Impact of COVID 19 on HR in Hospitality Industry

This research project focuses on the impact of COVID 19 on human resource management in the hospitality industry. It includes a research proposal, challenges faced by HR, and ways to retain top talent during COVID 19. The study aims to determine the role of HRM in the hospitality industry, identify challenges faced by HR in retaining top talent during COVID 19, and recommend strategies for retaining top talent at The Barbary. The research questions revolve around the roles of HRM, challenges faced by HR in COVID 19 situation, and effective ways to retain top talent. The research is important for understanding the impact of COVID 19 on the hospitality industry and improving research skills. The document type is a research project and the assignment type is a research proposal.

Research Project
(An investigation into the Impact of COVID 19
on human resource within hospitality industry)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Research proposal for defining research questions and literature review ............................3
P2 Different number of research methods for conducting primary and secondary research .....7
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................12
Appendix .......................................................................................................................................14
Research proposal and ethical form .........................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Human resource is an employee or person in an organisation and part of the entire
workforce or personnel of that company. It is an individual person within an enterprise's overall
workforce, with each and every person leading their talents and skulls to the company to support
it succeed (Dias and et. al., 2020). HRM introduces to the effective process of recruiting,
selecting, inducting workforce, giving orientation, appraising the employee's performance,
imparting training and development, motivating employees etc. Human resource is an important
part of an organisation because it will help them in retaining of talented employees at workplace.
For this research, Barbary is a chosen small scale restaurant that provide quality in products and
services to the visitors. Human resource manger of Barbary played an essential role for retaining
knowledgeable employees that results in higher growth of company.
LO 1
P1 Research proposal for defining research questions and literature review
Overview of the title or research
Employee retention introduces to an effort by an organisation to maintain a working
environment that highly helps present employee in remaining with the company. Employee
retention is one of the main role of human resource manager that helps company in improvement
of its success. During COVID 19, HR manger of Barbary faced major challenges while retaining
talented employees such as no or lack of face-to-face intercalation, high expectation of
employees regrading salary, low resources within company and many other. All these are major
challenges that will negatively impact on business growth and success. In order to overcome
these challenges, different retention strategies will be followed by human resource such as
providing pay according to their performance, encouragement of flexibility, development of

training and development program etc. These are essential ways in retention of talented
employees during COVID 19 time period (Ferraris, Erhardt and Bresciani, 2019).
Research aim
To determine the issues faced by human resource management of an organisation while
retaining top talent during the period of COIVID 19. A study on “The Barbary”
Research Objectives
 To determine the role of HRM within hospitality industry.
 To identify the challenges faced by HR while retaining top talent in COVID 19 situation. To recommend different ways by which HR of The Barbary can retain top talent during
COVID 19.
Research questions
 What are the roles played by HRM in hospitality industry?
 What types of challenges faced by human resource of Barbary in COVID19 situation
while retention of top talent? What are the effective ways through which top talent can be retain by HR of The Barbary
in COVID 19 situation?
Rationale of the research
Main reason behind choosing this topic is to find out the major role of human resource in
an enterprise in any kind of situation. By doing this research, researcher can easily identify
challenges that may arise during COVID 19 situation while retention of top talent. This research
is essential at academic as well personal level. At academic level, current study help students by
rising their understanding about the impact of COVID 19 situation on hospitality industry. This
investigation is also essential at personal level by improving research skills of researcher. As it

will facilitate them in completion of full research systematically and successfully (Kaushik and
Guleria, 2020).
Literature review
Literature review is significant and essential process of gathering secondary data via
different sources like articles, magazines, books, publication research and many other applicable
sources related to the research topic. This is an important section of research because it helps
investigator in identification of research gap. In current study, main research gap is the issues
faced by human resource management of an organisation while retaining top talent during the
period of COIVID 19. In previous studies or investigations, there were data available about the
challenges faced by HR management while retaining of talented employees, but there is lack or
insufficient information about the challenges faced in retaining of knowledgeable employees
during COVID 19. In order to eliminate this gap, research questions will be followed. This will
support in fulfilling of research gap as well as accomplishment of research aim and objectives
(Milojevic and Katsadze, 2020).
What are the roles played by human resource management in hospitality industry?
According to the Rouse (2017), human resource management introduces to the practices
or process if recruiting, selecting, deploying and managing employees of an organisation. Human
resource played an effective and significant role within hospitality sector. They have different
roles such as recruitment, selection, retention etc. All these are major roles that will be essential
and important for hospitality industry because it will help them in increment of its sales and
revenues.

