Faculty & Research
The Costs of Employee Turnover: When the Devil Is in the Details
Vol 6 No 15
By: J. Bruce Tracey Ph.D. and Timothy R. Hinkin Ph.D.
Executive Summary: Employee turnover continues to be a concern for many hospitality firms. To gain insights about the relative costs of different aspects of turnover, we first compared the costs of turnover for different hotel types. Based on data gathered from 33 U.S. hotels, we found that the costs of turnover were generally higher for: (1) higher complexity jobs; (2) independent properties; (3) properties with relatively high room rates; (4) large properties; (5) high- occupancy properties; (6) properties in markets with a high cost-of-living index; and (7) properties in markets with a high unemployment rate.
We also examined the relative effects of actions taken to replace departing staff, and found that the damage to productivity caused by the inexperience of new employees is the greatest contributor to the overall costs of turnover.
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- The Costs of Employee Turnover: When the Devil Is in the Details By: J. Bruce Tracey Ph.D. and Timothy R. Hinkin Ph.D.
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Other Reports or Articles You May Find of Interest
- Development and Use of a Web-based Tool to Measure the Costs of Employee Turnover: Preliminary Findings, by Timothy R. Hinkin and J. Bruce Tracey
- Intellectual Capital: A Key Driver of Hotel Performance, by Linda Canina, Cathy A. Enz, and Kate Walsh
- Using Your Pay System to Improve Employees' Performance: How You Pay Makes a Difference, by Michael C. Sturman
About J. Bruce Tracey Ph.D.
J. Bruce Tracey, associate professor of Management, received his PhD from the School of Business at the State University of New York at Albany in 1992. He has taught courses in human resources management for undergraduate, graduate, and professional audiences throughout North America, Europe and Asia, and he has won several awards for his efforts. He has conducted research on a wide range of strategic and operational-level HR topics, including the impact of training initiatives on firm performance, employee turnover, employment law and leadership. He has presented his work at numerous regional, national and international conferences, and his research has been published in diverse outlets such as the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, and the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law. Tracey’s recent sponsors for research and consulting include Four Seasons, Hilton, ClubCorp and Uno Chicago Grill, and he has been cited in USA Today and the Orlando Sentinel, among other popular press outlets.
For more information visit http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/facultybios/faculty.html?id=85
About Timothy R. Hinkin Ph.D.
Tim Hinkin is professor of Management at the School of Hotel Administration, where he has taught since 1992. Hinkin served as the school’s director of Undergraduate Studies for six years. He also teaches in the school’s Professional Development Program. Hinkin’s primary research focus is in leadership, employee retention, supervisor-subordinate relationships and managing service quality. He recently published, “Cases in Hospitality Management: A Critical Incident Approach” (2nd edition, New York: John Wiley , 2006), Hinkin has also written many articles published in journals such as Human Relations, Journal of Applied Psychology, Hospitality Research Journal, and the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. Hinkin has provided training and consulting for a wide range of enterprises. His clients include IBM Corporation, Israeli Hotel Managers Association, Institute for Hotel Management, Accor of North America and ClubCorp USA, Inc. Hinkin earned his Ph.D. at the University of Florida, and his B.A. and M.B.A. degrees at Michigan State University.
For more information visit http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/facultybios/faculty.html?id=35
