Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee Turnovers

Introduction

Employee turnover is an issue of concern in every business organization across the world. Employee turnover refers to losing talent in the workforce at a particular time. It entails departure of employees from the organization through resignations, layoffs, terminations, retirements, transfers or death. Businesses calculate their turnover rates as a way of predicting productivity customer service and building morale to the general organization. Managers and business owners spend a lot of time and effort looking for the right people for their businesses. It is more difficult when hiring for small or medium sized businesses because hiring the wrong workforce in a small business leads to negative consequences in the entire team. Business organizations incurs costs of advertising, takes a lot of time going through the CVs and carrying out interviews. More so, they also incur costs in induction and training the new employees. Considering all these efforts, it is prudent for business owners and managers to do all they can in their powers to reduce employee turnovers. Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee Turnovers

Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee TurnoversCurrently, there are many debates and research studies on the causes of increased incidences of employee turnovers. From the debates and research, several causes and impacts have been established as the major causes of turnovers. One of the causes of employee turnover is part-time working relationships. Over the past few years, it has been found that employees who work as part-time workers; register the highest possibilities of turnovers in organizations (Joung et al. 2018). Therefore, the problem of part-time employment and how it impacts employee turnovers should be researched to help entrepreneurs and organizational managers understand the existing relationship. In this case, the research will consider two significant and interconnected variables. The first variable consists of, employee turnover and the second variable consists of part-time work (Joung et al., 2018). Part-time workers are workers who perform their duties under a reduced time limit on the firm. Unlike other standard workers, part-time workers directly answer to supervisors or management. Part-time workers are also less likely to receive all the benefits that full-time workers receive. Therefore, since their work is more of a contract, they have the liberty to walk away from the firm or stay. Thus, it is necessary to study and understand how working part-time impacts employee turnover. Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee Turnovers

Research question: Do part-time workers have a higher employee turnover rate than full-time workers?

Problem Statement: Employee turnover has increasingly become an expensive process, exerting direct and indirect costs to many organizations. Voluntary turnovers have become common in the organization, with employees leaving at their own will due to low payment, unhealthy work environment, and part-time employment. This research focuses on how part-time employment impacts high employee turnovers in fast food industries. The potential samples of respondents for this research will be part-time employees at McDonald’s restaurant. This research will focus on the typology of part-time employment groups as discussed under the Partial Inclusion Theory. The Partial Inclusion Theory helps in understanding the differences between part-time groups and how they differ from full-time employees’ attitudes and behaviors. This theory also highlights that individuals belong to numerous social systems and physical/psychological competing roles.

Researchers for work status argue that part-time employees are always partially involved in their organizations because they do not work full time while still attached to other focal organizations. Thus, the Partial Inclusion Theory can be used to differentiate part-time employees from full-time employees as well as how part-time working can impact turnovers. Comparably, my research problem statement meets the requirements on the checklist of Evaluating a Research Problem. This problem statement is supported by literature because it is relevant in the field of business or workplaces. It is also a timely research problem with a significant impact on organizations. It is specific, clear, and researchable; hence, it qualifies as a research problem. Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee Turnovers

Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee TurnoversLiterature review

Over the past few years, there have been higher rates of employee turnover in organizations. The fast-food industries register a higher number of employees quitting their jobs as compared to other industries. Since the fast-food industry accommodates both part-time and full-time employees, higher turnover rates are associated with the high rate of part-time employees in the industry. Therefore, Joung and his colleagues used the article investigating differences in job-related attitudes between full-time and part-time employees in the foodservice industry, posted in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, to highlight how part-time employment impacts employee turnovers fast-food organizations (Joung et al. 2018). The purpose of their investigation was to understand the differences in perceptions of the internal marketing practices, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions between part and full-time employees. The employment status was employed as a moderator in the study of the turnover model.

