Training needs assessment in the travel industry

Annals of Towam Research. Vol. 14. pp. I’IS- 182. 1987 Rimed in the USA. Ati rights reserved.

0 1987 Peqmon

OISO-7SSV87 s3.00 + .oo JWM~ Ltd and J. Jshri

TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY Pauline J. Sheldon Chuck Y. Gee

University

of Hawaii, USA

Abstract: The success of the travel industry in any destination is in large measure dependent on the quality of its personnel. The objective of this study was to determine which skills are most in need of development, hence to be targeted for training. This study, which covers the entire state of Hawaii, is unique in two respects. First, it considers the entire travel industry rather than just hotels. Second, it surveys the opinions of both employees and employers so that comparisons may be drawn about the perceptions of the two groups with respect to training needs. The results are further analyzed by industry sectors. The skills that were ranked the highest by both groups were human relations, communications, and courtesy skills. Hawaiiana (knowledge of Hawaii’s culture, people, and land) and computer training were ranked lowest. The studies revealed considerable agreement between employees and employers on their perceived training needs, except in the areas of computer skills, salesmanship, and operations. Keywords: training, travel industry, perceptions, survey. Resume: L’evaluation des besoins de formation dans I’industrie du voyage. Le succes de I’industrie du voyage dans n’importe quelle destination depend en grande pat-tie de la qualite du personnel. Le but de la presente etude Ctait de determiner les competences dont on avait le plus grand besoin de developper et done de mettre en valeur clans la formation du personnel. Cette etude, qui comprend tout I’etat d’Hawaii, est unique a deux Cgards. D’abord, elle prend en consideration I’industrie touristique toute entitre. Ensuite, elle a enqu23 sur les opinions des patrons et des employ& afin de pouvoir comparer les perceptions des deux groupes vis-a-vis les besoins de formation. On poursuit cette etude en analysant les resultats par les secteurs de I’industrie. Les comp& tences qui ont ete class&es comme les plus importantes par les deux groupe-s etaient les relations humaines, la communication et la courtoisie. On a juge comme les moins importantes la connaissance de I’Hawaiiana (culture, peuples et terre de I’Hawaii) et la formation en informatique. Ces recherches revelent un accord considerable entre les patrons et les employ& au sujet des besoins de formation. sauf darts les domaines de I’informatique, I’art de la vente et les operations. Mats clef: formation, industrie du voyage, perceptions, enqu&e.

Pauline J. Sheldon is assistant professor of tourism at the School of Travel industry Management (University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA). She has published articles on tourism forecasting, resident attitudes to tourism, and applications of technology to the travel industry. Chuck Gee is Dean of the same school. He has authored or coauthored many publications Including two books on Resorf Development and Managemcnf and The Travel Industys. He serves on the Tourism and Travel Advisory Board for the United States Secretar\ of Commerce. 173

