Sunteți pe pagina 1din 16

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1. Introduction and Statement of the Problem:

Hotel industry is the world’s largest industry that employees the most large
amount of human resources. The current trend in the industry is such that hotel
industry is growing in a rapid way along with the development in the world. From
the early decades till now there are large numbers of hotels those employees more
number of manpower. The specialty of the hotel industry is such that the
manpower cannot be substituted with mechanical or electronic devices. The role
of manpower in hotel industry is very significant. Recently manpower turnover is
the biggest issue in the hotel and catering industry. This causes the productivity
and performance of the hotels. Each hotel works in its own pattern, when a new
employee is appointed by the hotel it takes months of stress and strain to train the
staff and make him suitable and adaptable to the purpose and operation of the
hotel. As the employees start delivering his performance to the organisation the
sad part is that he or she is leaving the hotel and moving to another organisation.
The cost involved in training an employee and the effort taken by the other staffs
when he comes as a new comer is much more. When an employee leaves the
corresponding department the operational aspects of the department is changed
and the duty allocation and smoothness and flexibility in working of the
department are changed considerably. The managers have to make the changes in
duty roster and more effort has to be taken by the rest of the staff to adjust with
the job of the person who left the place. The normal questions arise in this scene is
that why this is happening? If we take many hotels there is no difference. The HR
department has to work hard to resolve this problem. In all the hotels the HR

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 1 
Chapter 1 Introduction

department is working in a standardised pattern for employee recruitment training


and development but the problem of manpower turnover is not reduced.

The problem in the research topic is analyzed as the manpower turnover in


the hotel industry. This is the only industry in the worlds which has to rely on the
human beings for its functioning. If we take any department in the hotel from
gardening to cooking the role of manpower cannot be neglected or minimised. To
be precisely the mood and the personal feelings and problems in private life of an
employee has a considerable impact on the daily performance of the employee.
But recently for the last two decades the manpower turnover is very high in the
hotel industry. This causes pain in each department which loses its employees. If
we take the example of the kitchen, it takes normally six months to train a new
employee to learn and vitalise the proper cooking of a particular hotels menu card.
During this period of learning his productivity is much less. The rest of the staff
has to teach him, cover his jobs till he become experienced. When this person is
suitable and adaptable to the hotels kitchen the sad part is that he is leaving the
kitchen to join a new hotel. The study is made to find out the reasons for this
problem.

1.2. Conceptual Framework and Theoretical Background of the


Study

Employee turnover (J. William, et al. 2005) occurs when an employee


leaves an organisation and is replaced by someone else and there are a variety of
factors that lies behind the concept of employee turnover and the major issues are:
why employees are departing, the number of employees leaving and at what
frequency, and at what level within the organisation. Labour turnover explains
how long employees stay or tend to stay in the organisation. It is the rate of traffic
at which employees enters into the organisation by recruitment and the rate at
which employees leave the organisation. The labour turnover rate explains the
organisational health of the enterprise. Labour turnover (R. Jim 2012) refers to the
movement of employees in and out of a business, and the term is commonly used
to refer ‘wastage’ or number of employees leaving. High labour turnover causes

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 2 
Chapter 1 Introduction

problems for business and it is a costly affair, which lowers productivity and staff
morale. Labour turnover (Balram 2005) is an important parameter which indicates
the overall health of an industry or an establishment in terms of wages, industrial
relations, working conditions and the other welfare facilities provided to the
workers. Employee turnover continues to be one of the most unappreciated and
undervalued issues facing business and there are several important assumptions
and conclusions about turnover and they are (Jack and Adele 2003) :

(i) All stakeholders involved in this issue underestimate the true cost of
employee turnover

(ii) Reasons for turnover are not properly identified by organisations

(iii) The solution to manage turnover mismatches with the actual causes of
turnover

(iv) The preventive measures used are less effective to reduce turnover.

(v) Process to measure the success of retention solutions and place a


monetary value on managing retention does not exist in most
organisations

Labour turnover is inevitable part of any business, but if turnover rate


increases that affects the quality of the service and productivity of the hotel. More
turnovers crunch the staff morale and increases stress among the staff. With more
intensity in turnover will tarnish the employee branding of the organisation.
Organisations have to adapt strategies and frame policies that will enable
employees stick to the organisation.

The labour turnover intentions take place due to various factors. These can
be push factors, pull factors, individual factors, unavoidable factors, and avoidable
factors.

