New research by a PhD candidate will help Territory hoteliers to cope with high staff turnover by going beyond the well-trodden retention strategies that demand large investments of time, money and effort.
PhD student with Charles Darwin University’s School for Social and Policy Research, Kalotina Halkitis is investigating the knowledge-drain that Northern Territory hotels experience whenever staff leave, and how this knowledge can be retained.
“We need to move away from stagnated research on people-retention strategies and move towards such things as knowledge management and knowledge retention,” Kalotina said.
Her argument is based on studies that reveal high staff turnover is a global feature of the hotel industry, despite decades of effort to stem the tide.
Kalotina said her research would help hoteliers to handle this “certain and unpredictable problem” by investigating ways to improve knowledge management.
She is studying how knowledge is developed, shared and maintained in the social networks of Territory hotels. It is anticipated that the examination of knowledge-sharing and retention will provide insights into improved knowledge management practices and reduce the negative impact of staff turnover.
“It is important that when someone walks out the door, they don’t take their knowledge with them,” she said.
“We need to question the behavioural changes of those who stay behind. Do they continue to exchange thoughts and ideas, and how can we keep knowledge within the social networks of the hotel when people leave?”
Through applying theoretical fields of knowledge management, organisational behaviour and network theory, Kalotina hopes to explore, describe and respond to the “network disruption” in Northern Territory hotels.
To involve your NT hotel in the study and increase your level of understanding of knowledge management, contact Kalotina Halkitis via email: emtm04003@gmail.com or telephone 0447 056 465.