17-t

TRAINING

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INTRODUCTION The continuing success of any resort destination is ultimately determined by the visitors’ satisfaction with the vacation experience. Thts experience is influenced by the quality of interaction between the guest and the travel industry personnel and by the quality of facilities and attractions at the resort. In order to improve the quality of visitor/employee interaction, resort employees must be adequately trained to ensure high levels of professional competency. Therefore, training and development of human resources is important for destinations wishing to remain competitive in the world travel market. The rise in employee turnover costs, and the increased use of technology in the industry, further emphasize the need for training. Many studies and articles have been published on training in hotels and catering services, however, other sectors of the travel industry have received little or no attention. This study, borne out of a practical need to seek ways to enhance the professionalism of personnel in a mature vacation destination, addresses all sectors of the travel industry (air and ground transportation, travel agencies, tour operators, attractions, entertainment, accommodation, and food service sectors). The specific purpose of the study is to analyze the training needs of the travel industry in Hawaii, as perceived by both employers and employees within the industry. For this paper, the authors performed a survey of the literature pertaining to training needs assessment for the hospitality/tourism industry. It was concluded that such studies have mostly been done for the industry either by governments or by educational institutions seeking to improve their respective curricula. Only a few governments have attempted to identify the training needs of the entire travel industry. The Hong Kong Training Council (198 1) published a document listing recommended skills for each of 10 I jobs in the hotel, catering, and tourism industries. The Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities in Canada performed an indepth study which attempted to define skills required for hospitality and tourism employment (Mitchell 1975). The Hotel and Catering Industry Training Board of the United Kingdom performed a study to analyze the adequacy of formal hospitality education courses (Kelly 1982). The major concerns in this study were whether graduates could satisfy future industry demands -both quantitatively and qualitatively. The Tourism Advisory Council of New Zealand (I 978) has also performed studies to assess labor requirements for the catering and tourism industries. Studies performed by educational institutions looking to improve their hospitality curricula have tended to focus heavily on the hotel industry (Buergermeister 1983; Kaplan 1982; Pavesic I984). A major finding of research in this area is that communication and human relations skills were most in need of training (Buergermeister 1983; Keegan 1982; McDowell and Smith 1984; Pavesic 1984; Ransom and Berger 1984). Pavesic (1984) found that subjects involving “‘people skills” were perceived to be more important by graduates, educators, and industry representatives. Buergermeister (1983) surveyed 80 hospitality industry operators and educators to determine the skills and competencies needed by today’s beginning hospitality manager. He also found that the five top ranked competencies

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“deal directly with human relation skills and activities.” Despite this need, a survey done by Ransom and Berger (1984) found that in smaller hotels the majority of training time (6 1.2%) was spent on technical skills rather than human relation skills. They also found that most employees felt training to be inadequate. A 1983 survey of training in 727 US organizations performed by Training (1983) magazine showed that the majority (68.2%) ofall companies provided training in communication skills. These two studies indicate that the hospitality industry provides less training than do other industries in the one skill that is essential to the industry: communications skills. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to identify areas where training is needed in the mature resort destination of Hawaii and to measure differences in perceived training needs of employers and employees in seven different sectors of Hawaii’s travel industry. These sectors include the categories of accommodation, transportation, food service, travel agency, tour operation, attractions, and entertainment employment. The working hypothesis of the study was that the perceived training needs of employees and employers would differ. METHODOLOGY Two separate but similar surveys were designed to investigate the training needs in the travel industry as perceived by employers and employees. The two sets of surveys were mailed to seven sectors of the visitor industry, one set to employers (chief executive officers, vice presidents, and presidents) and one set to employees at all levels within the industry. In November 1983, 200 questionnaires were mailed to the employers. The companies were located on the four major Hawaiian Islands (Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii); all were members of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau. A proportional sample was drawn from the membership to accurately reflect the constituency of the various sectors which comprise the industry. Table 1 shows the numbers in each sector that were sampled, the number of responses for each sector, and the percentage of the total responses that each sector represents. A follow-up mailing was sent and a total of 82 completed and usable questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 4 1 percent. In March 1984,800 similar questionnaires were mailed to the personnel directors of 75 companies (drawn from the membership of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau). All 75 companies had been included in the first mailing. Table 1 shows the number of companies and employees in each sector that were surveyed. Bach company received between 5 and 25 questionnaires depending on company size. The personnel director in each company was asked to randomly distribute the questionnaires to employees and to encourage response. Prepaid envelopes were also included to increase the number of responses. Two weeks after the mailing, the personnel directors were contacted to encourage their respective employees to respond. Of the 800 questionnaires mailed, 211 were returned, giving a response rate of 27 percent.

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Table 1. Breakdown

Industry

Number of Companies Surveyed

Sectors

EE’ 25 8 15 7 7 7 4

Accommodation Transportation Food Service Travel Agent Tour Operator Attractions Entertainment Othep TOTAL a Employees. b Employers. cOther category d Total is greater

1! 77

ERb 55 20 35 20 20 20 20 10 200

NEEDS ASSESSMENT

of Respondents by Industry Sector Number of Employees Surveyed EE 300 100 180 30 60 50 30 50 800

Number of Responses EE

ER

81 25

27 16

64

15

9 11

9 15

9

12

10

9

24 233

4 ii%

Percentage of Total Responses EE 35%

ER 24.8%

11%

14.8%

278

15.6%

3.9%

4.7% 3.w 4.3% 10.3% 110.4%

8.3% 13.8% 11.0%

10.1% 3.7R 133%

includes souvenir shops and lei stalls. than 100% due to multiple responses.

