CAUSES OF STAFF TURNOVER IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY

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 DECLARATION
This project is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other
institution.

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DEDICATION
This research proposal is dedicated first to the memory of my late father. My

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dear and loving mom and all my dearest friends and family who stood by me in

every way possible. I remain humbled. May God bless you all!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is the almighty God to whom I owe my indebtedness. It has to be his grace

that I have been able to undertake this program successfully. I also acknowledge
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 the effort of my parents and families for their moral and financial support.

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was an attempt to understand the factors influencing
turnover in the hospitality industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County. The main
objective of the study was to establish the factors influencing employee turnover in
the hotel industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County. The specific objectives of the
study were to establish the influence of organizational factors, individual factors and
job related factors to employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. The
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research targeted a population of 176 employees in the three surveyed hotels in
Nanyuki town as at 30th February 2015. Out of the total population, a sample of 54
employees was selected using stratified random sampling, representing 30% of the
total population, covering respondents in different cadres and departments of the
hotels. The instruments of data collection used in the study to collect primary data
were questionnaires for the hotel staff and an interview guide for hotel management
and ministry officials. The results were analyzed and presented in pie charts, bar
graphs and tables. Among the three objectives, individual factors were found to be the
main contributor to the high rate of employee turnover, followed by the job related
factors and then organization factors came last. None of the aspects of the
organizational factors was rated to have a very strong contribution to the employee
turnover. However, career growth, Manager’s style of leadership and the
organizational culture were rated as having weak impact while toxic work
environment, peer pressure and recruitment policies were rated as having very weak
impact on staff turnover. Among the individual factors, career aspirations was rated as
having a very strong impact on the rate of employee turnover while work experience
was rated as having strong impact. The level of education and the exposure of the
employees were rated as having a weak impact on turnover while gender, age and
incapacitation of the employee was rated as having very weak impact. Among the job
related factors, pay package was rated as having a very strong impact on the rate of
employee turnover while style of leadership and job clarity were rated as strong
factors. The rest of the factors i.e. workload, job stress, lack of challenge and odd
working hours were rated as having very weak impact on the rate of employee
turnover. It was found out that the main factors that affected the rate of employee
turnover were Recruitment policies, Motivation, Level of education and Pay package.
The above factors showed a strong positive relationship with the depended variable,
meaning that they greatly influenced the rate of employee turnover in the industry.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ...........................................................................................................
ii
DEDICATION .............................................................................................................
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................
iv

v
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..............................................................................................
vi
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................
ix
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................
x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................
xi
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS ................................................................................
xii
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................
1
INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................
1
1.1 Background of the Study ......................................................................................
1
1.2 Statement of the Problem .....................................................................................
6
1.3 Objectives of the study .........................................................................................
7
1.3.1 General Objective ..........................................................................................
7
1.3.2 Specific objectives .........................................................................................
7
1.4 Research Questions ..............................................................................................
8
1.5 Scope of the Study................................................................................................
8
1.6 Assumptions of the Study ....................................................................................
8
1.7 Significance of the Study .....................................................................................
9
1.8 Limitations of the Study .......................................................................................
9
CHAPTER TWO .........................................................................................................
11

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LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................
11
2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................
11
2.1.1 Turnover ......................................................................................................
11
2.1.2 Causes of Turnover ......................................................................................
12
2.2 Theoretical Orientation ......................................................................................
13
2.2.1 Retaining Through an Allowance Fund .......................................................
14
2.2.2 Retaining by Mentoring ...............................................................................
15
2.2.3 Bond as a Retention Measure ......................................................................
16
2.3 Empirical Review ...............................................................................................
17
2.4 Conceptualization ...............................................................................................
21
2.4.1 Job Related Factors ......................................................................................
22
2.4.2 Organizational Factors .................................................................................
23
2.4.3 Individual Factors ........................................................................................
24
2.4.4 Moderating Variables ..................................................................................
25
2.5 Research Gap......................................................................................................
27
CHAPTER THREE .....................................................................................................
28
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................
28
3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................
28
3.2 Research Design .................................................................................................
28

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 3.3 Population of the study .......................................................................................
28
3.4 Sample and Sampling Methods ..........................................................................
29
3.4.1 Sample Size .................................................................................................
29
3.5 Data Collection ...................................................................................................
30
3.5.1 Data Collection Tools and Methods ............................................................
30
3.6 Data Collection Procedures ................................................................................
31
3.7 Pilot Study ..........................................................................................................
31
3.8 Data Processing and Analysis ............................................................................
31
CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................
33
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...........................................................
33
4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................
33
4.2 Sample Characteristics .......................................................................................
33
4.2.1 Empirical Findings ......................................................................................
33
4.2.2 Background Information..............................................................................
33
4.3 Findings and Discussions on the Objectives ......................................................
38
4.3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................
38
4.3.2 Organizational Factors .................................................................................
38
4.3.3 Individual Factors ........................................................................................
42
4.3.4 Job Related Factors ......................................................................................
44

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 4.3.5 Measurement of the Variables .....................................................................
47
4.6 Discussion on Findings ......................................................................................
47 CHAPTER
FIVE ......................................................................................................... 50
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................
50

5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 50

5.2 Summary ............................................................................................................ 50
5.3 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 51
5.4 Recommendations .............................................................................................. 53
5.4.1. At the Organizational Level .......................................................................
53
5.4.2. At the Individual Level ...............................................................................
53
5.4.3. At the Job Level ..........................................................................................
54
5.4.4 Recommendation for Further Research .......................................................
54
5.4.5 Recommendations for Policy and Practice ..................................................
55
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................
56
APPENDICES .............................................................................................................
60
APPENDIX 1: AUTHORIZATION LETTER ............................................................
60
APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE ...............................................................................
61
APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW GUIDE .........................................................................
66
APPENDIX 4: LIST OF HOTELS IN NANYUKI TOWN .................................... 67

LIST OF TABLES

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Table Page
Table 3.1 Staff categories per hotel…………………………………………………..30
Table 3.2 Sample Size from each hotel………………………………………………31
Table 4.1 Age cohort of the respondents…………………………………...………...38
Table 4.2 Distribution measurement of the organizational factors………...
………...41
Table 4.3 Distribution measurement of the individual factors…………...…………..44
Table 4.4 Distribution measurement of the job related factors…………...
………….47
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
Figure 2.1 Theoretical framework……………………………………………….18
Figure 2.2 Conceptual framework……………………………………………….22
Figure 4.1 gender of the employees……………………………………………...35
Figure 4.2 Categories of the employees………………………………………….36
Figure 4.3 Level of education of the employees…………………………………37
Figure 4.4 Hotel management skills of the employees…………………………..37
Figure 4.5 Total experience of the employees…………………………………...39
Figure 4.6 Length of period served in the same hotel…………………………...40
Figure 4.1 Response on the effects of organizational factors……………………42
Figure 4.2 Response on the effects of individual factors………………………...45
Figure 4.3 Response on the effects of job related factors………………………..48

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
HRM - Human Resource Management
HRD - Human Resource Department
USA - United States of America

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 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
Employee turnover – This is the rotation of workers around the labour market;
between firms, jobs and occupations; and between the states of employment and
unemployment Abassi S M, Hollman K W (2000).
Employee – Is a person who is hired /contracted to work for another or for a business
firm in return for payment. He can be a permanent employee or on contract.
Gen Y employees - These are the youthful employees between the ages of 20 to 35
years old and who are ready to change jobs as often as possible. Generation Y
employees thrive in a fast-paced environment. They prefer to be managed, rather than
left alone, and they want immediate feedback for how well they do a work task or
project. They value opportunity, not job security; they embrace corporate positions
that promote social contribution and racial/sexual equality. Generation Y employees
thrive in challenging environments./sample/understanding-generation-x-and-y-
employees.pdf
Hotel- A commercially run establishment providing lodging and usually meals for
guests, and often containing a public bar Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, (2005)
Job-Related Turnover- This term is used to describe employee turnover for reasons
that are within the direct control of the employer. Job-related reasons given for
leaving the organization include dissatisfaction with working conditions/environment,
conflicts with supervisors, scheduling conflicts or salary discrepancies. Beam, J.
(2009)
Management - Management issues are fundamental to any organization: How do we
plan to get things done, organize the company to be efficient and effective, lead and
motivate employees, and put in place controls to make sure our plans are followed
and our goals are met?
Management is the process of coordinating, staffing, organizing, leading, motivating
and controlling employees in an organization to achieve the set objectives and the
organizational set targets.
Motivation - Motivation is a goal-directed behavior and one that satisfies an
employee or a person’s needs. It is the force that makes people to do things: this is as
a result of our individual needs being satisfied (or met) so that we have inspiration to
complete a particular set task.

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Non Job-related Turnover- This term is used to describe employee turnover due to
things in the employee's personal life that impact the individual’s performance in the
workplace. Examples of these non job-related reasons would be relocation, family
problems, marriage, children and chemical abuse.
Organizational Fit-This term is used to describe how well an employee fits in to a
particular work environment. A poor organizational fit occurs when the personality or
beliefs of an employee contrast greatly with the company and or co-workers. This can
lead to disagreements and a distressing work environment.
Performance - Is the state where an employee is working and producing to the
required standards and goals/targets. Here employee is utilizing his capacities
maximally and is able to meet his organizational targets. It also means the manner or
quality of functioning.
Turnover – It is the ratio of the number of organizational members who have left
during the period being considered divided by the average number of people in that
organization during the period. Price (1977)

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 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The term “turnover” is defined by Price (1977) as, “the ratio of the number of
organizational members who have left during the period being considered divided by
the average number of people in that organization during that period”. Frequently,
managers refer to turnover as the entire process associated with filling a vacancy.
Each time a position is vacated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, a new employee
must be hired and trained.

Employee turnover has also been defined as the rotation of workers around the labour
market; between firms, jobs and occupations; and between the states of employment
and unemployment Abassi et al, (2000). The hospitality industry is a unique one that
exists to serve customers during their recreational time. This time is often spent in the
form of lodging and travel, amusement parks, cruises, and more. To best serve
customers’ needs, there are a vast variety of employees that staff businesses in the
hospitality industry from entertainers, to customer service representatives, to
maintenance staff. Unfortunately, these employees tend to have a high turnover rate
that has long been unexplained (Hinkin & Tracey, 2000).

