Employee intention to leave a job: A case of Malaysian fast food industry

This thesis explores the determinants of employees‟ turnover intentions in the fast food industry of Peninsular Malaysia and uses as determining variables items related to ‘job stressors’, ‘job stress’, ‘job satisfaction’ and ‘commitment’. This thesis also created one additional variable, ‘Job feeling‟ which was designed to include items relating to Malaysian’s cultural context such as the practice of religion at the workplace. Data derived from a self completed questionnaire comprises the major part of this thesis, and this was distributed to employees working in Peninsular Malaysia’s fast food industry. In addition, the interviews were completed with Managers at the Head offices and ten employees were also interviewed to gather information on job stress issues. The analysis of survey was done using SPSS 14.0 while interviews were translated and transcribed manually. The sample comprised 806 respondents from major international fast food chains operating in Malaysia, and the research is restricted to these companies and does not cover hawkers who also provide fast food in the market places and alleys of Malaysia. As in other countries, the workforce is generally young and it is recognised that not all wish to pursue a career in the fast food industry. Yet even so, on evidence derived from the managers at head offices, the labour turnover rates exceed 100 percent, and thus the issue of labour turnover is one of significance. The results of this thesis indicated that among the determinants, scores on job stress items provides evidence that permits a prediction of employees’ intention to leave a job in the Peninsular Malaysia fast food industry as based on data derived from multiple regression statistical techniques. Further, results found a ‘feeling of being burnt-out’ had the strongest correlation with employee intention to leave. These employees have thought of leaving their present job because they felt stress that, it is thought, arose from factors such as frequent customers’ contact and work pressure. In terms of correlations with socio-demographic variables, the overall results suggest that there were few significant differences between stressors, stress, feeling about the job and satisfaction and commitment, and where statistical significant findings emerged, it was found that, in absolute terms, the differences were minimal and generally derived from the same part of the scale (e.g. there existed a tendency to agreement or disagreement with items. The role of gender, age, marital status or length of employment appears therefore to be a minor discriminating factor. On the other hand the findings suggest that managers could pay attention to features of peer group adherence within the young employees, as some findings suggest that even workers who have few complaints might think more often of leaving their job if members of their ‘crew’ are of that opinion. From a managerial perspective, this study shed light by providing information about employees’ intention to leave a job in the Peninsular Malaysia fast food industry. As this study is the first such study in the Malaysian context, the findings, it is hoped will help the managers at the Head offices to better monitor their employees before they actually leave. The results from this study potentially may identify characteristics of those who may be susceptible to having a higher intention to leave. From a conceptual perspective, the study shows that many of the findings found in the literature derived from the English speaking world are applicable to Malaysia, but in part this may be because current management practices tend to respect Islamic beliefs and thus this did not emerge as an issue. However, the attention to peer groups has not been generally picked up in that literature that does exist with reference to labour turnover in the fast food industry. The limitations that exist within the study that inhibit possible generalisation relate to not only the geographical restriction to Peninsular Malaysia, but also primarily to the fact that the sample were all currently working within the industry. A lack of resources and time might be highlighted that it was not possible to address questions to those who had already left the industry, but it might be claimed that management are primarily concerned with current rather than past employees

Predictors of intention to stay for employees of casual dining restaurant in Klang Valley area

Employees are an asset to an organisation where they could be the determinant behind organisational's success or failure in an industry. In this study, the relationship between perceived organisational support (POS), perceived supervisor support (PSS), and organisational commitment (OC) with employee's intention to stay with their current jobs were studied. For that purpose, 717 questionnaires were collected among casual dining restaurants employees in Klang Valley area and analyses Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were run by using SPSS version 21. The results suggest that POS, PSS, and OC were positively correlated with employee's intention to stay with their current job. Furthermore, OC was also found to be the most influential factor in affecting employees' staying intention. The finding is hoped to have important implications where the management can formulate strategies to retain employees in restaurant industry in Malaysia

