An Adaptive Workforce: Travel

The impact of Covid-19 has been devastating for many job sectors, but perhaps none more than the travel sector.

Back in August 2020 the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) stated that more than 39,000 people had already lost their jobs, or been told their job was at risk. This equates to roughly 18% of the UK’s travel sector.

It is forecast that since this period, redundancies and job losses in the travel sector have increased further causing an increase in the UK unemployment rate for this sector. With this being the case, and the travel sector now recruiting less and less, what skills do these workers possess? Which roles would they thrive in? And, how can you test for their skills?

Characteristics Common Amongst Travel Workers

Working in the travel sector for a prolonged period of time will have shaped individuals to gain certain skills and have prevalent characteristics. These characteristics are perhaps more prevalent than others due to how important they might be in order to succeed in that job function.

This is of course common when spending a long period of time in any particular industry. Here are a few of the key characteristics prominent in travel workers:

Excitement Seeking

Many roles within the travel sector will include changes of setting fairly regularly but still require work to be completed at a high standard without distraction.

The Excitement Seeking characteristic measures the need for excitement in one’s life. This is commonly achieved through new experiences and traveling to new destinations. An individual who thrives on new experiences is increasingly likely to succeed in a role in the travel sector due to the fulfilment of that need.

Excitement Seeking is part of the Extraversion scale in The Big Five. The Extraversion scale showcases an individual’s need for sociability and their social position in general.

Decision Making

It is essential in the travel sector to have a strong level of problem solving skills. Problem solving is about utilising logic, imagination and intelligence in order to come up with a solution to a challenge.

The Decision Making subscale encompasses the ability to problem solve. Decision making is all about adopting a strategy and a process that goes into solving a problem, or creating a plan where problems are less likely to occur.

Decision Making is part of the Conscientiousness scale in The Big Five. Conscientiousness refers to a person’s ability to be careful and diligent, undertaking tasks with a level of care and precision. This is an incredibly desirable trait to have in any industry and any job role.

Positivity

As with any industry where you work as an ambassador, it is essential to remain positive. Within the travel sector this can work in two ways, you are an ambassador for the company and often for the destination as well.

In travel it is important to stay positive, not only when things are going well but when they aren’t as well. The positivity characteristic measures how well a candidate is able to remain positive in the face of adversity, remain professional, remain upbeat and see the light at the end of the tunnel. This trait combined with the previously mentioned Decision Making capability forms a formidable worker.

Positivity is a subscale within the Emotional Stability scale of The Big Five. The Emotional Stability scale refers to an individual’s ability to remain calm and focused in frantic and tense moments. Excelling in emotional stability signifies that an individual is able to remain productive through chaotic moments.

Redeploying Workers in the Travel Sector

Workers in the travel sector have a plethora of skills and characteristics that can be applied to new industries. Below are just a few examples of roles that are a good fit:

Personal Assistants

Personal Assistants ticks all the boxes for a role that would suit travel sector workers. They are able to effectively map out a plan to manage time successfully and cost effectively.

These positions can be stressful at times and require a great deal of positivity and experience in planning to overcome. In a sense, some roles in travel including Tour Managers and Travel Agents may create a package or tour for you, requiring planning, budget control and travel arrangement.

Advisory Positions

Working as an advisor requires great retention of detail, positivity when faced with tough situations and problem solving. It requires being a professional and knowing solutions to a variety of problems.

Workers in the travel industry are fantastic in these positions because they will be dealing with a variety of issues they may need to advise upon whilst utilising their ability to solve problems.

Many travel positions will already have an element of advising to them, therefore the transition to an advisory position will mostly entail learning the industry.

How We Redeploy

At Inpsyght Consultancy we test for Excitement Seeking, Decision Making and Positivity by using MAP. MAP is based upon the Five Factor Model, testing for all 5 scales, including all 25 subscales.

Using this test, we are able to pin point the characteristics of a candidate’s personality, focusing on the previously mentioned traits. With this information we can correlate these skills to the requirements of the new industry to understand where their strengths and weaknesses lie

To learn more about the psychometric tests we provide, use the following link: http:www.inpsyght.co.uk/our-tools/

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