Worldwide researches have suggested that employee turnover is among the highest in
the hospitality industry. Studies have shown that the average turnover level among
non-management hotel employees in the US is about 50%, and about 25% for
management staff. Estimates of average annual employee turnover range from around
60 to 300 percent, according to the research conducted by the American Hotel and
Motel Association. Staff turnover is high in the hospitality industry, and anyone
considering a management position within this segment should understand the reasons
people leave their jobs in order for him to be in a better position to contain this
problem. High turnover in the hospitality industry occurs for many reasons. Large
contributors are seasonality, pay and hours, lack of leadership, customer service
issues, labor pool, and training.

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1.2 Statement of the Problem
The most valuable asset available to an organisation is its people, thus retaining staff
in their jobs is essential for any organisation. Indeed there is a paradigm shift from
human resource to human capital which consists of the knowledge, skills and abilities
of the people employed in organization which is indicative of their value (Armstrong,
2009). When employees leave their jobs, it is often a sign that something is going
wrong.

An unpublished Queensland hotel industry survey in 2003 of four-to five-star hotels,

found that the lowest turnover for a hotel was 27.5% per annum with the highest being
59.4% per annum. The survey found that the 25 hotels surveyed employed 5,294
employees, and of these, 2,383 employees had resigned in the year prior to the survey,
representing a significant average turnover rate of 44.9% per annum. This is an
indicator that the hotel industry loses sometimes up to about a half of the total staff
and this should be a matter of concern to governments’ world over.
Most researchers (Bluedorn, 1982; Kalliath and Beck, 2001; Kramer et al., 1995) have
attempted to answer the question of what determines people’s intention to quit by
investigating possible antecedents of employees’ intentions to quit. To date, there has
been little consistency in findings, which is partly due to the diversity of techniques
employed, variables included by the researchers and the lack of consistency in their
findings. In Laikipia County, the problem of turnover within the hotel industry is a
serious one, both at the management and lower cadres. There is for instance
competition for managers who are perceived as performers and who can secure a good
stream of business especially the seminar type of business which pays more than the
walk-in type of customers.

Theoretical and empirical studies on employee turnover have been carried out in the
developed countries; however very little documented study has been done in Kenya
and specifically in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County; to ascertain
the causes of rampant employee turnover in the hospitality industry. Hence this study
aimed at bridging the knowledge gap on employee turnover in Nanyuki town.

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1.3 Objectives of the study
1.3.1 General Objective
The main objective of this research was to establish the causes of employee turnover
in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County.

1.3.2 Specific objectives

i. To determine the influence of organizational factors on employee turnover in the
hotel industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County.
ii. To establish the influence of individual factors on employee turnover in the hotel
industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County.
iii. To examine the influence of job related factors on employee turnover in the hotel
industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County.

1.4 Research Questions

i. What is the influence of organizational factors on employee turnover in the hotel
industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County?
ii. What is the influence of individual factors on employee turnover in the hotel
industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County?
iii. What is the influence of job related factors on employee turnover in the hotel
industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County?

1.5 Scope of the Study

A purposive survey was carried out among all hotels in Nanyuki town, which
identified three hotels which met the criteria for the study which was to identify hotels
with functional HR departments. The study was carried out on staff in The Garden
hotel, the Le-Technish Hotel and the Tea-TOT Hotel. The rationale was that since
majority of hotels in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County do not have formal HR
structures; it was not prudent to carry out the research in all the hotel facilities in the
town. Therefore the study focused on staff from the above indentified hotel facilities.
These three hotels were chosen because they have well structured HR
departments/policies, they keep records of their staff and they are not owner centered
and this assisted the researcher to gather the desired information which formed a key

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element in this study. Since the collection of data for this study, there has been other
development in the hotel sector in Nanyuki town. New hotels have come up such as
the Gelian Hotel Limited. Although this facility is one of the major hotels in Nanyuki
town, it could not be featured in this study since it was still under construction.

1.6 Assumptions of the Study

It was assumed that the data collected is true and unbiased and is the correct data for
the study. It was assumed that the research will be carried out exhaustively and widely
enough despite the limitations.

1.7 Significance of the Study

Human resource managers are charged with taking care of the people assets of the
organization. This study addresses one very critical issue in human resource
management. The managers will therefore find an input into the process of
management since success in the field of human resource depends on the extent to
which the people responsible are able to attract and maintain qualified employees.
Labour Unions always have an interest in the issues affecting workers. The study will
provide an insight into the causes of staff turnover in the hotel sector. In this regard,
the union leaders will obtain relevant information towards their activities of ensuring
justice to their members. The Government is another party that has a significant
interest in the welfare of workers. The ministry of labour under which workers rights
and obligations are addressed will also benefit in the study. The ministry will gain an
understanding of causes of high turnover and in turn come up with policies to mitigate
the causes. Researchers and scholars will also find this study invaluable as a source of
reference for further studies in the area of employee turnover.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

During the research process, the researcher experienced the following limitations: The
main limitation of the study revolved on the issue of finances - research work involves
costs relating to transport, stationery and other important logistical expenses, which
were too high, preventing the researcher from adequately covering a larger sample.

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The time to carry out research was limited due to job commitments which the
researcher has to attend to and he was not able to accomplish much.

The study was limited only to research in three organizations hence it may not give
adequate facts about the topic and the conclusions may not be very strong. Some
organizations visited were hesitant to allow the researcher to carry out research on
some of their policies contrary to the researcher`s expectations. Unpredictability of the
respondents in relation to the data sources which led to some level of holding back of
information by the respondents.

The literature on hotel labour and turnover costs was limited and this project seeks to
add to our understanding of labour turnover and cost impact on hotels. It also suggests
ways in which hotels may better address the turnover issue. The above limitations did
not in any way affect the validity of the research findings, since the researcher made
sure that they were addressed in good time as indicated by the representative sample.

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
The hospitality sector is one of the world’s fastest growing industries. However huge
problems still exist in attracting and retaining a skilled workforce. The two enduring
things in this industry are: a high staff turnover, which affects the ability to deliver a
consistent brand experience, harming business; and the fact that not enough people
see the growing industry as somewhere to build their careers (Druce, 2007).

How does the hotel and hospitality industry envisage labour turnover? In this industry,
turnover is the voluntary or involuntary exiting of staff from the employment in a
hotel. A prominent feature of the hospitality industry is that it is labour intensive but
experiences high levels of labour turnover (Birdir, 2002; Brien, 2004). For instance,
data from the United States suggest a voluntary turnover rate in the leisure and
hospitality industry of 52.2%, with accommodation and food being the highest in the
hospitality sector, compared to an average of 23.4% across all industries (The US
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006).
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2.1.1 Turnover
Although the literature is filled with many other definitions, Mobley’s (1982)
definition most accurately reflects the conceptual position of this thesis. Mobley states
that turnover is “the cessation of membership in an organization by an individual who
received monetary compensation from the organization” (p.10). Given corporate
America’s increased use of temporary workers, this definition insures that those who
may have been contracted for a temporary period, often through an outside agency,
will not be considered. Also excluded from consideration are those who transfer
within the organization. A final salient feature is Mobley’s inclusion of all forms of
cessation from the organization. The employee turnover rate is usually calculated by
dividing the number of employees separated from the company they were working for
by the base number of jobs during the period. Employees who transfer to other
positions within the same organization are not considered in the calculation, as well as
those who retired, had their job phased-out or were terminated due to downsizing.
Turnover rates for employees can be measured and compared over time and across
companies using what is commonly referred to as the employee turnover index. Some
companies add in the number of new positions added during the year to get a more
accurate turnover figure. Employee turnover that results in vacancies caused by
internal promotions are not included in most turnover statistics.

2.1.2 Causes of Turnover

As Walker (2006) points out, high rates of staff turnover may be endemic in the
hospitality industry; however, it is not inevitable. The most critical period of turnover
incidents is the first few days and weeks of the incorporation of a new employee in an
organization. According to Walker, more people leave then than at any other time.
This is often called the induction crisis and it occurs when the new employee for
whatsoever reason, has not been integrated into the team. This may be as a result of
poor recruitment or a poor induction programme, with insufficient care and time spent
on enabling the new recruit to build strong relationships with his supervisor and
coworkers. The new worker may have been left to swim or sink without sufficient
support. “In this industry, opportunities both at home and internationally are huge. So

6
people with ambition will always be looking to improve their career prospects and
will want to move about to gain more experience and responsibility and to earn more
money. And where pay levels do not compare well with the competition, the urge to
leave and earn more may be overpowering” remarks Walker (2006). Nevertheless, he
argues, people remain in jobs that they like even though higher pay may be available
elsewhere. A number of factors will influence this decision: - if there are good
employment conditions, if staff like working in the business and if there are realistic
opportunities for advancement, people are likely to want to stay (Walker, 2006).

Alternatively it has been suggested that to enhance employees trust in an organization

and subsequently reduce turnover intentions, hotels need to continue providing
training and development programs for their employees, conduct fair and formal
appraisal, and provide ample and clear career advancement to their employees
(Hemdi, 2006). In other words, HRM practices send powerful signals to employees
about the extent to which the organization trusts them and if organizations fail to
deliver on contractual or other promises, employees’ sense of indebtedness or mutual
obligations will be reduced.

According to Agrusa & Lema (2007) when investigating the issue of employee
retention, many surveys and studies reveal that more people leave their jobs because
they do not get along with their boss or supervisors than for any other reason. Direct
service employees, particularly, are the people who come in the closest contact with
the customer on a daily basis. A customer will often make a decision to return to an
establishment based on their interaction with a single employee. Thus when valuable
employees continually leave an organization, it has a direct effect on the customer
experience.
Furthermore, training or investment is very important in a company especially if they
belong to the service sector because in experienced, poorly trained staff can turn
customers away, subsequently these customers then talk about their unhappy
experience to their friends. Bad news travels fast and customers can discredit a hotel
if they had a bad experience. Therefore it can be assumed that customer turnover
(guests who leave and not return) is also directly related to employee turnover which

7
can become a challenge for many hospitality businesses. Customer and employee
turnover both have a direct link to the bottom line and profit. (Agrusa, 2007).
This chapter also contains the literature review of the study and further brings out the
previous studies done on the research topic. It deals with the theoretical orientation,
empirical review, research gaps to be filled, the conceptual .framework and the
operational framework.

