Management Project
Final
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and
current employees
[own name]
[student number]
[name company]
[date]
Word count: 9.473
NHL Stenden – Hospitality Management
Leeuwarden
The Netherlands
Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of the degree Program
Bachelor of Arts (Hospitality Management)
,2
Declaration of own work
1. I composed this work myself.
2. This work has not been accepted in any previous application for a degree or diploma, by
myself or anyone else.
3. The work of which this is a record has been done wholly by myself.
4. All verbatim extracts have been distinguished by quotation marks and the sources of
information have been specifically acknowledged.
Name student: [own name]
Student number: [student number]
Date: [date]
Signature:
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,3
Abstract
Word count: 194
The aim of this qualitative research was to understand the perception of former and current
employees from [name company] to minimize the employee turnover rate. Over the past three years,
the employee turnover rate at [name company] increased, showing a turnover rate of 61.8% in 2019.
The literature review emphasizes the relation between reasons for employee turnover and different
generations. I gathered all data by semi-structured interviews. The population is divided into two
subpopulations; former and current employee at [name company]. Purposive sampling, maxium
variation sampling and convenience sampling are used. I used descriptive coding to analyze the
collected data. The results show that former and current employees perceive the working conditions
at [name company] rather poor. Hence, this is one of the main resignation reasons. In addition to that,
salary and behavior of management are (possible) resignation reasons. On the contrary, the
atmosphere and flexibility of [name company] are mentioned as (possible) retention reasons. Main
suggestions from the participants are an increasing salary, increasing professionality, improve
knowledge and expertise, lowering the work pressure and increasing the transparency. Based on
these outcomes, recommendations are given which can be implemented by [name company] and
used for further research.
Keywords: employee turnover; perception; former and current employees; [name company]
Table of conten
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,4
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,5
List of figures and tables 8
Chapter 1: Introduction 9
1.1 Topic description & context 9
1.1.1 Context and rationale of the research 9
1.1.2 Problem description 10
1.1.3 Purpose and relevance of the research 11
1.1.4 Outline of this research 11
1.2 Literature review 11
The basics of employee turnover 11
Reasons for employee turnover 12
Employee turnover amongst different generations 12
Consequences for the company 13
Employee retention 13
1.3 Conceptual model 14
1.4 Project definition 14
1.4.1 Problem Statement 14
1.4.2 Research questions 15
Chapter 2: Method 16
2.1 The research design 16
2.2 Instrument 16
2.3 Population, sample and sampling method 16
2.4 Data collection 17
2.5 Data analysis 18
2.6 Ethical considerations 18
Chapter 3: Results 19
3.1 General results 19
3.2 Working conditions 20
3.2.1 Work pressure 20
3.2.2 Working overtime 21
3.2.3 Flexibility 21
3.2.4 Physical and mental condition of the employees 22
3.3 Team 22
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,6
3.3.1 Diversity of the team 22
3.3.2 Teamwork 23
3.3.3 Transparency 23
3.4 Management 24
3.4.1 Professionalism 24
3.4.2 Feeling heard 25
3.5 Atmosphere 25
3.5.1 Atmosphere 25
3.5.2 Family feeling 26
3.5.3 Management 26
3.6 Way of Working 26
3.6.1 Promotion System 27
3.7 Labor Agreement 27
3.7.1 Salary 27
3.8 Resources 28
3.8.1 Expertise 28
3.9 Suggestions 28
Chapter 4: Discussion 29
4.1 Actual discussion and interpretation 29
4.1.1 Description of the working conditions at [name company] 29
4.1.2 (Possible) resignation reasons 29
4.1.3 (Possible) retention reasons 30
4.1.4 Suggestions to reduce future employee turnover 30
4.2 Limitations 31
4.3 Conclusion 32
4.4 Personal refection 32
Chapter 5: Recommendations 33
Recommendations for [name company] 33
Recommendations for further research 33
References 35
Appendices 38
Appendix A: Participation Information Sheet 38
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,7
Appendix B: Consent Form 40
Appendix C: Transcripts 41
Transcript interviewee C1 41
Transcript interviewee C2 47
Transcript interviewee C3 52
Transcript interviewee C4 59
Transcript interviewee C5 65
Transcript interviewee F1 72
Transcript interviewee F2 82
Transcript interviewee F3 87
Transcript interviewee F4 92
Transcript interviewee F5 97
Appendix D: Coding Table 101
Appendix E: Coded transcripts 107
Coded transcript I 107
Coded transcript II 114
115
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,8
List of figures and tables
Chart 1: Overview of the number of employees that left [name company] per department.