Emotional labour: a case of fast food employees in Klang Valley, Malaysia

This study aims to investigate the level of agreement on emotional labour strategies that include standard scripts, dress code and acting and the roles of socio-demographic towards emotion supervision of fast food employees. A survey questionnaire was used to underpin this study with participation of 170 respondents among fast food employees in Klang Valley area. Data were analysed by using SPSS version 19 and the results found that the use of standard scripts, dress code and acting had from moderate to high level of agreement on employees’ emotion. This study was hoped to give information and deeper insights about emotional labour. Managers can take an initiative to guide employees in order to provide good services and smooth interaction between employees and customers where it benefited both parties

Fruit culinary culture

In Malaysia, fruits are cultivated throughout the year and some are based on the season. Fruits like banana, papaya, guava, starfruit, jackfruit, mangoes, ciku (sapodilla) and melons are available all year round. Whereas, some fruits like durian, rambutan, mangosteen, cempedak, and duku are in season from May to July. Surprisingly, in recent years some of these fruits are available all year round. Fruits can be easily found at fruit stalls by the road-side, night markets, wet markets, supermarkets and hypermarkets as well as some provision shops throughout the country

Investigating on job hopping behavior among restaurant employees in Malaysia

Job hopping behavior among employees has existed ever since the inception of the industry. Today, in well-developed restaurant industry, job hopping is viewed as a typical practice among employees. When many options of job vacancy became available, an employee left an organization that cannot match with his expectations and move to another organization. However, this job hopping behavior was considered as normal behavior. As employees are considered a major capital for any organization, the relationship on job-hopping behavior with employees need to be investigated. The researcher sheds light on this situation from the manager’s point of view. This research aims to identify the reasons of job hopping behavior among employees. This research employed qualitative approach by using face-to-face interview. The data was gathered through semi-structured interview and a total of 10 restaurant managers from casual dining restaurants were voluntarily participated and interviewed in this research. Based on the interview data, it revealed six reasons that associated with employees’ job hopping which include financial and benefit, career growth, job security, social influences, working environment and low passion for jobs. Findings of this research hoped will help the restaurant owner and human resource division to highlight factors that lead to job hopping behavior. Additionally, findings of this study also expected to provide a better understanding to formulate effective measures and ultimately minimize job hopping from occur in the restaurants

University foodservice: an overview of factors influencing the customers' dining choice

On-campus foodservices were thought to be the first choice for university students to dine in. However, these seemingly captive consumers have been opting for off-campus foodservice as their preferred outlet. This paper aims to uncover specific factors that motivate undergraduate students to dine-in at university foodservice facilities using Profile Accumulation Technique (PAT). PAT is a semi-quantitative method that provides freedom for informants to answer in their own terms and words, alternatively the data could be analyzed statistically. 115 questionnaires were distributed to students and staff of a local university. Findings include a list of factors (positive perception, negative perception and expectations) that the students considered to be significant in determining their choice of food outlet. These factors are then descriptively analyzed to determine attributes influencing university customer preferences. This paper significantly contributes in providing a deeper insight into factors that influences dining choice of university foodservice’s customers in Malaysia

Predictors of Intention to leave a job for employees of casual dining restaurant in Klang Valley, Malaysia

The growing of restaurant industry in Malaysia is huge and this scenario leads to employment opportunities for job seekers. With huge job opportunities, managers play an important role to manage employees at workplace in order to increase employee’s productivity, performance and loyalty. On the other perspective, having many employees at workplace very challenging as it is difficult to retain them and evident from previous studies stated that Malaysian’s restaurant industry was placed third with the highest annual average turnover rate compare to other industries. Despite many researches uncover predictors behind employee turnover, scholars found that intention to leave is the best predictor of actual turnover. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the possible factors that influence intention to leave a job among casual dining restaurant employees. In this study, job stressor (JST), job satisfaction (JS) and organizational commitment (OC) were used to predict an employee’s intention to leave a job. The primary data of this study was derived from quantitative approach which distributed to those employees who were currently working in the casual dining restaurant in Klang Valley, Malaysia. A total of 560 questionnaires were usable for data analysis and data was analysed by using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 22. Results showed that job stressor was the most influential factor that contribute to employee’s intention to leave a job which its value (Beta = .554, p-value < .05) followed by organizational commitment variable. This result implied that employees of casual dining restaurants with a higher level of job stressor tend to have a higher intention leaving a job which can lead to actual turnover. The findings obtained from this study hoped to provide useful information about factor on employee’s intention to leave a job and it is hoped to help the restaurant managers to plan strategic approach to reduce employees’ intention to leave a job

