, 103485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.103485

Miller, T. (2017). Doing narrative research? Thinking through the narrative process. Feminist Narrative Research, 39–63. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-48568-7_3

Richards, K. A., & Hemphill, M. A. (2018). A practical guide to collaborative qualitative data analysis. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 37(2), 225-231. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2017-0084

Rosenberg, G. (2017). Qualitative narrative inquiry research. LibGuides at Northcentral University. https://resources.nu.edu/c.php?g=1007179&p=9632135

Rydell, A., & Storman, E. (2022). Short-time work, redundancies, and changing work environment: The hospitality sector during COVID-19. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. https://doi.org/10.18291/njwls.134827

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2023). Research methods for business students. Pearson.

Szabla, D. B., Coghlan, D., Passmore, W., & Kim, J. (2023). Handbook of research methods in organizational change. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Terry, G., & Hayfield, N. (2021). Conceptual foundations of thematic analysis. Essentials of Thematic Analysis, 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000238-001

Watson, B., & Lacy, S. (2017). Content analysis. Communication. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199756841-0175

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Construct a qualitative research plan using the outline below and your previous submissions, revised based on the feedback you received. Your paper should reflect the features of qualitative research and the rationale for selecting a specific research design.

Problem Statement (with recommended revisions)

Purpose Statement (with recommended revisions)

Research Questions (at least two questions)

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

Methodology and Design (with the rationale)

Data Collection (outline and defend)

Data Analysis (include steps)

References page in APA Format

Within the paper, address the following:

Statement of problem. Provide a clear justification with evidence on why this study is relevant to your field and worthy of doctoral-level study. Support your efforts using 3 scholarly sources published within the past 5 years to ensure relevancy. Remember, the problem statement should reflect your degree type (applied or theory-based).

Purpose statement. Apply the script introduced in this course and your instructor’s feedback to produce an accurate and aligned problem statement.

Research question. The qualitative research query must be framed to probe and investigate a problem deeply. How, why, and what strategies are the best terms to include in your research question?

Defend your choice to use the qualitative methodology to research your identified problem. Synthesize 2 or 3 sources to support your arguments.

Defend your choice to use a specific qualitative research design. Synthesize 2 or 3 sources to support your arguments.

Explain how and why you will select participants from a specific population. Include citations for the identified population and the sampling method.

Identify and support with citations:

Data collection steps

Ethical protection of human subjects

Logically define the steps in data analysis

How the four elements of trustworthiness could be addressed