Length of Service versus Employee Retention Factors: Hotels in Cape Town, South Africa

Employee retention can be measured quite accurately with the actual number of years that employees have worked in an organisation. Objective: This study investigates relationships between hotel employees' length of service and responses to individual variables explaining employee retention factors. Approach: A structured questionnaire survey of 217 hotel employees in Cape Town, South Africa was used to obtain information that were subjected to bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results: Key results show that employees who have worked longer in the hotel have particular characteristics: they perceive that working hours in the hotel do not infringe on their personal quality time with friends; they perceive it will be difficult for them to leave the hotel; they want to remain in the hotel for a long time; and quite interestingly, they perceive they do not receive continuous training in the hotel. Implications: Further costs of hiring and developing new employees can be reduced if loyal and talented employees are retained for longer periods through continuous career development. Value: This study is of particular interest to the hotel sector management, as it is focussed on retaining those staff who really want to build a career in the hospitality industry