Anti-diabetic Activity and Microbial Quality of Ready-to-Serve Momordica charantia (MC) Drink

Diabetes mellitus has a high prevalence in Malaysia and is expected to rise in the future due to lifestyle changes. Thus, consumers are turning to alternative methods in the prevention and cure of the disease. The Momordica charantia has been studied for its anti-diabetic activity both in vitro and in vivo and is shown to be effective in inhibiting glucose absorption. Therefore, the MC is used as a main ingredient in the development of health beverages to offer alternatives for patients or the health conscious. The microbial quality of the product is examined to ensure the safety of the product and to find methods to enhance its shelf life

Examining the influence of perceived organizational support towards job-hopping behaviour: a case of casual dining restaurant employees’ in Klang Valley area, Malaysia

Food and beverage industries are playing a big role in offering a wide range of job vacancies for job seekers. With many job vacancies and opportunities available, people are moving from one job to another. This behaviour called job hopping. Theoretically, employees with higher perceive organization support tends to have lower intention to quit and job hop to another company to work with. This has caused organizations restless in retaining employees especially skilled and valuable were not an easy task. It was uncertain either these employees have a low level of their perceived organization support or job hop for no apparent reason. Thus, the main objective of this study conducted was to determine employee’s perceived organization support mediated with affective commitment towards their job-hopping behaviour. Methodologically, main primary data used in this study were quantitative data survey, which was distributed to employees of casual dining restaurants in Klang Valley area, Malaysia. Criteria for selection of respondents were strictly only Malaysian and who had worked at least a year throughout their working career. Total of 612 questionnaires was usable for data analysis. After the screening of eligible respondents, data were analysed using Software Package Statistical Analysis (SPSS) version 21 and PROCESS MACRO plugin for regression analysis together with bootstrapping method to determine mediation effect. The result indicated perceived organization support predicts job-hopping behaviour with negative significant relationship (Beta = -.087, p-value < .05). When perceived organization support held constant with mediator affective commitment predicting job hopping, it was directed that mediation occur in the relationship and is significant. Employees of casual dining restaurants with a higher level of perceived organization support tend to have a higher affective commitment towards their organization and a lesser tendency to job hop. With peer and supervisor support available for one, one will feel being part of the organization. Hence, Volume: 3 Issues: 12 [June, 2018] pp. 101 - 108] International Journal of Accounting, Finance and Business eISSN: 0128-1844 Journal website: www.ijafb.com102 employers may provide moral support for their respective employees in need apart from given that basic well-being in place while motivate and retain them

Job satisfaction and job-hopping behaviour among employees of casual dining restaurant

Job hopping has been labelled as common practice among the labour workforce and this trend has been affecting many companies to review back their human resource strategy in order to reduce cost in high turnover and retain their employees within the organization. This paper aims to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and job-hopping behaviour mediated by affective commitment among employees working in the casual dining restaurant in Klang Valley area. With a total of 230 participants responded, data had been thorough screening of which only local workforce selected with an experience of working approximately one year from their employment life. Mediator affective commitment was also being examined in defining the mediation effect towards job hopping behaviour. Results from research findings indicated that job satisfaction does not predict job hopping behaviour and relationship are not significant. Job satisfaction has a positive relationship with affective commitment and is significant while affective commitment is weakly correlated to job hopping behaviour but not significant. This stipulates that even job satisfaction is a highly significance predictor towards affective commitment, both variables do not have strong causal effects to job hopping behaviour