2.2 Theoretical Orientation

Worldwide researches have suggested that employee turnover is among the highest in
the hospitality industry. But what exactly is employee turnover? Generally speaking it
is the rate at which an employer gains and looses employees. Many hoteliers are
familiar with this costly problem. When employees leave, valuable knowledge is lost
and even guests may follow the departing employee. Moreover, getting a new
employee ramped up to performance levels similar to the one you have lost takes time
and money. Hoteliers who actively find ways to retain employees gain a sustainable
competitive advantage.

The undesired loss of competent personnel is costly to an organization in both direct

and indirect terms. Before one attempts to seek a comprehensive solution to the
problem of turnover, it may perhaps be proper to analyse the causative factors that
result in heavy migration of scarce human resources. The various reasons that
encourage an employee to leave his present job are usually related with satisfaction
level. The 'push' factors pertain to the dissatisfaction causes, where an employee uses
15 primary motivators to severe relations with his company. They are the work
environments, compensation package, low employee benefits, inconsistent HR
policies, incorrect work assignment, lack of challenge and lack of career development
schemes. Two more push factors identified are 'fear of being found out' and 'level of
competence’. Some employees manage to get the job by projecting more skills than
they actually possess. After they have strengthened their knowledge to a certain
degree in the organization, they are constantly afraid of being 'found out' and tend to
leave as soon as a suitable opportunity comes. Level of competence implies that the
employee may rise in the organization up to a certain level, after which he feels he

8
may not rise further. However, this level of competence may be what is expected at a
higher position in another organization with slightly lower standing in the industry.

The “pull” factors that lure an employee are higher compensation packages and
greater technical challenge (Ganesh, 1997). When valuable workers want to quit their
jobs, how does the organization encourage them to reconsider their decision? How
does management convince them to work out any problems that might be acting as
“push” factors in their decision to leave; or to re-evaluate the benefits of offers acting
as “pull” factors? Some of the retention techniques practiced today are as described
below.

2.2.1 Retaining Through an Allowance Fund

In an industry where most work is done on-site, there may be discontentment among
employee who have not been chosen to work at the client’s place especially overseas.
Not that they are incompetent but because the work demanded only a few people are
required for the job. Companies therefore setup a fund to compensate such employees
who do not get the opportunity to travel to such areas where they would have
qualified to earn allowances had they travelled to such areas. Both financial and
nonfinancial rewards can contribute to the engagement and commitment of talented
people by demonstrating that they are valued for their contribution. Paying
competitive rates will affect the ability of organizations to attract and retain people,
but there is a limit to the extent to which companies can compete with the pull of the
market.

2.2.2 Retaining by Mentoring

Armstrong (2009) defines mentoring as the process of using specially selected and
trained individuals to provide guidance, pragmatic advice and continuing support,
which will help the person or persons allocated to them to learn and develop. He goes
on to define mentoring as a method of helping people to learn, as distinct from
coaching, which is relatively directive means of increasing peoples` competence. It
involves learning on the job, which must always be the best way of acquiring the
particular skills and knowledge the job holder needs. Unlike a counselor, a mentor is

9
from within the organization and has executive powers to recommend a person in a
suitable spot. Experience in human relations, a cool head and an unbiased approach
are some of the attributes of a mentor.

Mentors help employees develop self – confidence and their overall personality,
which reflects in the employees’ technical capabilities and helps in overall working of
the organization. A mentor is dedicated to the mentored and guides them till the
objective is achieved. Mentors bring the organization and the employee closer. They
bring a sense of belonging and loyalty amongst the employees (Chaddah, 1997).
Mentoring also compliments the informal training of an employee by providing those
who go through it with individual guidance from experienced managers who are `wise
in the way of the organization`. According to Armstrong (2009), mentors provide
people with: Advice in drawing up self development programmes or learning
contracts; General help with learning programmes; guidance on how to acquire the
necessary knowledge and skills to do a new job; Advice on dealing with any
administrative, technical or people problems individuals meet, especially in the early
stages of their careers; information on the way things are done around here – the
corporate culture and its manifestations in the shape of core values and organizational
behavior; coaching in specific skills; help in tackling projects and a parental figure
with whom individuals can discuss their aspirations and concerns and who will lend a
sympathetic ear to their problems.

2.2.3 Bond as a Retention Measure

To bond or not to bond Most companies today are forced to ask themselves this
question on an ever- increasing basis. The employer invests a considerable amount of
time, money and resources in training and brings the new entrant to a stage where the
employer feels that he can begin to get a decent return on investment. It is at this point
of time that the employee decides to leave the firm for better prospects, having gained
a degree of experience and expertise at the employer’s expense. The employer is
bound to ask whether the sole purpose of recruiting people is to train them for a better
job opportunity elsewhere. After all, he is not running a training institute and paying
people to get trained too. As far as the employee goes, he sees no harm in accepting a

10
job offer if one were to come his way and the prospects are better (Armstrong, 2009).
An employer being a businessman needs to take care of his own interests. He cannot
afford to be altruistic. If he on the other hand is too hard-nosed about this affair, he
can actually prevent the right people from joining his company. The right path would
be the middle path (Bulsara, 1997). Bonds are justified and acceptable if the company
is clearly spending significant money and/or time for training the employee and hence
expects the employee to spend a minimum prefixed period after getting the training.
Bonds are not justified when the person is going on an assignment abroad. Some
companies claim that the experience gained on an assignment abroad is actually
training and hence the person needs to return and work with the company to pass on
his knowledge to other employees. By the same argument, every employee working
on assignment is continuously getting trained and hence needs to continue to work
and should also be required to sign a bond (Doshi, 1997).

The true human resource challenge is in retaining as is evident where a particular skill
is in high demand and the supply far short of the demand. In such a scenario, there is
bound to be high mobility among such professionals. Before addressing the problem
of retention one needs to seek an answer to the question “why do people quit?” What
are the factors one weighs in deciding if one wants to be in an organization or not?
Reasons for leaving have been largely speculative. So far there has been no systematic
attempt to study the causes of employee turnover among skilled professionals. This
study is an attempt in this direction.
2.2.4 Theoretical Framework

Retention through allowances

Retention by mentoring Retention theories

Retention by bonds
Figure 2.1 Theoretical Framework
Source: Armstrong (2009)

11
2.3 Empirical Review
Studies done regarding labour turnover in the service industry across the world
indicate that, the hospitality sector leads with many employees’ changing jobs from
time to time. Subsequently, some causes of labour turnover are believed to be
industry-specific. Both the internal and external causes of labour turnover affect the
growth, profitability and customer satisfaction whenever it occurs in the workplace.
Employers see the process of staff leaving and being replaced as a natural and
inevitable feature of the industry (Kuria, Ondingi & Wanderi, 2012).

A study carried out by Kuria, Ondingi, and Wanderi (2012) to establish the internal
and external causes of labour turnover in 3 and 5 star hotels in Nairobi Kenya, found
out that poor remuneration was cited as the major contributor to staff turn-over with
an overwhelming majority (60%) of the respondents dissatisfied with their pay. This
was closely followed by lack of involvement of staff in decision making and creativity
at 56% of the total respondents saying they were unhappy with the current scenario.
Lack of a defined motivation criterion (reward scheme) was cited by 46% of the
respondents saying they were dissatisfied with the lack of a well defined scheme for
rewarding workers who excel in their duties.

Another study by Stalcup, D. & Pearson, A. (2001) on causes and effects of employee
turnover in Banglandesh, found out that poor pay and irregular payments were the
major contributors to employee turnover together accounting for a combined 45% of
the total respondents citing. These were followed by the availability of a better job
option cited by a marginal 10% of the total respondents sampled. On the other hand,
respondents were asked to propose solutions to the problem of high employee
turnover, 80% of the respondents gave standard salary structure as the possible cure to
the problem. This was followed by regular salary increment at 70% of the total
respondents. This study shows that pay is a very critical factor which influences the
decision by staff to quit or stay.

12
Hammerberg, H.J. (2002) in his study on reasons given for employee turnover in a full
priced department store, paints a very disturbing picture on the rate of employee
turnover. In his findings, 67.7% of all exiting employees in the store have only served
for between zero and one year. This represents a very high rate of attrition at the
initial stages of engagement which can cast doubts on their recruitment procedures.
Followed by those who have served between one and two years representing 16%.
The study also found out that job related factors were the main contributors to
termination of employment by category at 37.4%, followed by closely by individual
factors at 30.3%. This was true for both permanent and part time staff.

According to Walker (2006), some businesses can experience 50 – 100% turnover

very year, way above the best practice forum’s Benchmark index of 26.5%. At
26.5%, more than a quarter of staff changes their jobs every year; at 50%, a business
is replacing half its staff every year. This is an alarming figure that reinforces the idea
that the hospitality industry possesses one of the highest rates of turnover, among all
the service industries. In the article “The cost of employee turnover”, Mathew
O’connel & Mei-Chuan Knug (2007) makes the point that organizations tend to
underestimate the cost of turnover, yet collectively turnover costs organizations
billions of dollars a year. According to a conservative estimate by the Bureau of
labour statistics in America, the average cost to replace an employee is $13,996
(O’Connel, 2007)

A research done by Hendi and Nasardin (2006) found out that hotels all over the
world experience high turnover rates. According to their research, globally, the
turnover rate in the hotel industry is estimated to range from 60% to 300% annually,
far higher than the 34.7% reported in the manufacturing industry. Most importantly,
they affirm that excessive employee turnover rate is detrimental to organizations. It is
evident that it is related to direct and indirect costs; furthermore, it affects moral,
productivity, reputation and survival of organizations. That is to say, turnover, when
high, often means that employees are unhappy with the work compensation, it can
also indicate unsafe or unhealthy conditions, or that too few employees give
satisfactory performance due to unrealistic expectations or poor candidate screening.

13
By contrast, turnover, when it is low, indicates that none of the above is true:
employees are satisfied, healthy and safe, and their performance is satisfactory to the
employer.

