Contribution of Human Capital Development (Hcd) to organisational effectiveness in the Southern African hospitality industry

Human capital development (HCD) has been proven to enhance individual achievements and organisational effectiveness, although neither the extent of the success, its benefits or cost, nor the accuracy of evaluation tools are known. It is uncertain, also, how modern hospitality organisations in southern Africa measure business and or employee success. We investigated the challenges southern African organisations face resulting from the loss of highly mobile, young employees shortly after they have completed expensive training and development programmes. Interviewing 32 hospitality managers in Namibia and South Africa, we qualitatively explored the gap in perceptions of how HCD contributes to organisational success. Participants'grasp of HCD benefits, how to measure, record and report organisational and individual success were found to be unsystematic and varied. We also found that the training evaluation in the southern African hospitality industry varies greatly and requires further enquiry. Hence the findings of this study need to be considered with caution in terms of other business industries.