The Internationalisation of SMEs: An Examination of the UK Retail Sector

This assignment content discusses the internationalization of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the UK retail sector. The provided articles, including those from the Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, explore various aspects of SME internationalization, such as the role of strategic Human Resource Management (HRM), organizational performance, and technological advancements. Additionally, online resources are included to provide further insights on HRM models, evidence-based HR practices, and the importance of inclusive growth in today's business environment.

Human Resource Management

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Role and purpose of HRM at Hilton hotel........................................................................3
1.2 Human resource plan based on supply and demand.........................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Current state of employment relation at Hilton hotel.......................................................7
2.2 How employment law affect the management of human resources.................................8
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
3.1 Job description and person specification for hotel industry Job.....................................10
3.2 Comparing recruitment and selection process................................................................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................13
4.1 The contribution of training and development in effective operation............................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
Reference.......................................................................................................................................16

Introduction
Human resource management is a process of managing work force and hiring them in an
organisation. These covers hiring of people, payment, performance management and retention of
employees. Human resource management is done by HR department and it deals with production
of employee handbook, temporary staffing, sexual harassment, etc. Effective HRM help
employee in effective work for overall development of organisation. HRM play a vital role in
making strategic decisions and performance measurement. HR department concern with
providing support to staff within organisation. These provide guideline to employee in order to
create awareness about company's vision, mission and policies so that they work for fulfil
organisations objectives. It gives employee a platform so that they can report there problems
directly.
TASK 1
1.1 Role and purpose of HRM at Hilton hotel
HRM is the vein of the organisation which control all the activity relating to people. The
main need of HRM is to managing people. The role and purpose of HRM at Hilton hotel are as
follows;
1. Recruit and train staff:- HRM at Hilton recruiting suitable candidate and train them for
work. HRM making proper plan for hiring right person for particular position (Akhtar,
Ding and Ge, 2008). They make proper guidelines for working and quality in candidate.
Because of Hilton planning for providing different kind of services to the travellers so
that HR department has to recruit according to kind of work, for ex. they plan for spa
then it need to hire specialist in such kind of activity.
2. Performance appraisal:- HRM also concern with performance appraisal of the employee.
HR department at Hilton communicate with employees time to time and provide them
necessary information. They measure performance of employees and accordingly give
appreciation to them. It motivate employees and help in give better performance. They
also identifying need of training for existing employee in order to sharp their knowledge.
3. Collaboration:- At all level of organisation HR manager and HR professional help
employees in develop their skills (Armstrong, 2011). For ex, HR manager at Hilton
provide guideline to supervisor how to assigning the work at level of organisation, it give
flexibility to the system of company. It help in identifying problems at every level.

4. Maintaining work environment and disputes:- HRM's main role is to maintain effective
environment at work. Hilton providing effective environment to its employees for giving
good working conditions. HRM also have to maintain friendly environment and proper
work allocation so that there is less chances of dispute between employees. It help
company to achieve its target within time.
5. Commitment to work:- HRM help in implementation of strategies for increase employee
commitment with the organisation (Arthur and Boyles, 2007). Hilton provide variety of
work to its employees so that they can choose in which they are expert. It help them in
commitment to the organisation for face challenges.
6. Developing public relations:- Hilton hotel directly connect with peoples because they are
in hospitality business. HR department of Hilton hotel focus on developing relations with
public in order to attract more travellers. They maintain it through giving gifts and key
chains to its visitors. It benefit company in repeating customers.
7. Maintain work quality:- HR manager of the company evaluate performance of the
employees and accordingly conduct performance enhancement programmes. It focus on
maintain work quality so that travellers not get affected by it (Bloom and Reenen, 2011).
HR managers are protectors for employees from any threats. They recommends and
implements best practices in change management.
8. Organisational productivity:- HRM at Hilton hotel focus on achieving higher number of
objectives with maximum utilisation of resources. These focus on satisfied customers by
providing best of services. These lead to achievement of goal and objectives of
organisation. Hilton providing many kind of services to its travellers so that they can
fulfil maximum need at one place.
1.2 Human resource plan based on supply and demand
Human resource planing is the process of managing people according to plan. These plan
work according to demand and supply of organisation's resources. There are many factors which
can affect demand and supply in organisation such as external and internal factors. Organisation
have a strategic plan which guide them to achieve objective in fix time period (Cohen, 2006).
Every plan have some basic aspects, which require to cover while planning. Following are some
steps for human resource plan;