Most researchers (Bluedorn, 1982; Kalliath and Beck, 2001; Kramer et al., 1995)
have attempted to answer the question of what determines people’s intention to quit
by investigating possible antecedents of employees’ intentions to quit. To date, there
has been little consistency in findings, which is partly due to the diversity of
techniques employed, variables included by the researchers and the lack of
consistency in their findings. However, a number of attempts have been made to
understand management turnover such as career advancement, organizational culture
and commitment, the intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction and work-life balance
have been found to be among the key motivators for employees to quit. Employee
turnover intentions are affected to a greater extent by psychological, perceptual and
affective factors rather than by the characteristics of the employees or hotels, although
age is a factor that is significantly associated with long-term employee turnover
(Carbery et al., 2003; Ghiselliet al., 2001; Stalcup & Pearson, 2001).

Despite the fact that retention of highly-productive key employees is certainly an

important task for human resources, so is the creation and development of a
workplace that not only encourages retention, but also high levels of productivity
among all employees. Many researchers (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999; Seijts &
Crim, 2006; Harter, Schmidt, & Hayes, 2002) have used the term engagement to refer
to employees who are involved in, enthusiastic about, and satisfied with his or her
work. The Towers Perrin Talent Report (2003) found that approximately 81% of
employees surveyed were engaged, but as many as 19% of employees surveyed were
disengaged. Disengaged employees are more likely to perform poorly, actively look
for another job, and say bad things about management or the organization for which
they work (Gubman, 2004). Such counterproductive work behavior also has a
documented relationship with a lack of organizational citizenship (Dalal, 2005).

14
Sanford (2003) reported that disengaged employees cost their businesses financially
via decreased profits, decreased sales, lower customer satisfaction, and lower
productivity; furthermore, Sanford reported that Gallup estimated that actively
disengaged employees may cost the American economy up to $350 billion per year in
lost productivity. HRD can encourage employee engagement in the workplace by
emphasizing high impact learning, performance and change.

According to Bernthal et al. (2000), turnover is likely to increase as time goes by and
this is problematic due to the fact that turnover is costly for an organization.
Unfortunately, the problem of turnover is not always addressed effectively even
though human resource professionals consider it problematic. Bernthal et al. (2000)
reported that greater than 1/3 of human resource professionals they surveyed saw
retention as a pressing issue. However, almost half of organizations interviewed had
no formal strategy for addressing the problem of retention. International Survey
Research (n.d.) suggested that most organizations rely on the reactive strategy of
gaining data from exit interviews to make organizational changes to promote retention.
This is problematic. According to ISR, not only is this reactive, but the data captured at
an employee’s exit does not accurately represent the state of mind the employee was in
when he or she contemplated leaving the organization. ISR suggested that to be truly
proactive, companies need to understand the key factors that influence turnover.
Bernthal et al. (2000) suggested that the most effective interventions are those that
include the understanding of why employees leave.

At the operations level, the hotels in Kenya and indeed in Laikipia County are staffed
by relatively young school/college graduates who belong to the 20-30 year age
bracket. This caliber of staff are just starting their lives in employment and they view
employment in the hotels in Nyeri as a step towards their dream careers in other
bigger and better facilities. This group is ready to change jobs as and when an
opportunity presents itself, to a better paying job without considering the future
prospects of the current job. These young employees have their job expectations at
variance with those of the older employees and therefore they don’t always cope at
work. Given that the older employees are more likely to hold management positions,

15
the youthful employees choose to leave and search for employment elsewhere. The
reason behind choosing the hotel industry for this study is because whereas this sector
plays a pivotal role in our economy in capital formation, stimulation of the level of
industrialization, poverty alleviation and human development, it is affected by high
rates of employee turnover and there is need to find out the reason why this is so.

In Kenya, very little has been documented on the causes of employee turnover in the
hotel industry and more so in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County; to ascertain the
causes of rampant employee turnover in the hotel industry and this is the gap that this
study seeks to fill.

2.4 Conceptualization
The study focuses on the sources of employee turnover, which are classified into three
broad groups; job related factors, organizational factors and individual factors.

Conceptual Framework
Job Related Factors

Employee
Individual Factors
Turnover

Organizational Factors

Independent Variables Depended Variable

Moderating Factors

 Grievances handling procedure

 Unrealistic expectations
 Induction crises

16
 Moderating Factors
Figure 2.2 conceptual Framework
Source; Author 2015
2.4.1 Job Related Factors
The dependent variable is employee turnover, the independent variables include; the
experience of job related stress (job stress), the range factors that lead to job related
stress (stressors), lack of commitment in the organization and job dissatisfaction make
employees to quit Firth et al (2004). This clearly indicates that there are individual
decisions which make one to quit. There are other factors like personal agency which
refers to concepts such as a sense of powerlessness, job clarity, workload, pay
package, job stress, odd working hours, lack of challenge, style of leadership, lack of
leave and overtime allowance, conflict between family and job demands, locus of
control and personal control.

Locus control refers to the extent to which people believe that the external factors
such as chance and powerful others are in control of the events which influence their
lives Firth et al, (2004). Large organizations can provide employees with better
chances for advancement and higher wages and hence ensure organizational
attachment Idson and Feaster, (1990). Trevor, (2001) argues that local unemployment
rates interact with job satisfaction to predict turnover in the market. Role stressors also
lead to employee’s turnover. Role ambiguity refers to the difference between what
people expect of us on the job and what we feel we should do. This causes uncertainty
about what our role should be. It can be as a result of misunderstanding what is
expected; how to meet the expectations; or the employee thinking the job should be
different Muchinsky, (1990).

Insufficient information on how to perform the job adequately, unclear expectations of

peers and supervisors, ambiguity of performance evaluation methods, extensive job
pressures, and lack of consensus on job functions or duties may cause employees to
feel less involved and less satisfied with their jobs and careers, less committed to their
organizations, and eventually display a propensity to leave the organization. Tor et al,
(1997). If roles of employees are not clearly spelled out by management / supervisors,

17
this would accelerate the degree of employees quitting their jobs due to lack of role
clarity.

2.4.2 Organizational Factors

Organizational instability has been shown to have a high degree of high turnover.
Indications are that employees are more likely to stay where there is a predictable
work environment and vice versa Zuber, (2001). In organizations where there was a
high level of inefficiency there is also a high level of staff turnover (Alexander et al.
1994). Therefore in situations where organizations are not stable employees tend to
quit and look for stable organizations because with stable organizations they would be
able to predict their career advancement adopting a cost oriented approach to
employment costs increase labour turnover Simon et al. (2007). All these approaches
should be avoided if managers want to minimize employee turnover and increase
organizational competitiveness in this environment of globalization. Employees have
a strong need to be informed. Organization with strong communication systems
enjoyed lower turnover of staff. Labov,(1997). Employees feel comfortable to stay
longer, in positions where they are involved in some level of the decision-making
process. That is, employees should fully understand about issues that affect their
working atmosphere Magner et al, (1996).

But in the absence of openness in sharing information, and employee empowerment,

the chances of continuity of employees are minimal. Costly et al, (1987) points out
that a high labour turnover may mean poor personnel policies, poor recruitment
policies, poor supervisory practices, poor grievance handling procedures, or lack of
motivation. All these factors contribute to high employee turnover in the sense that
there is no proper management practices and policies on personnel matters hence
employees are not recruited scientifically, promotions of employees are not based on
spelled out policies, no grievance handling procedures are in place and thus
employees decide to quit.

Griffeth et al, (2000) noted that pay and pay- related variables have a modest effect on
turnover. Their analysis also included studies that examined the relationship between

18
pay, a person’s performance and turnover. They concluded that when high performers
are insufficiently rewarded, they quit. If jobs provide adequate financial incentives the
more likely employees remain with organization and vice versa. There are also other
factors which make employees to quit from organizations and these are poor hiring
practices, managerial style, lack of recognition, lack of competitive compensation
system in the organization and toxic workplace environment Abassi et al (2000).

2.4.3 Individual Factors

There are some factors that are, in part, unique to a particular staff and hence beyond
the control of management, such as the death or incapacitation of a member of staff.
Other factors have been classified as involuntary turnover in the past such as the need
to provide care for children or the aged relatives. Today such factors should not be
seen as involuntary turnover as both government regulations and company policies
create the chance for such staff to come back to work, or to continue to work on a
more flexible basis Simon et al.(2007). However, in the Kenyan context, these issues
still remain a big challenge for many workers in the hotel industry.

2.4.4 Moderating Variables

Grievance may be any genuine or imaginary feeling of dissatisfaction or injustice
which an employee experiences about his job, the management policies and
procedures. They arise when expectations of employees are not fulfilled from the
organization resulting in feelings of discontent and dissatisfaction. It must be
expressed by the employee and brought to the attention of the management. If not
properly addressed, grievances can be picked by other employees and they become
collective disputes. They will later result in frustration, frustration, low productivity,
lack of interest in job, absenteeism etc.

Grievances may result from improper working conditions such as unsafe working
conditions, bad relations with managers, irrational management policies on issues
(such as overtime, transfers, demotions inappropriate salary structures, etc), violation
of organizational rules and practices among other factors. Managers should take steps
to effectively deal with grievances quick identification of the problem, and

19
acknowledging it, gathering facts about it, examining the causes, making decision on
how to deal with the issue and finally implementing the decision without fail. If
grievances are not handled expeditiously, they may be a source of discounted that may
lead to employee turnover

Expectations and pressure can come from different sources, including oneself, family,
work, society, teammates or coaches, peers, among others. Although reasonable
expectations can be a positive pressure in life of a worker, too much pressure can
cause one to burn out. Depending on how much pressure is placed on an individual,
and for how long, expectations can affect a person negatively in the following ways:
Psychologically through stress or anxiety, feeling helpless, overwhelmed or
powerless, feeling down or depressed, feeling guilty and experiencing a sense of
failure or low self-esteem. Socially through family problems like fighting or poor
communication, problems at school or work, like difficulty concentrating or poor
performance, relationship or friendship problems, and abuse of drugs or alcohol.
Physically through poor eating habits, like overeating, eating too much junk food, or
losing your appetite, feeling fatigued, not getting enough sleep, and feeling run down
and sick. There is need for the management to set realistic goals and expectations,
which are achievable for their employees to avoid putting them through trauma of
chasing a mirage of goals that they cannot achieve. Unmet expectations can cause
anxiety among the staff and lack of morale and the result can be the exiting of staff
that initially appeared committed to their duties.