According to the research findings, Joung (2018) and his colleagues established that full-time employees had greater perceptions regarding Internal Marketing Perceptions (IMPs) than part-time employees. More so, full-time employees were more committed to the organization, with fewer intentions to quit than part-time. Such results highlight the impacts of part-time employees on the increased turnovers in organizations. It is evident that part-time employees are less committed to the organization, which increases their intentions to quit at any time of the year, month, and week or day as long as they feel so. It can be established that part-time employees have higher intentions of quitting their jobs because they are less committed to the organization. More so, Joung et al. (2018) argues that part-time employees have lower perceptions regarding the internal marketing practices, hence, registering the possibilities of quitting their jobs at any time. Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee Turnovers

Stamolampros et al. (2019) used the article Job satisfaction and employee turnover determinants in high contact services: Insights from Employees’ Online reviews, posted under Tourism Management, 75, 130-147, to understand the determinants of job satisfaction and employee turnovers in organizations. Job satisfaction and employee turnovers are critical aspects and issues of concern in organizations. Employees will be less likely to quit their jobs if satisfied with the organization’s leadership and culture (Stamolampros et al., 2019). However, there are higher chances for them to quit if their satisfaction levels are low or none. Moreover, it is essential to understand that organizations that foster career progression among the employees register low employee turnovers compared to organizations with low or no career progression.

Their analysis was established from a vast number of employees across the tourism and hospitality industry in America. According to their findings, it was established that employees are more satisfied with good leadership and positive organizational culture. Similarly, employee turnover was associated with lack of career progression among the employees. According to Stamolampros (2019) and his colleagues, an increase in career progression reduces an employee’s chances of quitting or leaving the organization. These two aspects are closely related to the status of employment of the employees. With poor job satisfaction and low career progression, part-time employees are likely to quit their jobs and seek other organizations that will meet their expectations as compared to full-time employees. This is because, for a full-time employee, he or she is held back with the contract and tired up to the organizational commitment. Therefore, as Stamolampros (2019) and his colleagues illustrated, career progression is essential for employees since it reduces turnovers; thus part-time employees can easily quit because they are not entitled to progression. Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee Turnovers

Many entrepreneurs and businesses are registering high employee turnovers, and the Chinese entrepreneurs are not exceptional. Dr. Shukla (2020) and his colleagues use the article Frequent Employee Turnover And Its Impact To Chinese Entrepreneur poster in the Psychology and Education Journal, 57(9), 3295-3303 to illustrate on this. According to Shukla et al. (2020) arguments, turnovers mirror the number of workers leaving an organization randomly. High employee turnovers cause a profound effect on the organization; therefore, it becomes essential for organizational managers to find the root cause of turnovers and help address it. According to this research, gender bias and motivation are paramount aspects leading to high turnovers in Chinese businesses.

Gender bias and the level of motivation to employees play a crucial role in employee turnovers in organizations. Some organizations value female employees more than male employees, while other organizations value male employees compared to female employees. For instance, in the food and beauty industries, female employees are better motivated than male employees. Such organizations tend to value full-time female employees and many part-time male employees (Shukla et al., 2020). As a result, the employees are regarded as assets to the organization and hence, are better motivated to ensure they are retained within the organization than male employees. Therefore, such aspects foster a higher rate of turnover among male employees because they will feel left out and commit less to the organization because of low job satisfaction. Thus, Dr. Shukla and his colleagues’ thoughts resonate with Joung et al.’s and Stamolapmros et al.’s arguments because they focus on the facts that impact employee turnovers in organizations, based on employee status. Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee Turnovers

Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee TurnoversJawoski et al. (2018) published an article on how training satisfaction, employee benefits and incentives affects part-time employees’ commitment to organizations in the hospitality industry. According to Jaworski (2018) and his colleagues, training is an essential element in the hospitality industry because of the various benefits. For instance, training ensures consistency in job performance, increases job satisfaction, improves guest satisfaction, and minimizes business costs in the organization. However, it is unfortunate that companies do not implement the required effective training requirements, especially for part-time employees.

Jaworski et al.’s (2018) arguments can be related to Stamolampros et al.’s (2019) arguments on job satisfaction and employee turnovers. First, it is vital to understand that job training increases career progression among employees. Therefore, implementing effective training for all workers regardless of their employment status increases their levels of performance, commitment to the organization, and productivity. However, lack of training implies that the employees will have a reluctant career progression, fewer benefits, and will commit less to the organization.  Since part-time employees rarely receive training incentives in most organizations, they are more likely to quit their jobs due to a lack of benefits, incentives, and job satisfaction. Joung (2018) and his colleagues stated that part-time employees are not as committed to an organization as full-time employees. Therefore, without the training, benefits, and incentives, they can easily detach themselves from the organization compared to full-time employees. Thus, if organizational managers wish to retain part-time employees within the organizations, they need to provide them with training satisfaction, employee benefits, and incentives that increase their commitment to the organization.

