Importance of human resources in the hospitality industry
The human resources are an important asset to the organization. A company can only flourish if it has competitive workforce. Motivated workforce is essentially important for the organizations in the hospitality industry as they are the face of the organization and essential in customer service (Sartain and Finney, 2003).
The hotel industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the current times. It is a dynamic industry and allows the people to work at their areas of interest. However, the turnover rate for the industry is high. There are several employment issues in the human resource in the hospitality industry due to several employment related problems. There is a constant shortage of skilled workforce and labor. The employees are quick to leave the hospitality industry due to subverted wages, long hours of work including night and weekend shifts and seasoned work. The current generation desire for high quality work with more flexibility. Along with it, the human resource management in the hospitality industry is also important to control the incidence of thefts and crimes which can tarnish the reputation of hotels or restaurants. The human resource management can ensure that the background check has been thoroughly conducted for the hired candidates and they are aware of their duties and responsibilities (Lye, 2007).
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts is Canada-based hotel chain which operates luxury hotels and resorts all across the globe. It is recently acquired by Accor Group and; therefore, several changes can be observed in the operations of the industry. Fairmont Hotels have established an image of being an environment sensitive organization and operating in vulnerable heritage and environmental locations. It is the leader in the global hospitality industry and has a reputation for providing excellent consumer experience. It has a diversified portfolio which includes resorts, city center properties and historic buildings which has been successful in establishing a distinguished brand image of the organization. It offers the guests unique experience by combining the architecture, interior design and magnificent services at a single place. Some of the Hotels such as The Fairmont San Francisco and the Fairmont Miramar Hotel Santa Monica are considered the landmarks in these places. It has adopted sustainable business practices to present a responsible stance towards its role in the environmental protection. It is always seeking new ways through which it can conduct greener operations. Some of the hotels of the organization are situated in environmental vulnerable and diverse locations. It is committed about preserving the locations wherein the employees and guests stay. It has also implemented strategies to reduce the carbon output and reduce the effects of global warming (Fairmont, 2017).
Overview of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts operations
Scuba diving is one of the primary tourism activities in this tourist destination. The development of a new hotel or resort in this location will be challenging due to a number of reasons.
Since Fairomnt is a pioneer organization in the hospitality industry which is also highly concerned about the environmental impacts of the organization, it has been approached by the Indonesian government to establish hotels in the sensitive environmental location of Kmodo Island National Park in Indonesia so that the heritage locations can be promoted as sustainable tourism location. The scenario of constructing the hotel in a remote site will be challenging for the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. The external environment for the development of the hotel can be examined in this section:
Political and Legal Issues: In the present context, the environmental laws will impact the construction of the hotel. The hotel construction must abide by the environmental laws and assure that the building construction does not impact the environment in the near vicinity (Fleisher & Benoussan, 2015).
The establishment of the hotel in this location will be challenging for the organization as there will be no viable local labor force there. The Kmodo Island National Park is situated within the Lesser Sundra Islands. There are presently 4000 inhabitants situated in the island and the average level of education in the island is up to fourth grade. The majority of the tourists to the island are foreign visitors due to the high transportation cost to the location. The park can provide lodgings to about 60 thousand visitors a year and they can travel only through boats. It can be deduced that the organization cannot employ the local workforce due to their inability of meeting the workforce criteria. Employing foreign workforce will also be challenging as they will be reluctant to work in the remote environment (Bensoussan & Fleisher, 2008).
With the current phenomenon of the globalization, the business organizations are moving globally and it is leading to the development of the cross-cultural and global teams. Moreover, as the business organization will employ workforce from different places, the cultural issues will become dominant. It is the responsibility of the management to assure that these teams are working in harmony and the employees are able to communicate with each other. If the foreign workforce is employed in the organization, cross-cultural issues will emerge. There are several geographic, socioeconomic and population differences which make it difficult for the workforce to adjust in a foreign location. Heterogeneity in the circumstances makes the recruitment and the retention of the employees difficult (Applegate & Johnsen, 2007).
Challenges of establishing a hotel in a sensitive environment
The employee motivation is considered as highly critical in the success of the business organization. In the service industry, the employees are considered as the face of the business organization and represent the hotel in front of the clients and the customers. Motivated and engaged employees will be able to increase the customer satisfaction and fulfillment with the entire experience with the organization. Therefore, keeping the workforce motivated and engaged towards achieving their strategic objectives is important for the organization. Caring for the employees will increase the employee motivation, which will be beneficial for the organization productivity (Armstrong & Baron, 2002). Since the local communities have limited amount of Western Education, they cannot be employed at the several positions in the hotel and thus the organization requires the foreign workforce. Flying them in and out from the island will be complex as it requires development of Airport which will interfere with the local ecosystem of the island. The recruitment focuses on addressing the workforce requirements for the maintenance of the firm and the daily operation of hotel chain. The retention of the workforce refers to keeping the professionals employed in the facilities. The recruitment and retention of the technically-skilled workforce in rural and remote areas is both issue and problem for the organizations. The business organizations in these places are affected by high turnover rate and constant shortage of efficient workforce.
