Retention a major concern

Annual turnover rates as high as 50 percent remain the standard in the hospitality industry, and many hotel operations have chosen to simply accept this as a fact of doing business (Levine, 2005). It is certain that many will not be surprised by the fact that the hospitality industry has such a high rate of turnover because turnover culture is considered to be a major problem in the industry A survey (Laff, 2006) revealed that 51 percent of respondents expected to make a job transition in five years or less. In this continually changing global economy, business needs to understand and utilize key concepts concerning employee retention. Without adapting to potential problems, organizations face debilitating outcomes, one of which is the cost of turnover (Panoch, 2001).

The hospitality industry has reported varying annual turnover rates ranging from 32 percent to 300 percent. The cost associated with high employee turnover, which has been well documented in hospitality publications,averages from $3,000 to $10,000 per hourly employee, to over $50,000 for managers. The most costly element of employee turnover, representing 60 percent, is that of lost productivity (Moncarz, 2008). According to Cornell   University estimates, turnover in this hospitality industry averages more than 100 percent with the cost of turnover  At about $ 5,000 per associate in lost productivity and wages (Davis, 2006) Companies today are interested in  retaining valuable employees and good employees are increasingly becoming More difficult to find ( Panoch , 2001 )

            Retention matters because high turnover creates highly replacement cost and is clearly associated with low level of customer satisfaction, customer’s satisfaction, customer loyalty, and lost revenues. Retention is particularly challenging today due to an aging work force and a growing imbalance in the supply and demand of qualified personnel ( Padron, 2004 )

 Many of the companies that already spend big bucks to recruit and train talent employees are bracing for even stiffer competition as baby boomers start to retire and a shortage of skilled labor (Rawe, 2006)

2.6.0    Problems faced by women’s in hospitality

The barriers that have been effective in keeping women out of managerial positions in the Western world are found replicated in the different cultures of Asia. India also has long history of women being oppressed by men, and delegated to playing subordinate roles. More recently, India's workforce is changing. Social values and organizational and personal biases, and the increased global focus on women's issues have changed the women's role impacting the career progression of women (Nath, 2000).

Li & Leung (2001) examined the barriers that may prevent the female managers from moving up to the executive positions in Singapore. An interesting finding is that the barriers to advancement for female managers are due to neither corporate practices nor policies, but rather seem to be a function of cultural and societal sanctions. Women have managed, through education, to improve their employment and managerial prospects but still suffer from a lack of financial assistance and lack of family and community support (Rawd-Iam, 2002).

2.6.1    Work-Family Conflict

Balancing the demands of career and family has become a major challenge facing today's women who seek career advancement. The challenge is particularly intense for employees who are part of a two-wage earning family. Work-family conflict occurs when the individual has to perform multiple roles: worker; spouse; and, often, parent (Dubrin, 2005). For women relative to men, conflict between work and family roles is higher because women spend more combined time on work and family activities. This situation exists because even in employment, women are still primarily responsible for the home and family (Noor, 2004). Wong (2000) suggested that women in Asia, like their counterparts in managerial positions in western countries, are likely to face problems and experiences which are directly related to gender. Indeed, issues of representation and of progress in management are often found to be associated with a variety of factors linked with the prevailing societal culture. His research concluded that women managers are often confronted with greater stresses and career obstacles because of the preconceived notion ingrained within the corporate culture, regarding women's managerial skills, inadequate training, home-work conflict, poor mentoring and career counseling, paternalistic organization cultures, compensation inequities, sexual harassment, and other factors (Wong, 2000). Women have managed, through education, to improve their employment and managerial prospects but still suffer from a lack of financial assistance and lack of family and community support (Rawd-Iam, 2002)

2.6.2    Work and family issues faced by women

Balancing the demands of career and family has become a major challenge facing today's women who seek career advancement. The challenge is particularly intense for employees who are part of a two-wage earning family. Work-family conflict occurs when the individual has to perform multiple roles: worker; spouse; and, often, parent (Dubrin, 2005). For women relative to men, conflict between work and family roles is higher because women spend more combined time on work and family activities. This situation exists because even in employment, women are still primarily responsible for the home and family (Noor, 2004) Tanke (2000) also concluded that work-family issues became a predominant workplace issue for managers with human resources responsibilities Fu & Shaffer (2001) found that family and work are the two most important domains of life for most adults. When conflicts between these two domains occur, there are adverse consequences for both individuals and organizations. Individuals who experience work-family conflict may incur increased health risks, inadequate performance as a marital partner, reduced life satisfaction and poor marital adjustment. Women experience work-family conflict, because they have to manage both work and family roles simultaneously, whereas men can delegate their family responsibilities to their wives and concentrate fully on their career. If men provided greater support in terms of household chores and childcare, work-family conflict would not be a major problem for working women (Kim & Ling, 2001). Another factor that could contribute to the women halting career advancement is the work-life balance concept. Work-life balance can be defined as the balance between satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home with a minimum role conflict (Clark, 2000). The main concern in the women’s perspective is the duration or working time that is required longer than they expected (Mooney & Ryan, 2008). Furthermore, the company would expect its managers to be flexible to the needs of business. As careers increasingly pose more demands on the individual’s work-to-family experiences, conflict are more likely to affect career outcomes (Voydanoff, 2005). Lopez- Claros & Zahidi (2005) stated that it has become a negative cause to women with young children to remain as the primary caregiver with additional responsibility in the organization.

Work-family conflict and facilitation impact organizations and employees at several levels. The most widely studied organizational-level outcomes of work and family issues include absenteeism, turnover, and performance. Employees with high levels of conflict are more likely to miss work for family reasons (Kossek and Ozeki1999). Absenteeism is an especially important concern for the hotel sector because of the complexity of its labor scheduling. Turnover is one of the most prevalent concerns, which has even been described as having a ‘‘turnover culture’’ (Deery and Shaw 1997:377).Work-to-family conflict is fairly well established as a predictor of intentions to quit a job, as well as actual turnover (Greenhaus, Parasuraman, and Collins 2001. Job performance is the final outcome of the model, a link only beginning to be explored, especially in the hotel sector. There have been a few studies linking family life with job performance. Several have shown work-family conflict to be negatively related to job performance  especially among customer service representatives (Netemeyer, Maxam, and Pullig 2005) Several studies have found that involvement in non-work roles, such as parenthood or leadership roles in community organizations, is positively related to job performance, particularly organizational (time management, prioritizing) and interpersonal aspects of job performance, which are especially important in a service industry and among managers ( Ruderman, Ohlott, Panzer and King 2002).The hotel sector is a major player in what Presser refers to as the ‘‘24/7 economy’’ (2004:83). Aside from the work-related strains and conflicts that tend to occur across industries, a number of positions within hotels require employees to work non-daytime hours .White (2000) said of successful women fifty percent had children. These women did not perceive work and family to be mutually exclusive. Some felt that career and family were mutually enriching and they felt that a stable base was important when pursuing a career. Family considerations will affect WFC (Ryan, Kriska, West & Sacco, 2001).