Human resource management in managing employee retention during COVID-19 for sport and wellness resorts in Phuket

Abstract

Phuket, a top-ten tourism contributor in Thailand, was affected by the COVID-19 situation. The staff shortage has been a massive crisis in the area, especially for high-potential niche markets like sports and wellness resorts in Phuket. This study is about how these accommodations handle the crisis. The paper contained data from HR and employee perspectives to investigate the key success factors of the human resource management implemented by Phuket's sports and wellness resorts toward employee retention during the COVID-19 crisis and the effects of COVID-19 on the human resource management of Phuket's sports and wellness resorts. The result shows that COVID-19 made many adjustments to human resource management based on safety regulations, increased employee support, and development even in times of crisis. The resorts need to increase employee engagement and promote a flexible work culture based on employees' needs. The future study can take longer study time to complete with a larger sample size to find relationships between demographics and other HRM activities rather than employee engagement and work culture.