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The purpose of this paper is to profile the WHATT theme issue “Is talent management a strategic priority in the hospitality sector?” with reference to the experiences of the theme editor and writing team.

This paper uses structured questions to enable the theme editor to reflect on the rationale for the theme issue question, the starting point, the selection of the writing team and material and the editorial process.

It identifies five re-occurring themes as being particularly relevant to hospitality organizations when considering a strategic approach to talent management. They are the role of line managers in employee development and well-being; talent management being used as a lever for culture change; the importance of contextualizing approaches to talent management; the need for new and innovative ways of working to achieve a strategic approach to talent management; and barriers to development of a strategic approach caused by economic and day-to-day operational pressures.

The theme issue outcomes provide lines of enquiry for others to explore and reinforce the value of WHATT’s approach to collaborative working and writing.

The collaborative work reported in this theme issue offers fresh insights on the current practice and future priorities for talent management in an industry that struggles to attract and retain employees.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a conclusion to the theme issue question “Is talent management a strategic priority in the hospitality sector?”

The issues and debates relevant to the strategic question are summarised. Significant themes that have arisen across a number of papers are presented. This provides a clear indication of current issues in strategic talent management which are of relevance to hospitality practitioners and academics.

Five recurring themes are identified as being particularly relevant to hospitality organisations when considering a strategic approach to talent management. These are: the role of line mangers in employee development and well-being, talent management being used as a lever for culture change, the importance of contextualising approaches to talent management, the need for new and innovative ways of working to achieve a strategic approach to talent management and barriers for the development of a strategic approach caused by economic and day-to-day operational pressures.

The paper suggests a number of practical actions which could be taken to develop a more strategic approach to talent management.

The paper illustrates that hospitality operators understand the importance of a strategic approach to talent management and are using a range of talent management processes to drive business success but that new solutions to long-standing challenges are required.

This paper aims to examine talent management (TM) practices in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the hospitality industry. Specifically, the views of SME owner-managers in the hotel and restaurant sector are examined. There appears to be challenges unique to SMEs within this sector (e.g. resource constraints and poor reputation) that can potentially result in a loss of competitive advantage. Therefore, research aligned within this context is an issue of importance.

This paper draws primarily upon semi-structured interviews with five entrepreneurial owner-managers of SMEs in the hotel and restaurant sector. An inductive thematic analysis identified main themes that emerged from the interview data.

Findings revealed that there is a clear commitment towards training and development for employees; however, this initiative is primarily driven by employees identifying their own training needs. The ad hoc TM practices are largely influenced by day-to-day business pressures because of the nature of the hospitality industry. The absence of formalised TM practices, however, does not imply the lack of strategies in place for people management and development.

This paper aims to develop a better understanding of practitioners’ perceptions of TM, strategic TM practices that they may or may not adopt and current TM challenges that they encounter. Key issues relating to defining, attracting, retaining and developing talent are discussed, followed by several practical recommendations.

This paper examines a relatively under-researched yet significant sector of the hospitality industry and provides deeper insights into the dynamics of TM in SMEs.

Literature encompassing sustainable leadership and developing leaders sustainably are still in infancy (Lambert, 2011). Nevertheless indications identify leadership as a vital cog in achieving sustainable organisations. Sustainable leadership can allow a fast, resilient response which is competitive and appealing to all stakeholders (Avery and Bergsteiner, 2011a, b). Arguably, organisations’ need to stop considering leadership as a control function (Casserley and Critchley, 2010; Crews, 2010) and instead focus on dialogue and mutual-interdependency between leaders and their followers (Barr and Dowding, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse the concept of sustainable leadership to present a conceptual framework surrounding sustainable leadership.

This conceptual paper will review the existing frameworks of sustainable leadership and present a conceptualisation of the frameworks. This conceptualisation synthesises frameworks and literature surrounding the concept of sustainable leadership which involves work from Casserley and Critchley (2010), Avery and Bergsteiner (2011a, b), Hargreaves and Fink (2006), Davies (2007) and Lambert (2011). Seminal themes from the synthesised frameworks are presented in order to attempt to unify the conceptualisation of sustainable leadership.

Within leadership literature, stakeholder approaches (Groves and LaRocca, 2011; Avery and Bergsteiner, 2011a); discourses underlining the importance of relationship between leaders and followers (Barr and Dowding, 2012); and discussions about the need to develop reflexive and participative leadership models (Kopp and Martinuzzi, 2013) have become prominent. Sustainable leadership embraces all of these new components. The concept advocates organisations should shift emphasis from a traditional singular focus on finances, to a view that organisations are contributors to wider environmental and social influences (Crews, 2010; Avery and Bergsteiner, 2011a).

This paper explores the theoretical frameworks which surround sustainable leadership and will synthesise and present commonly referenced facets of the concept within the internal and external factors influencing sustainable leadership.

The purpose of this paper is to consider how the talent of hospitableness can be transposed to commercial settings without a wholesale erosion of its altruistic and moral core and how it can be effectively leveraged within the talent management (TM) process.

