Management by competencies is one of the most innovative and revolutionary approaches in the management of human resources in modern companies, and within this, the perspective of labor and emotional competencies is even more relevant.
This study is based on the precept that emotional competencies are better predictors of success than competences with greater cognitive weight, despite the fact that this situation is not yet taken into account with the rigor it deserves.
The work presented below aims to apply a hierarchical model and a methodological procedure for the evaluation of key emotional competencies in tourism workers, with a multi-attribute approach.
Among the relevant results of the research, the application of the model and the aforementioned procedure stand out, which culminates in the determination of a global index of labor competencies for each of the positions studied, and which serves as a reference for the development of the recruitment, selection, evaluation and training processes for hotel maids.
Introduction
Contemporary times have been characterized by the appearance of profound changes in all facets of economic, political and social life, which have trapped the development of tourism companies in the world with singular force, therefore they have better understood the need to prevail in the market generating competitive advantages, starting from the intangible asset base, which are really difficult elements to copy; In other words, in knowledge, intellectual capacity, capacity for innovation, quality of service; in short, in the value of human resources.
From these new trends associated with competitiveness, the labor competence approach arises, which is defined as the real capacity demonstrated in the performance of a certain job position, and is measured from the skills, knowledge, attitudes and values. It is the characteristic of the individual that significantly influences the performance of their work and that, therefore, allows to differentiate the most effective people from those who are less so.
This made labor competition emerge with unusual force, firstly in industrialized countries, as a response to the need to promote the training of the skilled hand with new characteristics in the face of the demands arising in the productive and educational system, and as a result of the accelerated process globalization of markets, which required higher productivity, lower costs and higher quality. Here England, the USA, Canada, France, Australia and Spain stand out.
By virtue of this, the implementation of training and development systems with a focus on skills for vocational training, emerges as an attractive alternative, to promote innovation processes and changes that must occur in their productive sectors in Third World countries. and services, in accordance with the social, organizational and individual needs posed by a world governed by the blind laws of the market, competition and the hegemony of the great existing centers of power.
Currently, the competencies approach has become a powerful current of thought advocated by numerous business associations, professionals and government entities in Ibero-America, as well as international organizations linked to the world of work.
The first attempt by Cuba to apply the competencies approach in the management of the work performance of Human Resources was made by the Ministry of Labor in 1996, on the occasion of developing the Project for the Training System of Labor Resources, where it included some of the the theoretical and technical budgets for its implementation. Currently, some of its postulates are being considered in the process of improving technical-professional education carried out by MINED and MINTRAB.
In this sense, the Cuban tourism sector has been somewhat lagged in the implementation of the competencies approach, still very far from what is conceived by the leading countries in this business in the world, whose transformations are characterized by their speed, novelty, depth and breadth, which makes its management demand an attitude prone to change, flexibility, risk taking, vision of the future, constant innovation, and creative teamwork.
During the acute economic crisis that Cuba suffered in the last decade of the 20th century, caused by the collapse of the socialist camp, tourism became a priority line of the country's economy, and in a short time it contributed not only the expected fruits in the order financial, but became the locomotive of the Cuban economy. Despite the favorable development that other sectors such as nickel, the pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology have achieved, even the "smokeless industry" constitutes one of the fundamental branches that today sustain the Cuban economy.
At the beginning, the use of competencies for personnel selection actions was considered, but subsequently its necessary application has been demonstrated for forms of remuneration, performance evaluation, training and career planning, which forces companies to study their organizational culture and business strategy, in order to define the main competencies that will allow the achievement of the objectives with the involvement of the human resources of the organization.
Development
How to speak of excellence in the performance of tourism workers if you do not take into account whether or not they have empathy (understanding of others, attitude towards service), or without evaluating and stimulating their motivation (achievement, commitment) ? These, among other aspects, do not appear among the objectives of the Human Resources Management System that is carried out in companies, all of which means that, despite the great cognitive preparation that the staff has and the internal organizational regulations designed, in some cases the results are not truly desired.
One of the most important challenges of competency management is its measurement, and if the issue is particularly focused on the emotional, the difficulty is even greater. And this has been one of the most critical and controversial issues, since we are not faced with tangible elements in which the measure is reliable and universally valid.