Mullins (1998) cited staff turnover to be at the highest level during the first few
months of employment as the induction crisis. A report in 1984 by the HBTIB states
that in the specific sector of guesthouses and hotels almost 45 percent of all new
workers left their employment within the first three months, and 15 percent within the
first month. This has reduced slightly over the last 20 years, with the People 1st
(2009) survey highlighting that over 10 percent of turnover came within the first six
months of employment, with bar staff at an average of 30 percent. This trend is
disruptive and expensive, especially as the investment of training and time have been
lost (Mullins, 1998). Torrington et al (2005) go further and identify more costs lost,

20
such as marketing and interviewing, although these can be saved if the next employee
is hired internally as opposed to externally.
An employee is an ambassador to their organisation, representing them through their
attitudes, behavior and organisational culture. How employee's understand and learn
these attributes begins with staff induction and socialisation. In HRM literature,
organizational socialization is widely recognized as a key process ensuring new
employees can be efficient and effectively integrated within the organization (Taylor,
2006). Both induction and socialization are entwined together. Staff induction
practices govern unconsciously or deliberately organizational socialization
(Torrington et al, 2005). With the continuous process whereby new recruits are
brought into the firm is an important element of HRM practice. If executed well it can
help to retain the new employee and reduce staff turnover (Lashley and Best, 2002).
During the course of his study, Martin (2008) found a complicated relationship
between training, career development and turnover. He argued that training can affect
turnover in two ways; it can help decrease turnover rate and sometimes it may result
in increased turnover rate. Martin further explained that with enhanced and improved
career development skills, employees will be satisfied enough to stay with the
organization for long. But they can also leave for another employer who will offer
better options. This is mostly the case when organizations are not able to provide
challenging work according to the employees’ skills. However, some researchers have
concluded training has no impact on the movement of employees from one
organization to another (Shah & Burke, 2005; Green et al., 2008). They concluded
that training which is given by the organizations result in reduce turnover rate, as the
organizations are likely to build training programs which will prepare their employees
to meet future challenges or change in organizations. Whereas, training obtained
outside the organization leads to higher turnover rate. Another study done by Chang
(2009) focused on relationship between career development and commitment towards
the organization. He found out that when employees are committed they are less likely
to leave the organization. This is also because they see career growth in their
organizations. It was also seen that employees who have low career ambitions are not
committed with the company and hence tend to move frequently from one
organization to another. Chang (2009) also concluded that employees tend to stay

21
long in the organization when they see that the management is working for their
benefit and career growth. They would prefer an organization which has opportunities
for internal growth and promotions and provide training and professional advice.

2.5 Research Gap

Although many studies have been done on the factors contributing to the rate of
employee turnover, most of them concentrated on the developed countries and very
little research has been done in the developing countries specifically on the African
continent. In the same way, most of these studies have concentrated on manufacturing
companies and the government sector and little has been done in the hotel industry
which is a very important sector of the economic growth. Nanyuki town is one of the
fastest growing towns in Kenya and it is attracting more investors from all over the
world. Very little is documented specifically in the Hotel industry in Nanyuki town in
Laikipia County, to ascertain the causes of rampant employee turnover in the
hospitality industry and therefore, this study seeks to fill the above mentioned gap.

CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter outlines the research design used in the study. Various designs are
utilizable depending on the type of study. This section also indicates the population,
sampling methods and design, as well as data collection methods, data analysis tools
and report writing.

3.2 Research Design

This study used the descriptive survey research design to show the factors `influencing
employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County. A
descriptive study design is one in which the primary goal is to assess a sample at one
specific point in time without trying to make inferences or causal statements (cooper
and Schindler, 2011). In general, there are three primary reasons to conduct
descriptive studies; to identify areas for further research, to help in planning resource

22
allocation and to provide informal information about a condition or disease.
Descriptive studies are helpful in revealing patterns and connections that otherwise go
unnoticed (Chandran, 2004). This study design was instrumental in trying to find out
the causal relationship between the factors identified and the dependent variables, in
the hotel industry in Nanyuki town in Laikipia County.

3.3 Population of the study

Population refers to the total collection of elements about which one wishes to make
some inference (Cooper and Schindler, 2011) and an element represents each member
of the population. This study focused on employees of hotels in Nanyuki town in
Laikipia County. The researcher was interested in hotels that have functional human
resource departments. This is because the human resource department is mandated to
oversee the employee welfare. Given that most hotels in Nanyuki town in Laikipia
County do not have formal HR structures, it was not prudent to carry out the research
in all the hotel facilities within the town. Therefore the population of the study
consisted of staff drawn from the three sampled hotels in Nanyuki town i.e.
Tea-Tot Hotel, the Garden Hotel, and the Le-Technisch Hotel. A purposive sampling
was carried out to come up with the hotels that would be involved in the study. These
three hotels were chosen from among other hotels because they have well-structured
H R departments, they keep records of their staff and they are not owner centered.
This assisted the researcher in gathering the desired information which forms a key
element in this research.

Table 3.1 Staff in different Categories in the three Hotels

HOTEL Management Middle level Lower cadre Total
staff staff staff
Garden Hotel 4 30 44 78
Le-Technisch 3 15 23 40
Hotel
Tea TOT Hotel 3 20 35 58
TOTAL 9 65 100 176

23
3.4 Sample and Sampling Methods
A sample refers to a portion of the population that is intended for a study to reflect the
characteristics of the population (Mugenda and Mugenda, 2003). Sampling methods
should ensure that every character in the population has an equal chance of being
studied. The ultimate sample studied should reflect the population characteristics.
This study used stratified random sampling to select the population of the study,
which covered the management staff, the middle level staff and the lower cadres of
staff.

3.4.1 Sample Size

According to Ramenyi et al (2003), a sample size of between 10% and 20% is
considered adequate for detailed or in-depth stud ies. And Mugenda and Mugenda
(2003), states that 30% of the accessible population is enough for descriptive studies.
For this study, the researcher divided the number of staff in the three hotels into three
categories i.e. management staff, middle level staff and lower cadre staff. A sample
size of 30% per category per hotel was selected giving a total sample of 54 as
indicated below in table 3.2.
Table 3.2 Hotel Employees in different Categories and Sample sizes per Hotel

HOTEL Management Middle level Lower cadre Totals

staff staff staff
Garden Hotel 1 9 13 23
Le-Technisch 1 5 7 13
Hotel
Tea TOT Hotel 1 7 10 18
TOTALS 3 21 30 54

3.5 Data Collection

3.5.1 Data Collection Tools and Methods
Data collection methods are the instruments used to obtain data from the respondents.
This study used questionnaires with close ended questions to obtain data from the
respondents, based on the objectives of the study. Close ended questionnaires are

24
useful in restricting responses to the desired areas, Mugenda and Mugenda, (2003).
Since the target population is considered to be able to understand the language used,
appropriate responses were expected. The following tools were used to collect data:

3.5.1.1 Questionnaire
According to Kothari (2004), a questionnaire is a sheet of paper that has questions,
which a respondent is required to fill or answer. It can be administered orally as the
researcher records the responses to each item or the respondent may be left to respond
to the items independently. The researcher drafted a list of questions in the
questionnaire, which were administered to the respondents. The questions were made
direct to avoid ambiguity. Questionnaires were delivered physically by the researcher
and respondents were given ample time to respond - (using the ‘drop- and- pick- later’
method). A pilot study was done on 10 members of staff from the various hotels,
which served to show the weaknesses of the questionnaire before being administered
to the target population (Huang and Lee, 2013).

3.6 Data Collection Procedures

3.6.1 Primary Data
The researcher used primary data, which is information collected for the first time.
The questionnaires were used to collect data from selected respondents in the
organizations under the study. The data collected using this method is usually reliable,
accurate and very effective and this makes the research findings accurate.

3.7 Pilot Study

A pilot study was done at Ikuuni hotel which is one of the hotels in Nanyuki town.
The pilot study was to show weaknesses of the research tools before being
administered to the target population (Cooper & Schindler, 2003). The pilot study
was made to test the validity and reliability of the research instruments. Completed
questionnaires were corrected and edited for completeness. They were then
administered to the sampled respondents. Collected data was systematically organized
for analysis.

25
3.8 Data Processing and Analysis
Tabulation of data refers to the systematic arrangement of the statistical data into
tables consisting of columns and rows (Kothari, 2004). The researcher used the
descriptive statistics in the data analysis and integrated both the qualitative and
quantitative measurers. The collected data was tabulated in columns and rows in a
logical sequence thereby giving the shape of statistical tables. This prepared the
ground for the analysis and interpretation of data. The tables were divided into
appropriate rows and columns.

According to Kothari (2004), data analysis refers to examining what has been
collected in a survey or experiment and making deductions and inferences. Data
analysis involves assigning numerical values to responses. Since much of the
collected data was qualitative, information obtained was analyzed systematically so as
to achieve logical conclusions and recommendations. Using the research questions to
guide the analysis, frequency counts, percent distributions, and determination of
means and medians were calculated for the responses where appropriate.
Raw data collected was analyzed to ease interpretation. Data was analyzed in a
systematic way in order to come up with some conclusions and recommendations.
Data from questionnaires and observations was analyzed as well, to establish the
relationship between the variables. Data was then presented using tables and graphs
for easier interpretation by the users.

26
 CHAPTER FOUR
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction
This chapter deals with data presentation, analysis and interpretation of the research
findings to determine the factors affecting the employee turnover in the hotel industry
in Nanyuki town, Laikipia County. The researcher made use of frequency tables,
percentages as well as pie and bar charts to present the data.

4.2 Sample Characteristics

The researcher collected both qualitative and quantitative data from the sampled
population by use of questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered to different
employee categories within various departments of the hotels. Fifty four (54)
questionnaires were distributed to the respondents and forty seven (47) of them were
filled and returned giving a response rate of 87.3%. According to Babbie (2008), a
response rate of 50% and above is adequate for analysis. Quantitative data was coded
and analyzed in themes relevant to the objectives of the study. The findings were
presented using the frequency tables, pie charts and bar graphs in line with the
objectives upon which the study was based.

