Using human resource development as an instrument to improve staff performance in the hospitality industry

Abstract

It is well known that the tourism industry in Malta is a major contributing factor to the country's economy. Malta's hospitality sector consists of a large number of hotels, mostly offering the same service, give or take a couple of minor amenities. Consequently, in order to obtain a competitive edge, a company must diversify its products. The quality of service offered by its staff is a main priority. In order for this to be possible, there needs to be a shift in the resources provided, focusing more attention on the human resources of an organization in hopes of increasing the quality of service offered. Since human capital has become such an important factor for competitiveness and performance in organizations, there has been an increasing investment of companies in training. The fundamental interest in conducting this study is to explore the attitude of local employees towards training opportunities. Such an attitude determines whether a shift from mass tourism to high quality tourism would be possible. Training was chosen as my desired area of research because it is my firm belief that it could result in an improvement of staff performance, brand strengthening, strong positive reputation as well as an increase in the level of quality service offered.