Work status congruence and perceived management concern on employee turnover intentions are an issue in the current restaurant chains in the US. DiPietro and Bufquin (2018) explored this issue through the article on how work status congruence and perceived management concern affects employee turnovers intentions in fast food industry. Based on the argument in this article, turnover intentions among hourly employees in the restaurant chain in the US are higher. This has affected the entire restaurant industry in the US because higher employee turnovers have become a consistent and costly issue over the recent years. DiPietro and Bufquin argue that restaurant owners and managers should understand how various variables affect employee turnover intentions (DiPietro and Bufquin, 2018). Higher rates of turnovers negatively impact organizations; therefore, to curb the hardship effects, restaurant managers and owners should understand aspects such as work status congruence, perceived management concern for employees, job satisfaction, and the level of commitment to the organization.

DiPietro and Bufquin’s (2018) article resonates with prior articles discussed above regarding part-time employment and employee turnovers. The authors of this article argue that job satisfaction and commitment for hourly employees is the key element to reduce higher rates of employee turnovers and turnover intentions. Job satisfaction and commitment come from understanding the work status congruence, among other elements. Therefore, DiPietro and Bufquin help readers to understand the relationship between part-time employment (hourly working) and employee turnovers in organizations.

According to Larsen et al. (2019), part-time employment is always considered essential to both sides of the industry because it strikes a balance between work and life of the employee while ensuring secure flexibility and curbing costs for organizations. However, Larsen and his colleagues argue that part-time employment is associated with risks of high employee turnovers, less work commitment, and increased precariousness among employees. Even though employers use part-time employment strategies to curb costs and increase flexibility within organizations, there are high chances that part-time employment increases employee turnovers in the organizations.

In the Danish private sector, part-time working is believed to impact wage flexibility and living hours. Larsen and his colleagues illustrate the negative impacts of part-time working on employee turnovers because they cite that it is associated with higher risks of turnovers than full-time employment. The article resonates with the previous sources on the issue of job satisfaction and commitment. Larsen et al. (2019) state that “working-time regulations, including weekly working hours, in combination with wage regulations, seem pivotal to the scope of part-time work and earnings inequalities, and thus implicitly affect living hours and a flexible workforce across distinct sectors” (pg 136-137). The statement implies that working hours and wages are paid to determine the flexibility of the workforce; hence, these elements are subject to high turnovers if they are not met or incompatible.

Methodology

The present study was conducted as part of establishing the impacts of part-time working on employee turnovers. The methodology section entails the selected methods of data collection. For any research study, data collection is essential because it has either negative or positive impacts on the research findings. Inaccurate data collection negatively impacts the results of the research, ultimately leading to invalid results. In this research study, I will explore both the qualitative and quantitative data methodologies because the research is both qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative methods of collecting data rely on sampling and structured instruments for data collection, which fits diverse experiences into predetermined response categories. This data collection method is essential because it produces results that can be easily be summarized, compared, and generalized. With the quantitative data collection methodology, the researcher can test the research hypothesis based on relevant sample responses.

Notably, the world is facing a devastating health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses across the world have embraced various measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. Therefore, many businesses have measures such as social distancing, use of protective clothing and lying off employees to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Such incidences and measures have negatively impacted researchers because it requires them to be cautious about the types of research methods they select in conducting their research. Thus, while choosing the qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection, I ensured that the method adheres to the COVID-19 measures and directives. Moreover, since McDonald’s restaurant encounters many people daily, it makes it difficult to visit and carry out interviews or face-to-face surveys due to the pandemic. In this case, both the qualitative and quantitative methods I choose minimized face-to-face interactions and travelling to the respondents to get their responses. Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee Turnovers

A quantitative method of data collection can be done through interviews or questionnaires. This research will narrow down the methodology to the use of two types of questionnaires. I will use both the paper-pencil questionnaires and the web-based questionnaires. The paper pencil questionnaires have various advantages. The main advantage is that they generate a higher rate of response as compared to the web-based questionnaire. More so, many respondents believe that since the paper pencil questionnaire is printed, it is more anonymous, and hence, they tend to respond to the questions with honesty. The paper pencil survey does not require the use of tablets and smart phones like the web-based questionnaires, therefore, there are possibilities that participants without smart phones or tablets will still take part of the research because they will access the paper pencil questionnaires.