Figure 1: Human resource plan
(Source: Deckop, 2006)
1. Analysing organisational objectives:- The objectives to be achieved by Hilton hotel in
future should identify by HR manager and accordingly they have to plan for it. There are
various fields such as marketing, sales and expansion which can be target by company.
For ex. If company want to expand its business in near future so HR manager should plan
in such manner so that more people come to know about Hilton future expansion.
2. Inventory of present human resources:- Inventory at these place use for employees in
Hilton hotel. After identification of objectives, company have to analyse current number
of employees, their capacity and performance in order to know actual level of their
working (Collings and Mellahi, 2009). HR also have to plan if there is requirement of
performance enhancement programmes. To fill various requirement of company by using
internal and external sources.
3. Forecasting demand and supply of human resources:- HR mainly focus on maintain
proper workforce for carry out task. HR at Hilton identify availability of resources for
every task differently. They consider fix number of employee for every task and find how
much employees they need extra for particular task. And they also check supply of such

resources in the market (Cummings and Worley, 2014). For ex. Hilton's HR manager find
that they require some employees because in future time there is peak of travellers so
there should be proper matching of job description and job specification for that
particular work.
4. Estimating manpower gaps:- After forecasting supply and demand of human resources in
the market, HR manager come to know actual either they have deficit of human resources
or surplus of human resources. If there is deficit it means they have to employed new
people and if there is surplus then HR manager have to terminate some employees. At
Hilton this estimation help to HR in making decision relating to employment or
termination.
5. Formulating the human resource action plan:- After estimating manpower gaps, the HR
take decision according to conditions and accordingly plan finalised (Deckop, 2006).
Either new recruitment, intradepartmental transfer, training or termination, redeployment
and voluntary retirements are such options which available to HR manager.
6. Monitoring, control and feedback:- At this level plan is ready to implement as per
requirement. Human resources are allocate according to need of particular work. It decide
on the basis of availability and demand for assigning new task (Ehnert, 2009). There is a
need of comparison between actual plan and implemented plan so that threats could be
identify and remove.

Figure 2: Structure of Hilton Hotel
TASK 2
2.1 Current state of employment relation at Hilton hotel
Employment relation concern with resolving and avoiding issues relating to individuals.
Maintaining healthy employee relation is resulted to organisational success. Hilton maintain
good relation with its employees by providing good working environment and supportive staff.
Healthy relation with employees helpful for both company as well as employee because it
resulted to efficient, productive and motivated employees which help company in increase its
productivity level (Flood, 2008). Hilton hotel maintain its employment relation in different
aspects.
Unionisation is a process so that employees of the company are part of labour union and
they act as intermediary between company management and employees. In Hilton hotel's case
there is no labour union because it use open door policy so that employee can report problems
directly. Structure of organisation also help in maintain relation with employees. Hilton use
hierarchy for every location so it help them to solve any issue at very base level (Gallicano,

