Sustainable Employee Retention through Recognition Practices: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction in the Hospitality Industry

This study examined the influence of employee recognition practices on sustainable employee retention and investigated the mediating role of job satisfaction among hotel employees in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. A survey research design was adopted, and data were collected from 210 employees of registered hotels using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling. The findings indicate that employee recognition practices significantly enhance job satisfaction and employee retention. Job satisfaction also significantly influences employee retention and partially mediates the relationship between recognition practices and retention. The findings suggest that recognition contributes to sustainable employee retention both directly and indirectly by improving employees’ job satisfaction. The study recommends that hotel managers should institutionalize formal, transparent recognition systems combining monetary and non-monetary rewards to ensure procedural fairness. The study contributes to hospitality human resource management literature by demonstrating the mediating mechanism through which recognition practices influence employee retention in the Nigerian hotel industry.