On the other side, Bolden-Barrett (2020), The hospitality sector is expectable to develop
over 17 % via 2014, relay on United State bureau of Labour Statistics. This development is
above the 14% average for many other industries. But high turnover of employees remains an
issue for the hospitality sector. Human resource can suggest incentives to maximise retention, for
example discounts on vendors' services and products or employee recognition programs.
What types of challenges faced by human resource of Barbary in COVID19 situation while
retention of top talent?
According to the Nicola and et. al., (2020), employees retention is significant part of the
business development and success. This will assist an enterprise by increasing number of
customers and also help them in achievement of competitive advantages. Along with this, there
are various challenges faced by HR of Barbary while retaining top talent and knowledgeable
employees during COVID 19. These challenges are high expectation of employees regrading
salary, no or lack of face-to-face intercalation,, low resources within company and many other.
During COVID 19, company is not able to interact face-to-face with their employees that results
in no pressure for employees to stay in current position. In COVID 19, hospitality industry faced
major issue of earnings, due to this issue, they not able in providence of salary to the employees
according to their expectations. As they leave such company and position that increase major
force on HR manger of Barbary.
What are the effective ways through which top talent can be retain by HR of The Barbary in
COVID 19 situation?
As per the view presented by Florentine (2019), employee retention is major issue for
hospitality industry during the period of COVID 19. There are different strategies that will be

useful for human resource manager of Barbary in retention of top talent. These strategies are
explained as below:
Offer the right benefits: In order to retain talented employees during COVID 19 time
period, it is the role of human resource manager to provide right benefits to the employees. For
this, they must provide facility of work from home and also give them bonus according to their
performance.
Leverage technology: This is another strategy or way for retaining talented employees in
COVID 19. For this, HR manager of Barbary must provide facility of technology to their
employees during COVID 19. This will assist them in retention of top talent at workplace for
longer time period.
P2 Different number of research methods for conducting primary and secondary research
This is a part of research methodology that facilitate investigator in gathering and
analysing of primary and secondary information regarding specific area of study (Terziev, 2020).
There are approaches and methods that will be followed within a current study for achieving
valid outcomes. These methods and approaches will be described as below:
Research approach: This is an effective process of analysing qualitative and quantitative
data through inductive and deductive approach. For performing present study over the impact of
COVID 19, deductive approach of study is more suitable as it facilitates in evluating of data in
quantitative and numerical way. Inductive approach of study is not appropriate within a research
because it not helps in driving of valid conclusion (Nieves and Quintana, 2018).
Research philosophy: There are certain kind of research philosophies which named are
epistemology, ontology and axiology. These are effective but for carrying out present study on
COVID 19 and its impact over human resource, positivism type is useful as it assist investigator

to gather and evaluate quantitative information in minimum time duration. Interpretivisim type
of philosophy is not use within a study as it takes more time.
Research strategy: There are various strategies used for collecting primary as well as
secondary information about specific area of research. These strategies are action research,
experimental, case study, systematic literature review, survey and so on. These are main types of
research strategies but for conducting primary and secondary research, survey and systematic
literature review has been followed. Survey has been applied by investigator for assembling
primary information regarding the impact of COVID 19 on human resource ability while
retaining top talent. Systematic literature review is another strategy that will help in collecting of
secondary data about the existing topic (Subramony and et. al., 2018).
Research choice: This is important section of methodology that have three different
methods such as memo method, mixed method and multi-mixed. All these are suitable for
collecting and analysing of information in form of qualitative or quantitative. Within a current
research, memo method is more appropriate because it facilitate in gathering and evaluating of
only one type of data, either qualitative or quantitative. Quantitative information will be followed
within an investigation because it not requires maximum time and helps researcher in gaining of
valid outcomes. Qualitative information is not suitable for doing present study because it requires
more sources that results in maximum cost (Papa and et. al., 2018).
Time horizon: There are basically two types of time horizon such as cross-sectional and
longitudinal. In order to conduct primary or secondary research, cross-sectional time horizon will
be more suitable as it is based on real situation and also support in completion of each activity of
study in allotted time. Gantt chart is more effective tool for analysing time of each activity

helped in completion of research project. Gantt chart according to the research will be shown as
below:

