Talent Management in the Tourism Sector
1.1 Introduction
The central element for organizational success and performance in a turbulent business environment is the role played by the workforce. Researchers have greatly emphasized on the role of employees’ knowledge and skills in the tourism sector (Thunnissen, Boselie, and Fruytier, 2013). Cerdin and Brewster (2014) posit that a talented worker in the workforce can be a person who has a high level of efficient performance, commitment, and motivated. In the hospitality industry, the term talent management refers to the idea of improving performance using strategic enterprise resources (Tansley, 2011). In the market economy, it is essential to realize that human capital comprises of the intangible skills, knowledge, and creative abilities present in the human element of the business. The success of these items has a great contribution to the organizational performance and image. Thus this paper reviews literature from different scholars on the meaning of talent in the context of managing talent in a hospitality, tourism or event management organization.
1.2 Talent in the Organization
As Tansley (2011) argues, talent in the organization is a significant differentiator of success in a complex global environment. Globalization has led to stiff competition and evolution of business operations that calls for development and retention of talents for competitive edge. In the context of talent management, Sengupta and Dev (2013) assert that talent is becoming increasingly essential for the organizational success. Thus, many organizations view talent in the form of employees who bring the difference of performance in short and long-term duration. Marmenout and Lirio (2014) perceive it as an amalgam of knowledge, skills, potential, and cognitive ability harbored by employees
Additionally, Sengupta and Dev (2013) view talent in human resource management as equation comprising of 3Cs. These include commitment, competence, and contribution. Competence indicates the level of abilities and skills required currently and in the future for business performance (Sengupta and Dev 2013). Under talent management, it means an emphasis on staff promotion, training, and retention (Sengupta and Dev 2013). Commitment is a description of workers’ involvement in the industry and level of productivity. Finally, contribution means a personal abundance of the employees in their occupation, which indicate their identity, and restraints that drive them (Sengupta and Dev 2013). Thus, hospitality related firms should tap on the benefits of talent to create competencies required for future endeavors. Further, there is a need to improve the talent to help deal with future uncertainties.
The analysis of the above definitions is understood from various perspectives that make the definition invalid when compared with each other. However, scholars such as Hanif and Yunfei (2013) have a common understanding of talented employee with the agreement extending to some characteristics such as unique skills and ability to perform excellently. This is despite varying definitions from some authors. According to Cappelli and Keller (2014), talent in the organizational context is understood by the skills and ability possessed by an individual that adds essential values to the company. Similarly, the authors argue that talented employees include those with sufficient knowledge and ability to influence the company culture. Some organizations refer to them more than just employees because of their value to the organization. The challenge being faced by an organization is preserving and nurturing the capabilities for the purpose of the organization (Cappelli and Keller 2014). Sengupta and Dev (2013) further perceive employees’ talents as defined by superior performance when compared to others that make them unique in the labor market. In a natural environment, they argue that the results of the talent are excellent perform than other and show of innovativeness. In relation to this aspect, the challenge to the management is communicating how they fit in the workforce. There is also a challenge on the aspects to look when identifying talents or potential talents needed in the future (Sengupta and Dev 2013).
The understanding of talent can be divided into two major groups. The first definition includes those workers who utilize the skills and competence to contribute to the company objectives (Sengupta and Dev 2013). In such as case, they are viewed as valuable resources. The next includes employees who have average performance that can be nurtured for the future purposes. In this case, they are groomed for strategic factors in the organization (Sengupta and Dev 2013). It is necessary for the management in the tourism sector to distinguish between the two employees for short and long term objectives. This is because the nature of hospitality industry is evolving at a faster pace and talented workers may not be considered worth in future thus the need to prepare potential talent for the future.
1.3 Conceptualization of Talent Management
According to Iqbal, et al. (2013), there is a huge challenge and confusion in the organization when it comes to the issue of talent management. The source of confusion stems from a lack of appropriate understanding of what constitutes management of talent in the hospitality industry (Iqbal et al. 2013). According to Marmenout and Lirio (2014), talent management is described using five elements namely attracting, identifying, developing, deploying and engaging. The authors suggest that the appropriate way of creating a sustainable environment is recognizing areas where the management can determine when and where to develop the necessary talents. The challenging aspect of the process is to incorporate talent management in the tourism sector strategically.
