Employees’ perceptions on the relationship between human resource management practices and employee turnover. A qualitative study
| Date | 29 November 2019 |
| Pages | 453-470 |
| Published date | 29 November 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-04-2019-0182 |
| Author | Sandeep Basnyat,Chi Sio Clarence Lao |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
Employees’perceptions on the
relationship between human
resource management practices
and employee turnover
A qualitative study
Sandeep Basnyat and Chi Sio Clarence Lao
Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao, China
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore hotel employees’views on how human resource
management (HRM) practices influence their turnover intentions.
Design/methodology/approach –The data for this empirical study were collected through in-depth
semi-structuredinterviewswith 15 employees who had experienceof working in various hotelsin Macau, China.
The thematic analysis approach was carriedout to analyze the interview data and interpret the findings.
Findings –The findings of this stu dy demonstrate that al though employee-orien ted human resource
policies and practic es are favored, the way HR d epartment handles and i mplement those policie s are
valued more by hotel empl oyees. Furthermore, the retent ion of an organizational culture t hat helps create a
feeling of ownership am ong employees is highly influenc ed by employees’turnover intenti ons. The current
study demonstrates th at the HR department in hote ls holds a powerful posit ion, and therefore, hot el
employees expect thei r HR department to play greater and pr oactive roles in the HRM apart fro m providing
equitable opportunit ies for their growth. This implication i s particularly important for Integrat ed Resorts
where a large number of empl oyees collectively work to serve a range of cu stomers who visit hotels for a
variety of purposes.
Practical implications –This study suggests that addressing employees’needs particularly those related
to resolving complaints and managing relationships with other colleagues and providing opportunities for
employees’family members to take part in the organization’s activities and use its facilities are important
practices that HR department can initiate to encourage employees’engagement in hotels. Furthermore, the
study shows that managers need to understand their employees’perspectives as they can help resolve
problems at the root level where they grow, and send a signal to the employees that the management is
genuinely interested in resolving their problems and making them happy and satisfied.
Originality/value –Although several studies have provided valuable insights into the relationship between
HRM practices and employee turnover intentions, most of those studies have used quantitative approaches to
collect and analyze data. Furthermore, almost none of the findings were derived from the hotel sector. This
study explores hotel employees’views on the relationship between HRM practices and employee turnover
intention using qualitative methods.
Keywords Turnover intention, Macau, Hotel employees, Human resource management practices
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
High turnover of employees not only negatively affects the profitability of the business,
but also the productivity of the employees, levels of services provided by the organizati on
and consumer experiences (Davidson et al., 2010; Shamsuzzoha and Shumon, 2007).
From the administrative and financial standpoints, high turnover of employees’
increases recruitment, training and replacement costs, and from the sustainability
standpoint, team dynamics, organizational performance and operations are often
compromised (Iqbal, 2010; O’Connell and Kung, 2007). On the flip side, lower turnover rate
helps organizations to sustain their competitiveness and achieve long-term developmental
objectives (Yang et al., 2012). Therefore, reduction of employee turnover has been a
strategic issue for most organizations.
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 42 No. 2, 2020
pp. 453-470
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-04-2019-0182
Received 14 April 2019
Revised 24 August 2019
13 October 2019
Accepted 16 October 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
453
HRM practices
and employee
turnover
The challenges associated with employee turnover is alarming in hotels because of
generally lower wages, fewer compensations, overtime working hours and menial working
conditions in most countries (AlBattat and Som, 2013; Kim, 2014; King and Tang, 2018).
Studies (e.g. Dhamija and Chahal, 2013; US Department of Labor, 2019) have shown that the
annual employee turnover rate in hotel sector varies from 22 percent to over 80 percent
across countries.
One of the key areas that have significant impact on employee turnover is the human
resource management (HRM) practices in the hotel sector. It is generally agreed that
effective HRM practices including recruitment of right staff, provisioning competitive
compensation and benefit plans, and handling employees’grievances efficiently lead to
positive employee outcomes, increase employees’level of commitment and trust on the
organizations, help improve the overall service quality and brand image of the organization
and may reduce employees’turnover intentions (Haines et al., 2010; Shuck et al., 2014;
Tooksoon, 2011).
Although several studies have provided valuable insights into the relationship between
HRM practices and employee turnover intentions (including in the hospitality industry),
interestingly, except a rare few (e.g. Yang et al., 2012), all of those studies have focused either
on identifying types of HRM practices that may lead to job dissatisfaction of employees and
consequently, their turnover intentions, or examining if there was any significant
relationship between a range of HRM practices and turnover intentions, using quantitative
approaches in both cases (see for e.g. Haines et al., 2010; Hong et al., 2012; Shuck et al., 2014;
Tooksoon, 2011). None of these studies engages in providing an in-depth analysis of how
certain HRM practices influence employees to think of quitting their job. Such as endeavor
requires researchers to enter into the lives of their participants, and gain their holistic
perspectives through qualitative methods (Farber, 2006). In the case of the hospitality
industry, findings of the extant studies have been derived from the sectors other than hotels.
Considering their growing contributions in the GDP of most countries (WTTC, 2018) and the
industrial characteristics that are distinct from the other sectors of the hospitality industry
including an extremely high turnover rate, the labor-intensive hotel sector needs a thorough
examination. This study aims to fill these gaps by exploring hotel employees’views on the
influence of HRM practices on their turnover intentions focusing on Macau. In doing so,
the study further investigates if the findings derived from the other sectors of the hospitality
industry can also be generalized for hotels.
This paper is divided into five parts. After the review of extant literature and how they
add up to the current body of knowledge, the methodology employed in this research is
discussed. After presenting the participants’views on how the HRM practices influence
employees’turnover intentions, the paper concludes with its contributions and implications
from theoretical as well as practical standpoints.
2. Literature review
2.1 Employee turnover intention: causes and costs
Employee turnover relates to a situation when an employee leaves the existing position at
the organization and that “leads to a complete termination of the employee-employer
relationship”(King and Tang, 2018, p. 7). Although the turnover intention may not always
translate into an actual turnover by an employee, thinking to quit has been a proxy or
predictor of potential turnover in many cases (King and Tang, 2018; Mobley et al., 1978).
The turnover intention may arise fromvarious factors, some of which areinternal, and the
employees may have full or partial control over them. However, some factors are external to
the employees, for which, the employees may have few or no control at all. The existing
literature generally agree that dissatisfactions at the current employment (AlBattat and Som,
2013; Hom and Kinicki, 2001; Koys, 2001; Medina, 2012; Mobley et al., 1978; Tooksoon, 2011),
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ER
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