Relationship Between Servant Leadership Characteristics and Fast-Casual Restaurant

In the United States, turnover threatens the economic status of the restaurant industry. In 2016, the turnover rate for the fast-casual restaurant dining industry was 1.8 million people with approximately 3 million people working in the industry. Restaurant leaders struggle with solutions to help reduce the problems of turnover. Guided by the servant leadership theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between empowerment, interpersonal support, and turnover in the fast-casual restaurant industry. A convenient sample of fast-casual restaurant supervisors ( n =58) in the Midwestern region of the United States completed a survey with questions related to empowerment and interpersonal support from the servant leadership survey and questions from the turnover survey. The results of a multiple regression did not predict turnover F(8, 49) = .976; p >.05; R2 = .137). The effect size indicated that the regression model accounted for 14% of the variance in turnover. Empowerment (beta = -.023, p = .916) did not relate any significant variation in turnover. Interpersonal support (beta = .066, p = .146) did not relate any significant variation in turnover. Empowerment and interpersonal support could affect social change by enhancing the well-being of employees, which can encourage employees to provide better service in the restaurant business. Empowerment and interpersonal support include motivating factors in employee development, leading to volunteer and charitable contributions in the communities.