The ROI of hotel human capital investment: What’s that about…never heard of it!

This study investigated the relationship between hotel Human Capital Investment (HCI), employee productivity (EP) and the Return on Investment (ROI) of Human Capital (HC). When hotels invest in their HC, they should expect a return on that investment, a concept known as Return on Human Capital Investment – ROHCI. Semi-structured interviews with general and operational hotel managers and a survey of employees sought to understand HCI, EP, and ROHCI and how these were measured and tracked. Participants were from international and domestic hotel brands in New Zealand. This research reports hotel managers and senior hotel head office human resource directors do not understand or measure ROHCI at operational or tactical levels. These findings have not previously been considered or reported in the literature. The key message for industry practitioners and hospitality researchers is that they should work together to co-produce research that will help managers better understand ROHCI and its calculation. Keywords: Human Capital, Return on Investment, Hotels, New Zealand