Employee Turnover in the Hospitality Industry

Employee turnover is reaching crisis proportions for many organizations who struggle to maintain proper staffing levels in a tight labor market (Wilson, 2000). Turnover has been a measure of performance in organizations that is expensive in terms of financial and operational effectiveness. The current study used the Commitment And Necessary Effort (CANE) model of motivation (Clark, 1998, 1999) to determine if levels of motivated thinking and behavior, indexed as choice, persistence, and effort, and influenced by self-efficacy, support, emotion, and task value, impacted employee turnover rates in the hotel and quick service restaurant segments of the hospitality industry. Using regression analysis, it was determined that the motivation component of the CANE model was a statistically significant variable when analyzing turnover in the current study. Over 96% of the variation in turnover of the 22 worksites analyzed was explained by the components of the motivation model. This research is important to industry practitioners as well as academics to help predict and lower turnover in various segments of the hospitality industry. Implications for practice are discussed regarding the components of the CANE model of motivation.