Abstract:
The hotel industry is one of the booming industries and plays a significant role in Sri
Lankan economy and labor market. The principal challenge of majority industry
organizations is to retain employees for a long period within the intensive competitive
environment. Effective Human resource management (HRM) practices are crucial factors
for employee retention and assist organizations to retain valuable employees. Therefore, it
is essential to retain employees via effective HRM practices. The main objective of this
study was to explore the relationship between HRM practices and employee retention and
to identify the highest and least influential factor in employee retention. The study
particularly identified recruitment and selection, training and development, performance
appraisal, and compensation and incentives as the four key HRM dimensions to analyse
the study objectives. 120 permanent operational levels of employees in the hotel industry
was selected using a purposive sampling method and data were collected through selfadministered questionnaires. The study systematically described, analysed, and
interpreted data using a quantitative approach. The data were analysed using the Pearson
correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression techniques. The results denoted that
all four dimensions of human resource practices had a strong positive relationship on
employee retention. Compensation and incentives were the highest influential factor
while training and development was the least influential factor in employee retention.
Finally, this study suggested that Human Resource executives in the hotel industry need
to pay more attention and should adapt effective HRM practices which make employee
satisfied and affect on employee retention in the organization.
Keywords: Hotel industry, Human resource management practices, Employee retention
