How Willemijn Marcussen Turned Her Master's Thesis into Published Hospitality Research

02.03.2026

Wittenborg Graduate’s Research Published in Hospitality Journal in December 2025

When Willemijn Marcussen graduated from Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences in 2022, she had already begun work that would make an impact on hospitality. Now, three years later, her thesis has been published in the Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, showcasing a new approach to employee retention in the hospitality industry.

Willemijn, who is from the Netherlands, had previously completed a bachelor’s at the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, giving her a strong foundation in facility management. She chose Wittenborg because of its international approach and its MBM (Master of Business Management) programme with a specialisation in Hospitality.

“I was looking for a programme that combined an international perspective with a focus on hospitality management. Wittenborg was one of the few institutions that offered this.”

Turning a Thesis into a Research Paper

Her thesis, supervised by Mats Carlbäck, Associate Professor of Applied Sciences, explored employee retention in the hospitality industry, a sector known for high turnover. Later, Adam Jones, Associate Professor of Applied Sciences, joined the project, offering a fresh perspective that helped refine the work. In December 2025 after a peer review, the paper was officially published.

The study brought together two established models, the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and the Job Embeddedness (JE) model, combining them into a new holistic framework that more accurately reflects real-life conditions.

“Both models made sense individually, but by combining them, we created a more complete picture of what keeps employees engaged.”

The Job Embeddedness framework considers why employees stay rather than why they leave, taking into account organisational connections, the fit between employee and job, and the sacrifices involved in leaving. Meanwhile, the EVP model outlines what the business offers employees, including benefits, career opportunities, training, culture and the working environment. By combining the two, Willemijn developed a holistic model that captures both organisational factors and the broader environment affecting employees’ decisions.

Her research included insights from privately owned Dutch restaurants, showing practical ways owners engage their staff. Examples ranged from restaurant owners buying cars for employees to ensure they get home safely after a long shift and travelling back home in the dark, to establishments sharing company ownership with staff. Other practices included early closing hours, four-day weeks, personalised attention, and in-house training, all designed to build human capital and loyalty.

“I hope it brings a fresh perspective on how people in the hospitality industry treat their employees. Without human capital, there wouldn’t be any business,” Willemijn explains.

Conducting the Research

To gather her data, Willemijn conducted semi-structured interviews with restaurant owners and managers, capturing both practical and personal insights. She explored factors such as compensation, work-life balance, team culture, training opportunities, and participative leadership. The findings highlighted that many effective practices were implemented intuitively, based on owners’ beliefs and values, rather than formal policies.

The study shows that when employees feel engaged and cared for, businesses not only retain staff but also enhance service quality and customer satisfaction. As Willemijn points out, “It’s not only about a fair salary. Sometimes other factors are more important to an individual and their personal lives, and that’s why you need to look deeper at what your staff really need.”

Willemijn now applies her expertise as a Solution Manager at ISS Facility Services in Utrecht, where she continues to focus on people, processes, and workplace solutions.

Advice to Students

Reflecting on her journey, Willemijn encourages students to choose a topic for their final research assignments that really fits their own life or passion. “I would start with picking a topic that really interests you, rather than something that you just got taught in a lecture. That’s really important.” She also emphasises the fit with your supervisor. “Think about who would match your topic, but also your way of working and personal fit. "Make sure you take the time to dive into this and don't wait until the last minute. It is an intense project/period which asks for proper preparation."

Willemijn adds that aligning your topic with your own background and goals helps make the research more meaningful. “In my case, it fit my previous studies and my specialisation in hospitality management. I knew I wanted to work in this sector, so it really fitted me.”

As for Mats and Adam, the publication reflects their shared belief in research that bridges academic theory and real-world practice.

Mats notes that the study addresses “a central and persistent challenge in hospitality management: how to retain and develop human capital in a labour-intensive industry marked by high employee turnover.” By integrating Job Embeddedness theory with the Employee Value Proposition framework, he explains, the research moves beyond descriptive accounts of labour shortages and offers “a structured, practice-oriented understanding of why employees stay,” linking retention more directly to service quality, organisational stability, and long-term competitiveness.

He also highlights its relevance for students and staff, pointing out that effective retention “rarely results from isolated HR practices,” but instead comes from aligning pay, work–life balance, leadership, organisational culture, and development opportunities. Many of these practices already exist within the industry, he notes, but are often applied intuitively rather than strategically.