Abstract
Relatiuely little work has been done thus far in Australia regarding human resource planning within the tourism/hospitality industry. This study has sought to provide some understanding of the links between a number of basic psychological factors, such as life and work uaiues, as they shed light on the vocational intentions of a sample of Australian school-leavers within a major tourism community. A survey of 594 senior high school students aimed to investigate management and life values, and interest in tourism/hospitality industry employment. Respondents regarded trust and fairness on the part of managers as most important, and saw an interest in employees' personal problems on the part of management together with the ability to mix socially with management as being of lesser importance. Major life values involved a sense of accomplishment, a comfortable life, honesty, family security and independence, whereas little emphasis was placed on social recognition. Perceived competency on the part of management was esteemed by those about to enter the workforce and by those who had some previous (part-time) work experience in the tourism/hospitality industry. This study has also investigated life and management values aspredictors of tourism/hospitality industry work interest. Major life values of relevance were a sense of accomplishment, family security and independence, whereas major management values included involvement in employees' personal problems and the demonstration of trust. Those management values found to be predictors of no interest in tourism/hospitality industry employment included a low estimation of career success interest and management competency. Implications of these findings for those involved in human resource management, particularly in the tourism/hospitality industry, as well as for those about to enter the workforce, are explored.
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