Analyzing the Role and Purpose of Human Resource Management in a Selected Service Industry
Human resource has evolved to a new level of complexities where the managers in this department must know and understand critical issues involving employee’s affairs. The relationship between the employers and staff is becoming a complicated matter hence attracting serious researchers in this field. The productivity of workers is partly dependent on the relationship between the employee and their employers as the managers play a significant role in motivating, resolving disputes and creating a favorable working environment for the employees (Dicker, 2003). This paper part is to study and explain Hilton hotel employee’s relations and how the laws affect the human resource operation in the hotel. The study aims at evaluating the human resource responsibilities in the organization with reference to the hotel industry as the case study. It explains the different aspects of employment, the effect of employees’ relations on general productivity in the industry, existing laws regarding employees in the sector, and effects of the law on human resource practices.
Human resource management is a vital department in every organization. This is especially so in the hotel industry. According to Kramar (2012) human resource management can be a source of competitive advantage for the organization. The human resource management advises the central management on the very delicate issues around the labor force-especially how to manage people as a business resource. These include selection and hiring of employees, managing employees, and suggesting employees’ benefits. Human resource function in today’s ever changing business environment has evolved to include training and development of employees to further equip them for their jobs and improve their productivity. This paper seeks to explore the roles of human resource management in the hotel industry as part of the service sector.
In a broader sense it is noteworthy that the major role of HR is to develop strategic human resource practices that are aligned to the business strategy. This function more specifically entails advising the organization on policies, structures and practices with regards to workforce management that are the most appropriate for the particular business strategy being pursued. This enables the organization to effectively manage its workforce and better achieve its objectives. Strategic Human resource is therefore focused on aligning the HRM policies with the business strategies. This is what according to Henderson (2010) ensures that the business goals are achieved. More specifically there are a number of functions carried out by human resource in Hotel industry. These include but are not limited to recruitment and selection, compensations, harmonization, communication, training and development and team working. Let us take a look at each one of these
Justifying a Human Resources Plan Based on an Analysis of Supply and Demand for a Selected Service Industry Business
If the business is to succeed it must constantly capture exceptional human talent. This is a sure way to gain competitive advantage. According to Boselie et al., (2005) excelling in recruitment and selection of the workforce is a priority for the business. This is a vital human resource function because the quality of workforce is core to the business success. Hotel industry and the service industry in general need committed and hardworking personnel who will contribute their skills and expertise to the implementation of the business strategies. These individuals must not only have the necessary technical knowledge but also possess other characteristics of prospective employees.
Employment security: Employment security is one of the elements of best human resource practices. It is underpinned by several other human resource practices. Hotels require employees who are committed to the organization. Logically it would be irrational to expect employee commitment if the organization does not offer some employee security Marchington & Wilkinson, (2005). This then becomes one of the priority areas for the human resource management. Such a strategy by the HR in hotels fosters a mutual relationship between the workforce and the organization and yields a positive psychological contract between the two parties which is vital for the business success.
Training and development: Once the business has obtained the exceptional talent it requires, the next is to ensure that that talent is harnessed fully and utilized optimally. This brings us to the training and development role of the human resource management. Especially in the hotel industry, this is necessary in order to keep the workforce abreast with the evolving needs of the customers and emerging trends in the hotel business. According to Browning & Edgar, (2004) training and development helps to improve the skills base of the workforce and improves the workers confidence and ability to cope with new trends. This also affects workers employability in the future.
Communication: Another dimension of human resource management which is sometimes not utilized is communication. According to Haynes and Fryer (2000) communication practices are vital to developing a culture of service quality in the hotel industry Employee involvement through information sharing is important. Employers must engage their employees through the HR department. This ensures that the workforce is enlightened on the financial, strategic and operational matters. Second, it conveys a message of both mutual trust and equitable treatment that is both symbolic and substantive. Thirdly it encourages t employees to contribute. The HR should encourage a two way communication within the workplace.
Assessing the Current State of Employment Relations in a Selected Service Industry
Compensation: The human resource is also responsible for coming up with a remuneration strategy that sees to it that employees are compensated on their performance. In the hotel industry today, this is taking many forms. Among these include profit sharing, stock ownership for employees, merit pay or other forms of performance schemes for individuals or teams such as bonuses or incentives. This is a way for the organization to send a message to its employees that their contribution to the business is valued.
A working human resource department must determine the kinds and numbers of personnel based on the demand and supply forces that the organization will need in the future. What is paramount is the demand for the organization’s product or service. Therefore in a business, what are focused first are the sales figures. Typically this then becomes the basis for determining the personnel needed to serve the capacity that has been projected. According to Henderson (2010) other factors that are also considered when forecasting demand for personnel include, needs to upgrade service quality, turnover arising from resignations, budget constraints and other minor hiring goals. The human resource management has to forecast what personnel will be available in the future. According to Ball, (2012) managers consider promoting employees from within the organization when forecasting the supply of employees among other factors such as availability of required talent in the various markets such as local, regional and global and population trends and employees willing and able to be trained.
