The barriers to the recruitment and retention of supervisors/managers in the Scottish tourism industry

Abstract

PurposeThe primary objective of this study was to examine, from the supervisors/managers' perspective, the impacting factors and barriers on their recruitment and retention in the Scottish tourism industry.Design/methodology/approachThe information in this analysis was elicited from a questionnaire survey and analysed using factor analysis and significance test.FindingsThe analysis of the responses supports the separation of the hygiene (such as “working conditions”) and motivator factors (such as “image of the tourism industry” and “development opportunities”) as represented by Herzberg's dual‐factor motivational theory; and strengthens the belief that the latter is more significant in the recruitment and retention of tourism managerial staff.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation is the sampling framework and the data collection methods. These restricted the choice of the analysing techniques and might ultimately affect the interpretation of the research results.Practical implicationsThis research aims to alert policy‐makers to some of the key barriers to the employment of qualified tourism staff in Scotland and assist with their decision‐making process.Originality/valueAs highlighted, the research provides insights to tourism practitioners in understanding and tackling the problems facing tourism employment in Scotland; it also provides some empirical evidence to tourism researchers in their theoretical understanding of the motivation and satisfaction of tourism managerial staff.