Despite the relatively low response rate m the latter survey, the samples seem to represent a fair cross-section of the industry as shown in Table 1 There is, however, a possibility of self-selection bias by the respondents in both surveys. First, companies not interested in training issues may not have distributed questionnaires to their employees. Second, the employees who chose to respond may have had more education or had personal interest in the subject, hence were predisposed towards training. Overall, then, a bias may exist toward employers and employees who are more favorably disposed to the concept of training. QUESTIONNAIRE The employee questionnaire asked the respondents to rate on a fivepoint Likert scale how beneficial they believed training would be to themselves in each of nine skills. The survey which was sent to employers asked them to rate how beneficial they felt training would be to their employees in the same nine skills. The questionnaire asked for the perceived need for training in a particular skill, rather than the need for the skill itself. The survey is based on the assumption that all of the nine skills are needed in all seven sectors of the travel industry. In addition, the questionnaire asked about whether training benefits were offered by the company, and the type of training, if any, that was offered. There was also an open-ended question asking the respondents to describe what the industry most needed in the field of training. RESULTS The data was analyzed using the SPSS statistical analysis program. A t-test of differences was used when testing hypotheses between employee and employer

perceptions‘

The statistic is t = Xl - E,/JE

where

SHELDON

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sj and $3 are the sample variances of the employer and employee samples, respectively, and n1 , n4 are the sample sizes. The mean rating of the perceived benefit of training as determined by both groups for all skills was above 3.0. On a five point scale, this represents a perception by both groups that training in all nine skills would be at least above average in terms of value to employees and employers. Both groups felt that training in communication, courtesy, and human relations skills would most benefit their organizations. The consistency here is interesting. One might expect employers to wish that their employees be more courteous and better communicators, however, it is surprising to find that the employees themselves see a need to be better trained in these skills. The two groups were also relatively consistent in the skills they ranked lowest. These included computer skills and knowledge of the land and culture of Hawaii (Hawaiiana). With respect to computer skills, many sectors of the travel industry are just now beginning to utilize the computer, so this might explain its low ranking. The hypothesis about differences in the perceived benefits of training to employees and employers was supported in the areas of operations, salesmanship, and computer skills. These differences were found to be significant at the 10% level when a t-test for the difference in means was applied (see Table 2). Employees perceived a greater need for training in opera-

Table 9. Perceived Benefit of Training in Different Skills Employees (n==211)

Skills Communication Courtesy Human Relations Quality Assurance Language Operation@ Salesmanshipb Computer Hawaiiana”

SkiW

Mean’ 4.37 (.844) 4.24 (.920) 4.19 (.936) 4.04 (.902) 3.99 (1.037) 3.95 (.971) 3.92 (1.042) 3.71 (1.174) 3.56 (1.132)

Employers (n = 82) Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Mean’ 4.33 (1.032) 4.23 (.919) 4.27 (305) 4.11 (1.061) 3.85 (1.151) 3.71 (1.275) 4.14 (.915) 3.22 (1.316) 3.77 (1.123)

Rank 1 3 2 5 6 8 4 9 7

a 1 = least benefit 5 = most benefit. Standard deviations in parentheses. b Significantly different at the 10% level using a t-test of means. c Significantly different at the 1% level using a t-test of means. d A term used to describe knowledge of the culture, people and land of Hawaii.

