Competence directives for enhancing the employability of hospitality management graduates in South Africa

English: Hospitality education institutions are often confronted by claims that they do not meet one of the most significant challenges facing contemporary higher education, namely the challenge to develop employable graduates in a time characterised by major changes in the higher education environment and the world of work. This study sets out to propose a comprehensive competence framework that will serve as a directive for enhancing the employability of hospitality management graduates in South Africa. In realising this aim, a mixed methods research design was adopted that incorporated characteristics of the exploratory, embedded and evaluation research designs. The incorporation of different research paradigms reflects the researcher's pragmatic world-view. The study was completed in two phases. A literature review was undertaken in the first phase to identify the unique characteristics of the international and South African hospitality sector; and the challenges facing higher education in South Africa. These aspects had to be considered in the development of the competence framework. The literature review also served to conceptualise the notions of employability, generic graduate attributes, competence(s), competency and competencies. A time-consuming qualitative content analysis process was followed and 2544 competence statements were collected from 44 purposefully selected documents. These competences were then reduced to 220 competence statements that could potentially enhance the employability of hospitality management graduates. Based on the researcher's experience and expertise, seven competences were added. The 227 competence statements were categorised within 25 competence domains and three competence clusters and were incorporated in a draft competence framework. In order to promote the adaptation of the draft competence framework to South African circumstances, a Delphi evaluation of the framework was undertaken by 39 experts in the field. Additional competences were identified by panellists and the researcher and 195 of all the competences (n=256) were categorised as "Essential (over the four rounds of the Delphi evaluation). After careful review, the researcher reduced the competence domains to 22 and the competence statements to 194 in his final proposal of a competence framework for enhancing the employability of hospitality management graduates in South Africa. The competences of the proposed competence framework were categorised within three main clusters. The first two are respectively vocational/hospitality and management based, while the third cluster focuses on the generic graduate attribute concept. The significance of the study lies in its contribution towards theory building in competence modelling. This contribution to theory predominantly lies within the field of higher education studies as applied in hospitality management course design and quality assurance. As a directive for enhancing the employability of hospitality management graduates, the competence framework can play an important role in curriculum development; it can be used as a set of standards to judge the employability of graduates against; it can assist to engage students in the process of enhancing their employability; and could serve as a clear description to potential employers of the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes that can be expected from hospitality management graduates. The proposed competence framework furthermore supports the second strategic objective of the National Tourism Sector Strategy that deals with the provision of excellent people development within the South African tourism industry. It is recommended that hospitality management academics and employers take note of the important implications the study can have on the enhancement of the employability of hospitality management graduates in South Africa.