Data collection: This is an important section of data collection that will be collected from
two sources such as primary and secondary. In case of primary source, questionnaire is more
essential tool of data collection that has been followed by investigator. As it support investigator
in collecting of valid data about the topic in minimum time. In case of secondary research,
literature review is a best strategy that was applied for assembling secondary data from number
of sources i.e. articles, magazines, journals, publication research etc. Thus, within a current study
both primary and secondary sources of data collection will be used for gathering valid outcomes.
Research instruments: This is essential section of doing primary or secondary research.
There are various instruments of collecting primary information which are questionnaire,
interview, modelling, focus group, observation etc. In order to gather primary information or

data regarding the COVID 19 and its impact on human resource while retaining top talent,
questionnaire is more suitable and appropriate. This instrument help investigator by providing
reliable and valid outcomes of the study.
Sampling: This is the process followed by investigator for selecting or choosing sample
size from total population. Sampling has two techniques which are known as probability and
non-probability. For conducting current investigation, probability type of sampling has been used
as it support in selection of sample randomly. 20 employees of Barbary will be selected on
random basis under probability sampling. Main purpose for using simple random sampling as it
not take maximum time period as well as also provide logical results as compare to non-
probability type of sampling.
Research reliability and validity: This is essential section of methodology that is based
on data reliability as well as validity. In this, questionnaire is more useful tool for researcher for
testing the reliableness and validity of information. Thus, questionnaire is more suitable tool of
primary data collection that will be used by investigator for collecting legal and dependable data
about the impact of COVID 19 on HR while retaining talented or knowledgeable employees.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Dias, M. C. and et. al., 2020. The challenges for labour market policy during the Covid‐19
pandemic. Fiscal Studies.
Ferraris, A., Erhardt, N. and Bresciani, S., 2019. Ambidextrous work in smart city project
alliances: unpacking the role of human resource management systems. The International
Journal of Human Resource Management. 30(4). pp.680-701.
Kaushik, M. and Guleria, N., 2020. The Impact of Pandemic COVID-19 in Workplace.
Milojevic, D. and Katsadze, B., 2020. Social Sustainability in COVID-19 Crisis: The Case of the
Hotel Industry.
Nicola, M. and et. al., 2020. The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus and COVID-19
pandemic: a review. International Journal of Surgery.
Nieves, J. and Quintana, A., 2018. Human resource practices and innovation in the hotel
industry: The mediating role of human capital. Tourism and Hospitality
Research. 18(1). pp.72-83.
Papa, A. and et. al., 2018. Improving innovation performance through knowledge acquisition: the
moderating role of employee retention and human resource management
practices. Journal of Knowledge Management.
Subramony, M. and et. al., 2018. Leadership development practice bundles and organizational
performance: The mediating role of human capital and social capital. Journal of
business research. 83. pp.120-129.

Terziev, V., 2020, May. Change in the Employment Action Plans during Crisis. In 54th
International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social Development–
Novosibirsk (pp. 21-22).
Online
Rouse. M., 2017. Human resource management [Online]. Available
through:<https://searchhrsoftware.techtarget.com/definition/human-resource-
management-HRM>
Bolden-Barrett. V., 2020. The Role of the Human Resources Department in a Hospitality
Organization. [Online]. Available through:<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/role-
human-resources-department-hospitality-organization-71891.html>
Florentine. S., 2019. Employee retention: 8 strategies for retaining top talent. [Online].
Available through:<https://www.cio.com/article/2868419/how-to-improve-employee-
retention.html>

Appendix
Research proposal and ethical form

Unit 18 and Unit 19 Research Project (RQF) L5
Project Proposal Form
Session: September 2019
Student Name Student ID
Tutor Date
Unit Number:
Research Theme: Talent Management
Research Topic:
Section One: Title, aims, objectives
Based on your topic, define and write your research title which should reflect on the aims and set
specific objectives to be achieved from your research (e.g. what is the research question you want to
answer? What do you want to learn or find out? What is assumption or hypothesis you are making and
the problem?):
Research aim
To determine the issues faced by human resource management of an organisation while
retaining top talent during the period of COIVID 19. A study on “The Barbary”
Research Objectives
 To determine the role of human resource management within hospitality industry.
 To identify the challenges faced by HR while retaining top talent in COVID 19
situation.
To recommend different ways by which HR of The Barbary can retain top talent during

