The methodology used to investigate Staff Turnover in Hotels in Birmingham (UK)
Introduction.
Staff turnover has become an emerging issue and this paper talks about the research approach used to come up with a conclusive finding, the scope of the study, samples collected and the procedure for data collection, the research instruments used and their validity, the reliability of the instruments and eventually the analysis techniques. This paper helps contribute to the international hospitality literature since the primary data collected explains how the levels of turnover being witnessed came about and the consequences (Chalkiti & Sigala, 2010). Research should offer new ways of approaching problems that have not been fully comprehended (1). The research methodology we chose does just that since it aims to develop a better understanding of the issue at hand and not just measure it here intends to.
To achieve this we decided to use quantitative (survey) and qualitative (Interview) methods. The questionnaire and interviews are the instruments used so that findings can result in a numerical measurement and an in-depth exploration of staff turnover. This research aims to form an overall picture of the labour turnover that occurs in hotels and the extent to which the management has considered it a problem. The research will also help create a picture of the hotel’s internal labour market structure through studying its managerial practises and the attitudes they have towards their personnel.
Scope of the study
The research was limited to the hotel industry and not other sectors so that the research can have a manageable amount of data. The hotel industry in Birmingham is particularly filled with a young staff that yearn to develop skills, knowledge and experience thus experiencing higher rates of labour turnover (Queiri, Yusoff, & Dwaikat, 2014). Selecting them as the target population had a potential of yielding a deeper understanding of the labour turnover issue as the incidences of turnover was most significant. The research is limited to certain hotels in certain areas created a conducive time limit to conduct the research and ample time to compile the results rather than travelling to different geographical areas to interview different management hotels on the same issue.
Methodological procedure.
The first method used was a questionnaire which was distributed by use of email to randomly selected hotels to get an overview of how vast the labour turnover issue has affected the hotels in Birmingham and the extent to which their management see it as a problem. Mailed questionnaires come with certain limitations and low response is one of the main disadvantages and thus may end up distorting the samples but for this case, the benefits outweighed the imitations ( Fricker & Schonlau 2002). We were able to survey a broader geographical region and also get many samples from the population given the number of financial resources that were at our disposal. The method was also advantageous because mailed questionnaires are significantly standardized to enable large quantities of data to be analysed and also a perfect fit for this research as it was not to be done just once but be repeated once a certain time frame elapses to monitor the changes that may have taken place.
No survey can be better than a questionnaire (Moser & Kalton, 1973). However, the way the questionnaire is designed is a vital aspect of getting the response and replies that is needed. This means that if there happen to be any weaknesses in the design and words in the questionnaire then the results would be poor as well. It is important to have well-written questionnaires that are clear and free from ambiguity so that the recipient can fully understand it. The length of the questionnaire is always seen as a written conversation starter, the length and format should be attractive and not exhaustive meaning not too long or too complicated. This will increase the chances of the questionnaire getting a favoured reception. We, therefore, curated the questionnaire to have the desired length, well-articulated words that are necessary to the aims of our survey.
The questionnaire sent had four major sections that had to be exhausted. The first was questions that requested information concerning the category of the establishment, the size and the nature of their workforce and prices of their services. The recipients also had to fill in details about the turnover rate of staff in their hotel, the rate at which employees have remained within the company for the past three years and why those who left had to leave. Then the next section was to get a rough idea of the management’s attitude towards staff turnover if they thought it was an issue and whether they took any initiative to address it. The last bit of the questionnaire determined whether the hotels were interested in the research or not. This part is what we used to identify the hotels willing to give further help on the research. Closely structured questions that were either precoded or open were used to be able to probe fairly precise replies within a limited scope. This enabled recipients to take less time to fill the questionnaire and at the same time creates an easy time for those who will analyse the large quantities of data. The questions had to have a limited number of options if encoded, to ensure there is precision in the answer a limited space for open questions was given. Half the questionnaire was precoded with open questions coming in only when numerical and detailed answers were required.
Pilot Studies.