TRAINING

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ASSESSMENT

tions (significant at the lO?c level) and computer skills (significant at the 1% level) than employers did. Employers who do not become involved with operations or with computers on a regular basis may not see the training assistance required by their employees. This finding is similar to Pavesic’s (1984) results which showed that Industry representatives ranked computer skills training significantly lower than did educators and graduates of hospitality programs. The difference in the rating of salesmanship, however, was the opposite. While employees were less concerned about the need for developing salesmanship skill through training, employers perceived employees to have a greater need for training in this areaa reflection perhaps of an employer’s natural interest in increasing business volume through selling. As discussed earlier, the aggregated data appear to support the hypothesis that some perceptional differences occur between employers and employees about training needs and priorities. The data, when disaggregated by the industry sector, provide detailed insights into specific training interests of the seven travel industry sectors. Since sample sizes were unequal in the various industry sectors (the accommodation sector in particular being more heavily represented in the two samples), disaggregation by sector eliminates a weight bias in the results. It should be explained, however, that the size of some of the subgroups when disaggregated is less than 30, so results should be viewed with caution. Nonetheless, one may derive general trends from the data. Table 3 presents some additional insights when the data is disaggregated by sector. A test of differences between means in the seven different sectors identified only four significant differences between employees’ and employers’ perceptions (at 10% level). These differences for the accommodation sector, tour operator sector, and the travel agency sector are as follows: 1. Employees and employers in the accommodation sector and the tour operator sector were found to perceive the need for computer training differentlv. In the accommodation sector, employees rat.her than em-

Table 3. Differences

Between Employees & Employers Different Sectors

Skills

Computer

Industry Accommodation EE’ ERb t-value 4.11’ 3.22 3.273 (1.04)d

(1.22)

Courtesy Quality

-

Assurance a EE = employee b ER = employer ‘ Mean d Standard deviations

Tour EE 3.0

Sectors

Operator ER t-value 3,93 - 1.793

(1 58) 4 56

(1.07) 3.86

(1.01)

(1.03)

Perception in the

I-Travel Agent EE ER t-value -

1 733 3.86 (.69)

in parentheses

4.56 (.53)

-2

419

SHELDON

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ployers saw greater need for computer training. In the tour operators sector it was employers rather than employees who saw greater need for this training. Since computers are more commonly used at the operational level in the complex accommodation sector than in the tour operator sector, the difference may be readily explained. In the tour operator industry, employers and employees differ significantly in their perceived need for courtesy training. Tour operations employees perceived greater need for this training than did employers. The discrepancy, however, may be due to the lack of having a common frame of reference on what constitutes “courtesy training.” Employer and employee perceptions differed significantly in the travel agency sector where employers perceived a greater need for training in quality assurance than did employees. A possible explanation for this perceptional difference is that employers tend to view quality assurance as a means of productivity increase while employees see quality assurance as a means of work control. The statistical tests showed that only three sectors - accommodations, tour operators, and travel agencies - demonstrated significant differences’between employee and employer attitudes. Table 4 shows the differences in mean perceptions for each sector. An interpretation of the findings of Table 4 follows: Th; attraction sector employers ranked training in Hawaiiana highest of all, whereas this skill was ranked lowest overall in the aggregated data. This is not surprising since many of the attractions feature the Hawaiian culture. The tour operator sector (especially employers) ranked language training higher than other sectors. The travel agent sector ranked sales training higher than other sectors. Table 5 shows that when the two surveys for each of the seven sectors are combined and the mean ratings summed up for each sector, the entertainment sector had the highest overall rating in its perception of benefit from training. The food service sector seems to perceive the least benefit from training in general. This is a most surprising finding when one considers that the food service industry has among the highest employee turnover rate of all the sectors of the travel industry. High employee turnover usually implies that more priority, rather than less, should be given to training by employers. The accommodation sector ranked second in its general perception of the need for training. Given the large number of formal training programs in existence for this sector, it is understandable that the accommodations industry would see training as an important activity. Another question in the survery asked both employees and employers to state whether the firm offered training benefits, including on-the-job training, in-house training programs and reimbursement of expenses for outside training. Table 6 shows the percentages stated by the two groups bv sector. The discrepancy in responses between employees and employers in every instance are both interesting and revealing. Either employees are not always aware that training benefits are offered, or emplovers have overstated (or in some cases, understated) the existence of training programs within their respective organizations.

