Predicting hotel managers’ turnover cognitions

This paper reports the findings of a study which tested a model that predicts the turnover cognitions of hotel managers. Several predictor variables of turnover intentions were identified: perceived psychological contract breach and felt violation; organisational commitment; career expectations; perceived managerial competencies; job satisfaction, career identity and career satisfaction; demographic and human capital characteristics; and organisational characteristics. A total of 14 hypotheses were tested. The study findings (based on a sample of 89 hotel managers), reveal that a number of variables significantly predict turnover cognitions. These findings do not correspond with the normative predictions found in the hospitality literature. The findings reveal that it is the more psychological, perceptual and affective variables that are most significant in explaining turnover intentions. The findings highlight the types of variables that are important in managing the expectations of hotel managers and from the perspective of the hotel as employer, the types of issues that should be considered to enable better retention of high performing managers.