The New Zealand Tourism and Hospitality Workforce Strategy: Its Application to Small to Medium Hotels

In 2004 a report was released in New Zealand forecasting a tourism and hospitality workforce skills shortage. The New Zealand tourism and hospitality industry responded with the release of the Tourism and Hospitality Workforce Strategy (2006). This exploratory study examines some of the issues raised in the industry strategy. Owner/managers of small to medium hospitality organisations were interviewed in relation to: recruitment and training; pay rates and staff turnover; productivity issues and their views on the relationship between human resources and the firm's financial performance.

The Tourism and Hospitality Workforce Strategy claimed that the sectors' high staff turnover rates were caused by low pay rates and inadequate career paths. This study however found that long and anti-social work hours, limited job satisfaction, and the seasonal nature of the industry, were also contributing factors to the low retention rates characteristic of the industry. It was found that productivity was not a term that was well understood by owner/managers in small to medium firms and that these managers use informal systems for recruiting and HRM policies.