Hashoo Group Case Study: Employer Branding Challenges and Solutions

This case study examines the employer branding challenges and solutions within Pakistan's premium conglomerate, Hashoo Group. The group, known for its diverse portfolio including the Pearl-Continental and Hotel One brands, faced issues such as inconsistent branding, lack of collaboration, and inadequate resource allocation. The study highlights Hashoo Group's digital transformation journey, focusing on improvements in Wi-Fi infrastructure, employee engagement, and HR practices. Strategic initiatives, including partnerships with IT companies and a focus on employee well-being, are discussed. The case study also covers the impact of Pakistan's economic stability, government initiatives, and infrastructure development on Hashoo Group's ability to adapt to the digital era and improve its services. The implementation of HACCP for food safety and the pursuit of certifications further demonstrate Hashoo Group's commitment to quality and innovation.

Running head: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 1
Challenges and Solutions of Employer Branding
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 2
Challenges and Solutions of Employer Branding
Premium conglomerates have an exquisite approach to the allocation of capital. They
manage their money such that they can regularly shift capital from enterprises that have low
returns to businesses that offer high returns. Notably, most of the underperforming
conglomerates tend to have a passive approach to the allocation of funds. They occasionally
spread their investments more broadly over various sectors of their businesses. These are done
without considering whether the business is performing or underperforming. Contrary, premium
conglomerates focus primarily on accountability and performance; they share a common
approach to compensation of incentives, which is tied to the overall performance of the business.
Thus, the latter’s performance rigorous strategic reviews for all their central enterprises.
Importantly, they assume that changes are inevitable, and that the response needs to be swift.
Employer branding is also a significant concern to established firms, especially for those
who want to stay competitive in a talent-driven job market. Some of the challenges facing
employer branding include; lack of employer brand consistency, lack of collaboration, and
inadequate resource allocation (Owers, 2017). Fortunately, some of the established firms have
made strategic steps in solving employer branding. For instance, companies should offer a
customer-quality career site that showcases the opportunities it provided; it should also
demonstrated the culture of the firm. Conversely, a company should use social media sites as a
branding tool, which will publicize its image (Pateman, n.d.). The firm should be active on social
networks, which will provide original content that portrays its message and allows job seekers to
interact with it.
Case Study of Pakistan’s Premium Conglomerate: Hashoo Group

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 3
Diversification is a vital strategy for the development and financial companies globally,
including premium conglomerates in Pakistan (Nguyen, 2018). The purpose of “Pakistan’s
premium conglomerate” is to improve the lives of consumers’ daily; this is made possible well-
known companies that are organized into enterprise divisions (DIL NED University, 2018). The
Hashoo Group has emerged as “Pakistan’s premium conglomerate” with a diverse global
business portfolio. The organization has at least 5,000 workers in the hospitality industry alone.
Also, it operates the “Pearl-Continental” and “Hotel One” brands with the presence in all major
cities in Pakistan along with “Marriott franchise hotels.”
Hashoo Group of companies has at least nine five star hotels, which cover an average of
32 meters square per room, and each is fitted with seamless and reliable wireless connectivity.
The essence of this is that the comfort conditions improve guest satisfaction, and communication
between staff members, and the management department. Unfortunately, the former has
experienced some challenges such as the existing infrastructure was at least 20 years old with
access points deployed by Aruba. This could not penetrate the guests’ hotel rooms. In spite of
this fact, the legacy Wi-Fi technology did not cope with increasing demand from more digitally
savvy guests such as weddings and conferences. Hence, guests experienced slow browsing and
frequent disconnection from Wi-Fi that caused at least 60 complaints a day to the hotel
management. Consequently, the hotel needed IT staff to be on call 24 hours a day, which the
premium conglomerate did not offer.
General Factors Influencing Hashoo Group Adapting Digital Transformation
The Hashoo Group earlier struggled with end-to-end aid for the wireless infrastructure,
and Wi-Fi experience of guests. Thus, the “premium conglomerate” partnered with various IT
companies such as Aruba and “Ruckus Wireless”, which did not provide enough “on-the-