Figure 1: Conceptual model visualizing the literature review about employee turnover.
Table 1: Dedicated color themes used for coding.
Figure 2: Overview of favorite and least favorite things concerning working at [name company].
Figure 3: Suggestions from former and current employees to decrease the employee turnover rate.
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,9
Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter entails the topic description, including the context and rationale of the research, problem
description and purpose of this research. Furthermore, the literature review identifies relevant theories
for this research. Subchapter 1.3 entails the conceptual model representing the information gathered
from the literature review. Moreover, 1.4 entails the project definition, including the problem statement
and research questions.
1.1 Topic description & context
In this subchapter, I explain the context of the research. Moreover, it presents an in-depth view of the
problem description as well as the purpose of this research.
1.1.1 Context and rationale of the research
[name company], hereafter mentioned as [name company], is established in 2012 and claims to be
THE international hospitality storytelling agency. Currently, [name company] only has an office in
Amsterdam; however, the goal is to open a small office in Rotterdam in 2020. From there on, [name
company] wants to focus on maintaining new clients in Rotterdam and The Hague to in this way
increase their portfolio and brand awareness.
[name company] is working for several brands and venues within the [left blank due to privacy]
industry, including [left blank due to privacy] and more. The portfolio of [name company] entails
approximately 35 clients. Contract durations vary from three, six to twelve months. [name company] is
fulfilling duties related to PR, marketing, social media, copywriting, brand development, project
management, events, and design.
[name company] has five departments, namely:
Management: includes human resources, finance, and management related duties;
o This department entails X full-time employees.
Team X: includes all marketing and event-related duties, also known as project management;
o This department entails X full-time employees and four trainees.
Team X: includes all PR related duties;
o This department entails X full-time employees.
Team X: includes all social media related duties;
o This department entails X full-time employees and three trainees.
Team X: includes all copywriting, brand development and design-related duties;
o This department entails X full-time employees and one trainee.
Within these five departments, there are different degrees in functions, which are: manager, expert,
senior, associate, junior and trainee. The function of an employee is based on the years of experience
as well as the years at [name company]. In general, an employee gets promoted after one year in the
same function. Of course, this is still depending per person and their situation.
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
, 10
Even though these five departments have different day to day jobs, their duties are linked often. For
instance, whenever team X hosts an event, team X makes sure they invite media and press to
generate social exposure. Team X creates social posts and makes sure everyone will notice the event
while scrolling through their social media channels. In addition to that, team X creates personal
invites.
Concerning working hours, there are two employees at [name company] which work on a permanent
contract containing 24 or 32 hours a week. In addition to that, all trainees at [name company] are on
an exclusive contract of 34 hours a week. All other employees are on a full-time contract containing
40 hours a week.
Currently, business is going well, and [name company] is still gathering new clients. However, one of
the main problems [name company] is dealing with is the high employee turnover rate. Subchapter
1.1.2 will give more in-depth information about the current situation of this problem.
1.1.2 Problem description
The following data, retrieved from [left blank due to privacy] (personal communication, November 7,
2019), confirms the relatively high employee turnover rate within the company. In 2017, nine
employees left [name company], which generated a turnover rate of 47%. The year after, in 2018, 14
employees left [name company], which generated a total turnover rate of 59.7%. In 2019, 14
employees left, this time the employee turnover rate was 61.8%. These numbers show that over the
past three years, there has been a relatively high employee turnover rate.
For this research, I focussed on a period of four months (September 2019 – December 2019). Within
this period, 11 employees left or announced to leave the company anytime soon ([left blank due to
privacy], personal communication, November 7, 2019). This number can be seen as relatively high,
considering [name company] only has 29 employees, including seven trainees. These numbers
signify that in this particular period, the employee turnover rate was 37%. All 11 cases are voluntary
turnover. The job positions from the employees that left – or are about to leave - vary from different
departments and functions. Chart 1 represents an overview of the number of employees that left
[name company] per department. As can be seen, most employees that left are either X, Team X or
Team X.