2009). They have team leaders over some employees so whenever any issue raise directly team
leader come in front an solve it as soon as possible. These policy help Hilton in build good
employee relations.
Culture at Hilton is very much focused on its employees. Company give priority to
understand global culture so that accordingly they can train their employees. Company give
value and respect to its employees. It help employees in better customer handling so that
company get ultimate benefit. Employee fill motivated in such working culture and giving their
best. Hilton celebrate international traditions so level of morale is increase (Ganesan and et.al,
2009). For ex. If Hilton celebrate a festival of that particular country where its hotel are then it
will increase enthusiasm of that location's employees.
When management want to take any decision for a location, Hilton invite employees
suggestions and ideas of that particular location because employees are more aware of ground
level problems and accordingly they choose best suggestion from them and take decision on that.
For giving such idea Hilton appreciate those employees by giving them such kind of rewards and
benefits. Its time and cost saving for company and reason for employees motivation (Hutchinson,
Quinn and Alexander, 2006). Company give more responsibility to employees for check their
knowledge and responsiveness for particular task. For getting trust of employees organisation
divide teams according to their capacity of working and test their ability to perform particular
task.
Hilton also ready for solve grievance of employees. They invite the employees to attend
meeting so that they can discuss the grievance. After listen grievances of employee, company
inform them about decision which is taken by management and if they are not satisfying with it
then they have right to appeal it again. These create open environment for employees. Company
want every one to participate in performing their task. Hilton have some rules and regulations for
conflict management (Jackson and Seo, 2010). There are some instructions which must need to
follow otherwise different warning can be issue such as verbal warning and written warning.
These help in keeping proper working environment.
2.2 How employment law affect the management of human resources
Employment laws are set of rules which organisations must follow for its employees.
Organisation must cooperate with federal and state laws. Employment laws are for save

employees by any threats from employer side. The employer must have knowledge of related
regulations and apply area of those rules. There are many rule and regulation acts which affect
management of human resource at Hilton hotel;
1. Employment relations act 1999:- These law deal with improvement of trade union
regulation. Under this act every employee has freedom to join and form unions (Kallunki,
Laitinen and Silvola, 2011). These help employees in report their demands to the
management such as working conditions and other. But these can cause of strike for
small demand and it’s directly impact on the management of the Hilton hotel. For ex. If
employees union are on strike and management discuss problems with them and
interested to resolve their problems but employees not satisfied with that solution then
management can't force them to end strike. These may give high cost to company.
2. The equal pay act 1970:- Under this act company has to pay same wages to same level of
employees. These concern with same pay for same rank, type of work and value of work.
These help employees in get same wages for their work but it many time impact
organisation's pay system. For ex. Two employee of Hilton are at same position and one
is doing best and another not giving that much output and If company pay wages
according to work done by them then company can't do it (Nikandrou and Papalexandris,
2007). It affect company as well as employee who work better then another employee.
3. Equal opportunity act 2010:- According to this act company has to provide equal
opportunity of growth to all employees. Employee from different departments must have
provide equal opportunity. For ex. If company set a target for employee to achieve and on
that basis they promote the achievers (Pas and et. al, 2011). So it is necessary to give
equal opportunity to all employees for that task and if there are many employees who
achieve target then company has to pay same rate to all achievers.
4. Contract of employment:- These having large set of rules which can impact management
of human resource. These deal with health and safety laws, in which company require to
record and report accident that occur at the company and if employee seriously injured
then company has to pay penalties for that accident. These also consider termination act,
in which company cannot terminate its employee immediately. They have to follow rules.
For ex. If employee make mistakes then manager should first give verbal warning which
cover three months time. If further this types of mistakes continue then they have to give

written warning (Rees, Mamman and Braik, 2007). These is costly and time taking for
company to follow this procedure. These act says that company should have fix numbers
of leave for any situations. For ex. If a lady employee become mother then company has
to give then some monetary help as well as leave also for one or two month.
TASK 3
3.1 Job description and person specification for hotel industry Job
A job description is a list that organizations use for describing general tasks,
responsibilities and functions of a job position. Sometimes job description includes the reporting
person for the job, and job specifications such as skills and qualifications required for performing
a job. Job description is one of the crucial document which helps managers in selecting the right
candidates. Also, it helps in filtering the candidate from which load of HR manager is reduced.
Moreover, it aids in giving in-depth job details to outsiders.
On the other hand, person specification is description of the job candidate’s
qualifications, skills, experience and other attributes that candidate must possess in order to
perform the job well. The person specification should be traced from job description and as per
the standards of the industry (Regis, 2008). With the help of person specification, managers are
able to remove unwanted applicants from the selection process. In addition to it, this helps in
gaining attention from similar set of candidates from which time, cost and efforts is saved in
selecting most skilled and talented employee.
For working as a receptionist in a luxury hotel Hilton Job description should contains all
the relevant information regarding the responsibilities and functions of the job. The job
responsibilities of receptionist are as follows,
 The primary responsibilities of a receptionist is to greet and welcome the guest as they
arrive in the hotel. The candidate must possess strong communication skills and should
be an interesting personality.
 Further the hotel receptionist maintains guest check in and check out lists in fast and
professional way. The job description of receptionist includes allocating the correct
rooms to guests and provide guests all the necessary information and contact details.
 The job responsibility of receptionist also includes taking bookings and how they can
make booking system effective (Rodwell and Teo, 2008). The receptionist must have to
answer all the phone inquiries and deal with them in correct manner.

