Date of Conferral
3-19-2025
Date of Award
March 2025
Degree
Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)
School
Human Services
Advisor
Jill Murray
Abstract
The inability of full-service chain restaurant managers to attract and retain employees leads to significant understaffing. The shortage raises concerns about their capacity to meet consumer demand and maintain profitability. This qualitative pragmatic inquiry, grounded in transformational leadership theory, explored strategies restaurant managers use to attract and retain employees. The participants were six full-service chain restaurant managers in the locales of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. of the United States, who had successfully used their strategies to attract and retain employees. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and reviewing publicly available restaurant websites. Using thematic analysis, four themes were identified: (a) attraction and retention strategies, (b) incentives, (c) assessment of strategies, and (d) training and development. A key recommendation was for restaurant managers to adopt and implement attraction and retention strategies focusing on the individual needs of the employee's development and growth. The implications for positive social change include restaurants providing excellent services to communities, hiring individuals in the community, and building partnerships with community organizations.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Beverly Cecilia, "Strategies to Attract and Retain Employees in Full-Service Chain Restaurants" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 17507.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/17507