According to Marmenout and Lirio (2014), talent management needs to be perceived from three dimensions; namely, the combination of management best practices including appropriate selection, recruitment, and career development of all employees. In addition, the management requires forming a large pool of talent composed of necessary skills and competence for the company (Marmenout and Lirio 2014). The firm should view employee’s talent, not as just attributes but a resource that requires being managed in reference to performance. On the other hand, they can be treated as a similar product that serves the interest of the organization (Marmenout and Lirio 2014). Therefore, their research noted that talent management is viewed as a generic term that encompasses the aspects of recruitment, human resource development, training, workers’ retention, and performance management.
Marmenout and Lirio (2014) also suggested that successful talent management is essential, as it is a ground where firms develop their capability to effectively compete in a globalized economy. As such, the authors the key to organization performance lies in identification, harnessing, nurturing, and retaining the power writing the staff. Human resources in the organization are of critical importance in attaining competitive advantage in the turbulent market environment (Cerdin and Brewster 2014). Thunnissen, Boselie and Fruytier (2013) support Cerdin and Brewster’s idea and argue that the resources help the company gain an unusual competitive ability in a dynamic world. Therefore, for the organization to be productive, the management should consider talent management as central elements of all the activities in the HR department. Lack of well-designed and deeply established talent management techniques lead to unproductive and incompetent workforce employed and retained.
Talent Management can form a paramount part of the process of managing and leading people to meet organizational objectives and improve efficiency and effectiveness (Thunnissen, Boselie and Fruytier 2013). Recent structural and demographic changes in the tourism sector require the responses that extend far much beyond the traditional way of pooling and recruiting the staff. The modern human resource management is faced with many alternatives such as returning employees, career change and retiring workforce (Cappelli and Keller 2014). These, in turn, affect the way skills and knowledge are imparted to the workers because of working conditions, remuneration, and employment security concerns.
1.4 The Nature of Hospitality Industry
Tourism is in the category of service industry and highly labor intensive. In this context, management of staff in the sector is a critical responsibility (Iqbal et al. 2013.). In such an environment, Iqbal, et al. (2013) suggest that talent is a fundamental element to the improvement of workers’ productivity, organizational performance, and attainment of competitive edge. Furthermore, to satisfy the demands of clients in the sector, talented employees are needed in the fiercely competitive environment. Most of the customers who are travelers need a fresh supply of sufficient information and variety of options before making a decision on the product and the services of their choice (Sengupta and Dev 2013). Therefore, the nature of the industry requires strong focus to be directed by talent management.
However, training and managing talent needs sufficient understanding of cross-cultural approaches and best management practices applied by various management systems in the world. This is to enable the hospitality industry to cope with expanding talent and labor needs (Hanif and Yunfei 2013). There are elements of massive discrimination affecting efficient identification, recruitment, and promotion of talents in the organizations. Such vices result from formal procedural efforts that lead to the predetermined choice of employees but not based on the talents and other necessary abilities (Marmenout and Lirio 2014). Therefore, lack of proper and strategic talent management is one of the challenges affecting fruitful utilization of human talent.
The nature of jobs in the hospitality industry is a central factor in talent management process. Marmenout and Lirio (2014) attribute this to changes in the tourism sector have failed to meet the demands and desires of the workers because of low remuneration menial jobs. As such, players in the industry are not concerned with talents of the workers but driven by collaborations aimed at maximizing social and economic benefits from the local population. The industry is affected by the poor image to qualified personnel as seen through diminishing job turnover that indicates enormous challenges in relation to talent management (Marmenout and Lirio 2014). These negative aspects in the sector are not prevalent in other sectors such as manufacturing and banking sectors where a qualified individual perceives as an appropriate destination.
The sector is also plagued with ambiguous investor’s attitudes to investment talent growth, inflexible employment procedures, and unsustainable approach to talent development (Sengupta and Dev 2013). Cerdin and Brewster (2014) argue that these factors undo the efforts shown by the industry to managing the talent in the hospitality industry. Consequentially, a large percentage of job entrants in the sector have no plan to take temporary jobs because the view the sector as a place to mature as one wait for an opportunity with favorable remuneration. Additionally, Cappelli and Keller (2014) confirm the argument as many workers in the tourism industry leaves upon graduation with no intention of coming back. Such is a drawback for talent development and management initiated by the management that leads to talent drain to the other sector. Therefore, success in talent management in the sector can only be solved when negative perception is contained to increase talent retention.