The high performance of people passes, therefore, through knowledge, but also through a series of skills, values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors, which must be identified in each case. Reservations often arise about the possibility of developing some of these competencies in people who do not seem to possess them, since, on the one hand, we have to select people according to these requirements, and on the other, we think that the competencies can be developed through the appropriate methods.. In the tourism sector, it has been demonstrated that labor competencies play a leading role for the success of services, therefore, “ Professional competencies define the effective exercise of the abilities that allow the performance of an occupation with respect to the required levels of job. It is something more than technical knowledge that refers to knowledge and know-how. As Muñoz-Seca and Riverola point out: "knowledge is transferred without losing the characteristic that gives it the quality of being a unique asset as a generator of wealth."
We must then mention the aspects that today definitively allow the evaluation of tourism workers to provide quality services:
• People are not only competent from a cognitive point of view, but also emotionally, and these components are reflected in professional performance, through the unit of bio-psycho-social conditions.
• Their successful performance is due not only to knowledge and skills for the job (knowing how to do), but also to the attitudes, values and personal traits linked to good performance in it (wanting to do).
• They focus on the "why" and the "how" of production and service processes.
• Project toward future performance.
• They have a medium or long life cycle.
• They are oriented to measure performance.
• They include qualitative and quantitative components.
• They are aimed at expanding individual development goals.
• They are dynamic, they change in accordance with scientific and technological advances.
Recent studies have shown that employers currently look to their workers for:
• listening and verbal communication skills.
• adaptability.
• creativity in responding to setbacks and obstacles.
• self-control, confidence, motivation, feeling of wanting to open a path and feeling proud of the achievements achieved.
• group and interpersonal effectiveness, cooperation, ability to work as a team, and skills to negotiate disputes.
• effectiveness within the organization, predisposition and potential for leadership.
At the same time, they recognize that the traits that characterize people who fail are:
• stiffness.
• poor relationships.
• bosses with poor self-control, angry at pressure.
• defensive reactions to mistakes and criticism, denying or shifting responsibility to others.
• excess of ambition, with excessive desire to advance at the expense of others, without concern for the needs of subordinates.
• arrogance, arrogance and aggressiveness (poor social skills).
• inability to create a network of cooperation and profitable relationships.
In the case of the Cuban tourism industry, work with human resources is still far from what is required to compete with internationally recognized companies, and despite the high training received by tourism workers in Cuba, attitudes are found with some regularity. and behaviors that are inconsistent with projected "smoke-free industry" service standards.
Source: Own elaboration.
Conclusions
1-There is no doubt that new technologies are changing the ecology of the group of people who provide their services in the tourism sector, since each worker must be able to accommodate the continuous dynamic changes that are manifesting, to achieve the quality and success in its performance.
Practice in Competency Management seems to emphasize Relationship, Reflection and Self-oriented Competencies, not forgetting that the effectiveness in solving a problem also depends on the knowledge of its content.
Therefore, and given the speed with which the environment changes, the degree of development of technologies and the growing globalization of the market, Organizations must respond in an innovative way, which in turn requires making the most of knowledge, and if it is not owned, it will have to be acquired or developed.
Hence the growing importance given to the subject of knowledge. If it is going to be the advantage that differentiates some competitors from others, it will be necessary to do everything possible to cause their growth since it will have a direct impact on results. But for this it is necessary to have it identified beforehand, accounted for in some way in order to manage it. It is then when we will talk about Creating Value as a permanent objective and doing it in a sustained way through organizational learning, that is, through structures and procedures that favor the acquisition and accumulation of knowledge.
2- It is also true that being attentive to the successes and failures of the collaborator takes time, especially when in addition to observing them it is necessary to help correct them. However, personalized attention and individualized Development Plans have been proven to be six times more effective than readings and four times more than a traditional course.
Human Resources management should not be separated from business strategy and future strategy means. The missing link between strategy and management is skills. Therefore, much of the success of the strategy will depend on the contribution to the creation of value of each member of the organization. For this contribution to maintain its sustained characteristic, two conditions must be met: a valid and reliable evaluation of the breadth and depth that each member of the organization has in each behavioral competence and a commitment to investment in time and effort by bosses and managers. controls in the development of its employees as if it were a financial investment. At the end of the day knowledge is a generator of wealth and this resides in people.
3-It is necessary to highlight for this research its integrative and successful nature in terms of the relationship between climate and culture, reflecting the way in which groups interpret, construct and negotiate reality through the creation of an organizational culture, which has as a center to achieve impacts on the tourism business; For which, a system of actions must be introduced, aimed at competitive improvements of the same, in such a way that precise operations are located, from teamwork, continuously raising all processes for customer service, which guarantees its quality in the company.
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