The authors unpack the concept of hospitableness which entails an unconditional disposition and moral obligation in the host to care for their guest. This paper also exposes its moral dilemmas and the risks it presents to both host and guest – leading to the endorsement of reciprocal altruistic hospitableness which warrants altruistic sentiments and moral obligations in both parties as the necessary condition for a more protective, mutually beneficial and enduring host–guest relationship. Against the backdrop of the tourism and hospitality industry, this paper examines the challenges of transposing hospitableness to commercial settings without a wholesale erosion of its altruistic and moral core. It posits that what is needed is a reframing of TM as a dialogic process through which hospitableness can be effectively leveraged as a unique talent.

In carrying out this exercise, this paper develops a conceptual framework that brings the TM process under the overarching principle of free dialogue – which the authors see as a precondition for preserving the altruistic and moral core of hospitableness even when transposed to commercial settings.

The framework contains concrete guidelines on how to reframe TM as dialogic practice and can be used as a canvas for experimentation in managing the talent of hospitableness and for training purposes.

The paper expands the conceptual dimensions of hospitableness and deepens understanding of its application via the TM process to commercial settings.

This paper aims to draw on the key tenets of self-determination theory (SDT) to explore the possibility of deploying talent management (TM) as an inherently motivational process within the hospitality industry and examine the role of managers in leveraging it.

The study is rooted in social constructionism and uses qualitative methods and techniques to provide rich insights into employee perceptions and experiences of TM and related managerial attitudes and behaviours.

Although the current TM process is skewed towards performance outcomes, compelling evidence indicates variation in attempts to address employees’ motivational needs mediated by highly influential managerial attitudes and behaviours and importantly, suggests ample scope for embedding TM as an inherently motivational process.

The findings are based on a relatively small sample but can be extrapolated with moderation to the wider research context and other similar organisational settings.

The paper develops an operational framework which contains clear guidelines that can be effectively translated into practice keeping in view its potential benefits.

In line with SDT, the study foregrounds the social and relational context conducive to TM as a motivational process.

The paper is the first of its kind to conceptualise TM as an inherently motivational process via the systematic application of SDT and offers early empirical insights into the phenomenon, which can serve as a solid platform for further research.

This paper aims to introduce the theme issue and the rationale for the theme issue question: Is talent management a strategic priority in the hospitality sector?

This paper re-visits the conclusions of an earlier theme issue on aspects of talent management and reflects on their contemporary relevance with reference to the emerging concept of strategic talent management (STM).

This paper identifies the cornerstones of STM: concern for employee well-being; developing positive relationships and positive work attitudes; being authentic and building trust and sincerity; and providing organisational support.

This paper outlines the focus of theme issue and the approach taken that incorporates conceptual papers together with academic and practitioner viewpoints, perspectives, consultation and roundtable discussion. This paper observes that the issue reflects the views of multi-level line managers across a number of functions, including senior leaders, middle managers, supervisors, managers and marketing managers of human resources and that the papers all have a strong action orientation as a platform for learning, conversation and debate.

The purpose of this paper is to examine student learner perceptions of benefits, barriers and enablers in learning whilst working, specifically focussing, on learning transfer from a university MSc in human resource management to students’ professional roles as human resource practitioners.

The study used in-depth semi-structured interviews with alumni of the programme who had graduated between one to three years previously.

The study found benefits (increased self-confidence, credibility and networking skills) as well as unanticipated challenges relating to individual learner characteristics, organisational culture and work-related support that hindered learning transfer.

The study contributes to understanding the mechanisms required to support part-time learners on continuing vocational education programmes from a variety of stakeholders including students, their managers, their university and work colleagues, and academic staff. It highlights the benefits of activities designed to help students relate theory to practice and facilitate the transfer of knowledge between academic and practitioner environments.

The study highlights learner perspectives that are focussed on how organisational culture and line managers might play a more central role in influencing how people learn at work and facilitate the transfer of learning from formal educational interventions.

The study is valuable to academics and practitioners interested in improving learning transfer from formal educational to professional settings.

This paper aims to explore managers' views on the challenges and opportunities around the talent management (TM) pipeline in a range of hospitality and tourism organisations. The paper seeks to focus on drawing out key issues and suggesting practical actions arising from these.

The paper draws primarily on a number of in‐depth interviews with senior managers representing a wide range of sectors in the industry. Managers’ views are summarised and quotes used to illustrate key themes.

Each stage of the TM pipeline is explored and the findings reveal a number of contextual, strategic and operational concerns around the implementation of TM policy and processes. Findings indicated clear commitment towards the value of TM, but revealed that some policy areas were felt to be underdeveloped. Approaches to TM were organisation specific, and driven by internal expertise and available resources. Organisations would fit and tailor their TM approach to their own context.

A number of practical implications emerge from this paper specifically relating to defining, attracting, retaining developing and transitioning talent.

The paper provides a senior management perspective on TM and allows the reader a unique insight into the complexities of managing talent in the hospitality and tourism sector, highlighting the issues that organisations are facing.