Efforts to prepare more Antiguans and Barbudans for senior hotel management positions are not progressing as quickly as the government would like, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Saturday.

Speaking on the Browne and Browne Show, Browne acknowledged shortcomings in arrangements intended to have residents understudy overseas managers and eventually take on leadership roles.

“In the hotel sector, it is not happening as fast as we would expect,” he said.

Browne was responding to a caller who urged greater succession planning so qualified nationals could replace overseas professionals working in the country.

He said some residents had obtained hotel management qualifications, but employers continued to report difficulties finding candidates with the experience required to lead their properties.

“For some of the properties, they say that they still don’t have the kind of experience to provide the kind of leadership that they require,” he said.

Browne said the government had to consider those explanations when employers sought work permits for overseas personnel.

However, he said permission to recruit from abroad was generally accompanied by requests for someone locally to understudy the incoming manager.

“Invariably, we ask that they get somebody to understudy them,” he said. “I don’t think that is going as good as we would like.”

Browne acknowledged that some local employees had advanced into senior positions but said there had not been enough progress.

“I don’t think we have had as many, and that’s an area that we have to improve,” he said.

The prime minister contrasted the hotel sector with public institutions, where he said the government had greater influence over succession and had made faster progress placing Antiguans in leadership roles.

He also argued that workers seeking advancement needed to combine practical experience with qualifications relevant to their intended careers.

Browne did not identify the hotels whose understudy arrangements were falling short or announce new requirements, monitoring measures or deadlines for employers.

His remarks acknowledged a gap between the government’s goal of greater local leadership and the results achieved through existing training and succession arrangements.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Antigua and Barbuda PM says efforts to promote locals into hotel management are falling short.