Human Capital Strategies to Reduce Employee Turnover in the Food Service and Automotive Industries

Abstract

High voluntary employee turnover in service industries often exceeds 60%, negatively affecting profitability due to employee replacement costs. In studies conducted with multinational corporate leaders, they acknowledged a lack of business direction resulting in a 68% failure to implement organizational strategies. Through a multiple case study, we aimed to explore the human capital strategies utilized in the automotive and food service industries to reduce voluntary employee turnover. We analyzed the responses of twenty-four service leaders in the Eastern and Midwest regions of the United States through the process of compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding. Vroom’s expectancy theory and G.S. Becker’s human capital theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. Five emergent themes supported positive work relationships with employees through employee motivation, employee selection, and employee incentives: benchmarking, training, communication strategies, organizational change, and integrity. The results support employee development and improved corporate profitability, which increases competitive advantage and economic sustainability within the service industry.