Skill

a EE = employees b ER = employers c Mean d Standard devlation

Hawaiiana

Computer

Sales

Operations

Language

Quality Assurance

Human Relations

Courtesy

Communication

(1.09)

w;)

4.74’ (.85)d 4.25 (.89) 4.26 (.92) 4.18 (.83) 4.07 (1.12) 4.16 (.95) 3.84 (1.i5) 4.11

4.65 (.69) 4.37 (.79) 4.35 (.69) 4.36 (.76) 4.15 (.95) 3.89 (1.18) 4.23 (.95) 3.32 (1.22) 3.78 (1.05)

Accommodation EE’ ERh (n= 8) (n = 27) 4.36 (.73) 4.40 (.82) 4.09 (1.04) 3.95 (.76) 3.86 (.99) 3.70 (.98) 3.92 (1.06) 3.74 (1.21) 3.60 (1.31) w;) (1.19) 3.83 (1.47) 4.40 04) 3.75 (1.06) 4.07 (1.21)

4.64 (.84) 4.57 (.76) 4.57 (.76) 4.14

Transportation EE ER (n = 25) (n = 14) 4.25 (.93) 4.15 (.96) 4.10 (.90) 4.00 (.93) 3.79 (1.00) 4.05 (.92) 3.93 (.96) 3.47 (1.23) 3.61 (1.24)

4.06 (1.29) 4.18 (1.02) 4.35 (.70) 3.86 (1.23) 3.73 (1.28) 3.88 (1.09) 4.06 (I.L2) 3.00 (1.52) 3.50 (1.16)

Food Service EE ER (n -64) (n=l7)

Table 4. Employee vs. Employers

4.44 (.73) 4.38 (1.06) 3.50 (1.51) 3.86 (.69) 3.67 (1.0) 4.38 (.74) 4.25 (.89) 3.67 (1.41) 3.50 (1.31)

Travel EE (n=9) 4.29 (1.11) 4.30 (1.12) 4.43 (.79) 4.56 (.53) 3.75 (1.83) 3.86 (1.46) 4.57 (.79) 3.14 (1.68) 3.57 (1.27)

Agent ER (n=Y)

Needs

4.44 (.53) 4.56 (1.01) 3.80 (1.55) 4.13 (.84) 4.22 (I .20) 3.50 (1.19) 4.25 (.89) 3.00 (1.58) 3.70 (1.42)

4.27 (.96) 3.86 (1.03) 4.00 (.96) 4.00 (.95) 4.15 (.9) 3.71 (I .20) 4.15 (.99) 3.93 (1.07) 3.79 (1.05)

Tour Operator EE ER (n=ll) (n=I5)

Perception of Training

4.67 (.5) 4.75 (.46) 4.56 (.73) 3.86 (1.46) 4.22 (1.09) 3.75 (1.58) 4.67 (.71) 2.78 (1.56) 3.89 (.YY)

69)

(1.17)

4.40 (.7) 3 20 (1.23) 3.75

(.73) 4.50 (.Y7) 3.89 (Si)

(1.27) 3.91 (1.22) 3.55 (1.51) 4.18 V7) 3.20 (1.75) 4.42

4.44

(I .x2)

4.60 (.52) 4.89 (.33) 4.20

(.87)

4.44 (.73) 3.81( (.Y!,) 4.33

(.Y7) 4.44 (.73) 4.11 (.Y3)

(.5) 4.22

4.78 (.67) 4.89 (.33) 4.67

Etnrrt.hmen~ EE ER (n=lO) (n=Y)

(.91) 4.27

4.27

01)

4.27 (1.19) 4.36

Atrractions EE ER (n=9) (n=12)

% -I

m

! i= z

‘e

F1

g

2 c, %

= 4

SHELDON AND GEE

Table 5. Ranking Perceived

Sum of Mean Ratings of Employers and Employees

Entertainment Accommodations Attractions Transportation Travel Agencies Tour Operators Food Service

