Relationship Marketing in the Recruitment and Retention of Service Industry Staff in Family-Owned Businesses

Abstract

Relationship marketing is a practice that has been used effectively in marketing products and services to customers. Its use as a means of enhancing relationship outcomes between employer and employee in family-owned business is yet to be appreciated. A triangulation of research was conducted into family-owned and family-managed small businesses in the service industry in rural and regional Australia. This article reports on the possible benefits of adapting a new relationship marketing model for the recruitment and retention of employees and the beneficial outcomes for employers in their employees in their endeavor to recruit and retain staff.

KEYWORDS:

• Relationship
• recruitment
• selection
• retention
• small business
• family business
• rural and regional

Notes

*Total number of questionnaires: 1,400 (n.b. 200 of these were redistributed upon their return to give a total of 1,600).

¹ Gronroos (1997).

²Gronroos (1997, p. 330).

³Moorman, Zaltman, & Deshpande, (1992, p. 315).

⁴Gronroos (1994, p. 9).

⁵Gronroos (1997, p. 327).