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tourism industry
Finding innovative solutions 391
William C. Murray and Statia Elliot
School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, University of Guelph,
Guelph, Canada
Keith Simmonds
Great Wolf Lodge, Niagara Falls, Canada
Donnalea Madeley
Seneca College, Toronto, Canada, and
Martin Taller
School of Hospitality and Tourism, Algonquin College, Ottawa, Canada
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to explore the challenges encountered by the hospitality and tourism industry in
managing the labour challenges it faces presently and will face in the coming years. Although there are several
issues at play, there are actions that industry members can take both internally and by advocating externally
for change.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on insights from three industry members and two
academics to explore key areas in which action can be taken to address labour demand challenges in the
hospitality and tourism workforce. The identified action items combine these various types of expertise to
provide a holistic frame of action.
Findings – The Canadian hospitality and tourism industry is facing an ever-increasing labour demand
shortage. Industry members can confront this on multiple fronts, from front-line employee satisfaction to more
regional and national advocacy efforts. A combination of activities is recommended.
Practical implications – Hospitality and tourism industry members can take numerous actions from this
analysis, including developing stronger organization cultures that align with employee needs, exerting effort
in balancing wage gap issues and maintaining pressure on government partners to provide support for
establishing hospitality and tourism, so that it is viewed as a valuable career path.
Originality/value – This paper increases knowledge in the hospitality and tourism field by combining the
current human resource management theory with observations from industry experts on the needs that exist
now and are predicted in the coming years.
Keywords Canada, Tourism, Culture, Training, Human resource management, Hospitality,
Hospitality education, Labour shortage
Paper type Research paper
Others have reported low or negative perceptions of careers in hospitality, with the sector
seen as a place for temporary, front-line employment only, with perceptions of inconsistent 393
employment, lower than average compensation, irregular hours (Kusluvan and Kusluvan
2000) and employment that lacks in “real” jobs of value, resulting in a “turnover culture”
(Chikwe, 2009). Shifting this prevailing culture will require stakeholders to make changes in
their perspectives around people as resources in tourism.
With 70 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product comprised of services and four out of
five Canadians employed in the sector (CHTRC, 2013), competition is strong for the shrinking
labour pool from retail and other service sectors, particularly for young and relatively
low-skilled workers. According to an industry leader in the Canadian lodging sector, “The
key human capital challenge stems from the lack of supply of entry level employees for an
industry that is made up of at least 75 per cent of this level of employees.” (Simmonds, 2016,
personal communication, December).
Operators continue to struggle to find workers willing and able to step into the necessary Finding
front-line positions. For the lodging sector, keeping hotels staffed with individuals who innovative
combine technical skills and a deep understanding of the essence of hospitality is an ongoing solutions
challenge for every operator, and it is not getting any easier (Maclean, 2016). The reputation
of hospitality is somewhat damaged because it is being seen as a “sweat equity” business
with long days, including weekends and holidays, for low pay and the somewhat entrenched
practice of relocation. Moving employees from property to property as part of their career 395
progression is more challenging now. Less than 2 per cent of candidates describe themselves
as relocatable (Billings, as cited in Maclean, 2016) which is understandable when upwards of
70 per cent of Canadian families are dual-income (Statistics Canada, 2017b), and moving
costs can be prohibitive, often resulting in more jobs than qualified candidates. Without
relocation as a “carrot”, operators are challenged to find new approaches to provide their
employees opportunity for upward mobility.
Another sector challenge is the common myth that all tourism and hospitality jobs are
part-time and low-wage. In fact, 61 per cent of tourism jobs in Canada are full-time (TIAC,
2014), and if there is an upside to the low-wage trait, it is that tourism employs a high number
of youth: of the one in ten employed in tourism – 1.62 million Canadians – one-third are under
the age of 25 years, and more are new Canadians in comparison to the workforce as a whole
(32 versus 28 per cent). The President of The Trellis Consulting Group recently stated,
“While there are many seasonal and part-time jobs in the tourism and travel industry, there
tends to be a perception that jobs are never permanent and not a career.” (Taller, 2016,
personal communication, November). The perception of tourism as a “career” option appears
to not exist for many young workers who instead view it more as a placeholder job while they
pursue their education and seek other, more lucrative opportunities. For example,
restaurants are one of the largest employers of youth in all sectors, and notably, restaurants
offer the most popular first job, with 22 per cent of Canadians getting their start in the
foodservice industry (Restaurants Canada, 2010). These early experiences build skills in
service, sales, responsibility and more. The soft skills gained in the foodservice industry are
quite attractive to other sectors, and other sectors have begun actively recruiting employees
with these people skills away from hospitality to work in their business operations (Billings,
as cited in Maclean, 2016). While this might be seen as nice external recognition of valued
skills trained by the tourism industry, it clearly represents yet another threat to employee
retention.