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

SUMMARY

by Industry Sector of Overall Need for Training

Industry Sector

Rank

181

8.53 8.12 8.10 8.03 7.92 7.80 7.65

AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This study has supported the hypothesis that differences do exist in employers’ and employees’ perception of training needs in the travel industry. Differences were found to exist in the areas of computer training, operations, and salesmanship. There was agreement by both groups, however, that communications, courtesy, and human relations skills are most in need of training, and that computer skills and Hawaiiana are least important _ The results of this study may provide some guidelines for the future development of travel industry training. Most importantly, and in concurrence with other studies, priority training is required in communications, human relations, and courtesy. These skills are unquestionably difficult to teach, as they touch upon individual personality, attitudes, and behavioral responses. There is considerable discussion in the literature of whether such skills should or can be taught (Coombs and Slaby 1977). They question whether such skills are innate or acquired through training. Standard format training is clearly inadequate to develop these skills. Sophisticated

Table 6. Percehtage of Companies Offering

Training

Benefits

Employee Responses

Employer Responses

77.5% (n = 80) 69.6% (n = 23) 75.8% (n = 62) 66.7%

100% (n = 25) 57.1% (n= 14) 85.7% (n 6 14) 55.6%

Attractions

(n = 9) 75% (n = 8) 88.9%

Entertainment

(n = 9) 83.3%

(n - 9) 53.3% (n-= 15) 36.4% (n= 11) 88.9%

(n = 6)

(n = 9)

Industry Sectors Accommodation Transportation Food Service Travel Agencies Tour Operators

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ASSESSMENT

methods which include the use of critical incidents, role playing, T-groups transactional analysis, and other experimental techniques are more appropriate. McDowell and Smyth (1984), among others, have used filming of authentic staff/customer interactions to help improve these skills. Where differences have been perceived between the two groups (operations, computer skills, and sales), companies should check more close!v with employees to ensure that adequate training is given. This studv did not break down the employee sample into job levels (entry levei, supervisory, etc.), but this is clearly an important area for future research. 0 0 .4cknowledgmen~s-The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution Butko, graduate assistant at University of Hawaii, and the Hawaii Visitor Bureau ing assistance in selecting the samples

of Robert for provid-

REFERENCES Buergermeister, James 1983 Assessment of the Educational Skillsand Competencies Needed by Beginning Hospitality Managers. Hospitality Education and Research Journal 8( 1):38 - 53, Coombs, M. L., and D. A. Slaby 1977 Social Skills Training with Children. In Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, A. E. Kazin and B. B Lakey, eds. New York: Plenum Press. Hong Kong Training Council 198 1 Job Standards: Hotel, Catering and Tourism. Hong Kong. Kaplan, Atid 1982 A Management Approach to Hospitality and Tourism Education. International Journal of Hospitality Management 1.(1): 11 - 17 Keegan, Brendan M. 1982 Managerical Leadership: The Hospitality Industry’s Response to the New Work Aesthetic. Journal of Travel Research 1 l(2): 10 - 13. Kelley. Terry K. 1982 Research into the Vocational Education and Training Requirements of the Hotel and Catering Industry in the U.K. Journal of Travel Research 21(2):22 -26. McDowell, D. A., and T. T. A. Smith 1984 Social Skills and Modification in Catering Management Education. International Journal of Hospitality Management 3(2):81-82, Mitchell, Leo A. 1975 An Analysis of the Skills Required for Hospitality, Tourism, Recreation and Related Industries. Canada: Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities. Pavesic, David V. 1984 Educator -Industry Perceptions of Subject-Area Importance of Hospttalitv Programs. Hospitality Education and Research Journal 9( 1): 13 - 30. Ransom, Kathrvn N., and Florence Berger 1984 Training for Small Hospitality &ganizations. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Quarterly 25(2):69-74. Tourism Advisory Council of New Zealand 1978 Report of the Personnel and Training Committee. Welhngton, New Zealand: Tourism Conference. Training 1983 US Training Census and Trends Report. Training (October): 30-53. Submitted 21 May 1985 Revised version submitted 7 February Accepted 22 April 1986 Final version submitted 19 May 1986 Refereed anonymously

1986