اکتشاف سیاست های HR و اعمال مؤثر بر بکارگیری افراد ناتوان در صنعت هتل در مقصدهای اصلی گردشگری در کانادا

This study explores how and in which areas current HR practices affect the employment of persons with disabilities in hotel organisations in key tourist destinations across Canada. Despite few HR initiatives in some of the participating hotels, overall, no best HR practices in this area as described in other industry sectors could be found. The complexity of defining disabilities, the limited legal pressure and control of providing employment opportunities for persons with disabilities, and the limited awareness, understanding, and communication between employees with and without a disability seem to limit the attraction and integration of persons with disabilities. Further, managers’ preferences for aesthetic and self-presentation skills and a number of traditional hotel industry specific characteristics might hinder the recruitment of persons with disabilities. Employee selection criteria focusing on physical attractiveness and aesthetic skills need to be reviewed and realigned with ethical and non-discriminatory principles and guidelines. The development of a proactive strategy based on a sound business case, changes in areas such as communication and education, and closer cooperation with employment agencies could help hotels to demolish artificial barriers, stereotypes and perceptions of the employment of persons with disabilities.

Canadian hotel industry leaders and consultants have been optimistic and have predicted future growth for the accommodation industry (Pollard, 2003; Cooper, 2004). Yet, due to ‘severe shortages in talent across multiple key economic sectors’ (Hammett, 2003, p. 12), Canada's highest employment rate since the 1980s boom (Little, 2003), and an ageing labour pool, hotel organisations could face strong competition for skilled and motivated employees. Experts have described and highlighted the serious labour (skill) shortages as one of the top challenges for Canada's hotel industry (Coy, 2006; Tsaprailis, 2004). In 20011 throughout Canada there were approximately 3.6 million Canadians—1 in 8 people—with some type of disability (Government of Canada, 2002). It was estimated that 9.9% of the total Canadian population were men and women with disabilities who were of working age (between 15 and 64) (Government of Canada, 2002). Despite the fact that ‘Canadian adults with disabilities are about two thirds as likely to have a postsecondary education as adults without disabilities’ (Government of Canada, 2002, p. 33), few of them are in full-time and permanent employment (Hammett, 2003). In light of the looming labour shortages in Canada's hotel industry persons with disabilities could represent an important under-utilised labour source for hotel organisations. According to Stone and Colella (1996) the HR function plays an important role in employing persons with disabilities. The two authors identified HR policies as being amongst the chief organisational variables that affect people with disabilities the most. Considering the importance of the HR function in the attraction and integration of persons with disabilities the following research questions emerge: 1. How can HR policies and practices support the employment of persons with disabilities? 2. What are the key HR challenges and barriers hindering or preventing the employment of persons with disabilities? 3. How can the HR function overcome these challenges and barriers and support the development of employment opportunities for persons with disabilities? Aside from Ross’ (2004) study of disability discrimination from an ethical perspective, and the research on which this article is based, no published academic studies were found that explore HR issues as they affect employees with disabilities in Canada's hotel industry. Research within the hotel sector focusing on disadvantaged groups includes mainly gender, age, and ethnic minorities related aspects (see, for example, KPMG, 1995; Mok, 2002). Projects that focus on disability issues mostly discuss the needs of guests and customers with disabilities. This study aims to contribute to this under-researched area by exploring current HR practices and challenges that affect the attraction and integration of persons with disabilities in a wide range of hotel organisations in key urban tourism centres across Canada. The first part of this article provides background information and a theoretical framework of the concept of disability. This is followed by a discussion of the methodological approach of this study. In the main part the key findings are presented and discussed and conclusions are put forward. For confidentiality reasons none of the participating hotel organisations and individuals are named in this article.

