SITCON 2015 - FAKTORI KONKURENTNOSTI TURISTIČKIH PREDUZEĆA SITCON 2015 - COMPETITIVENESS FACTORS OF TOURISM ENTERPRISES

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and dict in advance any looming shortages (World
Development Travel and KONKURENTNOST
TURISTIČKE DESTINACIJE

TOURISM DESTINATION
COMPETITIvENESS

DOI: 10.15308/sitcon-2015-150-154

ANALY TICAL INSIGHT INTO TALENT

MANAGEMENT
IN TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY
IN THE SLOVAK BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT
Michaela Sirková*, Viktória Ali
Taha
University of Prešov in Prešov, Faculty of Management, St. 17. novembra 1,
Prešov, Slovak Republic

Abstract: Key words:

Tourism is of great importance and is considered one of the fastest growing talent
sectors, which has contributed to the enormous increase of international management,
trade in services. This paper deals with talent management in the specific human
context of hospitality and tourism sector in Slovak organizations. It also resources,
highlights the benefits of talent management implementation in this sector tourism,
and specifies talent management processes used by tourism organizations. organizations,
The paper draws attention to primary data survey of 87 respondents who practices.
were representatives of organizations working in the tourism sector.
Acknowledgements:
This study was supported by the research grant VEGA 1/0513/14: Research on the possibility of measuring and
evaluating the impact of human resource management practices on organizational performance.

1. INTRODUCTION

Tourism has undergone significant changes

in recent years (due to “discovery” of new
destinations) and has be- come one of the
fastest growing and developing economic
150 sectors worldwide and a key determinant of
socio-economic development as evidenced by
statistics. According to the UNWTO Tourism
Highlights 2015, tourism represents 9% of GDP
(direct, indirect and induced impact), 6% of the
world’s exports and it employs 9% of the
workforce (1 in 11 jobs accounted for this
sector). International tourism (travel and
passenger transport) accounts for 30% of the
world’s exports of services and 6% of the
overall exports of goods and services.
Moreover, inbound tourism is an important
contributor to the economic development of
numerous countries by creating employment
opportunities and fur- ther opportunities for
development (UNWTO, 2015).
*
michaela.sirkova@unip
 SITCON 2015 - FAKTORI KONKURENTNOSTI TURISTIČKIH PREDUZEĆA SITCON 2015 - COMPETITIVENESS FACTORS OF TOURISM ENTERPRISES