4.2.1 Empirical Findings

The first part of the questionnaire dealt with the background information of the
respondents because it was assumed that the attributes of the respondents influenced
their behavior and attitude within the hotel setting. Data was collected using
questionnaires from the critical staff in various levels of operations including the
management staff, middle level staff and the lower cadre staff.

27
4.2.2 Background Information
The employees in the hotel industry are either male or female and are distributed
across the various sectors in the hotels. From the data collected, there seems to be
gender parity of the sampled staff to a greater extend, though the males still dominate
the industry with a higher percentage of 55.30%, compared to their female
counterparts who make up a respectable 44.70%.

Gender of the Respondents

female
45%
male
55%

Figure 4.1 Gender of the Respondents

The hotel employees are distributed in various categories and in this study they were
grouped into three critical categories as shown in the above pie chart. According to
the response received, 22.6% of the total respondents were in management, 31.2%
were in middle level members of staff while a greater percentage of 46.2% serve as
low cadre employees. Some members of staff serve both in the management and the
middle level of categories. This was enough evidence that the study explored all the
targeted levels of staff as shown in figure 4.2.

28
 Categories of the employees
Lower Cadre Management
46% 23%

Middle Level
31%

Figure 4.2 Current Position in the Hotel

The staff members in hotels in Nanyuki town are recruited at different levels of
education depending on their areas of operation and this is well evident from figure
4.3. According to the research findings represented in figure 4.3, majority of the
respondents were diploma holders 21 of the total respondents, followed by the
certificate holders forming 14 of the total respondents and on the lower end the
secondary school certificate holders comprising 10 respondents and the least were the
degree holders comprised of a mere 2 respondents who were found only in the
management level. This is enough evidence that all the critical levels of staff were
involved in this study.

29
 25

20

15

10

0
Secondary Certificate Diploma Degree

Figure 4.3 Highest Level of Education

From the research findings it is true that most employees in the hotel industry in
Nanyuki town have skills in hotel operations accounting for 62% of the total
population. A small percentage of 38% did not have any skills in hotel management.
This was an indication that majority of the people working in hotels in Nanyuki town
have undergone formal training in operations of hotels and hence they have the
required professional skills.

skills in hotel operations

No Skills
38%

some skills
62%

Figure 4.4 skills in hotel operations

30
The employees in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town are composed of different age
brackets as evident in the table 4.1. According to the research findings; majority of the
employees lie between 20-40 years, accounting for over 53% of the total respondents.
This goes a long way to reinforce the argument that this important sector of the
economy is driven by school leavers and young adults. The age bracket of 41-50 years
old follows with a percentage of 27.7%, then above 50 years of age accounted for
10.6% while the rest were below 20 years accounting for 8.5% of the total population.

Table 4.1 Age Cohorts of the Respondents

Age No. of Respondents Percentage

Below 20 years 4 8.5%
21-30 Years 11 23.4%
31- 40 Years 14 29.8%
41- 50 Years 13 27.7%
Above 50 Years 5 10.6%
Total 47 100%

Depending on when each employee was recruited, each of the respondent employees
had worked in the hotel industry for various lengths of time as shown in the graph
below. From the research findings it is true that majority of the employees had worked
in the hotel industry for a period between 0-10 years forming a frequency of 27 of the
total respondents. The group that had served for a period of above 20 years had a
frequency of 9 slightly above the group that had served for between10-15 years and
15-20 who formed a frequency of 6 and 5 respectively. It is clear from the above
information that majority of the employees in the hotel industry have served for a
period less than 10 years and this indicates that they lack much experience in the
industry.

31
 18

16

14

12

10

0
0-5 Years 5-10 Years 10-15 Years 15-20 Years Above 20

Figure 4.5 total working experience in the hotel industry

Majority of the employees have served with their current employers (hotel) for a
period of between 2-4 years making a frequency of 16 out of the total population. A
slightly lower number of employees (10 to be precise), have served in the same hotels
for periods of between 4-6 years. A group of 9 employees of the total 47 have served
in the same hotel for periods of between 6-8 years. On the lower end, a group of 7 and
5 respondents have served in the same hotel for periods of between 0-2years and
above 8 years respectively. This shows that there is a very high rate of employee
turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town.

32
 18

16

14

12

10

0
0-2 years 2-4 years 4-6 years 6-8 years Above 8 years

Figure 4.6 No. of years worked in the current hotel

4.3 Findings and Discussions on the Objectives

4.3.1 Introduction
This section discusses the three research objectives as they influence the employee
turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. The researcher sought to understand
how different aspects of each of the three objectives impacted on the employee
turnover by setting out questions relating to each of the objectives. The results were
analyzed using tables and charts as shown below.

4.3.2 Organizational Factors

Organizational factors play a major role in the rate of turnover. From the data
collected and analyzed, the respondents agree that organizational factors have a great
contribution to the rate of employee turnover in the hotel industry as summarized in
table 4.2

33
Table 4.2 Distribution Measure of the organizational factors
SA(5) A(4) NS(3) D(2) SD(1) 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 S/Dev
9 1 3.6 0.30
Managers Leadership Style 7 26 4
Career Growth Structure 15 28 2 1 1 4.2 0.72
Organizational Culture 14 12 16 3 2 3.7 0.36
Toxic Work Environment 1 8 13 24 1 2.7 0.01
Peer Pressure 1 16 13 6 11 2.8 0.02
Recruitment Policies 6 11 19 7 4 3.2 0.12
Motivation 25 9 7 4 2 4.1 0.64

Interpretation key Scale of interpretation

0 - 0.25 very weak
SA-Strongly Agree 0.25 - 0.5 weak
A-Agree 0.5 - 0.75 strong
NS-Not Sure very strong

D-Disagree

SD- Strongly Disagree Where

Σ = Sum of
X = Individual data points N =
Sample size (number of data
points)

Σ = Sum of
X = Individual score
M = Mean of all scores
N = Sample size (number of
scores)

34
Figure 4.7 responses on the effects of organizational factors on the rate of employee
turnover

On managers style of leadership a great number of the respondents agree that it has an
impact on the rate of employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town in
Laikipia County. A frequency of seven respondents strongly agrees and twenty six
agree that manager’s style of leadership creates an avenue for employee turnover.
Four of them are not sure while nine disagree and one of them strongly disagrees.
Career progression is another element which is of utmost importance to almost each
and every employee sampled. A great population agreed that career growth structure
in the hotel industry impacts on the rate of employee turnover in the hotel industry.
Fifteen of the total respondents strongly agreed and twenty eight agreed forming a
percentage of 91.50%. A percentage of 4.30% were not sure and one disagreed and
one strongly disagreed. This therefore singles out the fact that career progression is
the single most important factor leading to staff turnover in Nanyuki town.
Many of the respondents were not sure about the impact of organizational culture on
employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. A total of 16 respondents
out of the total returned a verdict of not sure. However, 12 and 14 respondents

35
respectively either agreed or strongly agreed that organizational culture has impact on
the employee turnover in the industry, which translates to 59.60% of the total
population. Only 2 and 3 respondents of the total strongly disagreed or disagreed
respectively, on this aspect.

Majority of the population disagreed that toxic work environment plays a role in the
employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. One of them strongly
disagreed and 24 others disagreed with this aspect. This could be because the hotels in
Nanyuki town ensure that the environment is conducive for both the customers and
the employees. Another group of 13 respondents were not sure while 11 others agreed
with the assertion.
Peer pressure in the organization seemed to take balanced sides with 17 respondents
of the total population strongly disagreeing or disagreeing and a similar number (17)
agreeing or strongly agreeing that it has impact on the employee turnover. Of the total,
13 respondents were not sure of this aspect.
A majority of the population seemed not to be sure if the recruitment policies had an
impact on the rate of employee turnover. This covered a frequency of 19 or a
percentage of 40.40% of the total population. On the other hand a population close to
that seemed to agree covering 11 and 6 who strongly agreed to that aspect. Only seven
disagreed and 4 strongly disagreed.
Most respondents strongly agreed to the fact that motivation in the organization has a
great influence on the rate of employee turnover in the hotel industry. 25 of the total
population strongly agreed forming a percentage of 53.20%. Followed by 9 who
agreed, 7 of the total respondents were not sure and only 4 and 2 disagreed and
strongly disagreed respectively.

4.3.3 Individual Factors

Individual factors refer to the factors that affect an employee as an individual and the
organization may not have much control over these factors. In this research the factors
considered included; an employee’s level of education, career aspirations of the
employee, age of the employee, gender of the employee, exposure, incapacitation and

36
work experience of the employee. The respondents’ opinions are as summarized in
table 4.4

Table 4.4 Distribution Measure of the Individual Factors

SA(5) A(4) NT(3) D(2) SD(1) 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 S/Dev
Level of E ducation 20 15 4 2 6 3.9 0.49

Career Aspirations 21 19 6 2 1 4.3 0.81

Age of the Employee 5 17 15 9 1 3.3 0.16
Gender of the Employee 4 22 13 6 2 3.4 0.20
Exposure of the Employee 13 18 11 4 1 3.8 0.42
Incapacitation 6 13 20 6 2 3.3 0.16
Work Experience 25 15 2 3 1 4.2 0.72

Figure 4.8 Responses on the effects of individual factors on the rate of employee
turnover

Most of the respondents agreed that the level of education has an impact on the
employees’ turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. 35 of the total respondents

37
(i.e. 75.4%) agreed that the level of education affects the rate of employee turnover
while 8 disagreed to this aspect. 4 were not sure that the level of education has an
impact on the rate of employee turnover.

A greater percentage seemed to concur to the fact that career aspirations of the
employee create more incentives for them to change from one employer to the other.
Forty (40) of the total population i.e. (85.10%) agreed that an individual`s career
aspirations will make them change jobs. Only 3 of the respondents (i.e. 6.50%)
disagreed, while four (4) were not sure.

On the question of age of the employee as a factor for turnover, a good percentage
agreed that it has an impact on the rate of employee turnover in the hotel industry.
This composed of 22 respondents forming a percentage of 46.80%. 15 of the
respondents were not sure and 10 disagreed.
Most of the respondents seemed to agree that gender of the employee contributes to
the rate of the employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. 26 of the
employees were in agreement forming a percentage of 55.30%. 15 of the total
population were not sure and 9 of them disagreed to this aspect. Only one strongly
disagreed to this aspect.