The younger generation which is used to the comforts and the life of the city refuse to come to work at remote locations. Some of the candidates join the organization at a temporary basis and leave it as soon as a good opportunity comes in their way. It is due to the less economic growth. The people joining and leaving the organization frequently makes the operations of the organization to suffer. Moreover, the employee turnover becomes a difficult task for the organization to handle (Baarrett & Mayson, 2008).
The organization has to develop the structure from the scratch, meanwhile, it has to take into consideration that the construction does not disrupt the local activities and ecosystem. It will amount to huge costing for the organization. The HR managers also implement the strategies to control the attrition rate of the employees. The high turnover ratio of the employees remains costly to the organization as the constant hiring and induction programs increases the expenditure of the organization. The HR department of the organization can implement different strategies related to the employee engagement to reduce the turnover rate of the employees (Boella & Goss-Turner, 2013). It includes offering competitive compensation packages to the employees and offering growth within the organization.
Workforce challenges in remote locations
The place is considered as a UN heritage Site; and there are limited advancement in terms of technology and infrastructure.
The HRM (Human Resource Management) is the management of the employees to enhance the overall efficiency and performance of the organization. The primary function of the human resource management is to enhance the performance of the organization so that the employer can achieve its strategic objectives. The HR aims to develop policies and systems which can assist in the management of the employees. The HR department also collaborates in the designing and development of the employee compensation, recruitment, training development and the employee performance management. Another important responsibility of the HR department is to establish the organizational practices in alignment with the government laws. In the recruitment, the HR professionals try to find and select the best talent in the industry. It is done by the implementation of the search algorithms which are focused on searching the best talent in the industry. On the other hand, the training and development professionals assure that the employees are trained and developed continually as per the industry standard. The HR manager examinees the training requirements and implement the training programs according to the needs of the employees. They are also significant in the designing of the rewards programs; compensation structure and family leave policies (Bohlander & Snell, 2010).
Another major responsibility of the human resource professionals is assuring the safety and the health of the employees working in the organization. The HR manager has to assure that all the risk management activities in the daily operations and the establishment of the building is conducted to prevent workplace hazards and incidences (Daniels, 2004).
In the human resource activities, the core function of the HR manager is to determine the needs of the staff and the employees, determine the temporary and the permanent staffing needs, recruit the best-fitted candidates in the organization and manage employee-employer relations. Other than that, the performance management and the compensation design of the employees is also a significant aspects of the role of the human resource manager (Deb, 2006).
While dealing with the diversified and the cross-cultural teams, it is important for the organization to ensure that the organization abides by the government policies and employment rules. In order to foster a positive work culture in the organization. It is important that the organization remains an equal opportunity employer and deals with discrimination and cross-cultural issues (Guerin, 2011).
Impact of cross-cultural issues on global workforce
In the present times, there are a number of software tools which can assist the human resource professionals in increasing their efficiency in meeting the HR needs of the organization. The HR professionals are using e-recruiting methods to select the candidates from all across the globe based on their competency. Previously, with the limited tools the HR has to face a higher lead time to select the new hires. However, the e-recruiting limits the barriers of the geographical locations and the HR professionals can post jobs and track the applications from different locations. Presently, in the case of a new hotel establishment in Indonesia, the organization can initiate e-recruitment activities in the country to select so that the operations can begin immediately after the selection of the candidates (Guest, Isaksson and Witte, 2010).
There are also a number of technological tools available for the training and development of the employees. The HR professionals can select the most viable tool according to the training needs and the requirements of the employees. Nowadays, there are numbers of e-training programs available through which the human resource professionals can impart training to employees working at remote locations in the most effective manner. Employee training in the virtual classrooms can reduce the cost to the organization significantly. With the e-learning approaches, the employees can manage their own learning and its time and pace. It will also assist the employees in maintaining their work-life balance and increase the overall productivity to the organization (Guest, Paauwe and Wright, 2012).
In this regard, the recruitment personnel play a critical role in attracting talent towards the organization. Presently, the human resource manager will face the challenge of attracting the potential candidates to work for the hotel in a remote place with hardly developed infrastructure.
Moreover, there are other significant challenges in the employment of the remote workforce. The major challenges in the employment of the remote workforce are the time zone issues, collaboration and isolation. These challenges increase the employee dissatisfaction with the workplace and increase the turnover rate. The time difference is an issue in the large organization as differences in time makes the communication really difficult for teams working at different geographical locations. All the teams working at different geographical locations should understand that the business has a preferred work schedule and the team should manage with them accordingly. Another important issue in the remote working is collaboration among the teams. There are several collaboration issues in the remote teams and the people working at remote locations can share valuable insight and feedback which can enhance the efficiency of the organization. It is a challenge for the HR manager to keep the employee motivation and engagement in difficult circumstances (Hernandez, 2009).
Importance of employee motivation and engagement
When a remote team is working in Jakarta, they have specific requirements, needs and challenges and their immediate settlement can enhance the efficiency of the organization. However, when the team is working remotely, misalignment may arise in the marketing plan and other business-related plans. The organization should plan how the team members would be able to adjust to the business plans of the organization (Martin, 2006).
