Decreasing Voluntary Employee Turnover in the Hospitality Industry

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the strategies general managers of full-service hotels used to reduce voluntary frontline employee turnover. The conceptual framework for this study was Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory. The 3 participants were hotel general managers in the midwestern region of the United States. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 3 purposefully selected hotel general managers and by reviewing company documents. Data analysis consisted of gathering the data, coding for emergent themes, compiling the data into common codes, organizing the data into themes, interpreting the meaning, and reporting the themes. Four themes emerged from the data: employee retention, leadership characteristics, effective retention strategies, and ineffective retention strategies. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential to decrease voluntary employee turnover in the hospitality industry. Positive results of decreasing voluntary employee turnover may include increased success within the hospitality industry, which might positively influence productivity, raise customer satisfaction, and increase organizational profits.