Exposure of the employee refers to how much the employee has been exposed
professionally, socially and academically. Most of the respondents agreed that
exposure of the employee plays an important role in the employee turnover. 31 of
them concurred to this aspect while 11 were not sure and 5 disagreed.

Incapacitation was used to refer to the inability of a given employee to perform the
given tasks that maybe assigned to them for some reason or another. Most of the
respondents were not sure of this aspect’s contribution to the employee turnover
forming a great percentage of 42.60%. 13 of the employees forming a percentage of
27.70% disagreed. 6 respondents strongly disagreed, an equal number of 6 agreed
while 2 strongly agreed.

38
On the question of work experience, a great percentage of 87.10% comprising of 41
respondents strongly agreed that work experience has influence on employee turnover
in the hotel industry. 4 disagreed, 2 were not sure. This meant that, only 8.60% were
for the opinion that, work experience does not contribute to employee turnover.

4.3.4 Job Related Factors

The last objective was job related factors where several aspects relating to the nature
of the job were explored. They included; job clarity, work load, pay package, odd
working hours, lack of challenge and the style of leadership applied by the
management. The most important was the extent to which these factors affect
employee turnover in the hotel industry. The responses were as summarized in table
4.5

Table 4.5 Distribution Measurement of Job Related Factors

39
 SA(5) A(4) NT(3) D(2) SD(1) 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 S/Dev
J ob Clarity 21 19 2 4 1 4.1 0.64

Workload 13 15 2 6 11 3.2 0.12

Pay Package 26 13 4 2 2 4.3 0.81
Job Stress 7 11 9 13 7 3.0 0.06
Odd Working Hours 2 9 5 15 16 2.3 0.01
Lack of Challenge 4 6 9 2 26 2.1 0.04
Figure 4.9 response on the effects of job related factors on the rate of employee
turnover
Most of the respondents agreed that job clarity plays an important role on the rate of
employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. 40 of the respondents

Style of L eadership 26 15 3 1 2 4.2 0.71

30

25

20

strongly disagree
disagree
15
not sure
agree
strongly agree
10

0
job clarity work load pay package job stress odd working lack of style of
hours challenge leadership
agreed to this aspect. Only two were not sure with the rest (5) disagreeing.

40
A good percentage of the total respondents (59.57%) agreed that workload has a
bearing on the rate of employee turnover with 28 agreeing and 17 of the total
respondents disagreeing, and only 2 were not sure.

Pay package refers to the various remunerations that employees are given in response
to the services rendered. Most of the respondents strongly agreed that pay package
contributes much to the rate of employee turnover in the hotel industry. 39 of the total
respondents agreed to this aspect (82.90%). 3 of the total population were not sure
while 4 disagreed.

On the question of job stress most of the employees (20) disagreed that job stress
affects the rate of employee turnover. 18 agreed and 9 were not sure of this aspect.
Most of the respondents responded negatively to the question of odd working hours.
31 of the total respondents forming a percentage of 66.10% disagreed. 5 were not sure
forming a percentage of 10.64%. 9 of the total respondents agreed to the aspect of odd
working hours and only 2 strongly agreed.

On the question of lack of challenge, 26 of the respondents forming a percentage of

55.30% strongly disagreed to the aspect that lack of challenge leads to employee
turnover. 9 were not sure with a low population of 6 agreeing, 4 strongly disagreed
and only 2 disagreed.

A majority of the respondents sampled (41) forming a percentage of 55.30% agreed

that the style of leadership contributes a lot to the level of employee turnover in the
hotel industry in Nanyuki town. Three were not sure (6.0) while three (6.0) disagreed.
4.3.5 Measurement of the Variables
Generally, job related factors influenced the rate at which employees moved from one
employer to the other. Thirty five (35) of the respondents forming a percentage of
74.40% agreed that job related factors have a great influence on the rate of employee
turnover against 11 respondents who disagreed. Only 1 respondent was not sure.

41
On the question on individual factors affecting staff turnover, the responses showed
that 28 respondents accounting for a percentage of 59.50% of the total respondents
agreed it had an impact on the rate of employee turnover in the hotel industry. 9 of
them were not sure. 10 of them disagreed.

A great percentage of 40.40% comprising of 19 respondents strongly agreed that

organizational factors have a great influence on the rate of employee turnover in the
hotel industry in Nanyuki town. 16 of the respondents making a percentage of 34.0%
agreed to this aspect. 4 of them making a percentage of 8.50% were not sure of this
aspect’s contribution to the employees’ turnover. 7 and 1 disagreed and strongly
disagreed respectively.

4.6 Discussion on Findings

One of the major findings in this research is that motivation and pay package given to
employees are some of the job related factors which causes employee turnover in the
hotel industry in Nanyuki town. These findings agree with the findings of Casey, 2013
who did a research on whether child welfare agencies pay their child welfare workers
competitively. She found out that most of them do not compensate their employees
competitively. As a general rule, public jurisdictions pay better than private, non-
profit agencies. Recent research conducted by the Foundation documents that social
service jobs consistently rank among the five worst-paying professional jobs tracked
by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for both men and women. In fact, “social
services pay its workers less than any other sector that hires similarly qualified people
for similar jobs”. According to her findings, this has resulted to the increased rate of
employee turnover in the welfare agencies compared to private non-profit agencies”
(Casey, 2013).

The findings of this study established that, lack of involvement and poor remuneration
as the two main organizational factors that contributed to resignation among staff in
the hotel industry cited at 43% and 54.3% respectively of the total respondents. This
study agrees with the findings of a research carried out by Kuria, S., Alice, O., &
Wanderi, P. (2012) to establish the internal and external causes of labour turnover in

42
three and five star hotels in Nairobi city. Their research revealed that, lack of
involvement of staff in decision making and poor remuneration were the two main
organizational factors that contributed to resignation among staff cited at 56% and
60% respectively of the total respondents. The findings of their research agree with
the findings of the current study.

In a similar study by Hammerberg (2001) on the reasons given for employee turnover
in a full priced departmental store, it was found out that the length of employment for
an employee was a major factor contributing to the exit tendencies. He found out that
among employees of between 0-12 months, the rate of attrition was at 67.7%
compared to those of over two years which was at 16%. This agrees with the findings
of this study which indicated that 55.3% strongly agreed that the experience of the
employee greatly contributed to employee turnover.

The research by Hammerberg, (2001) also revealed that job related factors accounted
for 37.4% on exit of employees followed by individual reasons at 29.4%. The main
reasons provided for job related factors include; salaries, career growth, job
scheduling for both full-time and part-time employees. Though the job related factor
is well identified in this study, the current study finds it more overwhelming with
74.4% making it more on the higher side, followed by individual factors at 59.5%.

According to Bernthal et al. (2000), turnover is likely to increase as time goes by and
this is problematic due to the fact that turnover is costly for an organization.
Unfortunately, the problem of turnover is not always addressed effectively even
though human resource professionals consider it problematic. Bernthal et al. (2000)
reported that greater than 1/3 of human resource professionals they surveyed saw
retention as a pressing issue. However, almost half of organizations interviewed had
no formal strategy for addressing the problem of retention. This study agrees to the
current study which generally found out that, the employees agree that organizational
factors affect the rate of employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town.
Specifically, 70.21%the respondents agreed that the manager’s style of leadership
contributes to a greater extend to the rate of employee turnover. On career growth the

43
study shows that 91.48% of the respondents agreed that it influences employee
turnover in the hotel industry. International Survey Research suggested that most
organizations rely on the reactive strategy of gaining data from exit interviews to
make organizational changes to promote retention. This is problematic. According to
ISR, not only is this reactive, but the data captured at an employee’s exit does not
accurately represent the state of mind the employee was in when he or she
contemplated leaving the organization. ISR suggested that to be truly proactive,
companies need to understand the key factors that influence turnover. Bernthal et al.
(2000) suggested that the most effective interventions are those that include the
understanding of why employees leave. This study agrees with the findings of the
current study in that although most of the respondents had been in the hotel industry
for less than five years, most of the respondents had been in the same hotel for less
than two years. This clearly shows that the rate of employee turnover is relatively
high.

According to a study by Sanford (2003) he found out that disengaged employees cost
their businesses financially via decreased profits, decreased sales, lower customer
satisfaction, and lower productivity; furthermore, Sanford reported that Gallup
estimated that actively disengaged employees may cost the American economy up to
$350 billion per year in lost productivity. HRD can encourage employee engagement
in the workplace by emphasizing high impact learning, performance and change. This
study agrees to the current study which has found out that, Job related factors are
those that specifically touch on the nature of assignments that an employee is
assigned. Odd working hours and lack of challenge were both rated as the least factors
affecting the rate of employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nyeri tow

CHAPTER FIVE

44
 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction
This chapter contains a summary of the analyzed data on the factors affecting the rate
of employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. The chapter further gives
conclusions from the analyzed data and recommendations thereafter.

5.2 Summary
Most of the employees in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town lie between the ages of
31-40 years and very few are below 20 years or above 50 years. The difference in
numbers between the male and the female employees in the hotel industry in Nanyuki
town is not wide, being less than 10.01%. Most of the employees have academic
qualifications that make them competent enough to undertake the tasks that are
assigned to them with more than 74.50% having either a diploma or a certificate in
different fields of operations. A greater majority has served in the hotel industry for
less than 10 years forming a percentage of 57.45%. On the other hand, only 7 have
served in the same hotel for less than a year. Most of the employees have at least a
special skill in hotel operations.

Generally, the employees agreed that organizational factors affect the rate of
employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. Specifically, 70.21% of the
respondents agreed that the manager’s style of leadership contributes to a greater
extend to the rate of employee turnover. On career growth, the study shows that
91.48% of the respondents agreed that it influences employee turnover in the hotel
industry in Nanyuki town. From the findings, the respondents also agreed that
organizational culture contributed to employee turnover in the hotel industry. A large
percentage of 80.85% of the total respondents did not agree that toxic environment
was a contributor to employee turnover in the hotel industry with only 19.15%
agreement. Peer pressure was also not rated as a contributing factor to the employee
turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. Recruitment policies were given a low
support of 36.17% as a contributing factor to employee turnover. Motivation in the
organization was fully supported as a contributing factor to employee turnover in the
hotel industry in Nanyuki town with 72.34% agreement.