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 3 
Chapter 1 Introduction

Figure 1: Factors of Turnover Behaviour

The conceptual framework of labour turnover in the study is based on the


Price Causal Model of turnover. This model of voluntary turnover among
employees was developed by J. L. Price in 1977. According to Price employees
who leave an organisation at their own discretion are examples of voluntary
turnover (Price 1977). This model is also called as Price-Mueller Model. It took
five phases for Price to develop this model. The development of the preliminary
model was by Price and group of sociology graduate students in the University of
Iowa. The previous models of turnover were in the economist’s view, where
importance is given to salary as the major reason for turnover. But according to
Price, this was too narrow range of determinants of turnover. According to
economists the monetary models have more significance in explaining turnover.
But Price says that monetary models need to be supported by non monetary
determinants. Economic explanation (James L. 2004) ignored the process
whereby turnover was generated.

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 4 
Chapter 1 Introduction

Figure 2: Preliminary Causal Model of Turnover

According to this model turnover from an organisation is likely to be low if


pay, primary group participation and communication were high. While
considering pay the employees must feel that the pay what they are getting is high.
When there is high centralization in the organisation then the turnover will be
high. The model is having two intervening variables: job satisfaction and
opportunity. When there is more job satisfaction the turnover will be low. And
when there is more availability of opportunities will in turn increase turnover.
Primary groups (Rajendra K. and Rachana 1997) are those groups which are
characterized by intimate face to face relations and shows close association and
cooperation and participation of primary groups leads to a fusion of individualities
in a common whole. The features of the members of this group are: they are
related to each other, there involves a sense of unity, sense of we-feeling, common
interests, ideals and values, similar behaviour, control of the group over the
actions of the members, members are affected by the group characteristics
(Rajendra K. and Rachana 1997), spend great deal of time together, engage in
wide range of activities, and demonstrate a concern for each other’s welfare
(Richard K. 2003) . According to this model association in primary groups will
reduce turnover. In the phase 2 of developing the model for turnover Price done a
pilot study on nurses in the general hospital. And a new model was developed
which is known as causal model of turnover. The diagrammatic representation of
the model is depicted below.

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 5 
Chapter 1 Introduction

Figure 3: Causal Model of Turnover for Pilot Study


According to Price, five variable categories (Montague 1992) affect
turnover in organisation: (1) Pay; (2) Integration; (3) Instrumental
communication; (4) formal communication; and (5) centralization. In this new
model it was identified that importance to pay and the payment, integration,
instrumental communication, distributive justice, professionalism decreased

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 6 
Chapter 1 Introduction

turnover, where as centralization, routinization, community participation, social


class, and work commitment increased turnover. These have two intervening
variables, satisfaction and opportunity. These two have same role in deciding
turnover just like the previous model. Pay and importance to pay has the similar
role as in the previous model which explains the role of pay in turnover.

Integration (Sociology-Guide 2011) is defined as a process of developing


a society in which all social groups share the socioeconomic and cultural life.
Integration is a mode of relation of the units of the system by virtue of which
people act collectively to avoid disrupting the system and promoting unity.
Integration (M. Stephen 2001) is defined as when ethnic minority groups remain
distinctive, but adapt and conform to the majority values and behaviour.
Integration (Burkart 1967) refers to a relationship among parts through which
people form a whole group so that the whole has its own distinct attributes, its
boundary, and is thus recognizable as a separate structural entity. People in a
workgroup maintain their distinctiveness but remain confined to the values and
beliefs of the workgroup. This generates group cohesiveness among the members
of the group. According to Price integration among the employees can reduce
labour turnover.

Instrumental communication (Montague 1992) is the transmission of


information directly related to role or task performance. Instrumental means
(George B. 2007) to add a personal touch. The purpose of instrumental
communication (Shuzo and Yamada 2011) is to change receiver’s cognition,
emotion, and/or action by communication and examples of instrumental
communication are providing knowledge to others, persuading others (Brant R.
and Adrianne W. 2006), and changing other’s action. According to Price model
instrumental communication positively influences the reduction of turnover. This
means that when there is existence of high degree of instrumental communication
in the organisation the rate at which employees leave the organisation can be
minimized. Centralization and routinization have a positive effect on inducing
turnover. When there is high degree of centralization in the organisation will
induce more probability of turnover. Distributive justice (Tsachi 2007) deals with
distributing benefits and burdens in society (people) in a fair manner on criteria

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 7 
Chapter 1 Introduction

like equality, where attempt is made to decrease the gaps among the people in a
fair manner. The distributive justice (Alexander and Ruderman 1983) focuses on
the fairness of rewards and the fairness level at which pay package are offered to
the employees. Distributive justice is the equity and fairness perceived by the
employee when evaluating role descriptions, remuneration, and promotion in the
organisation. When there is no existence of distributive justice or lack of
distributive justice in an organisation will induce labour turnover. Professionalism
is the combination of all qualities that are connected with trained and skilled
people. According to Price the professionalism or existence of professional
behaviour in individuals can reduce labour turnover.

