Exploring the Psychological Contract of Hotel Employees in Northern Germany

The hotel industry in Northern Germany faces labour shortages and high turnover, making employee retention a central management challenge. This study examines the structure and content of hotel employees’ psychological contracts in this context, with a focus on expected employer inducements. It identifies distinct types of psychological contracts, commonly held expectations, and divergent priorities within the workforce.
Using Q Methodology, 34 employees from a diverse range of hotels in Northern Germany ranked the employer inducements they valued most and least highly, resulting in eight distinct viewpoints. These were mapped onto Rousseau’s (2000) psychological contract continuum and the psychological contract cluster theory of Janssens, Sels and Van Den Brande (2003). The viewpoints ranged from strongly relational orientations emphasising loyalty, stability, and supportive leadership to balanced contracts prioritising internal and external growth. No transactional contracts were identified. One viewpoint reflected a mistrustful transitional state. All psychological contract clusters were represented, highlighting the diversity of expectations within the workforce and the need for differentiated management practices.
The study provides a highly context‑specific insight into the psychological contracts of hotel employees in Northern Germany. A context‑specific list of employer inducements was developed through systematic synthesis and refined by a focus group. The list was subsequently utilized as the Q Set for the main study. The findings of the Q study challenge assumptions about the linear development of psychological contracts from trans-actional to relational over time, showing that such patterns cannot be applied indiscriminately in this context. By applying both psychological contract types and clusters, the study demonstrates the heterogeneity of employee expectations and identifies commonly valued inducements, particularly feeling valued, having the means to perform one’s role, and opportunities for career development.
Future research should examine the prevalence of the identified view-points across the wider workforce and evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of management strategies derived from these findings. Practitioners benefit from a practical and operationalizable set of employee archetypes developed from the viewpoints, as well as direct implications for tailored career development, job design, and recruitment strategies aimed at improving person-organisation fit.