45
The level of education was rated as one of the main contributors to high rates of
employee turnover at the personal level. It was given 74.45% support. Career
aspiration was also considered as a major element contributing to employee turnover
at a personal level and it was rated at 85.10%. The age of the employee was not given
much consideration as a contributing element to the employee turnover in the hotel
industry in Nanyuki town. Gender and exposure of the employee were however given
low consent as factors affecting employee turnover. Incapacitation was not rated as a
major factor affecting employee turnover in the hotel industry. Work experience was
considered a main factor affecting employee turnover and given an
83.23% agreement.

Job related factors are those factors that specifically touch on the nature of
assignments that an employee is given. Job clarity was given a 44.60% citation as a
factor affecting employee turnover. Workload was rated at 27.70% as a contributing
factor to the rate of employee turnover. Pay package was rated at 58.30% to affect the
rate of employee turnover. Job stress was given a low rating of 14.90%. Odd working
hours and lack of challenge were both rated as the least factors affecting the rate of
employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town. They were given 04.30%
and 08.50% respectively. Style of leadership at the job level was given a 51.25% rate
as a contributor to high rates of employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki
town.

5.3 Conclusions
Very few young employees are willing to join and work in the hotel industry for long
as evidenced by the dominance of the industry by employees who are between 31- 40
years of age. The males dominated the female population in the industry. The rate of
employee turnover in the industry is high as evidenced by the fact that 27 respondents
of the total respondents (47) had served in the industry for less than ten years while
only 5 of the 47 respondents had served in the same hotel for more than 10 years. The
manager’s style of leadership is a concern to the employees because it has a bearing
on their work security and career growth. Employees would wish as much as possible

46
to attain the highest job profile as possible. This results into a great concern to the
career growth structure and the organizational culture.

Most of the hotels have clean and conducive work environment, that’s why most of
the employees consider toxic work environment as a lesser factor contributing to
employee turnover. Most of the employees are mature enough to avoid peer pressure
thus peer pressure is not a factor contributing to employee turnover. Since employees
are not looking for new opportunities, they are not concerned with the recruitment
policies. Employees require to be motivated by the various motivational factors in
order to be satisfied with their current positions. Academically qualified employees
are more satisfied with their work than the least qualified. This is because employees
who are qualified are in the higher positions. Different employees have different
career aspirations depending on the level they are currently employed and their level
of education. Age and gender of the employee alone do not have much impact on the
employee satisfaction since this is what results in to the employee turnover. Work
experience determines the employee exposure in the industry and it too contributes
much to turnover.

An employee who is more exposed out of experience expects to be promoted when an

opportunity arises. Most of the employees are qualified for the various jobs they are
hired so the issue of incapacitation does not arise. Employees expect their duties and
responsibilities to be well defined and the work load to be as per the agreement terms.
If they are overloaded, the employees will tend to seek another employer who is not
overloading them. Every employee would wish as much as possible to be
compensated for their services effectively. If the tasks awarded do not match the kind
of remunerations offered the employees will also seek other opportunities. Any other
responsibility task to the employees by the organization, the employees expect to be
remunerated accordingly. Most employees are not concerned job stress and odd
working hours. Few employees will consider lack of challenge in their daily
performance. Every employee is much concerned with the style of leadership that the
organization has down from the persons in charge of their area of work up to the
highest level of management.

47
5.4 Recommendations
This research study sought to establish the factors affecting the rate of employee
turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki town, Laikipia County. From the
conclusions made, the following are the main recommendations.

5.4.1. At the Organizational Level

The hotel managers should adopt leadership styles that do not have negative impact on
the employees` morale.
The hotel management should also come up with structures that support career growth
including; training and workshops to provide its employees with career growth
opportunities.
Hotels should adopt a culture that appreciates employees and recognizes their efforts
such as rewards and recognition to well performing employees.
Hotel management should have regular programs to adress social challenges to reduce
peer-pressure in the work environment.
Management should ensure that the employees are well motivated to perform their
tasks by offering good incentives and recognizing the well performing employees.

5.4.2. At the Individual Level

Though the management have little to do on the individual factors, it is possible to
contain turnover by assigning tasks and ranks depending on the level of education.
Career aspirations can be determined by the way employees add their education
during their tenure.
The hotel management should promote employees who seem to be more inspired
career wise.
Hotels should also appreciate the aged for the experience they have in the industry and
their combined competence.
Employees who have more experience are more exposed and therefore the hotel
management should promote employees based on their experience and exposure both
in their hotel and in the whole industry as a whole. This will reduce the level of
incapacitation to perform.

48
5.4.3. At the Job Level
The management should clearly define the task roles and the expected performance of
each employee in the contract.
Employees should not be overloaded with tasks that they can’t manage.
The employer should provide commensurate pay package for the specific tasks
assigned to the employees. If extra tasks are assigned or an overtime performance
apart from the normal tasks provided in the contract terms, the employer should
remunerate the employees for the same.
In general, the management should ensure that, there is a conducive working
environment for the employees. This includes aspects such as conflict resolution and
managers who lead by example.

5.4.4 Recommendation for Further Research

The hospitality industry is one of the key sectors contributing to the development of
this country and it consumes a lot of human capital. However this sector is
experiencing high rate of employee turnover. Based on this there is need to investigate
and provide empirical evidence on the factors affecting employee turnover in Nanyuki
town, Laikipia County and the solutions to the same. Future research could examine
reasons for employee terminations for an entire year within the organization, as this
would allow for any seasonal fluctuations in employment. Development of a more
specific data-collection tool which would address such factors as changes in
organizational strategies, the existence of support systems among employees, and
inconsistencies in job expectations based on initial job description would provide
valuable data for companies interested in improving employee turnover.

5.4.5 Recommendations for Policy and Practice

This research identifies a policy gap on matters of employee welfare in the hotel
industry and it is highly recommended that the government comes up with policies to
close these gaps and stem the rampant employee turnover in this sector.

49
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 APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE
FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY
IN NANYUKI TOWN IN LAIKIPIA COUNTY
This questionnaire is to collect data for purely academic purposes. The study seeks to
investigate the factors influencing employee turnover in the hotel industry in Nanyuki
town. All information will be treated with strict confidence. Do not write your name
or identification on this questionnaire.

Answer all questions as indicated by either filling in the blank spaces or ticking the
option that applies.

SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION Please indicate

1. Indicate your age group?
Below 20years 20 – 29years 30 – 39years

40 – 49 years 50years and above

2. Your Gender? Please tick Male Female
3. Highest level of education attained
Secondary Certificate Diploma
degree
4. Hotel working experience in years ( total)__________________________
5. How many years have you worked in this hotel?-----------------------
6. Any specialized skills in hotel management
If yes, please explain………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

54
SECTION B. OBJECTIVE 1 ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS
Indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following organizational
factors influencing employee turnover on a scale of 1 to 5.
Where; 5 is strongly agree, 4 is agree, 3 is not sure, 2 is disagree and 1 is strongly
disagree
Factors influencing Strongly Disagree Not Agree Strongly
turnover disagree Sure Agree
7. Manager`s style of leadership
in the
organization
8. Career growth structure in the
organization

9. Organizational culture
10. Toxic work environment in
the organization

11. Peer pressure in the

organization
12. Recruitment policies in the
organization

13. Motivation in the

organization
14. Induction of new staff
15. Recognition

SECTION C. OBJECTIVE 2
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS
55
Indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following individual
factors influencing employee turnover on a scale of 1 to 5.
Where; 5 is strongly agree, 4 is agree, 3 is not sure, 2 is disagree and 1 is strongly
disagree

Factor Strongly Disagree Not Agree Strongly

disagree Sure agree

16. Level of education of the

employee

17. Career aspirations of the

employee

18. Age of the employee

19. Gender of the employee
20. Exposure of the employee
21. Incapacitation of the
employee

22. Work experience of the

employee

23. Religion of the employee

24. Size of family of an
employee

SECTION D; OBJECTIVE 3 JOB RELATED FACTORS

Indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following job related
factors influencing employee turnover on a scale of 1 to 5.

56
Where; 5 is strongly agree, 4 is agree, 3 is not sure, 2 is disagree and 1 is strongly
disagree

Statement Strongly Disagree Not Agree Strongly

disagree Sure agree

25. Job clarity

26. Workload
27. Pay package
28. Job stress
29. Odd working hours
30. Lack of challenge
31. Style of leadership
32. Lack of leave and overtime
allowance

33. Conflict between family and

job demands

SECTION E; MEASUREMENT OF THE DEPEDENT VARIABLE

Indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following factors
influencing employee turnover on a scale of 1 to 5.
Where; 5 is strongly agree, 4 is agree, 3 is not sure, 2 is disagree and 1 is strongly
disagree

57
 Statement Strongly Disagree Not Agree Strongly
disagree Sure agree

34. Job related factors influence

employee turnover in our
organization

35. Individual factors influence

employee turnover in our
organization

36. Organizational factors

influence employee turnover
in our organization

End of Questionnaire
Thank you for your honesty and time taken in filling this questionnaire.

APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW GUIDE

FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY
IN NANYUKI TOWN IN LAIKIPIA COUNTY

1. How do job related factors influence employee turnover?

2. What are some of the job related factors that influence employee turnover?
3. Do organizational factors influence employee turnover?
58
 4. How do the organizational factors influence employee turnover?
5. Do individual factors influence employee turnover?
6. In what ways do individual factors influence employee turnover?
7. In your opinion, are there any other factors that influence employee turnover?

APPENDIX 4: LIST OF HOTELS IN NANYUKI TOWN

1. Court yard hotel
2. Evening sheds hotel
3. Garden hotel
4. Ikuuni hotel limited
5. Lauh guest house
6. Le-Technisch hotel
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7. Lysak park hotel
8. Kafoka hotel
9. Kyaka hotel
10. Tea-tot hotel
11. T-tot hotel
12. T-tot restaurant

60