Another challenge frequently identified by the industry is the differing expectations of
the millennial cohort, who now comprise the largest generational contingent of the 2015
Canadian workforce at 36.8 per cent (Statistics Canada, 2017a) and who will form the
backbone of the hospitality industry in the coming years (Isherwood, 2015). A survey of
millennials shows that this demographic is ready to quickly change employers and shift to
different industries to find a business that aligns with their values. A study by Deloitte (2016)
revealed that 66 per cent of millennials are expected to leave their current employer by the
end of the year, largely because 63 per cent believe their leadership skills are not being fully
developed. For millennials, feeling connected to their work and seeing career progression are
critical. This, in turn, places a greater emphasis on employers to commit to their professional
development and training, while also making sure these employees are empowered and have
a sense of responsibility in their work. They may no longer accept 14 hour days that were all
too common for the baby boomer hospitality worker. Millennials are demanding satisfaction
in both their career and non-career experiences, increasing the pressures for greater work –
life balance.
WHATT In reality, what they want may not be that different from others. They may just be in a
9,4 better market position to ask for it all, including a dynamic and friendly work environment,
respect for work done, job security and high potential future earnings, investment by their
employer in training and development and working for a company with high ethical
standards (Universum, 2014). According to a Canadian travel specialist:
Today’s generation is attracted to work in an authentic environment of transparency with employee
396 collaboration. They challenge the dated mindset of “do as I say; not as I do”. Inconsistencies of
company core values, the lack of perceived sincerity and authenticity towards employee value,
engagement and retention leads to employee dissatisfaction and high turnovers. People remember
how you made them feel (Madeley, 2016, personal communication, December).
Caira (2016), the editor of Foodservice Magazine, recently made an appeal to the industry to
step up its efforts to help employees cope with the demands of their jobs. In it, she cited some
activities taken by the Culinary Institute of America, including the availability of counselling
for students in need, meditation workshops to help reduce stress and the encouragement of
team sports to enhance interpersonal connections.
Attracting and retaining quality employees in I. Industry advocacy for continued government support through regional and national training
an industry that typically relies on younger initiatives and policy reform which facilitate increased recruitment to meet present and future
workers when the Canadian labour market labour demands.
continues to age II. Immigration reform, both for long-term skilled workers and temporary foreign workers, can
serve to fill labour gaps and keep seasonal hospitality and tourism businesses open.
III. Investment made in new technologies that can replace certain roles within the industry
(self-service technologies, repetitive task technologies, etc...) to positively impact labour
challenges
Confronting systemic wage imbalances that I. Exploration of improved, non-traditional wage models, including the removal of tipping in
exist between genders, of specific importance place of common, strong living wages for all employees.
because the hospitality and tourism II. Implementation of open, transparent wage models that are standardized based on work
industry’s labour force is skewed strongly roles and experience, that are not influenced by gender or race.
towards female employees in entry level III. Increase in governmental regulation around mandatory wage parity based on job level and
positions performance
Addressing the misperception that the I. Provide clear career path opportunities for advancement through internal training and
hospitality and tourism is not an industry in leadership development programs.
which people can have a professional, long- II. Ensure employees have access to skill development and training programs.
term career III. Understand the factors which both motivate and engage employees. Counterbalancing the
stressors of non-traditional working hours by having both a supportive work environment and
strong interpersonal relationships can positively reduce turnover
Understanding the changing attitudes and I. This cohort of workers seeks to find and stay with employers when there is a cultural
behaviours of the Millennial generation alignment of their personal ethics and standards with the organization.
II. Respect and immediacy in feedback are important; managers must invest time and effort
providing this to their workers.
III. The workplace is an extension of themselves. Therefore, it needs to be fun, friendly and
dynamic, with the potential for long-term growth and development
397
potential actions
Labour challenges and
Table II.
solutions
innovative
Finding
WHATT Naturally, industry operators have key roles to play in addressing labour issues, creating
9,4 places of employment that are attractive for employees to choose to join and then choosing to
stay to build a career. While the government can, and does, dictate basic human resource
practices across Canada, including employment standards, workplace health and safety
regulations and human rights codes, it takes much more than just following the rules to stand
out as an employer of choice. Many hospitality businesses are progressively changing their
398 human resource practices to focus on leadership development and building brand cultures to
attract top talent. For example, Keg Restaurants, which employs over 8,000 people in their
restaurants, has been recognized as one of Canada’s best 50 employers for 14 consecutive
years (Aon Hewitt, 2017). Core to their human resource practice and corporate culture is
putting staff first and looking within for future managers (Sockett, as cited in Newman,
2016). A similar philosophy is followed by Earls Restaurants Ltd., where leadership training
is not limited to management, but extends to all 1,500 of their employees and puts into
practice President Mo Jessa’s belief that every person can be a leader (Isherwood, 2015).
