New hotel human-resource management index matches up professional skills, regardless of job description.

In recessionary times, when job opportunities seem slender in the hospitality industry, an approach that uses human capital can expand opportunities for employees.

By the same token, when labor markets are tight, hotel managers might wish that they could recruit workers in other jobs from different industries, but which other professions and fields?

A new Job Compatibility Index developed by two researchers at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration provides an answer to those questions. The index, which is based on research supported by the employment engine job.travel, matches up jobs with similar skills but diverse titles and seemingly unrelated industries.

As explained in a new hotel human-resource management report  from Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research, the index vastly expands the potential labor market.

New Job Compatibility Index for Hotel Human Resources Is Also a Boon to Job Seekers

"Our index expands on existing databases to define the labor market for employees and employers by focusing on the actual knowledge and skills for a particular hospitality job," said Carroll, who is a senior lecturer at the school. "Then we looked outside the hospitality industry to find jobs that required similar knowledge and skills. What we found is that the potential labor market can be expanded by at least ten-fold in some cases. However, in the current environment, we also note that the index can be used by job seekers, who can look for comparable jobs in other industries. We believe our index will be helpful for managers who are unable to find satisfactory candidates for open jobs and for would-be employees who cannot find work in their current industry," Carroll added.

"The creation of The Job Compatibility Index provides a two-way street for people who are seeking jobs and employers who are seeking skilled candidates," said Michael S. Egan, founder and chairman of job.travel. "I supported this research with a goal of matching people and jobs, regardless of the state of the economy."

Carroll and Sturman specifically analyzed the position of front-desk clerk as an example of how their new index functions to serve the needs of hospitality human-resource management. "We analyzed thirty-five skill sets for well over 800 positions to find other jobs that are comparable to the front-desk clerk," said Sturman, an associate professor at the school. "This included such non-hospitality jobs as personal and home-care aides, child-care workers, and lifeguards and ski patrol members. Like the front-desk position, these jobs require such skills as active learning and listening, problem solving, and critical thinking. This means that people with front-desk experience could consider jobs that require similar skills when they are looking for work."

The hospitality human-resource study, "The Job Compatibility Index: A New Approach to Defining the Hospitality Labor Market" by Bill Carroll and Michael Sturman, is available at no charge from the center at http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/2009.html .

Meet and interact with Dr. Carroll, an active member of the executive education faculty at the School of Hotel Administration, when he presents sessions in the Professional Development Program.

Thanks to the support of the Center for Hospitality Research partners listed below, all publications posted on the center's website are available free of charge, at www.chr.cornell.edu.