 The important responsibilities of receptionist is also to handle administrative duties in the
Hilton hotel. These administrative includes organizing booking, collecting documents
and filing paper work.
However, to work as a receptionist in Hilton hotel the person specification is as follows,
Qualifications: GCSE standard English or equivalent.
Experience: Experience of working within busy hotel reception environment and experience of
working with confidential information.
Skills:
 Good oral and written communication skills.
 Basic numeric skills for calculations.
 Willingness to learn how to use unfamiliar equipment and computer applications.
 Basic computer skills- for sending emails and writing letters in word processor.
Personal attributes:
 The ability to empathize and communicate with diverse range of individuals.
 Able to work under pressure.
 Build and maintain good working relationships with customers and colleagues of all
levels.
 To be adaptable.
 To be self motivated with the ability to complete routine and non routine task as required.
Overall, it can be said that the given statements have crucial importance within the firm.
This is because, these statement plays very significant role in terms of setting the direction of
enterprise towards the right path (Sonenshein, 2010). In addition to this, with the help of given
approaches only, manager of hotel Hilton will be able to carry out its efforts with regard to place
the right employees at the right position. The given thing will help in terms of enhancing the
sales and profits of corporation in an effectual way.
3.2 Comparing recruitment and selection process
The selection of candidates is done on the basis of most suitable candidate who meets the
job specification and description. Mentioned hospitality is focusing on choosing candidate who
are multi talented and have required skills. This generally helps organization reduction of the
operational cost in relation to the training and development of individuals (Tabassi and Bakar,
2009). Although, there is a difference in selection process of different business ventures and

same has been discussed underneath. In the present case, Hilton and Marriott are taken into
consideration for effective elaboration of the recruitment and selection process.
For Hilton, HR manager initially places an advertisement on organization official website
and also on different job portals for recruitment. Further, screening of application is done by HR
manager on the basis of eligibility criteria and also on the basis of the academic performance of
the individuals. This generally help the cited firm to find the best fit for the organizational
working and structure. After the screening of application, potential, skilled and selected
candidates are called for a written interview which judges candidates efficiency and their
knowledge to perform a task (Jacobs, 2015). These tests contain a set of question which relates to
key HR knowledge, their mental ability and management.
Further, after completion of written test candidates are again scrutinized and successful
candidates are called for a second round of interview and this round is the considered as a crucial
round. Under this, recruitment team conducts a group discussion test which influences and
identifies decision making capacity of candidates. Candidate been given a topic and he/she have
to make their opinion and best effective candidate will get the majority of the preference and he
will have more chances of getting selected in the hospitality. Finally, selected candidates are
awarded with offer letter and job contract which constitutes the term of employment and the
CTC which employee will be getting.
On the contrary side, Marriott follows a total different way of selecting employees as
compared with the Hilton hotel. Firstly, applications are only registered with the help of online
recruitment system where HR manager short list CV. After the shortlisting, he calls the potential
and talented employees for interview process. Here also Marriott hires individuals according to
job description and specification (Parasher, 2015). By considering these two elements,
recruitment team of the mentioned venture selects the best suitable candidate for the required
position by consulting with two panels of interview and 1 written test which checks the aptitude
level and mentality to make the decision of the candidate. At last, offer letter is granted to the
individual and he is considered as a employee of the organization.

