Strengthening Employee Relations: A Key to Hilton's Market Performance

To perform effectively in the market, Hilton is required to strengthen its employee relations. Effective HRM practices are crucial for the hotel industry, as they directly impact service quality and customer satisfaction. Strengthening employee relations will help improve employee morale, job satisfaction, and overall performance, leading to increased customer loyalty and retention.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT FOR SERVICE
INDUSTRIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
1.1................................................................................................................................................3
1.2................................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
2.1................................................................................................................................................6
2.2................................................................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
3.1................................................................................................................................................9
3.2..............................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is the department in the organization whose main
responsibility is to manage the workforce and helps them to work efficiently in the firm. The
main functions of this department is staffing, designing benefits and compensation strategy,
scheduling training session etc. for understanding the functions of the HRM, Hilton hotel has
been selected. It is the American hospitality company and is famous for the food and services
which is provided to the guest. In the few years it has expanded its branches worldwide. The
report will discuss about different employment laws which are necessary for the organization to
follow. Further, it emphasizes on the role and purpose of the HRM of Hilton. Even it provides
insight of the human resource plan which is influenced by the demand and supply factor. It
provides job description and specification of the staff working in Hilton. Further, a presentation
is been made for understanding the needs of training in the service industry.
1.1
Service industry is highly volatile in nature; the environmental factors have huge impact
on the functioning of the industry. Hilton is one of the famous hotels and resorts in the world.
For the success of the organization, HRM plays a significant role in managing all activities and
task of the employees. Basically, the objective of the HRM in Hilton is to enhance the
productivity by providing them with effective services to the customers and increasing the brand
image in the minds of the users (Chiang, 2010). All the responsibilities which are assigned to
HRM are attached with the goals of the firm. Further, the purpose of human resource
management is to train, hire and resolve the dispute of the employees which they are facing in
the Hilton. The roles and responsibility of the HRM in Hilton are as follows:
 Developing collaboration with the employees- In case of the Hilton hotel, there are
several important tasks which are required to be completed. For example: carrying the
baggage of the guest, guiding them towards their room etc. for carrying out this, a team
is made which helps them to accomplish it timely (Oechsler, 2011). The role of the HRM
is to guide the managers regarding allocating the work to the employees. They are the
one who work together with the managers as well as the supervisor and assign work to

the staff. Basically, in Hilton they have to develop collaboration so that no
misunderstanding can be developed in the work.
 Developing competitive advantage- They are the one who are directly linked with the
management and the employees. Besides carrying out the internal activity they are
responsible to make the strategy through which the firm can attain the competitive
advantage (Fawad Latif, 2012). In case of Hilton hotel it can be achieved by satisfying
the customers. For this, the role of the HRM is top train and develops the hotel staff so
that they can provide proper services to the customers. Proper training is carried out
which helps in enhancing the skills of the staff. Further, for making the hotel
competitive, the HRM is responsible for hiring the efficient staff which are efficient and
can help in increasing the productivity of Hilton Hotel (The Role of Human Resources,
2016).
 Developing the work place policies- every organization has its own policies for
maintaining the discipline and fairness in the organization. As Hilton is one of the
leading hotel chains there are some rules and regulations regarding the staff uniform,
working hour timings etc. this is basically drafted by the HRM and then it is
communicated by them to the employees (Chiang, 2010). In developing the policy,
employees, management are involved but the main decision is in the hands of HRM
because they are responsible for the proper functioning of the company.
 Dealing with the government laws- The government has made several laws for
safeguarding the interest of the employees. Their role is to identify these laws and
regulations and communicate them to the employees. Besides this, they are also
responsible for ensuring that these rules are followed in the Hilton Hotel (Sabzian and
Gilakjani, 2013).

1.2
Figure 1: human resource plan
(Source: human resource plan, 2016)
For planning the human resource for the service industry, the HRM has to
consider the demand and supply factor. Different tools as well as techniques are used by the
Hilton hotel to identify supply and demand factor. The firm has to evaluate the external and
internal supply for properly forecasting it. For recruiting the staff in the Hilton, it is required to
identify the demand in the hotel (Bruun and Stage, 2012). So according to the demand and
supply factor the hotel plan their recruitment and the selection process. This further assists them
to carry out the process effectively.
Analyze the internal demand-. If the demand is more than the firm carries out the
extensive recruitment process through which they recruit the staff which are required in the
organization. For example for recruiting the reception, the plan has been made (Hendry, 2012).
Survey of the people in the organization- There are various departments in the hotel for
balancing the supply and demand in Hilton the staff are shifted to other department which helps
in balancing the scenario.
HR strategies- Besides this, at the time of vacation or the event, there is huge demand of
the staff so in this case the company plans to recruit the employee which can fulfill the

