The Imperial Hotel High Staff Turnover

Introduction

High employee turnover is an indication that employees within a particular institution quit their jobs at a high rate and mostly within a period of one year. Employee turnover is expected within businesses regardless of the industry. However, the rates tend to be different which further indicates the perceptions of the workforce towards a particular occupation. Among the factors that can lead to significant changes in the turnover levels within an entity include poor management (Allen 2012). The cost incurred during the process is a loss to the company which therefore shows that such companies end up spending much of the revenue in retraining new employees. This has a significant impact on the morale levels which consequently results in poor efficiency levels. The best way to tackle the problems brought about by the high turnover should involve a critical analysis of the contributory factors given the current rates within the industry.

Factors leading to high turnover rates

One of the factors that can lead an entity to have high turnover rates includes the possibility of the jobs on offer not meeting expectations. In this case, many factors dealing with the job description have to be investigated. This includes the possibility of errors or overstatement in the job descriptions hence employees end up feeling as if they have been tricked to working with the company. Once such a case happens, it becomes a case of mistrust between the management and the employees. The morale levels of employees is an important factor in stimulating a working spirit in the workforce (Pinder 2014). The management would not be in a position to initiate this since the trust between them and the employees is broken right from the start. Therefore, the employees become more than willing to leave the company once another opportunity presents itself.

The high turnover rates at the Imperial hotel could also be attributed to the possibility of there being employee misalignment within the workforce. This tends to occur in cases where the hiring process fails to adhere to protocols calling for qualifications (Bryant and Allen 2013). In this case, employees could be hired both internally and externally based on preferential treatment rather than qualifications. This compromises the possibility of developing a perfect fit for the company in terms of the management structure. If a less qualified employee is hired or promoted from within, the qualified employees could develop a feeling of being undervalued by the company. At this rate, not only is the issuing of commands compromised but also the execution. This can have a negative impact on the performance levels of the employees who eventually may even choose to quit (Robinson et al. 2014). The company is left with a glaring deficit in terms of poor management and a workforce that has no motivation.

The lack of ability to make decisions as employees could also act as a contributory factor in high turnover at the Imperial hotel. In this case, the managers in charge of each of the departments may fail to recognize the ability of the employees towards making decisions concerning the various duties assigned to them. The expression of insecurity by managers towards the employees on the basis of their ability to perform their duties compromises the understanding of what is required (Cloutier, Felusiak, Hill and Pemberton-Jones 2015). Therefore, the employees are left unempowered hence would be less willing to make any decisions in the absence of the managers. This impacts negatively their performance levels as all the authority is held by the managerial team. Consequently, the employees lack a feeling of responsibility towards what they undertake on the notion that they have played no role in the decision-making process. the rate employee turnover will absolutely be high in such an environment.

Most businesses tend to offer entry level positions which gradually improve as more experience and intellectual capacity is gained for a particular task. In this case, the employee views the workplace as a place where they have an opportunity for growth in the long term (Paillé 2013). In places where such is not practiced, the businesses tend to lose even highly qualified and talented employees to their competitors. The growth is viewed both in terms of the status in the workplace and the amount of compensation earned for services offered. The Imperial hotel should be investigated to determine whether this could be contributing to the high turnover. For an organization to be successful it has to find ways in which their employees could improve their skills in their line of work (Bryant and Allen 2013). This helps to create a feeling of hope among the employees towards the future of the business whereby if it grows, they are guaranteed of advancement.

Toxic company culture also has a potential to lead to a high turnover rate among employees. Company culture refers to the general understanding of how a company operates and the relationship that exists between the company and the employees (Shields et al. 2015). The culture also extends to the image the company portrays to parties outside the entity importantly contributing to the brand. Imperial hotel could be having a toxic corporate culture that seems to directly affect the way the employees relate with the management. In this case, it is possible that the employees at the facility express a very low level of happiness when at their workplaces. Due to the dislike towards the hotel, working itself becomes a frustrating experience and highly demotivating (Paillé 2013). The level of interest on them to improve their performance remains low since there exist a disconnect between the ideology communicated through the company culture and their experiences.

Overworking employees could also lead to a high turnover in the long run. The employees find themselves having to work extremely hard to meet deadlines which offsets their work-life balance (Pinder 2014). Such employees find no joy in reporting to work hence will choose to quit once an opportunity presents itself. It becomes much worse if the company offers meager salaries. Remuneration is a great way of maintaining employee morale especially if the workplace requires more than the average input from each of the employees. Therefore, the hesitation to offer them rises in the level of compensation as tasks become more demanding creates a feeling of dissatisfaction (Shields et al. 2015). The employees result to being in a state of uncertainty as to whether their input in the company is valued and whether they should seek other opportunities. Moreover, overworked employees are more likely to report cases of injury gained at the workplace. The huge amount of work completed at any such particular time may not be necessarily be an indication of efficiency.

The effects of high employee turnover

It takes a lot of effort to have a business process that is strategically working ensuring smooth flow of operations on a day to day basis. So is the case for firms operating in the hotel industry where it is expected that the facilities would be operational on a daily basis and maintain so form of consistency (Deery and Jago 2015). However, once there is a high employee turnover the knowledge of the process that they have gained is lost and the managers have to contend with hiring new people and retraining them on the process. For example, employees who leave the Imperial Hotel already have an understanding of how the process works in terms of customer service better than whoever will be hired. Therefore, the continues loss of employees results into a gap that further takes more time to fill depending on the complexity of the tasks to be performed (Robinson et al. 2014). In this case, the hotel loses money and time spent on training new employees each time they leave.