1.5 Recruiting, Nurturing, and Retention of Talented Employees
The tourism industry in mostly in African countries such as Kenya and South Africa face particular unique problems regarding mobilizing sufficient human resources required for talent development (Marmenout and Lirio 2014). Factors such as personal and workplace need especially when dealing with international and local employees affect talent management activities. These two kinds of workers have a different perception, skills, and workplace culture of the industry (Thunnissen, Boselie, and Fruytier 2013). Managing such a workforce is a complex task, as it requires dealing with different kind of people and orienting them to the similar objective. For example, in some cultures such as African societies, employment procedures are dependent on recommendations from workers while in the western culture, the emphasis is placed on formal procedures (Thunnissen, Boselie, and Fruytier 2013).
The mode of recruiting employees in the organization is linked to the company strategy that requires recognition of existing talent within in the enterprise workforce. Thunnissen, Boselie, and Fruytier (2013) opine that the approach is essential in identifying the direction of the business vision, mission within a particular period. It also helps in developing the necessary competencies for the attainment of organization goals such as talent in high demand (Thunnissen, Boselie and Fruytier 2013). Therefore, one can argue that talent management in the industry depends on formal processes of recruitment, stakeholder participation, and positive relationship between leadership and staff. This is important because skills needed are identified and distributed across organization departments such as marketing, finance, and human resource management.
Across the tourism industry, the talent pool is essential for the attainment of competitive edge for the organization. On the other hand, Cerdin and Brewster (2014) suggested that there are strategies that the organization can adopt to manage the talents required in the organization. The strategies have an enormous impact on the effort shown by management in making the initiatives a huge success (Thunnissen, Boselie and Fruytier 2013). The broad objective should look into both internal and external environmental which helps formulation and enactment of business policies concerning talent management. Therefore, to maintain competitiveness, the industry should address the factors that form obstacles in the process of attracting, developing, and retaining the talents. As such, companies in the hospitality industry need to be specific when looking for desired qualities to enable manage talents and developing training program.
Specificity, in search for the skills, Sengupta and Dev (2013) found that it is essential to help sort those qualities that contributed to organization success. The efforts should also focus on the short and long-term objectives because of skill gaps due to lack of qualified personnel. Sourcing and nurturing talents at early stages are important because it helps them grow in the company; understand the challenges and techniques of maneuvering in the future. This makes them qualified for future leadership positions and handles roles that are unknown in the future. Skills necessary includes teamwork, proactive and negotiation skills (Sengupta and Dev 2013).
According to Sengupta and Dev’s (2013) analysis, considering a particular type of talents wanted in the hospitality industry is critical to the success of the sector in a turbulent environment. The employees identified have natural ability to influence change in the organization. As such, the management should first look for the natural ability of the employees and then complement it with training programs. This, however, is accomplished when the sector recruits a manager who can source, develop talent, and fit the workers in the most appropriate positions (Sengupta and Dev 2013).
Retention of talent is equally important with sourcing and nurturing because it also contributes to attaining business objectives (Sengupta and Dev 2013). Therefore, the hospitality sector should treat employees’ retention as a strategy of achieving the goals and aims of the objectives currently and in future. According to Iqbal, et al. (2013), retaining employees requires one the management to have an excellent ability to appeal to talented employees. The first strategy is tailoring the brand and product in appealing ways to employees. The appeal should be related to the authenticity of organization perception to the insiders and outsiders due to current values and culture (Iqbal, et al., 2013).
1.6 Conclusion
From the literature reviewed in this paper, talent management is paramount for the success of the tourism sector in a turbulent environment. Talent management in the hospitality industry introduces strategic goals aimed at training, nurturing, and development of talents for the purpose of performance. Comprehensive talent management in organizations identifies talented employees and prospective one for the purpose of business success in the current economy. Further, the skills and abilities possessed by the employees are considered a crucial factor for the competitiveness of the enterprise. In future, the organization needs to design strategies to appeal, train, and retain the most talented employees to boost the survival of the sector in the globalized world.
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