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Recalibrating talent management for hospitality: a youth development perspective

Maria Golubovskaya (Business School, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)
David Solnet (Business School, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)
Richard N.S. Robinson (Business School, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN: 0959-6119

Article publication date: 11 July 2019

Issue publication date: 14 November 2019

1970

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to challenge existing assumptions in talent management (TM) research, showcasing a misalignment between commonly held assumptions and the characteristics of the youth-intensive hospitality sector workforce.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a review of the TM literature, Piirto’s educational talent pyramid is adopted to conceptualize a recalibration. Drawing on multidisciplinary literatures (i.e. adolescent development, youth employment, positive psychology), and adopting a (talent) developmental approach, a reframing of prevalent TM discourses is enunciated based on the logic that the hospitality workforce is predominantly in a developmental state.

Findings

TM discourses are misaligned with the workforce composition of the hospitality industry, which is dominated by young, often unexperienced, workers. The need for dramatically recalibrated TM structures and underlying assumptions, centred around a greater attention to the “development” of talent and a more employee-focused and inclusive approach, can facilitate greater alignment between TM and hospitality.

Research limitations/implications

This paper extends a body of work advocating for more inclusive TM and developmental postures. The contribution, via a hospitality industry context, has been to create linkages between talent- and youth-development discourses.

Practical implications

This paper outlines a number of implications, among which are a pathway forward for hospitality industry to rebuild its poor HRM image and conversion of “transient” hospitality jobs to career jobs (for youth).

Originality/value

This paper identifies youth as a distinct workforce entity and suggests that hospitality jobs represent a critical developmental context for young people, resulting in a series of critical implications for TM practice and theorizing.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This manuscript has been produced with support from the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, who kindly funded the lead author’s PhD scholarship.

Citation

Golubovskaya, M., Solnet, D. and Robinson, R.N.S. (2019), "Recalibrating talent management for hospitality: a youth development perspective", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 31 No. 10, pp. 4105-4125. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2018-0911

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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