In the research the effort is made to see how the turnover intentions of an
employee can be minimised using human resource development practices. The
research tries to identify how the turnover behaviour of the employees are
minimized using the HRD practices and to see what are the reasons for labour
turnover in the hotel industry.

Table 1: Definition of factors in Causal Model (Maximillian 2008)

Factor Definition
Environmental:
Kinship Responsibility The existence of obligations to relatives residing in the community
Opportunity The availability of alternate jobs in the environment
Individual:
Job Satisfaction The extent to which employees enjoy their role in the organisation
Organisational Commitment The extent to which employee’s loyalty to the employer
Search Behaviour The degree to which an employee is looking for another job
Intent to stay The extent to which an employee plans to continue membership with his/her employer
General Training The transferability of skills and knowledge among employees
Job Investment The willingness to exert effort on the job
Positive/negative affectively The respectively dispositional tendency to experience pleasant or unpleasant emotional states
Structural
Autonomy The degree to which an employee exercises power relative to his/her job
Distributive Justice The extent to which rewards and punishments are related to job performance
Job Stress The extent to which job duties cannot be fulfilled
Resource Inadequacy Lack of means to perform job
Role ambiguity Unclear job obligations
Role conflict Inconsistent job obligations
Workload The amount of effort required by a job
Remuneration Money and its equivalents which employees receive for their services to the employer
Promotional Chances The degree of potential vertical occupational mobility within an organisation
Repetitiveness The extent to which job actions are repetitive
Social support The extent of social support in job related problems
Family Support Assistance with job-related problems provided by relatives

Supervisor support Assistance with job related problems provided by the immediate supervisor
Work group cohesion Assistance with job related problems provided by peers at work

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 8 
Chapter 1 Introduction
  Kinship Responsibility -/+

Opportunity +/-

General Training -

Job Motivation +

Met Expectation +

Job 
Satisfaction ‐ 
Positive/ Negative Affinity +/-

Autonomy +

Distributive Justice + Search Intent to Stay


Behaviour -

Job hazards -

Job Stress , Routinization


Organizational
Commitment -
Pay +

Professional Growth +

Promotional Chance +

Social Support +

Figure 4: Causal Price Model

The Price model has factors which are structural, individual and
organisational that can affect the turnover in the organisation. These factors effect
positively or negatively to the turnover intentions of an employee in an
organisation.

Reasons for Labour Turnover

A high level of labour turnover (Balram 2005)could be caused by many


factors like : inadequate wage levels leading to employees moving to competitors,

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 9 
Chapter 1 Introduction

poor morale and low level of motivation within workforce, recruiting and seeking
the wrong employees in the first place, buoyant local labour market offering more
attractive opportunities to employees and poor human resource development
practices or lack of such practices which are good enough to hold the employees
to the organisation for a long time.

Depending on the reasons why an employee leaves an organisation, labor


turnover (J. William, et al. 2005) can be categorized into two categories viz.,
voluntary and involuntary. In the voluntary turnover, the employee leaves the
organisation of his own will. In involuntary turnover other causes, which are not
under the control of the employee takes place, which is initiated by the
organisation itself. Even if organisations win in the hiring battles (Max 2001),
retention of the employees is the most concern and to keep the employees
organisations need to demonstrate that they truly value their employees and for
this competitive salary, benefits, recognition programmes, strong communication,
training, flexible working, telecommuting and job sharing are required. Warning
signs or early indicators of disengagement typically include personal indicators
like (Jeff 2010):

• Marriage

• Birth of children

• Health difficulties

• Death of family member or spouse

• Caring for elderly parents

• The move to a dual-career household

As per the survey results, the following are the list of possible reasons why
employees leave organisations (Dave 2008):