In oyees, students, relatively high number of and the potential for reverse migration back to
the The Chartered
part-timers Institutework-
and migrant of Personnel and
ers. According dict in advance any looming shortages (World
fast growing emerging economies, are the
repo Development
to the World Travel and Tourism Council Travel and
most important trends that will influence the
rt on (2015), declining youth demographics, baby future talent supply in the tourism sector.
the boom genera- tion retirement, rising female “Organizations and managers in the tourism
glob labour market participation, general shift and hospital- ity industry face real challenges
al towards more highly skilled (in terms of edu- in recruiting, developing and maintaining the
touri cation) labour supply as older, less skilled committed, competent, well-managed and
sm workers retire, well-motivated workforce focused on offering
and a high- quality ‘product’ to the increasingly
hosp demanding and dis- cerning customers”
italit (Nickson, 2007, pp. 2-3). This requires
y in- implementation of talent management i.e. the
dust process of identifying, securing, developing,
ry, and managing relevant talent, which is
the important to meet the organization’s long-
Inter term strategic goals and ensure short-term
natio productivity (Nilsson & Ellström, 2012). The
nal functionality and vitality of the company’s
Labo talent management processes determine how
ur well the company can groom its high-potential
Orga employees to fill strategic management roles
nizat (Ready & Conger, 2007).
ion – Talent management has developed as a
ILO response to many changes in the workplace
(200 such as industrial revolu- tion, the rise of
1, in labour unions, globalization or outsourc- ing
Nick (Frank & Taylor, 2004). The given authors
son, predicted in
2007 2004 that “the real battle to attract, develop,
) motivate, and retain talent is going to heat up
provi considerably” and “demo- graphic time bomb
des will make talent management the top priority
evid for organizations” (Frank & Taylor, 2004, p.
ence 33). Nilsson and Ellström (2012, p. 27) point
sugg to the „shift from job security and life-long
estin employment to life-long learning,
g employability, and talent management“.
that
the
indu
stry
glob
ally
is
large
ly
relia
nt
on
“mar
ginal
work
ers”,
such
as
wom
en,
youn
g
work
ers,
casu
al
empl
o.sk
 there is a talent deficiency causing a
(CIPD) defined talent management as the problem to fill in vacancies (talent vacancies) Tour
“systematic at- traction, identification, by skilled and talented individuals. The World ism
development, engagement, reten- tion and Travel and Tourism Council Final Report Cou
deployment of those individuals who are of (2015) states that the talent market in travel ncil,
par- ticular value to an organization, either in and tourism industry is already challenged 201
the view of their with high staff turn- over, competition with 5).
‘high potential’ for the future or because they other industry sectors for the best D’
are fulfilling business/operation-critical roles” candidates, and in some cases, adverse Annu
(CIPD, 2013). This con- cept could also be supply trends, such as declining nzio-
defined as “the capability to create and demographics. New regulations, new Gree
continuously optimize talent resources technol- ogy, shifts in customer service n
needed to execute a business strategy. This preferences, changing visitor markets and (200
means attracting and developing them, other industry drivers have the potential to 8)
guiding their performance towards optimal transform the type of skills that employees note
produc- tivity in light of strategic goals and working in trav- el and tourism industry will s
finding new sources of value in their need to possess in future and employers will that
performance through innovation and con- need to train staff in. A thriving travel and the
tinuous improvement” (Sonnenberg, 2010, p. tourism sector will require companies and conc
2). According to Iles (2007, in D’Annunzio- governments to implement and promote ept
Green, 2008), talent manage- ment is defined proactive and careful talent sup- ply of
as a holistic approach to human resource management policies, as well as regular tal-
planning aimed at strengthening monitoring and projecting of talent demand, ent
organizational capability and driving business supply and imbalances to pre- man
priorities using a range of HR inter- ventions. age
These include a focus on performance ment
enhance- ment, career development and is
succession planning. now
Lewis and Heckman (2006) point out that reco
due to the confusion regarding definitions, gnize
terms and assumptions; it is difficult to d as
identify the meaning of talent management. a
The authors attempted to address the muc
question regarding talent management h
definition and determined three distinct strains broa
of thought regarding talent management: (1) der
talent management as a collection of typical con-
human resource de- partment practices, cept
functions, activities or areas such as (tha
recruiting, selection, development, and career n
and succes- sion management; (2) talent origi
management focused primar- ily on the nal
concept of talent pools i.e. talent management conc
as a set of processes designed to ensure an ept
adequate flow of employees into jobs focu
throughout the organization; (3) tal- ent sed
management perceived more broadly, without main
regard for organizational boundaries or ly on
specific positions (Lewis recru
& Heckman, itme
2006) nt)
Human resources (HR) represent real value aime
for organi- zations and one of the most d at
important assets, while their role is attra
irreplaceable, especially in the services cting
sector. In this context, Bharwani and Butt ,
(2012) point to the crucial role of employees retai
in hospitality sector (all services sectors) since ning,
they become part of the service product and devel
contribute to the image of the organization. opin
That is why hospitality in- dustry is considered g
the human resource-centered industry. and
In tourism, as in other areas/sectors, a trans
paradox can be observed. On one hand, we itioni
face a lack of jobs, while on the other hand, ng
talented employees. When taking a look at the structure of the organizations in tourism, with
talent man- agement processes, preliminary predom- inance of small and medium-sized
step in talent management strategy is the organizations. Besides size, another important
definition of the organizational talent - specifi- criterion is equity participation, while a
cation, designation of those who are considered sample involves 29% organizations with
to be talents i.e. people with potential and a foreign capital/property participation. As
great value for company/or- ganization. It regards the age structure, one of the most
should be noted that there is considerable in- important demographic characteristics of
consistency in defining the “organizational
talent”, because the definition of “talent” is
determined by specific organiza- tional
conditions and settings, environment in which
the or- ganization operates, as well as by
different requirements on employees necessary
for performing a particular job. Also, according
to Baum (2008, p. 720) “talent, in the context
of hospitality and tourism does not necessarily
mean the same thing as it might in other
sectors of the economy“. Gener- ally, talents
refer to people with high potential, people with
specific skills, competencies, abilities, attributes,
experiences and behavior, who are able to
achieve excellent results, and thus ensure
good overall performance, viability and com-
petitiveness of the organization (Ali Taha et al.,
2014).
As regards talent recruitment, the World
Travel and Tourism Council (2015)
recommends to significantly in- crease the
salaries and attract staff from other sectors
while underlining that some employee skills are
transferable across travel and tourism sub-
sectors or from other sectors in the economy,
but some talent requirements are more
specific and could be supplied from more
narrow and well-defined sources. Moreover,
flexible recruitment and retention prac- tices
are required in the area of workforce planning.
Generally, the following strategies are very
effective in managing talent:
◆ adapting talent sourcing to recruit more
untapped talent pools,
◆ recruiting candidates outside the local
region and country,
◆ partnership with educational institutions
to create curricula aligned to talent needs
and considering new locations to operate
from where a larger and higher quality
pool of talent exists (World Travel &
Tourism Council, 2015, p. 20).

2. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Our study provides analytical insights into

talent man- agement in the Slovak hospitality
and tourism sector.
Primary data was collected via questionnaire
among managers or representatives of 87
tourism and hospitality organizations in
Slovakia. Most of the surveyed organiza- tions
(71%) were medium-sized organizations (up to
100 employees), followed by small
organizations (22%) and large organizations 151
(7%). This composition corresponds to the
SITCON 2015 - FAKTORI KONKURENTNOSTI TURISTIČKIH PREDUZEĆA SITCON 2015 - COMPETITIVENESS FACTORS OF TOURISM ENTERPRISES

regarding “conferences”,
employees working where
in only surveyed
the 59% of typically neutral, which means that they
organizations major- ity of employees in
organization, consider such types
tourism are aged 26 – 35 years (43%); the
second largest age groups of employees in
tourism are people aged 36 – 45 years (34%).
Other age groups are not significantly
represented in the workforce of the surveyed
organizations, while employees over 56 years
represent only
2% of the workforce. This fact is not
surprising, because tourism industry is very
dynamic and companies largely employ young
people. Another reason is the high propor-
tion of seasonal work in this sector, which is
particularly attractive for young people.

Fig. 3. The benefits of developing talent in

organizations
Source: own
processing

We have examined the main advantages of

talent devel- opment. Most organizations
indicated that the talent de- velopment
increased employee willingness to educate
and improve their skills and increased
employee motivation. Another important
“benefit” is the wage increase (55% of the
organizations). Surprisingly, at least
organizations in- dicate “increased
Fig. 1. The reason for non-use of talent competitiveness and better competitive
management position of the organization” as an advantage
Source: own of talent de- velopment (Figure 3).
processing