For the paper-pencil questionnaires, the questionnaires can be sent to a good amount of people. The participants in the group will be part-time working employees in high-end functioning organizations such as the McDonald’s fast restaurant. I intend to send them the paper-pencil questionnaire through a previous manager of mine who is also my uncle. Since he had agreed to taking the questionnaire and circulating it among the employees, I am optimistic that I will receive my feedback in due course. This method adheres to the COVID-19 protocols, saves time and the cost of transportation from one place to another (Patten & Newhart, 2017). It is a basic data collection method because people provide more accurate responses to the questions since their responses are anonymous. Based on part-time employment and how it impacts employee turnovers, the participants have the liberty to air out their true opinions regarding the issue since it is anonymous.

However, as Leedy and Ormrod argue, the paper-pencil questionnaire has drawbacks (Rudolph, 2018); Leedy & Ormrod, 2015). Some participants never return their questions; however, if they do, some responses do not come from the original samples selected for the research. Feedback from participants varies in various ways. I will use both the direct and indirect feedback. Direct feedback can be verbal or nonverbal. The direct verbal feedback is the most useful form of feedback because it is direct and on point because I will directly talk to the respondents. Even though it is rarely available, the current pandemic makes it essential to use phone calls, the internet, or written feedback forms. On the other hand, the indirect nonverbal feedback is where the research concludes his survey based on the reactions of the respondents. For instance, the participants can completely fail to turn in their responses to the questions on the questionnaire, or some might opt out of the online survey system. This will indicate that they have negative reactions to the survey and hence, negative response. Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee Turnovers

I will also opt to using the web-based questionnaire because of its rapid growth in the field of research. Web-based questionnaires use the internet to research and gather data relevant to the research thereof. It requires participants to register their emails where they receive an email notification from the researcher. They click on it, and it securely directs them to the research questionnaires to fill their answers. It is a quick method of data collection because it is less detailed. The web-based questionnaire survey can be in form of SMS survey, the email survey and the social media integration web-based methodology to get feedback from the respondents. This research will use the social media integration program whereby the survey will be posted on the various social media channels including Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. The respondents will accomplish the survey through a single click. This collects feedback from the participants. The drawback is that the web-based questionnaire is time consuming and requires participants to have full access of the internet.

Impacts of Part-Time Working on Employee TurnoversThis research’s qualitative data collection method will be vital in generating and evaluating the hypothesis, strengthening the survey questionnaire and interview designs, and expanding on the quantitative questionnaire findings. Even though it takes a longer time than the quantitative research methodology, it will be essential in collecting data for this research study. Both the primary and secondary data will be ideal for this research. For primary data, I intend to seek permission from the manager at McDonald’s restaurant to send the employees paper-pencil questionnaires. The questionnaires will entail questions regarding their experience as part or full-time employees and how possible it is for them to leave the company for another company. Some of the questions that will be on the questionnaire will consist of:

  • Are you currently a part-time worker within your organization?
  • Do you intend to be with the organization after 12 months?
  • How long have you been working for the company?
  • How likely would you be to refer someone to work here?
  • Do you get any benefits as a part-time employee?

The McDonald’s fast food restaurant was approached for participation in this research study. Within the organization, the primaries (N=100) were randomly assigned to the paper and pencil and web-based questionnaire. The employees that were assigned to the paper pencil and web-based questionnaires were required to complete responding to the questions. All of the participants were assured that the information they provided was confidential because the questionnaires openly stated that completed questionnaires would never be shown to anyone including the employer, the police, and spouses of family members. After reading through the confidentiality aspect, the participants were randomly issued the questionnaires. .

More so, I will use the literature review sources as my secondary sources. They will also provide me with relevant information regarding my project. Moreover, the information in the literature review essentially provides more information that supports the primary sources of data.