requirements of the consumer (Hanif, 2013). It is significant for the HRM to plan the human
resource according to the demand and supply because if this factor is not considered then the
Hilton have to bear the extensive cost of recruitment and it will be wasted.
Organizational need for people- Now, in this step, Hilton hotel identifies the need of the
employees which is required in the hotel. At this time, hotel is need of the receptionist which can
carry out the responsibility.
Scanning the external environment- On the contrary, supply is another important factor
which affects the human resource plan of the service industry. The supply factor which affects
the human resource plan is rate of the population, growth rate of the industry, education level of
the nation. According to these aspects, the organization has to plan the requirement of the
employees (Bratton and Gold, 2012) With the growth rate of the Hilton is not more than the firm
has to make plan according to that. They will not recruit the employees because the industry is
not growing. Further, if the case is vice versa then the individuals will approach it. Another
factor which is the most significant is the literacy and education level of the nation. If the
Stratford does not have educated individual they then the hotel will plan to recruit the employees
from the other nation. It basically depends upon the department for which they have to hire the
employees. If it is for the general staff then they can carry out the recruitment process from their
but in case if it is for the technical field than they are required to approach the experienced
employee (Boxall and Purcell, 2011). On the other hand, internal supply includes methods like
promotion, transfers etc. The Hilton hotel promotes the employees according to the capability as
well as skills. This generally happens when the human resource are required for the top position.
The Hilton does not hire the employee from outside but they promote the existing employees.
TASK 2
2.1
Every organization wants healthy employee relations in the firm. By having healthy and
effective relationship with the employees, the organization can achieve the targets and objectives
effectively. According to the current trend, the hotel industry is growing significantly in the
market. There is huge demand in this field (Harzing and Pinnington eds., 2010). This industry is
highly labor intensive area because without the employees Hilton will not be able to attend the

guest or satisfy the customers. Besides this, for satisfying the needs and wants of the employees
government has also made several policies for safeguarding the interest of the staff. As per the
present era, the hotel has been performing various functions which can help in maintaining
effective relations with the superiors as well as the managers. Due to the competition in the
industry, Hilton hotel is required to maintain proper employee’s relations because for creating
competitive advantage, the labors are in the need and it is difficult for the hotel industry to find
the experienced employees (Melton and Hartline, 2010).
According to the Hilton, they emphasizes on employee relation because they believe that
the satisfied employee will only be able to serve the customers efficiently. Besides this, there are
problems which are faced by the employees which highly impact on the relations of the workers
with their superiors. The major issue which has been conquered by the employees in the Hilton is
regarding the seasonal work, working hours. In case of the increasing competition, it has been
witnessed that in the season time, Hilton hotel recruits the employees for some period of time
and then they are terminated (Fawad Latif, 2012). This makes it difficult to find the new job.
This hinders the employee and employer relationship which directly impacts on the functioning
of the firm. Another factor which impacts the employee relations is the working hour, in the
hotel industry, no hours are defined as according to the guest the time is extended and the
employees are not paid overtime for their work. This makes the employees dissatisfied with the
services and it is seen between the relations of the supervisor. As the Hilton is brand so it has
adopted various rules and regulations but still there are some aspects which are need to be
revised so that better relation can be developed with the employee and the supervisor. In case of
the hotel industry, there are several areas which are not focused by the hotel so the industry is
facing dissatisfaction among employee which is hampering the relation between other workers as
well as the managers (Yang, 2010).
2.2
There are many laws which are made by the government regarding different aspects.
Proper laws help employees to effectively work in the organization without being discriminated
on any basis. These laws affect the employee as well as HRM because they have to comply with
it for carrying out effective functioning (Knowles, Holton and Swanson, 2014). In case of the
civil rights act of 1964 it prohibits that the employee should not be discriminated on the basis of
age, religion, sex etc. this has to be applied in the Hilton hotel as the HRM should not