This study explored how current HR practices affect the employment of persons with disabilities in hotel organisations in key—mostly urban—tourist destinations across Canada. Despite few HR initiatives in some of the participating hotels, overall, no best HR practices in this area as proposed or described by studies of the reviewed literature could be found. The second key question of this study aimed at identifying key HR challenges hindering or preventing the employment of persons with disabilities in Canada's hotel industry. The complexity of defining disabilities, the limited legal pressure and control of providing employment opportunities for person with disabilities, and the limited awareness, understanding, and communication between persons without a disability and people with a disability within the participating hotels seem to limit the attraction and integration of persons with disabilities. Further, a number of traditional hotel industry-specific characteristics and hotel employers/managers’ preferences for aesthetic and self-presentation skills might hinder in particular the recruitment of persons with disabilities. Addressing the third research question of this study, hotel organisations might want to reassess recruitment strategies and in particular selection and image criteria to overcome employment challenges and barriers for persons with disabilities. Criteria focusing on physical attractiveness and aesthetic skills need to be reviewed and realigned with ethical and non-discriminatory principles and guidelines. Financial benefits through a company image partly based on employees’ personal aesthetics and embodied capacities and attributes need to be compared and evaluated against the potential financial gains made through employees with disabilities acting as consultants in attracting travellers with disabilities. In the USA, for example, travellers with disabilities would double their spending if airlines and hotels improved certain needs (Travel Industry Association of America and the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality, 2003). By attracting such powerful travellers, hotels could increase investments in their human resources and change some of the industry's traditional characteristics such as part-time employment and shift work. Providing employees with full benefit packages would allow people with disabilities and heavy medical expenses, and other disadvantaged groups to consider hotels as attractive employment opportunities. The development of a proactive strategy and approach needs to be supported and backed by the organisations’ key decision makers and should be highlighted in company documents such as the mission statement or company values declaration. Proactive strategy proposals and programs should be based on a sound business case focusing on tangible benefits such as return-on-investment, decreased absenteeism, etc. Changes in areas such as communication and education might lead the hotels to proactively recruit and integrate a highly motivated and committed group of employees who, at the same time, could serve as advisors and educators for current colleagues without disabilities, and mentors for potential employees with disabilities. This newly created dialogue could also help to demolish artificial barriers, stereotypes and perceptions. Considering that working age persons with disabilities are the least likely to have severe disabilities, it is important for employment services to provide greater awareness amongst hotels about the opportunities and benefits of employing persons with disabilities. By being more proactive employment agencies could support hotel organisations in job task and performance objective modifications, workspace accommodations, and the acquisition of appropriate assistive technologies. Developing a dialogue and relationships between employment services and hotels could reduce the perceptions and stereotypes the two parties have about each other. Changes in strategy and approach by both the hotels and employment services need the support and guidance by the government, as investing in programmes allowing people with disabilities to fully participate in the workforce will benefit all Canadians. According to the HRDC (2002), annual costs of disability income programs of around $18 billion in the late 1990s will decrease: ‘Providing people with disabilities with support to build work skills and to live independently in the community will require less long-term income support and high-cost, hospital care’ (HRDC, 2002, p. 15). Developing programs such as vocational training that are open to persons with and without disabilities could help both groups to learn to work together at a pre-employment stage and reduce stereotypes and perceptions. Both groups will be equally equipped with the knowledge, experience and practical skill-sets necessary for good employment chances in the hotel industry. These employment chances will increase if hotels’ selection criteria focus on these skill sets rather than the disabilities. Considering the very few students with disabilities enrolled in hospitality programs at a higher education level, leading institutions in the hospitality field such as Ryerson University and the University of Guelph need to set an example of attracting and teaching more students with disabilities. This proactive approach at an educational and vocational level would support the hotel industry in becoming an employer that values and integrates employees with disabilities in its workforce. A hotel organisation with its wide range and variety of employment opportunities provides the flexibility and mobility to accommodate persons with disabilities and their particular needs better than organisations in many other industries or sectors. Despite the inability to generalise the findings across Canada's hotel industry the similarities in employment patterns and labour pool characteristics of persons with disabilities throughout Canada could allow for these recommendations to be applied in other Canadian and/or North American Markets. Similar challenges on a global scale (e.g. America, Europe) and the hotel industry's internationalisation highlight the importance of becoming a leader rather than a follower in the employment of persons with disabilities.