COVID 19.Research questions
 What are the roles played by human resource management in hospitality industry?
 What types of challenges faced by human resource of Barbary in COVID19 situation
while retention of top talent?
 What are the effective ways through which top talent can be retain by HR of The
Barbary in COVID 19 situation?
Section Two: Reasons for choosing this research project
Rationale and Reasons for choosing the project (e.g. links to other subjects you are studying,
personal interest, future plans, knowledge/skills you want to improve, significance of the project and
why the topic is important and):
 Main reason for selecting this research is to ascertain the impact of COVID 19
situation of HR while retention of top talent.
 This research is important because it will support investigator in determination of
issues or challenges faced by human resource during COVID 19 while retaining
talented workforce.
Section Three: Literature sources searched
Use of key literature sources and precedents to support your research question,
objective/hypothesis:
What are the roles played by human resource management in hospitality industry?
According to the Boella and Goss-Turner, (2019), human resource manager in hospitality
sector plays different roles that are important for their success. These roles are recruitment,
selection, training and development, retention and many other. All these are essential roles that
help company in attainment of long term goals and objectives in limited time period. This roles

help hospitality industry by retaining top talent in any kind of situation.
What types of challenges faced by human resource of Barbary in COVID19 situation
while retention of top talent?
As per the view of Hossain, (2020), there are number of challenges or issues that were faced by
HR in retention of knowledgeable and talented employees during Coronavirus situation. These
issues are mainly related with the no direct interaction with employees, high expectation of
employees and many other. These situation are raised because hospitality industry faced major
issue in earnings. Due to lack or no earning, they not pay salary to their employees that results
in high employee turnover.
What are the effective ways through which top talent can be retain by HR of The
Barbary in COVID 19 situation?
According to the Gould-Werth, Morrison and Ben-Shalom, (2018) there are various ways that
would be use by Barbary for retaining knowledgeable and talented employees during
coronavirus situation. These strategies are provide facility of work-from home, provide facility
of technologies, offer benefits, implement health related policies etc. All these are effective
strategies that will be useful and applicable for hospitality industry to follow and retain
knowledgeable workforce during the period of COVID 19.
References
Boella, M.J. and Goss-Turner, S., 2019. Human resource management in the hospitality industry: A
guide to best practice. Routledge.
Hossain, M.M., 2020. Current status of global research on novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19): A
bibliometric analysis and knowledge mapping. Hossain MM. Current status of global
research on novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19): a bibliometric analysis and
knowledge mapping [version 1.

Gould-Werth, A., Morrison, K. and Ben-Shalom, Y., 2018. Employers’ perspectives on
accommodating and retaining employees with newly acquired disabilities: an exploratory
study. Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 28(4), pp.611-633.
Section Four: Activities and timescales
Activities to be carried out during the
research project (e.g. planning,
conducting research, analysis, write-
ups)
How long this will take: (See Gantt Chart
below)
Milestone one: .....See Gantt Chart
Target date (set by tutor): .........................................................................................
Milestone two: .........................................................................................
Target date (set by tutor): .........................................................................................
Section Five: Research approach and methodologies
What type of research approach and methodologies (primary/secondary, case study
etc.) are you likely to use and why?
Research approach: This section of research methodology has two section which are data
collection and data analysis. In order to collect data, there are also two approaches which
are called qualitative and quantitative. For executing current study, quantitative approach
of research is use because it helps in gathering of numerical information easily. In case of
data analysis, there are also two approaches which are inductive and deductive. In order to
analyse quantitative gathered data, deductive approach is apply by researcher.
Methodology: There are two methods of data collection are known as primary and
secondary. For gathering primary information, questionnaire will be followed by
investigator as it assist in collecting of fresh information about the topic. On the other
side, there are different sources for gathering secondary data for literature review
including articles, books, journals etc.

Sampling: 20 employees of Barbary will be selected randomly under probability
sampling.
Comments and agreement from tutor
Comments (optional)
I confirm that the project is not work which has been or will be submitted for another
qualification and is appropriate
Agreed Name: Date:
Comments and agreement from project checker (if applicable)

Gantt Chart:
Milesto
ne
Projective
Activities
W
1
W
3
W
4
W
7
W
8
W1
1
W1
2
W1
6
W1
7
W2
0
W2
1
W2
3
W2
4
M1 Project
formulatio
n and
Project
Planning
M2 Literature
Review
M3 Methodolo
gy
M4 Data
Collection
and
Analysis
M5 Discussion
of the
results,
including
reflection
M6 Report
writing
M7 Presentati
on of the
managem
ent