Findings

GroupAge (mean)Household income from jobMarital status (%)ChildrenSex

 

f/m

TenureWeekly working hoursWeekly earning
Primaries

(N=100)

50.0089%37%3980/20%330$250
Older married (N= 90)43.7820%100%2189/11420$200
Young married (N= 60)30.6536%100%1296/4325$214
Single (N= 100)45.7725%0%1890/10225$203
College students (N= 30)20.5450%14%863/37115$98
All part-time employees

(N= 4,500)

47.9926%56%4040/60223$190

In the table of findings above, my research project organized the respondents into various groups for easier analysis. The primaries refer to the total number of respondents who submitted their feedback; in this case, N was 300. The primaries were broken down into older married individuals, young married individuals, singles, and college students. All full part-time employees refers to total number of part time employees in McDonald’s restaurant while all full time employees refers to the total number of full time employees at McDonald’s restaurant. I have analyzed the groups based on their age, household income they get from the job, the number of children they have, marital status, working tenure, number of hours they work in a week and the total earnings in a week.

The table was used to measure the total turnovers rates and means for turnover months among the part-time and full-time employees. The total part-time turnovers were estimated to about 70%, with college students with the highest turnover rate. On overall measures, the turnover rates among full time employees were lower than that of part-time group. According to the responses from the feedback, it was detailed that affective organizational commitment, job satisfaction and work alternatives were the main predictors of high turnovers among part-time employees.

From the table, it is evident that the part-time employees differ from full time employees in demographic and descriptive characteristics. While the differences of these characteristics among the part-time workers are not a new thing, they shows that that part-time working is a diversified workforce that is different from full time working. The table indicates that the primaries earn higher in household income from their employer. More so, the primaries are the ones that work for longer hours, earn highly and comprises of a high proportion of people who years to work longer. The older married group entails the oldest individuals in the group and is the least people that would work for more hours in a week. The young married group comprises of individuals with the highest number of children at home. More so, these are individuals comprising of a higher proportion of female workers as compared to male workers. College students are young and some of them have children in their homes, works for moderate hours in a week and earns slightly lower than the married groups. Therefore, in a general comparison of the part-time and full time descriptive characteristics, there is a significant difference regarding their dependency on the job, working hours, weekly earnings and gender.

Means for turnover months and total seniority until turnover

Part-time groupsRate of turnoverTurnover monthsSeniority until turnover
Primaries60%15.5640.97
Older married59%19.8970.76
Young married55%14.0239.68
College students80%13.2333.56
All part-time employees89%12.0030.50
Full time employees35%20.4395.00

 

VariablePart-time (mean/standard deviation)Full time(mean/standard deviation)
Organizational commitment3.40/1.454.65/1.73
Job satisfaction3,98/1.343.22/0.44
Economic work options3.42/0.673.98/1.22
Non-economic work options2.44/0.723.98/0.99
Turnover months10.11/9.8720.16/17.65
Total seniority33.64/48.0395.64/97.20

The study highlighted that part-time employment has a significant impact on employee turnovers through various aspects such as perceived work alternatives, affective organizational commitment and employees’ overall job satisfaction. The employee commitment aspect was assessed based on the employees’ emotional attachment to McDonald’s organization. There were seven items for the participants to respond to. For instance, “I can proudly tell people that I am McDonald’s employee” was a response from some of the respondents. The overall employee job satisfaction and perceived work alternatives were also explored and their means and standard deviation recorded as above.

The Means for turnover months and total seniority until turnover table shows the approximate rates of turnovers among part-time and full employees. The rates differed between the two groups throughout the study. College students registered the highest number of turnovers, while the total seniority until turnover was higher in full time older married employees. On an overall scale, the mean measures for turnover rates in part-time employees were slightly higher than among full time employees.

Discussion of the findings

The purpose of this research was to establish the impacts of part-time working on employee turnovers in organizations. The common predictors for a higher turnover among part-time employees include organizational commitment, job satisfaction and perceived employment options. Based on the findings under this study, it is evident that when studying about part-time employment and their impacts on turnovers, researchers should not study part-time employees as a single and undifferentiated group. This is because this study has revealed a lot of meaningful differences in the various groups of part-time employees which significantly affects their behaviors and attitudes in organizations. Therefore, the distinctions between part-time and full time employees made from the past research should be expanded to help research understand the differences in part-time groups. This will enable employers to meet the needs of part-time workers, which will consequently result to a reduction in turnover rates in organizations.