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
Final
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and
current employees
[own name]
[student number]
[name company]
[date]
Word count: 9.473
NHL Stenden – Hospitality Management
Leeuwarden
The Netherlands
Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of the degree Program
Bachelor of Arts (Hospitality Management)
,2
Declaration of own work
1. I composed this work myself.
2. This work has not been accepted in any previous application for a degree or diploma, by
myself or anyone else.
3. The work of which this is a record has been done wholly by myself.
4. All verbatim extracts have been distinguished by quotation marks and the sources of
information have been specifically acknowledged.
Name student: [own name]
Student number: [student number]
Date: [date]
Signature:
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,3
Abstract
Word count: 194
The aim of this qualitative research was to understand the perception of former and current
employees from [name company] to minimize the employee turnover rate. Over the past three years,
the employee turnover rate at [name company] increased, showing a turnover rate of 61.8% in 2019.
The literature review emphasizes the relation between reasons for employee turnover and different
generations. I gathered all data by semi-structured interviews. The population is divided into two
subpopulations; former and current employee at [name company]. Purposive sampling, maxium
variation sampling and convenience sampling are used. I used descriptive coding to analyze the
collected data. The results show that former and current employees perceive the working conditions
at [name company] rather poor. Hence, this is one of the main resignation reasons. In addition to that,
salary and behavior of management are (possible) resignation reasons. On the contrary, the
atmosphere and flexibility of [name company] are mentioned as (possible) retention reasons. Main
suggestions from the participants are an increasing salary, increasing professionality, improve
knowledge and expertise, lowering the work pressure and increasing the transparency. Based on
these outcomes, recommendations are given which can be implemented by [name company] and
used for further research.
Keywords: employee turnover; perception; former and current employees; [name company]
Table of conten
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,4
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,5
List of figures and tables 8
Chapter 1: Introduction 9
1.1 Topic description & context 9
1.1.1 Context and rationale of the research 9
1.1.2 Problem description 10
1.1.3 Purpose and relevance of the research 11
1.1.4 Outline of this research 11
1.2 Literature review 11
The basics of employee turnover 11
Reasons for employee turnover 12
Employee turnover amongst different generations 12
Consequences for the company 13
Employee retention 13
1.3 Conceptual model 14
1.4 Project definition 14
1.4.1 Problem Statement 14
1.4.2 Research questions 15
Chapter 2: Method 16
2.1 The research design 16
2.2 Instrument 16
2.3 Population, sample and sampling method 16
2.4 Data collection 17
2.5 Data analysis 18
2.6 Ethical considerations 18
Chapter 3: Results 19
3.1 General results 19
3.2 Working conditions 20
3.2.1 Work pressure 20
3.2.2 Working overtime 21
3.2.3 Flexibility 21
3.2.4 Physical and mental condition of the employees 22
3.3 Team 22
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,6
3.3.1 Diversity of the team 22
3.3.2 Teamwork 23
3.3.3 Transparency 23
3.4 Management 24
3.4.1 Professionalism 24
3.4.2 Feeling heard 25
3.5 Atmosphere 25
3.5.1 Atmosphere 25
3.5.2 Family feeling 26
3.5.3 Management 26
3.6 Way of Working 26
3.6.1 Promotion System 27
3.7 Labor Agreement 27
3.7.1 Salary 27
3.8 Resources 28
3.8.1 Expertise 28
3.9 Suggestions 28
Chapter 4: Discussion 29
4.1 Actual discussion and interpretation 29
4.1.1 Description of the working conditions at [name company] 29
4.1.2 (Possible) resignation reasons 29
4.1.3 (Possible) retention reasons 30
4.1.4 Suggestions to reduce future employee turnover 30
4.2 Limitations 31
4.3 Conclusion 32
4.4 Personal refection 32
Chapter 5: Recommendations 33
Recommendations for [name company] 33
Recommendations for further research 33
References 35
Appendices 38
Appendix A: Participation Information Sheet 38
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,7
Appendix B: Consent Form 40
Appendix C: Transcripts 41
Transcript interviewee C1 41
Transcript interviewee C2 47
Transcript interviewee C3 52
Transcript interviewee C4 59
Transcript interviewee C5 65
Transcript interviewee F1 72
Transcript interviewee F2 82
Transcript interviewee F3 87
Transcript interviewee F4 92
Transcript interviewee F5 97
Appendix D: Coding Table 101
Appendix E: Coded transcripts 107
Coded transcript I 107
Coded transcript II 114
115
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,8
List of figures and tables
Chart 1: Overview of the number of employees that left [name company] per department.
