Concluding commentary on the contemporary human resource issues for talent management in hospitality and tourism

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International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN: 0959-6119

Article publication date: 3 October 2008

2494

Citation

D'Annunzio-Green, N., Maxwell, G. and Watson, S. (2008), "Concluding commentary on the contemporary human resource issues for talent management in hospitality and tourism", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 20 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm.2008.04120gaa.003

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Concluding commentary on the contemporary human resource issues for talent management in hospitality and tourism

Article Type: Commentary From: International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Volume 20, Issue 7

This commentary provides some discussion on emergent points from the articles presented in this thematic edition and re-visits our strategic question posed at the beginning of this theme issue, “what does the highly contemporary, human resource topic of talent management mean for the hospitality and tourism industry”? The articles included here reveal that talent management has significant meaning and importance for the hospitality and tourism sector, and emerges as being a multi-faceted and multi-layered concept. This is reflected in Table I which provides a summary of key themes relating to definitions, key challenges and practical actions drawn from each of the submissions. The definitions in Table I indicates a variety of meanings and definitions around the concept and illustrates that talent management amounts to a broad way of contemporary thinking about people working in the industry that links business strategy to human resource strategy and incorporates a wide range of human resource policies and practices.

Drawing on the insightful contributions to this theme issue, the editors have developed a talent management blueprint, presented as Figure 1. This portrays the multi-layered nature and breadth of activities within the rubric of talent management. The discussion that follows here centres on explaining the layers and dimensions of this blueprint.

The outer layer of the model exposes talent management as being influenced heavily by external contextual factors. In essence talent management is an organisational concern that is influenced by the peculiarities of the external environment. For the hospitality and tourism industry these include the characteristics of the labour market, individual expectations, career opportunities, the nature of educational outputs and the industry image. These present a series of challenges to the hospitality and tourism industry, and require high level change and intervention to enable talent management strategies to flourish.

 Figure 1 Talent management blueprint

Figure 1 Talent management blueprint

At an organisational level, the blueprint suggests that the approach to talent management is likely to be influenced by a talent management strategy. Key issues here include whether talent management is seen as integral to business goals and tensions between either an inclusive or exclusive strategic position in talent management. The blueprint also highlights the importance of commitment and buy in from both senior and line managers. Effective talent management also requires attention to the culture and values that underpin this strategic approach and whether there is a talent management mindset in the organisation. The talent management pipeline reveals the relationship between HRM and talent management as a key challenge, with attention being drawn to the integration of human resource practices with talent management strategy. These are presented as complementary/ integrated HR practices that contribute to different stages in the talent pipeline. The blueprint also highlights the different stakeholders within talent management and presents these as key players in the effective deployment of talent management at either strategic and/or operational level. Importantly, responsibility for meeting this challenge lies with strategists and managers but also individual employees – a combined effort is needed to gain competitive advantage from talent management.

Having reflected on the individual contributions in this special edition and considered the various elements of the blueprint, a range of practical actions come to the fore. These may provide some direction to stakeholder groups, including educators, managers and industry leaders in the sector, to take the initiative in managing their workforce and workplace talent more effectively. At an industry level, actions addressing strategic alliances between education, industry and government bodies are suggested as raising the awareness of talent management. In addition industry sponsored research and the development of talent management toolkits and case studies could be useful. At an organisational level senior management support is seen as being critical to the development of successful talent management, but line management support is essential for its implementation. The talent management practices should encompass the whole of the talent management pipeline and some attention should be given to family friendly policies, and ensuring individuals are given opportunities to develop skills to enhance their careers.

In conclusion, talent management is a complex multi-dimensional concept that cannot be ignored by industry, education or individual managers if the tourism industry is to compete for and retain good employees. This thematic issue has considered both the strategic and operational features of talent management in an effort to expose its importance and complexity. The blueprint is intended to reinforce understanding of the concept of talent management and provide a framework for exploring the practical actions to be addressed in its implementation. All stakeholders need to rise to the challenges presented by talent management.

Norma D'Annunzio-Green, Gill Maxwell, Sandra WatsonTheme Editors

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