Another important issue in the human resource management of the remote employees is isolation. The remote employees feel isolated with their families and the organization itself which creates dissatisfaction with their work lives. It affects the efficiency of the employees. The employees feel left out from the organization and its work culture which creates negativity among the employees.
In the above discussion, a number of HR challenges are identified in the development of hotel establishment in the UN heritage in Indonesia. In this section, several strategies are suggested so that the management of the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts can build a strong workforce in the organization.
- Since there is scarcity if the educated and the skilled workforce in the local community, the only option for the organization is to hire candidates from different areas. As the company is investing in the development of a large resort in the island, it can also construct a housing building in the near vicinity. The permanent employees of the organization can live there comfortably for as long as their association with the employees. The fly in fly out option is not ideal as it will create dissatisfaction among the employees (Mayrhofer, Brewster & Morley, 2007).
- In relation to the legal and political issues, the company needs to comply with the environmental and the taxation laws. It requires to collaborate with the government in the planning and the construction of the hotel so that the organization can initiate construction with minimum negative impact on the environment (Muller, 2012).
- The organization should implement strategies to recruit the potential candidates from the nearby area. It can utilize the social media recruitment, advertising on the professional sites like LinkedIn or social media websites to search for the potential candidates. In order to retain the workforce in the organization, the companies can implement strategies to engage the employees within the organization. It includes providing lodging and flexible work environment to the employees. Financial incentives should be provided to the employees to increase their motivation.
- Performance Management and Motivating Staff: The employee motivation is a significant part in the retention of the staff members. It is important that the organization implements various performance management methods to track and reward the employees for exceptional performance. It will increase the motivation of the employees towards their job (Nickson, 2013).
- Since the organization is attaining workforce from culturally diverse backgrounds, it is important that the organization implements training so that the people from different cultures can work together in harmony. In addition to it, the company should also provide training to increase the competency of the workforce. Fairmont hotels should also focus on providing work-life balance situations to the employees so that they can be motivated to work in the organization (O’Fallon & Rutherford, 2011).
Conclusion
Fairmont is one of the leading hotel chains across the globe. It is focused on environmental protection and reducing the negative impact on the environment in its operation. The Indonesian government has approached the hotel chain to establish a hotel in the UN heritage site for the tourists coming from all across the world. It is an ambitious as well as challenging project for the organization. There is minimal infrastructure in the island and local workforce is not apt to work in the hotel. In the construction of the building, the organization has to give special consideration to the environmental impact of the construction. Other than that, the company has to focus on different HRM challenges such as the recruitment and the retention of the employees from different geographical locations. The organization also has to address the cultural differences and isolation problems in the workforce.
References
Applegate, E., & Johnsen, A. (2007). Cases in Advertising and Marketing Management: Real Situations for Tomorrow’s Managers. Rowman & Littlefield.
Armstrong, M. &Baron, A. (2002). Strategic HRM: The Key to Improved Business Performance. CIPD Publishing.
Baarrett, R. & Mayson, S. (2008). International Handbook of Entrepreneurship and HRM. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Bensoussan, B.E., & Fleisher, C.S. (2008). Analysis Without Paralysis: 10 Tools to Make Better Strategic Decisions. FT Press.
Boella & Goss-Turner, S. (2013). Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry: A Guide to Best Practice. London: Routledge.
Bogardus, A.M. (2006). Human Resources JumpStart. London: John Wiley & Sons.
Bohlander, G,W. & Snell, S. (2010). Managing Human Resources. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Daniels, K. (2004). Employment Law for HR and Business Students. CIPD Publishing.
Deb, T. (2006). Strategic Approach to Human Resource Management. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. Developing practice. CIPD Publishing.
Fairmont. (2017). About Us. Retrieved on 9 March 2017 from https://www.fairmont.com/
Fleisher, C.S., & Benoussan, B.E. (2015). Business and Competitive Analysis: Effective Application of New and Classic Methods. FT Press.
Guerin, J.D. (2011). Employment Law: The Essential HR Desk Reference. Nolo.
Guest, D.E., Isaksson, K., & Witte, H.D. (2010). Employment Contracts, Psychological Contracts, and Employee Well-Being: An International Study. Oxford University Press.
Guest, D.E., Paauwe, J. and Wright, P. (2012). HRM and Performance: Achievements and Challenges. London: John Wiley & Sons.
Hernandez, R. (2009). Strategic Human Resources Management in Health Services Organizations. Cengage Learning.
Lye, P. (2007). Human Resource Issues in the Hospitality Industry. Hotelier. Retrieved on 9 March 2017 from https://www.4hoteliers.com/features/article/2205
Martin, V. (2006). Managing Projects in Human Resources Training and Development. Kogan Page Publishers.
Mayrhofer, W., Brewster, C. and Morley, M. 2007. HRM in Europe. Taylor & Francis.
Muller, M. (2012). The Legal Side of HR Practice. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Nickson, D. (2013). Human Resource Management for Hospitality, Tourism and Events. London: Routledge.
O’Fallon, M.J. and Rutherford, D.G. (2011). Hotel Management and Operations. London: John Wiley & Sons.
Sartain, L. and Finney, M.I. (2003). HR from the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