• Difficulty balancing work/life issues

• Low job satisfaction

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 10 
Chapter 1 Introduction

• Ineffective management

• Conflict with supervisors or co-workers

• Quit to take the job that will help advance career

• Non competitive compensation/benefits package

• Perceptions of unfair treatment

• Internal pay inequity

• Worried about job security

• Conflicts with organisation’s mission or values

• Childcare issues/ elder care issues

• Return to education

• Relocation to follow spouse/partner

• Health related issues

Some of the major reasons for high turnover in the hospitality industry are
(Mary 2001):

(1) Work is physical, long hours of work, and working conditions are not
always best

(2) Have to work in weekends and lack of holidays

(3) Not pretty pay scales

The major causes (T. Stephen 2002) of employee turnover in the hotel
industry fall into four categories: ‘pull-type’ causes, ’push type’ causes,
unavoidable causes, and situations in which the departure is initiated by the
organisation rather than the employees.

Pull factors (T. Stephen 2002) : Pull-type resignation takes place when
the main reason is the attraction towards the alternative employment even though
the employee is happy with the current employment. The major pull factors are:

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 11 
Chapter 1 Introduction

higher rate of pay, more valued benefits package, more job security, better long
term career opportunities, a less pressurized environment of work (Philip, Michael
P. and Cary L. 2010), opportunity to work overseas, shorter distance to travel,
more convenient hours of work, desire to work with a colleague, desire to work
with particular management team, desire to work with a branded employer,
fashioning of CV etc.

Push Factors (T. Stephen 2002): In push factor resignations the


underlying reason for resignation is the feeling in the employee’s mind that
something is wrong with the existing employer. The individual become unhappy
with the current organisation and job and searches for new job or organisation to
work. The major push factors are: secure a better job, dislike of the prevailing
organisational culture, and straight forward personality clashes with colleague
(Singh and Rawat 2006), perception of unfairness, boredom of monotonous day to
day work, and searching for something different.

Unavoidable factors (T. Stephen 2002) (Jack J. and Lisa 2009): These
factors induce turnover due to reasons which are mainly outside the control of the
organisation. These factors are unconnected to work for any reasons. They can be:
retirement, illness, caring responsibilities for relatives, maternity, childcare
arrangement, relocation for joining the spouse or partner, break for travel, and
prospectus for better education.

Involuntary Factors (T. Stephen 2002): These are departures induced by


the organisation for terminating employee services to the organisation. These
include short-term layoffs, ending of short term contracts, and dismissals for
misbehavior. In this research study these factors are not taken into consideration.

The reasons for labour turnover in this study are basically categorized into
three: pull factors, push factors and unavoidable factors. The involuntary factors
are not considered in the study.

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 12 
Chapter 1 Introduction

Table 2: Categorization of Reasons for Employee Turnover


PULL FACTORS: PUSH FACTORS:
• Opportunity for better promotion • Opportunity for better appreciation of work
• Opportunity for better pay • Opportunity for better recognition of work
• Opportunity to satisfy more personal needs • Opportunity for more independence at workplace
• Opportunity for safer working conditions • Opportunity to escape from current people
• Opportunity for less job stress • Opportunity for better working conditions
• Opportunity for more flexible working • Opportunity for better relationship with supervisor
conditions
• Opportunity for better relationship with
• Opportunity for more shared responsibility management
• Opportunity for more personal accountability • Opportunity for better relationship with co-workers
• Opportunity for creativity • Opportunity for better relationship with customers
• Opportunity for innovation • Opportunity for less boredom at work
• Opportunity for more work life balance • Opportunity for less monotonous work
• Opportunity for more team work • Opportunity for better job satisfaction
• Opportunity for more non financial rewards • Less dislike of work
• Opportunity for more communication • Opportunity for more flexible working hours
• Opportunity for better telecommunication • Opportunity for better working hours
facilities
• More employment security
• Opportunity by aggressive recruitment by
• More welfare measures
other organisations
• More fairness at work place
• Availability of employment opportunities
• More motivation
• Better Compensation
• Better appropriate process
• More scope for development
• Appropriate tools and equipments
• Better career advancement
• More support from managers
• Opportunity for more training
• More support from management
• Better recruitment policy
• More incentives
• More career opportunities
• Moving abroad
• More financial aid or support
UNAVOIDABLE FACTORS:
• Prospectus for better Education
• Opportunity to stay with spouse or family
• Illness
• Death of close family members
• Disablement at work
• Opportunity for more holidays

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 13 
Chapter 1 Introduction

Apart from this there are many factors that influence labour turnover in the
hotel industry and these include (Michael and Steven 2005):

