Innovative human potential in Cuban travel agencies

Abstract

This report presents the results obtained in the research on the identification and evaluation of the innovative human potencial in Cuban Travel agencies. The constant changes in the world tourist environment require that companies renew products and processes if they intend to survive over time. Innovation is a necessity for business development. Human capital is one of the central elements of the innovative management of organizations. The method of experts was used for the identification of the innovative profile. Tools such as interviews and surveys allowed an approach to the reality of the management of innovative human capital in the travel agencies studied. The triangulation of the specialists´ selfevaluation of their innovative skills, with the evaluation gived by bosses and colleagues, allowed a better analysis of the real skills that these employees have. Even so, the identification of the innovative potencial is not enough if organizations seek to improve business management, it is necessary to designa an action plan with this objective. Training is the main recommendation for maximizing innovative skills, although other actions are proposed such as fostering creativity, perfecting the induction processes and systematizing evaluation processes to control behavior in search of continuous improvement.