The Current situation between employees and employers can be characterized by the ability of both parties having negotiating power. The hotel industry is a service provision industry hence making it a sensitive industry where the employee’s needs and their satisfaction is essential to the productivity of these hotels. Hilton hotel is a company based in the United Kingdom and is expected to that both the employers and employees maintain the labor laws in the country when signing and implementing the contracts. UK employment relation is based on democracy and fairness to both the leaders and the subordinate in all service delivering companies. The relation in the industry especially in the hotel can be described as a sustainable and satisfactory relationship thus protecting the rights of both parties (Singh, & Kumar.2011).
Hilton hotel has a broad range of services that goes beyond the typical hotel services hence making the relationships more dynamic and complex. Nevertheless, the Hotel completely understand the laws, statutes, and regulations that are associated with employees, thus reducing the conflict between the management and subordinate staff. Hilton London believes in quality services for their product hence understand that this can only be achieved if all parties are well catered. It explains that employees that have a voice and are well considered will ultimately lead to an improved output that in turn result to better services to the consumers. Communication systems have been developed and modified to ensure that the workers can forward their ideas and complaints to the business leaders effectively.
Discussing How Employment Law Affects the Management of Human Resources in a Selected Service Industry Business
The employee process of signing of contracts is always transparent, and the clauses explained vividly to them. The workers are described explained about their contractual rights, discrimination, resolving process, laws about work time, and termination of the contracts. The workers are held at a high value in the aim of retaining them and reduce the cost of hiring new workers. To achieve the vision, goals, and objectives of an organization, it is essential to understand and maintain determinants that promote job satisfaction. The hotel solely understands this phenomenal thus investing time and resources to maintain the contractual relationship between the two parties.
Employment laws are simply the regulations that dictate rules around a working environment, rights, responsibility of both the workers and employers. Human resources have been provided a duty to ensure the security of employees (Lockton, 2006). In the United Kingdom law has extensively explained the laws that every organization should uphold so as to make sure that the employees are treated equitably and not exploited. The hotel human resource management has to understand all the laws pertaining grievances handling and understanding the role and powers the trade unions has been accorded by the Constitution and labor laws.
The HR department has to ensure that it significantly understand termination of contracts. The law provides that before a contract is terminated, all clauses are considered, and workers interests are upheld. Hilton hotel is founded under the strategies that minimize costs such as wage and payroll bills. However, this cannot be achieved at the expense of undermining the labor laws. No matter the strategies objectives to reduce employee salary costs, the Hilton hotel management has to ensure that this does not undermine the ethics and the legislation that has been put to protect the salaries and pay of workers.
Recruitment of employees by the human resources is significantly affected by the laws as it requires that every employee earns not less than the set minimum wage. Under the United Kingdom laws, Hilton employees are entitled to holiday and a maximum of 48 hours, unless the employee work under overtime terms (FL Memo Ltd, (2006).The human resources department understand that every employee has entitled by the constitution some time for childcare. Many females and males are usually accorded a chance to proceed for childcare time as this has been provided to them by the laws set under 1998 employment act. The employees of the hotel can also request to work under flexible timetables as this is their fundamental right.
Discussing a Job Description and Person Specification for a Selected Service Industry Job
Human resource management is significantly affected by these laws aimed at protection of employees. The HR cannot discriminate against an employee by age, race, gender or any demographic feature as this is strongly against the laws set. The hotel has been impacted by the legislation as it has to employ overtime workers to supplement the ones who leave after their period. The human resource has been given a huge role in saving and reducing unnecessary wages and salaries expenses, however, this has to follow the right procedures provided for the regulations.
Employees have been given the freedom to join labor unions as their bargaining brokers, thus making the hotel to embrace and accept its role in employee affairs (Cabrelli, D. (2010). It is critical to understand that the company has developed a strategy to ensure productivity regardless of some laws that limit the efficiency of some workers. Performance related rewards have been developed where a performing employee is rewarded financially or with extension of their contracts. Despite wage and labor cost reduction strategies, the hotel has given employees an equal chance by giving them performance related contracts thus being of benefits to the organization and particular individuals.