High employee turnover tends to distract the management. In this case, it becomes difficult to stick to priorities and strategic plans when it is not certain whether better performing employees will be available to see it through (Dane and Brummel 2014). The management thus finds itself in a precarious position where more funds and time have to be redirected towards training of employees rather than improvement in the scope of service. As witnessed in Imperial Hotel low customer service rating, the quality of service tends to gradually decline. This emanates from the analogy that once some quit, new employees are to be trained by the best employees available. In this case, the input previously created by the employee who is now a trainer is gone. This culminates to high operational cost given that the trainee will not be in a position of full productivity immediately (Allen 2012). Therefore, the void created by one experienced employee leaving compromises the performance of those left.

Recommendations

It should be the goal of any company to retain employees especially those who show exceptional performance. Imperial Hotel can tackle their high turnover rates through giving a sizeable pay rise to their employees. A remuneration package should be developed in transparency so that each level of employees understands the basing of their salary levels (Shuck et al. 2014). This is likely to increase their cost of operations given also the reduced occupancy as the renovations continue. However, the high turnover brings a lot of additional training costs and disruption of service hence it would be prudent to work towards retention. Failure to offer the employees a rise at a time when a company is considering renovation and expansion creates a feeling of exploitation within the workforce. Moreover, it is difficult for employees to believe in the corporate culture of the hotel if the same is not reflected in the compensation received.

The commitment of employees to a business can be ruined by a poor manager. The managers for various departments in the Imperial Hotel need to be audited in regards to their performance. This should encompass factors such as how they relate with employees under their command and what changes they have initiated for the period they have been holding that position. A poor relationship between employees and those in their direct command may push some employees to quit as the works environment becomes more unbearable (Pinder 2014). In this case, the hotel should provide the managers with the appropriate training and tools that may be deemed necessary to perform various duties. By using this approach, the possibility of a conflict emerging between the managers and the employees will be much lower. If reorganization is deemed necessary then the top management should proceed until a point where each employee is in a position where they are best suited.

The hotel should find ways of recognizing the efforts of their employees to encourage retention. One way of achieving this is through directly investing in their employee’s professional growth by offering educational assistance (Bryant and Allen 2013). Such can be tailored to fit with the requirements of the hotel operations. In this case, the hotel can offer to reimburse a portion of the fees cost incurred when gaining additional training. The hotel should also consider offering stock options to their employees in the case of the employees become part owners of the venture. This encourages a higher level of dedication from the workforce which would be crucial in lowering the currently high turnover rates (Cloutier et al. 2015). Moreover, an entity which is experiencing high turnover rates could pass on benefits such as retirement packages. This can be very effective in retaining highly experienced employees.

Conclusion

The work environment should be tailored around ensuring there is a high employee retention rate for the purpose of maintaining efficiency. The cost incurred in hiring and training new employees albeit at lower salaries is higher than investing in programs that would lead to retention of experienced staff (Shields et al. 2015). Companies should resist the temptation of relying on cheap less experienced labor as a way of reducing their cost of operations. This comes at a cost to the brand image as the level and quality of service deteriorates. As is the case with most competitive markets, the customers will shift to a competitor offering better services. This gradually translates to lower revenues to an extent where even paying the low salaries becomes a challenge. While it is important to take measures to reduce costs, the welfare of employees should always be prioritized.  

References

Allen, D.G., 2012. Managing employee turnover: Dispelling myths and fostering evidence-based   retention strategies. Business Expert Press.

Bryant, P.C. and Allen, D.G., 2013. Compensation, benefits and employee turnover: HR  strategies for retaining top talent. Compensation & Benefits Review, 45(3), pp.171-175.

Cloutier, O., Felusiak, L., Hill, C. and Pemberton-Jones, E.J., 2015. The importance of      developing strategies for employee retention. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and           Ethics, 12(2), p.119.

Dane, E. and Brummel, B.J., 2014. Examining workplace mindfulness and its relations to job       performance and turnover intention. Human Relations, 67(1), pp.105-128.

Deery, M. and Jago, L., 2015. Revisiting talent management, work-life balance and retention            strategies. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(3),  pp.453-472.

Paillé, P., 2013. Organizational citizenship behaviour and employee retention: how important are  turnover cognitions?. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(4),     pp.768-790.

Pinder, C.C., 2014. Work motivation in organizational behavior. Psychology Press.

Robinson, R.N., Kralj, A., Solnet, D.J., Goh, E. and Callan, V., 2014. Thinking job           embeddedness not turnover: Towards a better understanding of frontline hotel worker retention. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 36, pp.101-109.

Shields, J., Brown, M., Kaine, S., Dolle-Samuel, C., North-Samardzic, A., McLean, P., Johns,      R., O’Leary, P., Robinson, J. and Plimmer, G., 2015. Managing Employee Performance & Reward: Concepts, Practices, Strategies. Cambridge University Press.

Shuck, B., Twyford, D., Reio, T.G. and Shuck, A., 2014. Human resource development practices and employee engagement: Examining the connection with employee turnover  intentions. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 25(2), pp.239-270.

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