Achievement based on Gantt chart (Part of formative assessment)
Week Milestones and Activities to be Carried Out Tutor’s feedback and
date
W3 Problem formulation and Project Planning
Research Problem/issues identification and research
rationale
Research Topic and title
Research aims and objectives
W7 Literature Review
Identify and collect relevant literature
Review of key
W11 Methodology
Identification and selection of methodologies
Evaluation and choice of methodology
Select data collection methods and sampling
Choice of data analytical techniques
W16 Data Collection and Data Analysis
Data collection
Data Analysis
Data presentation and Interpretation
W20 Analysis and Discussion
Analysis and discussion of the findings
Reflection on the outcomes and methods used
Recommendations for improvement
W23 Report writing
Writing-up the report in appropriate format
Presentation in right media
W24 Presentation of the project outcomes to the intended
audience

Research Ethics Approval Form
All students conducting research activity that involves human participants or the use of data
collected from human participants are required to gain ethical approval before commencing their
research. Please answer all relevant questions and note that your form may be returned if
incomplete.
For further support and guidance please see your respective Unit Tutor.
Before competing this form, we advise that you discuss your proposed research fully
with your Unit Tutor. Please complete this form in good time before your research
project is due to commence.
Section 1 Basic Details
Project title: An investigation into the Impact of COVID 19 on human resource within hospitality
industry.
Student name:
Student ID Number:
Programme:
College:
Intended research start date:
Intended research end date:
Section 2 Project Summary
Please select all research methods that you plan to use as part of your project:
(Copy and paste the tick where applicable)

Interviews:
Questionnaires:
Observations:
Use of Personal Records:
Data Analysis:
Action Research:
Focus Group:
Other (Please specify):

Section 3: Participants
Please answer the following questions, giving full details where necessary.
Will your research involve human participants?
Who are the participants? Tick all that apply:
Ages 12-16:  Young People aged 17-18:  Adults: 
How will participants be recruited (identified and approached)?
Participants will be recruited through simple random sampling technique of probability sampling.
Describe the processes you will use to inform participants about what you are doing:
By using e-mail, oral and written presentation, researcher can easily inform information about
the research aim and objectives to selected respondents.
How will you obtain consent from participants? Will this be written? How will it be made clear
to participants that they may withdraw consent to participate at any time?
By information entire information regarding aim and objectives of research, researcher
can easily obtain consent from the participants that will be written in form.
Studies involving questionnaires: Will participants be given the option of omitting questions they
do not wish to answer?
Yes:  No: 
If No please explain why below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues arising from this
Studies involving observation: Confirm whether participants will be asked for their informed
consent to be observed.
Yes:  No: 
Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation (i.e. give them a brief explanation of
the study)?
Yes:  No: 
Will participants be given information about the findings of your study? (This could be a brief
summary of your findings in general)

Section 4: Data Storage and Security
Confirm that all personal data will be stored and processed in compliance with the Data Protection Act
(1998) Yes:  No: 
Who will have access to the data and personal information?
During the research: Researcher
Where will the data be stored?
In mobile device and many other software
Will mobile devices such as USB storage and laptops be
used? Yes:  No: 
If yes, please provide further details:
After the research: Researcher
Where will the data be stored?
In mobile device and many other software
How long will the data and records be kept for and in what format?
In long time
Will data be kept for use by other researchers?
Yes:  No: 
If yes, please provide further details:

Section 5: Ethical Issues
Are there any particular features of your proposed work which may raise ethical concerns?
Yes:  No: 
If so, please outline how you will deal with these:
It is important that you demonstrate your awareness of potential risks that may arise as a result of your
research. Please consider/address all issues that may apply. Ethical concerns may include, but are not
limited to the following:
 Informed consent.
 Potentially vulnerable participants.
 Sensitive topics.
 Risks to participants and/or researchers.
 Confidentiality/anonymity.
 Disclosures/limits to confidentiality.
 Data storage and security, both during and after the research
(including transfer, sharing, encryption, protection).
 Reporting.
 Dissemination and use of your findings.

Section 6: Declaration
I have read, understood and will abide by the institution’s Research and Ethics
Policy: Yes:  No:
I have discussed the ethical issues relating to my research with my Unit Tutor:
Yes:  No: 
I confirm that to the best of my knowledge:
The above information is correct and that this is a full description of the ethics issues that may arise in the
course of my research.
Name: .....................................................................................................................................................................
Date: ...................................................................................
Please submit your completed form to ......................................................................................................................................................................