Servers: are the frontline workers in a hotel. They are the link between the chefs and the diners. According to the staffs who serve at a restaurant give the first impression about the premise. After diners are seated it is the servers’ role to greet them and take their orders for food and drink. Servers are required to make an attempt at customizing the serving experience to the customer. Cunningham (2006) some customers enjoy a conversation with the serves while another type of customers prefers that they keep restraint. The server is expected to judge and assess the preferences of the customer and adjust accordingly. Servers are also expected to check on the customers regularly during their meal time. This is vital to ensure any additional thing that may need is provided without delay. Alternatively servers can wait on the diners at specific stations assigned to them by the management.
When diners are ready to serve it is the servers’ duty to answer their question regarding the food items on the menu. He/she is mandated to help the indecisive customers to decide what food items from among the menu can be provided for them. To this extent a competent server is supposed to use their knowledge of the hotels meals to help the customer to decide what to have according to their taste and preferences Yakubovich et al., (2006) portends that the server is then supposed to bring the food to the diners’ tables. Sometimes as an additional practice, the server may explain to the customer how the meal was created in the e kitchen. As the diners continue having their meals, the servers must check on them to ensure that food items that are no longer in use at the tables are promptly removed. When the diners are done, servers bring the bills to everyone and collect the payments from them.
Comparing the Selection Process of Different Service Industries Businesses
Personal specifications of Servers: Most servers acquire their skill on job. Certain personal attributes will enhance ones performance in this job. They include. The servers must be able to interact with people. This is especially so because in their day to day engagements they are more involved with the customers at a personal level than anyone else in the hotel. As a requirement they must possess proper communication skills in order for them to communicate effectively with customers. In international hotels that receive guests of varied nationalities like Hilton Hotel, it is prudent that servers should be able to speak international languages apart from English. This is vital in ensuring customers who may not be proficient in the English language are served just as well as others. They must also possess the skills and knowledge for safe food handling Saar et al., (2014). Notably, they should also be personable, have proper grooming, neatly dressed and should enjoy interacting wait others. Servers must also possess knowledge on meal types as well as types of drinks served e.g. he/she should know what types of wine are served with which kinds of food. This is important for them to be able to assist diners at the hotel.
The recruitment process involves a number of steps as outlined below;
Step1. Job Analysis: In this stage, the human resource takes into considerations a number of things. Why is there need to conduct a recruitment? Has the job description changed? What did the job entail in the past? Is that changing or it will remain as such with the new recruit? Is it necessary to withdraw or add certain tasks to the new personnel? It would be irrational for Hilton Hotel to create a new job merely because of increased work. It must be driven by the need to have skills that were previously not there in the organization.
Step 2. Look Internally: It is a practice for Hilton Hotels to look internally for applicants before placing an advertisement. It is possible that one of the employees may want to take up a new challenge and try the new task. The benefit of recruiting internally is that the already existing employees have knowledge of the company and its policy and are therefore likely to be a good fit for the job. The other benefit is that it eliminates advertisement costs. Many companies in the service industry take advantage of this to cut on expenditure.
Assessing the Contribution of Training and Development Activities to the Effective Operation of a Selected Service Industry Business
Step 3. Put up an advertisement: After doing a job analysis, it is important to then craft an attractive job advertisement. Say for example Hilton Hotel is seeking a front office personnel; the human resource department, in its advert would have to give the job description. This would have to include what is expected of the applicant, tasks responsibilities and working hours. The advertisement will also include a brief description of the company and its culture so applicants know what is expected of them. Also to be included should be the kind of skills, competencies and experience needed for the job.
Step 4. Interviews: For this purpose a selection panel is normally used. Whatever position it is in the hotel, many times it is important that the potential employer gets to know if the applicant has knowledge of the area they are going to work in. for this reason, there ought to be someone who will ask the relevant questions that will help determine this. Not any person from the Human Resource department can ask these questions so the line manager and one future colleague can be invited to the selection panel. If there are too many applicants, it is impossible to interview all of them so a there will be need to conduct a first screening using CVs.
Step 5. Reference check: It is the practice of many hotels in the service industry such as is the case with Hilton Hotel to conduct a reference search. According to Smit et al. (2006) this is supposed to help determine if the information provided by the applicant on their CVs and letters is based on the truth.
Step 5. Second interview: Based on the outcome of the first interviews, the second interviews are conducted. There are a lot of reasons why the applicant could be rejected in the first round of interviews; those who make it are invited to the second phase. This one usually forces on trying to know the applicant better. In this phase the applicant may be asked how they found the experience. According to Dowling (2007) the applicant may be asked additional questions such as their willingness to move and their feelings about the length of the assignment.
Step 6. Offer: When all the above has been done it is about time to communicate to the successful applicants or applicants. This is to let them know that they have secured a job vacancy with the organization. It is also a good practice to explain to the unsuccessful applicants why they were not selected for the job.
Recruitment and Selection in the Hotel Industry
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