Furthermore, the findings in this research indicate that having part-time group memberships is essential in moderating the effects of the common predictors of turnovers in organizations. The study revealed other contributors to turnovers such as job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and perceived work options, which were better predictors among college students than in the primaries and older married groups. Moreover, the research also explored the underlying differences in the predictors of turnovers for part-time groups and the results indicated similarities and support of the Katz and Kahn’s Partial Inclusion Theory. The theory suggests that role involvement in focal organizations decreases with outside attachments among employees. Hypothetically, the decreased involvement in the organization was associated with negative attitudes towards the job among part-time employees.

The findings also indicates that affective commitment was a strong predictor of employee turnovers among the older married group of workers and other groups with less focal attachment to the McDonald’s restaurant like college students. However, employee commitment to the organization was the highest predictor of turnovers in almost all the part-time groups. More so, organizational commitment was a strong predictor of employee turnovers among the groups with fixed attachments to the organization such as the primaries. The findings also indicate that some part-time employment groups are influenced by the quality of economic work alternatives. It is interesting to note that most of the part-time groups of employees are more influenced by economic work alternatives as compared to non-economic work alternatives. This might be associated with the relatively higher rates of unemployment within the McDonald’s locality since it was as low as 4.3%.

Furthermore, this study extends more on the Partial Inclusion Theory because it builds on the argument that lack of inclusion in the organization makes employees leads to less role involvement and participation in the focal organization. This is why most part-time employees reports more negative job attitudes as compared to positive attitudes. Moreover, it is tentatively believed that turnover rates among employees with fixed external role attachment like the college students is influenced by organizational commitment and job satisfaction as compared to turnover rates among employees with flexible external role attachments. This is because greater involvement in the organizations lowers the rates of turnovers in organizations.

These results have various implication to both the researchers and the McDonald’s employers.  The financial and personal situations of the part-time employees in the organization were used in forming the various part-time groups of study. Their selection and formation was based on the attitudes and behaviors of the employees. Therefore, the McDonald’s managers should be aware of the differences in the various groups of part-time employee groups and find a way to meet their needs by enhancing their job satisfaction which will reduce the rates of turnovers in the long run. More so, it should be noted that organizations should not select their part-time employees based on the various part-time groups because it can lead to discrimination as related to protected groups. Hence, I urge McDonald’s restaurant to only use the part-time groups in developing specific retention strategies in relation to the part-time group needs instead of using the information in making selection decisions. For instance, the organization can opt to use shift assignments or scheduled assignments per week to retain part-time employees and reduce the increased rates of turnovers in the organization. I argue that these scheduling solutions can be done by establishing them in the various part-time groups such as those with flexible attachment (primaries) while monetary incentives such as compensations can be offered to part-time employees with fixed attachments to the organizations such as the college students.

The major finding from this study is that part-time employees with fixed attachments have similar prediction factors for employee turnovers like those among full time employees. This means that researchers should not ignore the true differences among the various part-time employees as well as the similarities between part-time and full time employees regarding turnover predictions. Prior researches have always ignored such similarities and differences especially in the treatment of part-time and full time employees. More so, this research utilized the objective demographic measures discussed under the PIT theory; therefore, McDonald’s organization can easily apply the measures in its human resource operations. This research’s approach to examining the impacts of part-time working on employee turnovers has practical implications to the McDonald’s organization and other organizations across the nation because it has employed a theory-based approach which is easy to apply in daily organizational operations.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusively, employee turnover has been an issue of concern in the current business environment. Turnover refers to employees voluntarily quitting their working positions for various reasons including resignation, laying-off, termination, retirement, transfer or death.  Mangers and business owners spend a lot of time and incur a lot of financial costs in hiring the right persons and talents to work in their organizations. As such, high rates of turnovers negatively impacts business at any level of production. Part-time employment is an employee status that is closely associated with the current increase in turnovers in business organizations, especially the hotel and hospitality industry. Based on the literature review discussed above, it is evident that part-time employees focus a lot on the aspect of job satisfaction, career progression, commitment, and motivation through incentives and benefits. Lack of the above aspects has been the cause of high turnovers among part-time employees. On the other hand, as Joung and his colleagues argued, full-time employees are more committed to the organization, have lower turnover intentions, and have greater IMP than part-time employees. This explains why there are higher rates of turnovers among part-time employees in the current business organizations.

