Retaining Qualified Chefs: A Qualitative Study of Restaurant Manager's Strategies

Abstract

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to achieve a deeper understanding on how restaurant managers are working on retaining qualified chefs. To understand this, themes such as turnover and recruitment are central. This empirical research is based on a qualitative phenomenological approach, where restaurant managers and owners were interviewed about these topics. These interviews highlighted their experiences and perceptions and created the basis for discussion together with previous research and theory about this theme. By using a phenomenological approach and semi-structured interviews, five main categories were created based on the interview guide and collected material. The categories are turnover, retaining chefs, recruitment, loyalty, and work environment. These were supplemented with associated sub-categories.

Findings from this study indicates that the high degree of turnover is deeply connected to the culture in the restaurant industry, however the informants aware of this. Many factors come up as possible reasons for chefs to want to change workplace; the ability to learn new skills and personal aspects. Despite the high turnover rate in the industry, the informants still feel like they have stability in their teams, chefs are with them for 3-5 years, and the leaders are often staying longer. Moreover, findings indicate that the younger chefs are the ones who change workplace often. Retaining chefs appears to be a big focus, however, with various degrees of strategies are implemented. Work environment is one of the things that is being worked with in order to retain their chefs and other employees.

Keywords: turnover, retention, work environment, chefs, recruiting, phenomenology