Managerial strategies to reduce stress and brain drain in tourism through moral values

Purpose: This research explores effective managerial practices to reduce brain drain in tourism by promoting moral values such as compassion and empathy. It investigates how a supportive work environment can decrease employee stress, improve job satisfaction and retain skilled professionals. Design/methodology/approach: The study employed a structural equation modelling-partial least squares (SEM-PLS) longitudinal model over three periods in 2023–2024. Invitations were sent to 47 inland hotels, with only 6 participating. It aimed to provide tools for employees to cope with pandemic-related crises. Managers distributed the questionnaires, yielding 267 responses out of 290. Findings/results: The research highlights how managerial practices focussed on moral values such as compassion and empathy can reduce brain drain in tourism by alleviating employee stress. It shows that values-driven training programmes foster a supportive work environment, leading to greater job satisfaction and talent retention. Limitations call for further longitudinal studies. Practical implications: A key limitation was the lack of longitudinal studies on training’s impact on values within the same population. Additionally, focus groups were needed because of employees’ unavailability for scheduled meetings. Originality/value: It was observed that the training helps not only overcome stressful situations but also provided a sense of commitment and excellence towards the company, helping to connect workers and customers. Similarly, it contributed to reducing the level of stress by improving its customer-facing training, which helped to overcome unforeseen changes in the hotel.