Empowerment Through Training: Examining the Impact of Knowledge, Tourism Employee Empowerment, Induction Procedures, Job Design, and Training Outcome Dimensions of Tourism Employee Training in Zimbabwe

This paper discusses the importance of employee training in Zimbabwean hotels. The paper argues that how employees are inducted or orientated to their jobs, provides the opportunity for employees to be introduced to the hotel’s culture and standard operating procedures as well as be able to attend to different aspects that are fundamental to their employment (Tansley in What do we mean by the term ‘‘Talent’’ In Talent Management?, pp. 266–274, 2011). It is well stated that successful hotels always include up-to-date staff training as their important development strategy (Ferguson & Brohaugh in Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism 8:17–38, 2009). This paper, therefore, examines the relationship crescendos among the dimensions of knowledge, tourism employee empowerment, induction procedures, job design, and training. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a purposive sample of 443 hotel employees in selected Zimbabwean hotels. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed to analyze the quantitative data. The study found that an effective training program has the possibility of empowering hotel employees, by imparting vital knowledge and skills required to undertake the various roles in the workplace which are vital in enhancing retention at the workplace. The study delivered an empirically tested Tourism Employee Training (TET) model for enhancing training at the workplace. Practical interventions for organizational and industrial purposes in terms of the model were recommended. The paper contributes to the body of knowledge on employee training in the tourism industry and highlights the importance of adopting human resources (HR) practices that enhance transference, develop and empower current applicants through training which will result in the satisfaction of the guest, employee, and, subsequently, the entire hotel business.