• The nature of the industry itself-e.g. seasonal, limited career


opportunities, fragmented and large number of smaller units

• The nature of the individual units- location, size, staff/work ratios

• The nature of the individual managers- lack of formal management


training, acceptance of high labour turnover

• The high proportion of the workers from the secondary labour market

Role of HRD Practices to Reduce Labour Turnover

The major HRD outcomes (Krishnaveni 2008) include decreased employee


turnover and absenteeism and researchers feel that employee retention is the one
of the primary benefits derived out of the HRD efforts. The solution for the human
resource problems (Natwar, HVS website,articles: Indian hotel industry ...new
paradigms and shifts 2005) like attrition lies in the industry taking some important
steps, both in terms of building a productive and positive work culture, where
employees are actively encouraged to perform to their best capabilities, as well as
making the necessary changes in compensation practices. Hotel owners need to
share as much information as possible with management. Managers and team
leaders, on their part, need to spend time with their team members, to discuss
objectives, provide feedback, ask team members about their difficulties as well as
to talk about what’s happening in the hotel.

In human resource context (Soul 2012) , turnover or staff turnover or


labour turnover is the rate at which an employer gains and looses employees.
Lucrative pay packages and better career growth prospects offered by the retail
industry is drawing people from hotels in chunks to this sunrise industry (Raja and
Vishakha 2006). The hotel boom (Raja and Vishakha 2006) is also touching new
heights with Indian and global hospitality players are on an expansion spree and
the attrition rate of hospitality industry at present is around 30%. According to
Ashok Tiwari (T. Ashok 2005), human resource manager, The Kenilworth,
Kolkata "The main reason for high attrition levels is obviously the salary. Fresher

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 14 
Chapter 1 Introduction

from hotel management schools are paid about Rs 5000 in the first year, Rs 6000
in the second year, after which they are taken on rolls. But the difference is huge,
when compared to the package given by other industries. The only way we can
tackle the problem is by providing them a better working environment, give them
responsibilities and opportunities and also by making them feel important.
Monetary aspects do define, but such personal issues also play an important role
in deciding comfort levels. We also compare the package provided by other hotels
and try to match them." According to Vivek Mudaliar, (Vyas,
Talkingpoint:Expresshospitality.com 2005) human resource manager, Taj Exotica
Goa "To counter the rising attrition levels, the only feasible option is the raise the
bar on salaries so they refrain from even thinking of going to some other
company. We are also applying a career progression option wherein an employee
can also go to other hotels in various destinations in the country and abroad,
within the group. With the group on a major expansion drive, we can provide
several options to our employees within the group. If an employee has been with a
hotel for some time, and is able to handle higher responsibility, we can work out a
way so that he gets a movement to a higher designation in a different hotel under
the Taj umbrella."

Raja Gopal Iyer , Corporate director of Uday Samudra Leisure Beach


resort, Kovalam (Vyas, Talkingpoint:Expresshospitality.com 2005) says that "The
management should understand that when compared to other industries, the hotel
industry is a 24/7 job where an employee ends up sacrificing a lot of personal time
and pleasure due to odd working hours, which is inevitable. However it is also
important for the management to come out with an innovative human resource
practice to compensate the staff for the same. There can be different types of
compensations - be it in cash, by means of comp-offs, compensation by means of
other incentives like gifts, sponsored holiday etc.

Team building exercise, excellent work atmosphere, clearly defined career


advancement plan for each employee, transparent management style are some
essentials to maintain employee loyalty towards the company. Management
should differentiate between outstanding performance and plain performance and
pay better package to the outstanding performer ignoring company scheduled

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 15 
Chapter 1 Introduction

salary structure. There should be awareness created. There should be some


commitment towards the opportunity given to them."

Empirical studies demonstrate that organisations using effective


recruitment and selection practices gain competitive advantage in the market place
by reducing employee turnover and increase in productivity (Victor, et al. 2005).
Standard recruitment process and practices are HRD process that helps to reduce
employee turnover. In order to reduce turnover (Manash 2009) management has
to conduct and practice proper human resource development programmes and
practices. The HRD practice will help organisations to reduce labour turnover.
HRD practices (Cathy and Judy 2010) typically help in forming satisfied
employees and this helps to reduce employee turnover.

A Study on the HRD Practices to Minimise Labour Turnover in Hotel Industry – Specific Focus on Kerala 16 

S-ar putea să vă placă și