Analysis of senior management training needs in international hotel companies - A field study

Master's Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject Hotel Industry / Catering, grade: "-", London Metropolitan University (Birkbeck College), course: MSc in Organisational Bahaviour, 85 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: A thorough analysis of training needs is an important component of any systematic training
strategy. International hotel companies face substantial challenges in terms of human
resources development. This situation may lead the assumption that they would therefore
apply particular care in the planning, design, implementation and evaluation of their training
activities. This study's objectives were to explore whether large hotel companies sufficiently
consider organizational, task and person aspects when analyzing their senior management's
training needs, and on the other hand, to investigate how systematically they apply the
training cycle. The 15 largest international hotel organizations were selected to participate in
this qualitative study in which relevant questions were asked to one senior Human Resources
Executive of each company via a semi-structured telephone interview. Answers from eleven
organizations were obtained. The responses suggest that structured and exhaustive approaches
to training needs analysis are the exception rather than the norm. All companies do in some
way assess existing training needs. However except for one company, none comprehensively
considers all three areas of training needs. The general focus seems to be on persons' needs,
and to a lesser degree on the organization's needs and current industry trends. There is a clear
preference to rely on performance reviews and individual assessment centre results. These
two sources were mentioned by a large majority of respondents. Less often, overall company
results in terms of finances, quality and sometimes other balance score card criteria provide an
impetus for training activities. This suggests that organizational needs are taken into account.
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