The findings from this research indicate that researchers and scholars should change their perceptions regarding the similarities and differences of turnover predictions among part-time employees and full time employees. More so, it should be noted that when analyzing or studying part-time employees, it is essential to study them according to the various groups of part-time employment. Since from the 1990s, suggestions shows that part-time employee do not have commonness among themselves besides the fact that they work for less hours as compared to full time employees. Part-time employees have reasons for working on part-time terms, different needs and responsibilities within and out of the organization. This explains their differences in attachment levels to the organization. Therefore, this research has played a great role in filling the gap in the literature of employee turnovers since it considers different groups of part-time employees and their different characteristics. The findings and results of this research shows the interactive effects of different part-time group membership and attitudes towards turnovers. Thus, the abilities to predict turnovers in organizations yield great turnovers for organizations because the cost of employee replacements after turnovers is higher.

Similarly, by understanding the distinct part-time employees groups and their existence, researchers will shift their focus and attention on the groups and provide accurate information unlike in the previous studies. For instance, for a research studying about impacts of part-time working on turnovers in the telemarketing industry can benefit from this study because they will have insights on classifying and understanding the large group of college students respondents who are more likely to quit their jobs faster than single female respondents. Therefore, as much as this research study highlighted the essential predictors of turnovers among part-time workers, it also helps in classifying part-time employees in various groups for easier analysis. Moreover, the mean and standard deviations in this study indicated that job satisfaction, organizational commitment and the perceived work alternatives plays a crucial role in employee turnovers among the distinct groups of part-time employees.

I have various recommendations towards future research on part-time working and its impacts on employee turnovers in organizations. First, I would recommend that for future studies, researchers should involve direct measurements regarding the level of involvement among the part-time employees in their organizations. More so, the studies should project on the level of involvement of the employee’s family, educational institution and their overall involvement in outside roles. By doing this, researchers will have a direct test for the predictions discussed in the Partial Inclusion Theory. More so, researchers will also clearly clarify how involvement in work or other role relates with subsequent employee attitudes and behaviors. I also recommend that future research in this topic should directly assess how employee flexibility plays a role in the roles there are assigned in organizations. Likewise, future research will more likely benefit from directly assessing work status congruence in different part-time employee groups and their relationship to attitudes and turnovers.

Future research studies should also examine the relevancy and appropriateness of the classification criteria in studying employees from other industries. For instance, there is a low number of high school students employed in fast food restaurants, however, I believe the classification scheme is used can still fit in the hotel industry. For organizations with many part-time employee retirees, it denotes relevancy among the major contributors to the part-time workforce, however, other researchers might argue that retirees should be classified as a separate group. Based on this study, retirees can be inclusive in the older married group. Therefore, the future research should ask the question, “would putting part-time retirees in spate groups when studying the impact of part-time employees on turnovers in organizations produce better findings and results?” Furthermore, there are possibilities that this research did not exhaustively incorporate the subset indicating the reasons why part-time employees work for part-time. For example, this research would have incorporated a subset that indicate and explores distinct employees yearning to work as part-time employees and others who would wish to work as full time employees. Such a distinction will help researchers acknowledge the differences in the attitudes and behaviors of employees and why it can lead to high turnovers in organizations. Therefore, I recommend that the future research studies should carry out similar research by incorporating various classification criteria to exhaust the possibilities and improve research findings.

Past research shows a long history in researching about employee attitudes while differentiating employees based on their working status. According to this study, there is a mean-level on the differences among part-time employees and how turnovers are relative to distinct groups. The findings show that part-time employees have different demographic characteristics, job attitudes, attachments, and reasons for working as part-time employees. This supports the proportion that part-time employees do not belong to a single homogenous group for any purpose. More so, this research highlighted that part-time employee groups differs in their rates of turnovers and predictions, hence, researchers and scholars should polish their predictions on turnovers through expansion of their views on part-time working status’ impacts. Today, the word of business is continually facing changes in the economic and social conditions. Therefore, part0time workers are becoming a significant part of the success of an organization. Thus, organizations should consider the substantial costs of turnovers and the fact that part-time employees are more likely to turnover as compared to full time employees. Carrying out similar but improved studies will help organizations to predict and plan for such rapid turnovers to avoid incurring the high costs of replacement. Lastly, organizations can use such studies to enact retention strategies that target specific types of part-time employees and their needs, which is essential in increasing their work experience while reducing rates of turnovers.

