Leveraging employee online reviews for improving hotel competitiveness in the great resignation

The Great Resignation has brought significant challenges to the recovery of the hospitality industry from the depression caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Prior studies have revealed that the leading cause of the Great Resignation is negative employee experience. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to obtain deep insights into the negative experiences of hospitality employees. Hotel managers still lack the knowledge to help them resolve the workforce problem and maintain competitiveness during the pandemic. This study proposes a novel framework, named HENEX, that uses data-mining technologies and employees’ online reviews about hotels to identify the factors that lead to hospitality employees’ negative experiences and changes in these factors caused by COVID-19. We demonstrate the effectiveness of HENEX through a case study that involves major hotels in Australia. The findings could help hotel managers develop strategies to resolve the workforce problem and maintain competitiveness during the Great Resignation period.