Pilot studies are a mini version of the full-scale study and are also known as a feasibility study of the research (Van Teijlingen & Hundley 2001). A pilot survey is important because it is used to validate the questionnaire and the style used and gauge if the clarity used will produce the data that is needed. To test the viability of the questionnaires we had, we sent 30 copies of the questionnaires to the local hotels in Birmingham, the tourism and catering management at the University of Birmingham and to also members of the department of Hotel. We not only asked them to fill the questionnaire but also add any information and additional notes if they felt the questionnaire was ambiguous, unnecessary or hard to answer. True to the importance of pilot testing the replies gave us some useful insights on both the context and the design of our questionnaire and the needed corrections were made to give rise to the final questionnaire.
Sampling procedure and design.
The sampling procedure was aimed at selecting the most viable part of a population that represents the whole, this will ensure that sample is likely to be the representative of the target population in respect to the population characteristics in the replica data (Parfitt, 2005). The most common forms of errors are sampling happening in the sampling stage, the responses and the non-responses. It can be dealt with by inquiring first about the most viable population, following up on non-respondents and even asking for more information from the respondents if you feel like they might have misinterpreted the question. Sampling the questionnaires leaves a loophole for biased but at the same time, it is unheard of for any research to be completely free of any form of bias and eliminating bias should not be the major concern of any research as it is not important. To curb the non-respondents’ issue the selected hotels were under the original rates of pay and this was an indication that their level of cooperation and support was something to count on.
The sample design used was simple random stratified sampling. Stratification sampling is the use of previous knowledge regarding the population so that the precision and the representations of the sample can be increased (Khan, Khan, & Ahsan, 2003). We had to get a sample frame that gave us insightful information on the population size and divided the sectors according to specifically identified parameters (Geography, location and size) that are relevant. These parameters became the basis of developing the stratified sample and the names and unit addresses that were randomly selected from the curated list that had the appropriate information regarding the selected parameters. A total of 200 units was the aim of the sample size and to cater for the issue of having a low response rate from the respondents a total of 500 units had to be selected.
Once all the 500 questionnaires were sent out they had to be attached with a cover letter and a return envelope and a time frame of three months were given. A system that can be easily updated whenever necessary was the main aim of the research. Also, the emails sent allowed customization of the letters to display the establishment’s name and address, this meant that even after the research has been done and monitoring is needed then the same letter can be reused by just customizing them again. We aimed to set a long-lasting system despite the process taking a lot of time to set up and work efficiently. The letter sent was stamped and the cover letter emphasized the importance of the study. In case there was no response in three weeks then a follow-up reminder would be sent to give a polite reminder to the recipient regarding the mail they had gotten three weeks prior.
Interviews were the second method used to collect more accurate data, over time it has become the main data collection procedure that is closely related to getting qualitative research (Englander, 2012). The response from the promising questionnaires were the main priorities as they were the main leads to get detailed and in-depth information. A structured face to face interview was the best way to collect information as part of the second stage to get findings related to the staff turnover in hotels in Birmingham. This will enable the research to gain a qualitative aspect rather than just a quantitative aspect that had been provided by the questionnaire. Once the respondents agree to an interview then the research is bound to yield several positive outcomes since the complex questions can be handled with the attention they deserve and the response rate is guaranteed,
The mail questionnaire has always come with shortcomings and thus combining the method with the interview will help overcome the disadvantage (Moser &Kalton, 1973). He recognized that questionnaires are somehow limited and interviews can delve deeper and acquire more in-depth information. We decided to use a structured interview and standardized question so that the interviewee is not bored or feel like we are grilling them. Further questions can only be used in case the answer given is not clear or more information is needed. Once a rapport is created between the interviewer and interviewee the interest regarding the issue is built and the genuine participation is guaranteed. This stage will also be an opportunity to obtain from the interviewee a detailed data that is related to their employee rate turnover that will be important in the final research compilation. For the respondent to get to that level of cooperation the skills of the interviewer has to be top-notch. The interviewer had to get three main issues handled during the interview, one was details of its staff from selection, recruitment, training, employment, promotion, rewards, overtime payments and how they handled any form of grievances.