Limitations

This research has various limitations. For instance, implementing the data collection methods is a limitation since I lack an extensive experience in primary data collection. Therefore, there are possibilities that the nature of implementation of the collection method is flawed. The scope of discussion is another limitation in this study. This is because I do not have many years of experience in research work and production of academic papers. Therefore, the scope and depth of discussion might be compromised.

Another limitation is that role involvement was indirectly measured since it was inferred from non-work inclusions and attachments of the employees assessed according to the objective demographic measures. More so, it was difficult to directly measure the flexibility and fixation of the employees’ attachment outside their focal employer. Therefore, the amount of flexibility in this study was inferred. Furthermore, the sample in this study was more generalized. The surveyed employees were from McDonald’s fast food restaurant; therefore, there are possibilities that part-time workers from McDonald’s have different attitudes and behaviors as compared to part-time employees from other organizations, regions, countries or business sectors. For instance, it would not be a surprise if research studies on how part-time employees influence turnovers in retail organizations is different from the study on impacts of part-time employees on turnovers in fast food restaurants or hotel industry.

Moreover, the rate of response from the participants was relatively lower (23%). It is common for surveys to encounter low rates of responses; however, it makes it hard to determine the difference between those who responded and those who ignored. The last limitation is that I did not exhaust the entire measures essential in predicting turnovers among part-time employees. For instance met expectations are a concept that is related to employee attitudes and can significantly be used in accounting for an increase in the variance of turnovers.

 

 

References

DiPietro, R., & Bufquin, D. (2018). Effects of work status congruence and perceived management concern for employees on turnover intentions in a fast-casual restaurant chain. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism17(1), 38-59.

Jaworski, C., Ravichandran, S., Karpinski, A. C., & Singh, S. (2018). The effects of training satisfaction, employee benefits, and incentives on part-time employees’ commitment. International Journal of Hospitality Management74, 1-12.

Joung, H. W., Choi, E. K. C., & Taylor, J. J. (2018). Investigating differences in job-related attitudes between full-time and part-time employees in the foodservice industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

Larsen, T. P., Ilsøe, A., & Felbo-Kolding, J. (2019). Part-time work in Danish private services: A (mis) match between wage flexibility and living hours. In Dualisation of Part-Time Work: The Development of Labour Market Insiders and Outsiders (pp. 133-157). Policy Press.

Patten, M. L., & Newhart, M. (2017). Understanding research methods: An overview of the essentials.

Rudolph, J. (2018). Leedy, PD, & Ormrod, JE (2015). Practical research. Planning and design. Boston, MA: Pearson. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 1(2), 73-74.

Shukla, B., Joshi, M., & Chen, Q. (2020). Frequent Employee Turnover and Its Impact On Chinese Entrepreneur. Psychology and Education Journal, 57(9), 3295-3303.

Stamolampros, P., Korfiatis, N., Chalvatzis, K., & Buhalis, D. (2019). Job satisfaction and employee turnover determinants in high contact services: Insights from Employees’ Online reviews. Tourism Management, 75, 130-147.

 

Appendices

GroupAge (mean)Household income from jobMarital status (%)Childrensex

 

f/m

TenureWeekly working hoursWeekly earnings
Primaries

(N=300)

50.0089%37%5980/20%330$250
Older married (N= 90)43.7820%100%2189/11420$200
Young married (N= 60)30.6536%100%1296/4325$214
Single (N= 100)45.7725%0%1890/10225$203
College students (N= 30)20.5450%14%863/37115$98
All part-time employees

(N= 4,500)

47.9926%56%4040/60223$190
All full time employees

(N= 2,789)

48.9867%65%1978/221040$400

 

Means for turnover months and total seniority until turnover

Part-time groupsRate of turnoverTurnover monthsSeniority until turnover
Primaries60%15.5640.97
Older married59%19.8970.76
Young married55%14.0239.68
College students80%13.2333.56
All part-time employees89%12.0030.50
Full time employees35%20.4395.00

 

Mean and standard deviations for various turnover prediction variables

VariablePart-time (mean/standard deviation)Full time(mean/standard deviation)
Organizational commitment3.40/1.454.65/1.73
Job satisfaction3,98/1.343.22/0.44
Economic work options3.42/0.673.98/1.22
Non-economic work options2.44/0.723.98/0.99
Turnover months10.11/9.8720.16/17.65
Total seniority33.64/48.0395.64/97.20

 

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