discriminate at the time of the recruitment and the selection process (Hoque, 2013). Further, they
are not allowed to dismiss the employee on the basis of above factors. It has huge impact on
HRM as they are required to draft the recruitment and selection process effectively so that these
types of discrimination do not take place in Hilton. Another law regarding fair labor standard act
states that the lower level of the staff in Hilton hotel should be given minimum wage which set in
the legislation. In this, the HRM are required to monitor the wage which is given to the employee
if the process is not carried out effectively then government will charge penalty on the Hilton.
Besides this, according to this act the workers are eligible to be paid for the overtime for their
services in the Hilton hotel (Oechsler, 2011)
The legal family and the medical leave act states that the employee is eligible for the
leave of 12 weeks in one year. The leave can be for the purpose of the health conditions, family
health issues etc. further, according to this act, Hilton hotel is required to give them job
protection when the staff is not working in the hotel. The role of the HR is to train the managers
and they should describe the whole conditions as well as the terms (Chand, 2010). This is
important because through this the supervisor of the Hilton hotel can keep the record for the
same. The impact on HRM is that they are required to see that no employee is misusing it and the
supervisors are giving them the benefits which they are eligible to it. Another act which affects
the HR of Hilton is the Redundancy Payment Act 1965 which states that the employee will
receive the benefits and the pay even if he has left the job after the considerable period of time
(Chiang, 2010). In case of the Hilton hotel it has been witnessed that then staff are hired in the
seasonal time and they are then terminated. So it is significant for the HR to pay to the staffs who
are not working anymore. In this, they are paid till when they do not find the new employment.
These employment laws have positive effect on the HR and the employees. But the responsibility
is of the HR to comply with all the rules and regulations which are made by the government.
This will help the employees to work effectively and will assist in maintaining positive
environment in Hilton hotel (Musa, Zahari, Rahman and Khalid, 2011).

TASK 3
3.1
For hiring the receptionist in the organization, it is important to draft the job description
and job specification with the help of which the firm will be able to recruit the effective
employee. As the hotel is one of the leading hotels so they require the staff who posses many
skills and can work in different departments. The job description and specification of the
receptionist is as follows:
Job Description of receptionist
Organisation Name: Hilton Hotel
Job designation: receptionist
Location: Stratford
Reporting to: human resource manager
Responsibilities:
 Main responsibility is to serve and greet the visitors
 Answering the phone calls of the guest and providing the knowledge needed by them
 Responsible for receiving the mails, couriers
 Following the procedures and guidelines and monitoring the security of guest handbags,
wallets etc.
 Required to schedule the meetings
 Maintain the appointment diary
 Doing general task related with photocopying, faxing, filling
 Maintaining the data of the guests
 Monitoring the check in and check out of the guests.
 Preparing the spreadsheets of the financial data
 Organizing the transportation facilities for the guest visiting in their hotel.
Job Specification
Educational Qualifications: Masters degree in any of the field
Skills required:

 Good communication as well as the writing skills
 Possess the knowledge of Microsoft software
 Should be multitasking
 Good is solving the issues of the guests
 Professional appearance
Employment terms and conditions:
 3 months of probation period.
 6 days working ( seasonal period, it can be changed)
 Salary can be negotiated
 Work experience: Minimum work experience of 2-3 yrs.
3.2
For making comparison in between the selection process of Hilton Hotel with a different
organization of service industry, Hotel Holiday Inn is selected. Although, both the firms are in
similar service industry, that is, hospitality, still they have different procedures of selecting
employees. Being one of the leading hotels in UK, Hilton is using a very systematic process of
hiring employees. After short listing CVs on the basis of required skills, qualification and
experience, HR department calls the shortlisted candidates for interview (Oechsler, 2011). All
those individuals who get selected in this round further goes for some tests like aptitude,
psychological or medical that depends on the demand of position for which the candidate is
being approached by organization. After that, again screening is done in which all those who
pass the test are further sent for final interview round in which HR manager discuses on the
matter of salary, designation, job roles and responsibilities, company policies, etc. After the
negotiation is made, candidate is selected if both get satisfied on their respective terms.
However, on the other hand, selection process of Hotel Holiday Inn is not that complex
and has only a three steps in which at first the CVS are shortlisted on the basis of skills,
qualification and experience required at specific positions. In the next step, interview is taken of
all shortlisted candidates and those who get selected in the same are then sent to final personal
interview round with the HR manager. Here, no tests are being taken by the HR team as on the

basis of interview only, individual gets selected. However, questions asked in the interview are
based on the designation for which candidates are called. Selection procedures of both the hotels
are appropriate as per their size (Huselid and Becker, 2010). However, to get most suitable and
appropriate candidates in the firm, process used by Hilton Hotel to make selection of individuals
proves to be more effective.
TASK 4
4.1 covered in ppt
CONCLUSION
From the report it can be concluded that HRM is one of the most important department in
the service industry as they are the one who manages all the issues and the problems which are
faced by the employees. But for creating competitive advantage, the Hilton hotel is required to
maintain healthy employee relations so that they can satisfy the customers easily and can retain
them in their organization. Besides this, the HR is required to comply with all the rules and
regulations and they should identify as what is going wrong in the company. On the other hand,
the recruitment and selection process of the Hilton hotel is effective in choosing the skilled and
efficient employee in the organization. Further, it has been seen that the recruitment and
selection process differ because of the work and the purpose of the organization. Lastly, it can be
said that for performing effectively in the market, Hilton is required to strengthen the employee
relations.

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