TASK 4
4.1 The contribution of training and development in effective operation
Training can be referred to practice of learning new technique and knowledge at the
workplace so that work can be completed in desired manner. On the other hand, development
refers to enhancing the scientific and technical knowledge so that employees can able to meet
with organizational objectives. Training and development in the organization is described as
ongoing efforts for improving the performance of its workforce for effective business operations
in variety of programs and methods. In competitive business environment training and
development activities at organizations is carried in broad range of utilization. Since, Hilton is
expanding business in Stratford with luxury hotel services to its customers. In this context, key
objective of Hilton hotel is to offer quality services to customers with the help of employees so
that they can attract more of customers. It requires a workforce who can contribute in effective
service providing to the clients of Hilton Thereby, Hilton have arranged effective training
programs for its workforce. In recent years, training and development programs in organizations
have appeared as formal business operations (Akhtar, Ding and Ge, 2008). By providing training
and development Hilton can mold its workforce according to their job requirements. The training
activities organized by Hilton will enable its employees to perform the job effectively. In these
training activities cited firm help in developing the confidence of employee so that they can
provide quality services to their customers. Hilton worldwide is well known for its quality luxury
services to consumers. Continues training activities for employees put them on cutting edge of
the hospitality industry developments.
Hilton provides structured training program both on the job and off the job to its
employees in which it makes sure that employees are having consistent experience and
background knowledge to work in hospitality industry. On the job training is impart based on
mentoring and coaching from which employees are able to learn new things and hence able to
offer quality services. On the other hand, off the training includes vestibule technique and
simulation in which employees are offered training in control environment. These are generally
offered to new joinee and to one who is shifting to other job role. This consistency is applicable
with the policies and procedures of Hilton. The training and development activities held by
Hilton for its employees highly contribute in effective operations. In training and development
activities Hilton provide information about its company structure and what kind of services it

provides to its customers around the world (Armstrong, 2011). Also, through the training and
development programs Hilton develops skills, knowledge and capabilities of the employee.
These training and development programs contribute in career growth of the employee as well as
increase the productivity and profitability of the organization. Training creates supportive work
environment for the employees and make them feel appreciated for their efforts. Training and
development in Hilton effectively contributes in quality service providing. The training programs
helps in addressing the weakness of employees which affects the quality of performance.
Training supports them in overcome these weaknesses and by transforming weaknesses into
skills. However, it helps them to contribute effectively in business operations of Hilton. For
instance, Hilton provides training to its house keeping department for their services which will
be beneficial for providing quality services to its customers. Also, it will make positive impact
on customer's mind (Arthur and Boyles, 2007). In training programs employee gains the standard
method to perform the job and as an outcome Hilton gets satisfying services for its consumers.
Furthermore, when employees gets the training from the organization, they get all the
necessary knowledge and skills with regards to their job. This enables an efficient and skilled
workforce in the organization which can provide quality services to its customers with self
responsibilities and employee doesn't require any necessary supervision. Thus, training and
development activities have strong contribution in effective business operations. In addition to
this, this activity also plays very important role in raising the profits of firm.
Conclusion
Human resource management interrelated with every department of organisation. This
help to understand structure of company and its culture. HRM is a basic need of organisation to
run effectively and efficiently. This play vital role in today's business world for every aspect its
use is necessary. These help in understand and analysis demand and supply of human resources
in the market so on that basis management can take decision for future policy relating to
employment and deployment. Human resource management work as mediator for organisation
and its employees. It work on vast concept of recruiting, training, etc. it provide guideline to
company relating to rules and regulations of federal and states. It help in develop performance
enhancement programme. In addition to it, by offering sound training and development session,
employees are able to perform well as it certainly boost the morale of the employees. Through

this, employees are able to conduct multi-tasking which aids in offering quick services to
customers at cited hotel.

Reference
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