Industry continues to pursue other techniques to positively impact the labour challenges,
including changing processes to minimize the requirement for as many people. Technology
holds great potential to address the entry-level supply gap by providing innovative
solutions, such as reservation systems and housekeeping tracking software that reduce the
number of low-wage employees needed to perform repetitive tasks. Adaptation of advanced
technology will also appeal to millennials as a signal to an organizational culture of
innovation. Technology cannot solve all labour pressures because tourism is fundamentally
an industry based on human interaction and the creation of experiences (Parasuraman 1987).
More and more operations are beginning to address some systemic labour imbalances that
have been a long-standing part of the industry, particularly around employee compensation.
Some restaurants, for example, are experimenting with no tipping models to address the
wage gap that exists between front-of-house and back-of-house employees to create a more
equitable pay model and reduce the shortage of kitchen staff (McAdams and von Massow,
2016). Another imbalance that is particularly evident in the restaurant sector is the lack of
wage parity between genders. Women constitute a majority of the overall Canadian tourism
labour force (CTHRC, 2012) and in some cases, outright dominate the employee
demographic, such as in the foodservice industry where over 80 per cent of servers are
female. Yet, in the tourism industry, women continue to earn an annual salary of just 67 per
cent of the annual salary of men (CTHRC, 2012). This is simply not acceptable, and it should
go without saying that any leftover practices of kitchen bullying and glass ceilings must end.
Industry also needs to pay close attention to the motivational needs of their employees, as
research has shown that the factors that attract employees to a job and drive them to perform
shift over time and are very contextually driven (Murray, 2016). Preferences for good wages
have appeared at the top of the list for employees in numerous historical studies (Kovach,
1987; Charles and Marshall, 1992), highlighting the desire for employees to meet their
existing level needs in an industry that frequently has lower wages. However, more recent
explorations reveal the importance to employees of opportunities for growth and promotion
and feeling fully appreciated for their hard work (DiPietro et al., 2014; Murray, 2016),
signalling that employees appear to be seeking to satisfy growth needs and find meaning in
their work. By continually engaging with their human resource talent, industry has the
opportunity to remain relevant in meeting the motivations of their workforce and, in turn,
increasing the engagement and tenure of their employees.
Doing more with the talent, operators and managers can play a role in mitigating labour
pressures. Recent research has revealed that nearly 60 per cent of the differences in employee
performance can be attributed directly to how engaged employees feel in their workplace
(Anitha, 2014). Of all the factors impacting the level of employee engagement, two Finding
characteristics emerged as the most critical: supportive working environment and innovative
interpersonal relationships. Both create an environment where employees feel safe,
respected, receive positive feedback and are encouraged to take risks and develop new skills
solutions
and abilities. Industry operators should take note that personal investment in their
employees and demonstrating appreciation for them as real people could offset some of the
less controllable impacts of lower wages and non-traditional hours.
399
Conclusion
The labour challenges facing Canada’s tourism industry can seem daunting, particularly
when demographic shifts are shrinking the pool of young workers. Although daunting, there
are many actions that can be taken by hospitality and tourism operators and owners to better
attract and retain quality workers. Some of this starts with creating an environment in which
people want to work. A positive organizational culture and supportive leadership can make
a difference here, where employees feel aligned with the place they work and receive positive
attention from their managers both for the work they presently do and future opportunities.
Yet, feeling positive and supported alone does not satisfy the needs of workers. Fair and
equal compensation continues to be a real issue that progressive organizations are
addressing through creative wage structures and labour costing models. Employees will
envision the hospitality and tourism industry as more of a career if they are receiving
career-style wages and see the potential for future, fair compensation for their hard work.
Additional actions include investment in training and educational programs which
reinforce levels of industry professionalism. College diplomas and university degrees that
substantially increase the skills, knowledge and abilities of workers should be supported by
industry partners, which in turn, connotes the value placed on training and education within
the industry. However, the majority of the employees within this field will not possess or
choose to pursue post-secondary education. Industry members can continue to encourage
and support their employees to seek out regionally and nationally recognized skill-based
industry certifications, such as the Emerit tourism and hospitality training certifications
available in Canada. The value of increased skills development should be integrated into the
overall organizational strategy of most operations in an effort to increase labour retention.
Finally, industry members must come together with a common voice through their
professional associations. Through these organizations, they can continue to advocate for
government support in their labour needs. Government policies such as investments in skills
training, fair living wages and the value of temporary foreign workers to seasonal operators
only move forward if they are heard and understood by elected representatives. As an
industry, tourism is incredibly important to the Canadian economy. Continued advocacy to
government officials reinforces the value of tourism, and from that standpoint of value, there
come real opportunities to achieve policies that help address the labour challenges faced by
the hospitality and tourism industry.
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