The changing conditions in which workers find themselves often results into inconsistencies for the respective organizations with regards to finding workers. As a result, these institutions have to contend with the fact that they will have to deal with such inconsistencies without affecting their productivity levels since the supply and demand of labor will not be predictable in some of the cases. The presentation seeks to advance the current knowledge about the issues surrounding labor and supply using relevant information about the topic (Adler & Adler, 2004).
One of the main points presented in the discussion include the demand and the supply of the labor market in the hospitality industry. There are more trained professionals in the industry but less hotels from which they can secure employment. According to the presenter, there are a total of 108, 383 jobs in the industry but the professionalism and experience of people do not match up to these expectations. Another point is that in this field, there should be considerations for replacing some of the individuals. The third point is that there should be considerations to address the level of unemployment in the industry. There are various ways of addressing the labor challenges to which the presenter talks about (Adler & Adler, 2004).
In light of these points, the key questions that the presenter was trying to address include: Can the current situation in the hospitality industry be solved? Are the expectations of all those who are involved with the hospitality industry being met? The presenter was thinking about giving the hospitality management a whole new approach in the way they recruit their workers and maintain them within the industry. When the workers are made to feel like they are important people in the institution, they will become more productive in their work and consequently they will give their work a more personalized approach (Tesone, 2005).
The most important information in this report was the ability to change the labor market in the hospitality industry. So the most important factor with the labor industry in hospitality is how to improve on the image of the company. It can only be possible if the respective industries were able to close the gap in labor supply that stood at 14,000. Closing this gap means that these people had to be professionals in the respective fields which was only possible through experience and acquiring the appropriate skills. It means that people who are responsible for the image of the company, especially the cooks, the chefs and the servers must have a good mastery of their jobs (Adler & Adler, 2004).
The main assumptions underlying the présenter's thinking are that when people get hospitality and management training them all have equal chances of learning. The reality is that there are different levels in which the trainers go through during their learning processes. Eventually, such factors will determine the quality of learning that the trainees get. Similarly, when they get to their jobs, they will get different exposures on the industry requirements therefore this will impact differently on their skills (Adler & Adler, 2004). Another assumption is that the workers will be working and dealing with different economic situations.
Suppose that we take the presenter’s line of reasoning seriously, chances are high that there will be significant changes in the hospitality industry, with regards to the working conditions of the workers. In return, they will improve on their working standards and in turn increase the productivity of the institutions for which they work (Adler & Adler, 2004). This will allow for an increase in the productivity levels which in turn boosts the performance of the industry. Increase in the performance is therefore not solely dependent on the managerial capability but the nature involvement of the employees in decision making process.
On the other hand, if people do not take this line of reasoning seriously, chances are high that there will be even poor working conditions and it will negatively affect the productivity of the institutions. The focus will be more on how the policies can be made or even reviewed without taking into consideration the contribution of those that these decisions target. The current problems will continue to persist or even worse they will take a worse turn, which is the economic standards declining. The image of the tourism sector will become tainted and they will lose out on workers and even worse, the customers (Adler & Adler, 2004).
After hearing the speaker I wanted to ask some of the most permanent ways of dealing with the employment situation in the tourism industry. What would be the impact of such decisions? On the other hand, if the respective institutions decided to not to change the professionals that they had on grounds that it would not be economically viable, what would be the potential side effects on the institution’s activities and economic growth. According to the HR principles, replacing individuals, especially those who are experts in their fields such as the chefs and the cooks would require a lot of time before the institution resumes normality or even better starts realizing the benefits of such kinds of changes (Tesone, 2005). Training individuals requires patience, time and resources before realizing the benefits of such kinds of advances. What is even worse is the fact that after such kinds of training exercises the trainees may seek for better grounds for exploiting what they have been taught by their previous employers. It places a greater part of the challenge on the trainers to come up with ways of retaining their employees such us increasing their labor wages or salaries and improving the working conditions of the workers.
I also wanted to discuss with the speaker the role of those in authority in retaining their employees. Much of the talk was centered on the nature of the labor industry, but very little was mentioned in line with the reasons as to why the problem still continues to persist and their origin. The only people who are closest to workers in the hospitality industry are their respective employers. If there is a labor gap, it is the employers who are at a position to clarify the sectors where such professionalism is required. Human resource has got a lot to do with the leadership status of the organizations (Adler & Adler, 2004). In hospitality industry, is there enough being done with regards to the administrative challenges that the workers have to put up with? The way in which those who are in authority manage the workers has everything do with how their decisions affect the respective workers (Adler & Adler, 2004).
References
Adler, P. A., & Adler, P. (2004). Paradise laborers: Hotel work in the global economy. Ithaca [N.Y.: ILR Press.
Tesone, D. V. (2005). Human resource management in the hospitality industry: A practitioner's perspective. Upper Saddle River, N.J: PEARSON/Prentice Hall.
Mitchell, J., & Ashley, C. (2010). Tourism and poverty reduction: Pathways to prosperity. London: Earthscan.
Coleman, S., & Crang, M. (2001). Tourism: Between place and performance. Oxford: Berghahn.
Accessible Tourism. (2010). Clevedon: Channel View Publications.