The survey showed that only 36% of the

surveyed com- panies implement (to a greater
or lesser extent) talent man- agement.
Organizations that are not yet implementing
this concept were asked about the reasons.
The main reason for non-use of talent
management is the “lack of human
resources” (50% of organizations chose this s
option), fol- lowed by the lack of financial s
Fig. 2. Length i
resources. Figure 1 shows all answers. It of talent n
should be added that 72% of these management g
organizations are aware of the need for talent implementati
management (disagreed with the statement on In terms of the
“We do not need talent management”). S length of talent
o
u
management
r implemen- tation,
c the majority (48%)
e of organizations
: implementing talent
1 management uses
5 o this concept within
2 w the range of 2
n
– 3 years. Only 6%
p of organizations use
r talent management
o for more than six
c years (Figure 2).
e
 SITCON 2015 - FAKTORI KONKURENTNOSTI TURISTIČKIH PREDUZEĆA SITCON 2015 - COMPETITIVENESS FACTORS OF TOURISM ENTERPRISES

Al been gaining Fig.

s regarding “conferences”,
awareness of the where only
4. 59% of typically neutral, which means that they
o, organizations
busi- ness community Meth consider such types
th only in recent years. ods
is of
fi talen
n t
di deve
n lopm
g ent
is S
n o
u
ot r
s c
ur e
pr :
isi
n o
g, w
n
a
s
p
ta r
le o
nt c
m e
a s
n s
i
a
n
g g
e
m
After that, we
e
investigated the
nt
methods of talent
in
devel- opment used in
Sl
the Slovak tourism
o
organizations. Accord-
v
ing to the results
a
obtained, the most
ki
common methods of
a
talent development
is
are “taught courses”
a
and “training”. This
re
marked the option
la
agreement and
ti
strong agreement of
v
74% of organizations.
el
y As can be seen
“ (Figure 4), all
n organizations have
e ex- pressed a positive
w view of the methods
” of talent develop-
c ment. However, they
o disagreed or strongly
n disagreed only
c
e
pt
a
n
d
h
a
s
surveyed this method of development and of training not so important for the talent
claimed that is not used or considered it least development in the organization.
effective. As can be seen (Figure 5), “direction
training” was con- sidered the worst option, as
well as “training about the re- sults” and are
performed only in some organizations. Name-
ly, 57% of organizations have expressed
negative opinion about this option.
Research results show that organizations
most frequent- ly retain and hire talented
people for the position of “top/ senior
manager” (51% of the surveyed organizations
indi- cate this answer) and “accommodation
manager” (48% of organizations). It can be
assumed that both of the above- mentioned
positions are crucial, and therefore
organizations devote considerable attention to
filling in these positions and employing
talented candidates. On the other hand, the
position “restaurant manager” is not likely to
be seen as sig- nificant because majority of
organizations do not need to hire talents for
this position (as evidenced by the prevalence
of discordant or neutral responses). In hotels or
restaurants, the position of “restaurant
manager” can be carried out (and often is
Fig. 5. Type of performed) by the head waiter. This
training phenomenon is typical for small and medium-
Source: own sized organizations (which dominated in the
processing
survey sample). The least significant posi- tions
in terms of talent search and recruitment are
“waiter/ waitress” (67% of organizations),
“chef/cook” and the “re- ceptionist”. Figure 4
shows the distribution of responses.

3. SUMMARY

The tourism business success lies primarily

in the qual- ity, accessibility and variety of
services provided, as well as on building
relationships with customers. This requires
skilled, dedicated and committed employees.
Employers make every effort to attract, hire
and recruit the most ap- propriate people.
Despite the lack of jobs in tourism and masses
of the unemployed, talent insufficiency can be
ob- served.
Our analysis leads to some conclusions: (1)
over a third of the surveyed organizations use
Fig. 6. Positions of hiring and
talent management; (2) organizations retain
recruiting talents
Source: own
and hire talents mainly for the position of
processing “top/senior manager” and “accommodation
manager”; (3) most organizations implement
(at least some of process- es and tools of)
talent management within the range of 2 – 3
years; (4) talent development leads to
employee willingness to educate and
increased motivation. The research findings
support the hypotheses that the use of talent
management tools and processes are affected
by the size of organization, and not by the
(foreign) capital/property participation.
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