Talent Management

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In addition to traditional motivating factors, there are some other strategies to provide incentives for talents. Karatepe argues that higher level of engagement in workplace by training programs and reward systems will help the development as well retaining employees and talents(Karatepe, 2012). In addition, meaningful and interesting tasks will motivate employees, especially young talents, to fully realize their potential and become more dedicated and devoted to the work.

Moreover, the perceived organizational characteristics need to be changes from low payment and status and long working hours to reputational and prestigious working conditions. By offering high quality working environment and promoting the balance between work and life, the industry image can be improved and changed (Kong et al., 2012). As the industry becomes more attractive as a whole, talent management will reach a new level and individual commitment will also be enhanced.

Emerging themes in Talent Management

Besides traditional theoretical frameworks and related studies, three are considerable studies focus on emerging themes within the study of talent management in global tourism in accordance to the changing landscapes and evolution of the industry (Baum, 2015).

Globalization

Enz has proposed that human resourcing puts most pressure on managers in the industry of hospitality and tourism in many countries, which changes the employer and employee relationship (Enz, 2009). In addition, the globalization also changes the landscape of tourism industry and practices of talents management in the industry. Globalization brings in new supplies for the workforce and raises the demand for employees who are ambitious, passionate, and youthful. Companies have to develop new and innovative practice to find and search for talents, train and develop their skills, and share their experience and expertise (Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2015). Some new means include searching and inviting people to join a company by social media or social networks as a key tool for recruitment.

Diversity Management

Domestic and global migration also accelerate the demographic change and diversity of the workforce in workplace of tourism industry, which is particularly evidence by the diversified workforce in EU areas and the north America. In addition, in terms of talent management, employers also have to strive for balancing the gender composition both in senior management and leader levels (Chen and Choi, 2008). Diversity management has become an increasing important topic in the study area of talent management in tourism industry, and people from different culture, social and educational backgrounds to work to achieve a common goal (Mkono, 2010).

Advance in Technology

Besides globalization, technology is another factor that drives the change in the tourism and hospitality industry. Social media and other technology allow companies to engage in various human resource management activities online, such as virtual teams and online communications(Parry, 2011). The self-interest of the companies paly a key role in the adoption of new technologies, as companies aim to reduce their cost and fit in the evolving labor market (Law et al., 2014). While companies are impacted by advance in technology, talents are also affected. Their work on longer solely depends on evaluation and assessment for their managers, but also depends on reviews on social network and travelling websites such as Trip Advisor (Marler, 2009).

Core Skill Development

Globalization and advance in technology also lead to new requirement for core skill development for talents. Technical skills are important, but some other skills also become more important. While inward looking and discreet is still important, relevant skills with other areas of workforce are also demanded. Emerging forms of tourisms, such as adventure tourism, cultural tourism, and sports tourism demand employees to develop new skills in medical, fitness, and erotic aspects.

In addition, employers in tourism and hospitality start to focus on developing employees a wide set of skills, so that they can perform a wider range of tasks (Almahamid et al., 2010). As a result, training becomes more vital and organizations aims to become more flexible and agile by providing cross function training and rotation programs. In addition, since customers have increasing focus on quality and aesthetic criteria, employees are only selected also based on their aesthetic ability and sensitivity to new trend. Both in the selection and development stages, employees have to demonstrate their aesthetics to maintain the image of the brand and the quality of their services.

Lack of similarity in required skills set creates challenges for talent management regarding professional and moral boundaries. Training programs and qualifications, diversity and culture issues, as well as safety and wellness should all be considered when managing talents (Baum et al., 2013).

Employee Life

As in the previous section, work-life balance has become an increasing important theme within the practice of talent management in the tourism industry. According to the practices of some major global companies, key employees are given consideration regarding their non work time to optimize them work efficiency and personal development. Since employees might not have regular schedule as people working in other industry, it is of importance for the companies to give their enough flexibility and choices to rich their non work lives (Fotheringham et al., 2000). Locations might act as attraction or barriers to employees to work in a specific areas according the the importance of the place attractiveness. Employees might have different satisfaction level and life work balance depending where they work. As a result, it is also important for managers to fit people in the right and most suitable workplace to maximize their potential and productivity.

Conclusion

Tourism industry is one of the most promising industry and human capital is the most important resources and assets of organizations in the hospitality and tourism industry. The previous organizational and industry attributes lead to considerable challenges in terms of talent management in the industry. Researches have carried out studies on various themes within the topic to talent management both in the past and contemporarily. Talent management should focus on improving the wellbeing and development of talents to attract,