The second section to be tackled was the frequency of employee data collection in the hotel and this should particularly be on employee turnover rates over the years and if possible the reasons for leaving and how the management uses the information they get to better the situation. The final tackle will be on any investigations that may have been done regarding the changes that the firm has experienced and if the changes might have an impact on the staff turnover. Previous investigations help the research know what has been happening in the previous years and if any changes have taken place and possibilities of abnormalities can be identified as well. From there the interviewer can throw in any more questions while referring to the information that they already have. They can ask whether the turn over happens at certain times of the year and whether the turnover staff rate is normally from permanent staff, part-time or casual employees.
Piloting.
Interview method also had to be pilot tested to ensure it is viable and will provide the needed results. Five Hotels in Birmingham were selected and the contacts of the hotels were asked if they were willing to do a run through interviews with us. It was also an opportunity to show a descriptive possibility of the experience a participant has on the issue being discussed (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009) this test aimed to have a rough idea of how our structured interview would turn out and if any problems might arise during the interviews and even when gathering data from the replies. The analysts will be able to know if the replies give the initial aspects needed. The questions for the structured interview had to be revised after the pilot test to address the discussions that had aroused and then the final copy for the final interview was prompted. About twenty hotels had to be selected to take part in the interview relating to staff turn over, the sampling techniques were focused on the availability of information needed rather than the random sampling criteria.
The selection of the hotels was based on the hotels willing to spare time for the interview and cooperate during the whole process. Also, we had to choose the hotels who had the information we needed and not just any random hotel and lastly they had to be in a vicinity that was accessible to us since we were working with financial resources that were limited. Around 39 hotels who did not have staff turn over records that were detailed got eliminated. It was also decided that the records had to have the basic information needed like the time they worked in the hotel, their reason for leaving, age, gender and even marital status. The records also had to be up to date and the staff included should have left within the past year. We had to at least ensure that the hotels had this information before the interview so through calling we were able to know their statuses. The hotels that were not within our reach were also eliminated due to financial constraints. It was a methodology that was based on the factor of elimination in that in every step elimination had to be done so that we end up with the respondents who would give us the information we need.
Through openness, reflection and constant doing of interviews one can perfect their skills in a sense that their skills can be similar to that of a trained person (Englander, 2012). The person who claimed to be responsible for the hotel was the one who was interviewed and in most cases, the persons happened to be the general or personnel manager. The interview length was gauged depending on the level on which the respondent was forthcoming and most interviews lasted for an hour. Great rapports in interviews often led to in-depth interviews and cooperation since most hotels understood that the research was aiming at fixing the problem that is affecting them.
It is therefore correct to say that the research was extensive as possible and the two methods were able to provide both qualitative and quantitative data of the issue on staff turnover of employees in the hotel industry. The accuracy of the data was heightened when the results from the questionnaire were further prompted for interviews. This ensured that in-depth information was gathered from the respondents and thus facilitated a better analysis of the finding that can speak of the situation of the whole population just from our selected sample of the population.
Works cited.
Chalkiti, K., & Sigala, M. (2010). Staff turnover in the Greek tourism industry. International journal of contemporary hospitality management.
Englander, M. (2012). The interview: Data collection in descriptive phenomenological human scientific research. Journal of phenomenological psychology, 43(1), 13-35.
Fricker, R. D., & Schonlau, M. (2002). Advantages and disadvantages of Internet research surveys: Evidence from the literature. Field methods, 14(4), 347-367.
Khan, M. G., Khan, E. A., & Ahsan, M. J. (2003). Theory & methods: An optimal multivariate stratified sampling design using dynamic programming. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Statistics, 45(1), 107-113.
Kvale S. & Brinkmann S. Interviews (2nd Edition): Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing 2009 Thousand Oaks, CA Sage Publications
MOSER, C. and KALTON, G. Survey Methods in Social Investigation. London: Heinemann, 1973.
Parfitt, J. (2005). Questionnaire design and sampling. Methods in human geography: A guide for students doing a research project, 2.
Queiri, A., Yusoff, W. F. W., & Dwaikat, N. (2014). Generation-Y employees’ turnover: Work-values fit perspective. International Journal of Business and Management, 9(11), 199.
Van Teijlingen, E. R., & Hundley, V. (2001). The importance of pilot studies.