Figure 1: Conceptual model visualizing the literature review about employee turnover.
Table 1: Dedicated color themes used for coding.
Figure 2: Overview of favorite and least favorite things concerning working at [name company].
Figure 3: Suggestions from former and current employees to decrease the employee turnover rate.
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
,9
Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter entails the topic description, including the context and rationale of the research, problem
description and purpose of this research. Furthermore, the literature review identifies relevant theories
for this research. Subchapter 1.3 entails the conceptual model representing the information gathered
from the literature review. Moreover, 1.4 entails the project definition, including the problem statement
and research questions.
1.1 Topic description & context
In this subchapter, I explain the context of the research. Moreover, it presents an in-depth view of the
problem description as well as the purpose of this research.
1.1.1 Context and rationale of the research
[name company], hereafter mentioned as [name company], is established in 2012 and claims to be
THE international hospitality storytelling agency. Currently, [name company] only has an office in
Amsterdam; however, the goal is to open a small office in Rotterdam in 2020. From there on, [name
company] wants to focus on maintaining new clients in Rotterdam and The Hague to in this way
increase their portfolio and brand awareness.
[name company] is working for several brands and venues within the [left blank due to privacy]
industry, including [left blank due to privacy] and more. The portfolio of [name company] entails
approximately 35 clients. Contract durations vary from three, six to twelve months. [name company] is
fulfilling duties related to PR, marketing, social media, copywriting, brand development, project
management, events, and design.
[name company] has five departments, namely:
Management: includes human resources, finance, and management related duties;
o This department entails X full-time employees.
Team X: includes all marketing and event-related duties, also known as project management;
o This department entails X full-time employees and four trainees.
Team X: includes all PR related duties;
o This department entails X full-time employees.
Team X: includes all social media related duties;
o This department entails X full-time employees and three trainees.
Team X: includes all copywriting, brand development and design-related duties;
o This department entails X full-time employees and one trainee.
Within these five departments, there are different degrees in functions, which are: manager, expert,
senior, associate, junior and trainee. The function of an employee is based on the years of experience
as well as the years at [name company]. In general, an employee gets promoted after one year in the
same function. Of course, this is still depending per person and their situation.
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
, 10
Even though these five departments have different day to day jobs, their duties are linked often. For
instance, whenever team X hosts an event, team X makes sure they invite media and press to
generate social exposure. Team X creates social posts and makes sure everyone will notice the event
while scrolling through their social media channels. In addition to that, team X creates personal
invites.
Concerning working hours, there are two employees at [name company] which work on a permanent
contract containing 24 or 32 hours a week. In addition to that, all trainees at [name company] are on
an exclusive contract of 34 hours a week. All other employees are on a full-time contract containing
40 hours a week.
Currently, business is going well, and [name company] is still gathering new clients. However, one of
the main problems [name company] is dealing with is the high employee turnover rate. Subchapter
1.1.2 will give more in-depth information about the current situation of this problem.
1.1.2 Problem description
The following data, retrieved from [left blank due to privacy] (personal communication, November 7,
2019), confirms the relatively high employee turnover rate within the company. In 2017, nine
employees left [name company], which generated a turnover rate of 47%. The year after, in 2018, 14
employees left [name company], which generated a total turnover rate of 59.7%. In 2019, 14
employees left, this time the employee turnover rate was 61.8%. These numbers show that over the
past three years, there has been a relatively high employee turnover rate.
For this research, I focussed on a period of four months (September 2019 – December 2019). Within
this period, 11 employees left or announced to leave the company anytime soon ([left blank due to
privacy], personal communication, November 7, 2019). This number can be seen as relatively high,
considering [name company] only has 29 employees, including seven trainees. These numbers
signify that in this particular period, the employee turnover rate was 37%. All 11 cases are voluntary
turnover. The job positions from the employees that left – or are about to leave - vary from different
departments and functions. Chart 1 represents an overview of the number of employees that left
[name company] per department. As can be seen, most employees that left are either X, Team X or
Team X.
Minimizing the employee turnover rate at [name company] based on the perception of former and current employees.
