Employee-resourcing strategies in family-owned small restaurants in South Africa: Do environmental influences matter?

The small restaurant business (SRB) sector is applauded for promoting economic growth and employment creation in developing economies. Despite the spirited efforts by developing nations to capacitate the sector to sustainably contribute to economic growth, it is often flawed by a high inflation failure rate, especially in South Africa. The failure rates have been attributed, among many other factors, to the inability of small restaurant businesses to respond to environmental uncertainties with appropriate employee-resourcing strategies. The literature search shows that there is a dearth of research on the nexus between environmental influences and employee-resourcing strategies in South African small restaurant businesses. To address this gap, the study attempts to interrogate employee-resourcing strategies among family-owned small restaurants through the prism of environmental influences. A quantitative research approach was used, and the ex post facto research design was adopted. A convenient sample of 221 owners/managers of family-owned accommodations and Small Restaurant Businesses was conveniently selected. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed to confirm the congruence between observed and reproduced data in testing the hypothesized relationships. The inquiry established a positive relationship between internal environmental influences and employee-resourcing strategies in SRBs. Additionally, a positive and strong relationship between the external environment and employee-resourcing strategies was also established. Considering the vitality of small businesses in driving today’s economies and employment growth, this study recommends that owners/managers identify internal and external forces that attenuate small business failures. The study also emphasizes that SRBs must understand their external and internal environments for more productive employee-resourcing strategies.