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 4
ground” system engineers, or training for a staff member in Pakistan. Therefore, the previous
service provider was only offering one engineer for 200 million Pakistanis’; this means that any
problem would not be sorted out straight away, which left guests extremely disappointed.
According to Ruckus (2017), the CIO of Hashoo Group note:
Our company philosophy focuses around delivering the best hotel experience to our
guests. We want them to come to us, not just because we dominate the market but
because we offer the best quality of service, and Wi-Fi is absolutely no exception. Having
been around the block in wireless tech, I believe the Ruckus Wireless BeamFlex
Adaptive Antenna Technology is world-leading in managing Wi-Fi signal interference,
and it’s becoming the de facto standard in the hospitality industry (p.1-2).
The stability in the economy of Pakistan has boosted the growth of the premium
conglomerate, which has enabled it to adopt the digital era in its operation. This is evident as the
global financial institutions; for instance, the IMF expressed an expected growth in Pakistan’s
economy by five percent in 2016. The Pakistanis Rupee had a steady value against the U.S
currency, while the inflation rate was at three percent in the same year. However, the electricity
generation capability remained short in demand as the niche varied from 5000MW to 6000MW,
which hurt Pakistan’s economy. In 2016, the Pakistani government began an initiative with
Chinese assistance whereby the energy industry had be given priority to subdue the energy
shortages by the year 2017, or 2018. This was an essential milestone for Hashoo Group as the
power issues it experienced could be solved, which would assist the “premium conglomerate” to
have a smooth transition to the digital era.
The execution of CPEC suggested that an investment of 42 billion dollars was needed to
solve the power issues by 2018; this slightly affected the GDP growth curve of Pakistan in 2016.
Fortunately, the CPEC enhanced the expansion of the Pakistanis economy. Notably, energy is the
heart of modern technology such as Wi-Fi that Hashoo Group depends on to meet its customer

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 5
expectation. Nevertheless, the initiative of Pak Arm under “Zarb-e-Azb” has completed a two-
year operation, which has dramatically reduced terror attacks. From 2016, the Army was focused
on eradicating terrorism as it had been a major barrier to guest arrival in Pakistan, which severely
affected the operations of Hashoo Group. Thus, such efforts by the Pakistanis government were
welcome as the operations of the “premium conglomerate” depended on the stability of the
nation (Pakistan Services Ltd, 2016). The federal government was making steady progress in
infrastructure development, especially the railway and road networks, enhancing the creation of
thermal, hydel, nuclear, and renewable energy. The road and railway networks meant that guests
would easily access hotels owned by Hashoo Group, which enabled the enterprise to embrace the
digital era.
The growth of the Pakistanis hospitality sector mainly relies on corporate and youth
activities, increased leisure linked activities, and tourism (Arshad, Iqbal, and Shahbaz, 2017).
Importantly, the needs of the hospitality sector also depend on laws and regulations set by the
government. In 2016, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and the UK expressed their interests in joining CPEC,
which would boost the operations of the Hashoo Group to the digital phase (Pakistan Services
Ltd, 2016). Alternatively, the latter was accountable for protecting its environment, and
enhancing sustainability. This was made possible by regular training performed by employees on
extreme care for environment protection, saving energy and water.
Hashoo Group’s Structural Operations that Influence Digital Transformation
The basic operation of the “premium conglomerate” has dramatically impacted its effects
in adapting to digital transformation in Pakistan. Pakistan Services Ltd. (2018) suggests that the
operations of Hashoo Group depend on its staff members providing quality services, which has
made it a leading hospitality brand in Pakistan. The former believes that its continued success

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 6
and development is attributed to its staff members who go an extra mile in meeting the
consumers’ needs, and building trust within the Group. Conversely, Hashoo Group operates in a
fast-paced world that changes constantly, and faces challenges from various technological
advancements. Also, the “premium conglomerate” need to adapt to digital transformation was
attributed by the large workforce and increasing competition.
Most of the workforce at Hashoo Group is at least 38 years, which consists of more than
50 percent of millennials. This made the organization to focus on which strategies may be
appropriate to its HR that will address the new workforce’s changing attitude towards the work
environment. To address these challenges and maintain Hashoo Group as a brand to be imitated
in Pakistan, its HR strategic vision is on being a growing HR team, enabling its business lines,
and energizing the performance of Hashoo team. Therefore, the ‘premium conglomerate”
focuses on three primary areas to attain its vision and adapt to digital transformation
successfully: performance-based culture, worker engagement, and organizational agility
(Capgemini Research Institute, 2018).
Hashoo Group’s first worker engagement evaluation was conducted through an
independent consultant. The survey suggests that 83 percent of its employees are happy and
properly engaged. The obtained results were shared with workers, and the “premium
conglomerate” promised to empower and improve the working conditions of its employees.
Also, Hashoo Group promised to include its workers in the action plan (Pakistan Services Ltd.,
2018). Such efforts assisted the former in adapting to the digital era where employees are
included in future endeavors of the company, and the appropriate technology that would boost
the Group’s performance.

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 7
Hashoo Group still offers creation and career opportunities to its job seekers, and builds a
talent pipeline ready for future hardships. The latter can manage this through its creative team
that is effective in handling emerging issues. Nevertheless, to provide its employees with a
conducive working environment, Hashoo Group revised its policies on worker wellbeing, and it
continually assesses various support programs. The “premium conglomerate” is making steps in
training and maintaining its consumers through revising its old policies, and digitalizing them to
suit the new generation; this impacts positively to its performance.
The “Pakistan’s premium conglomerate” is making strides in building an agile
organization that will be backed by modern technology, digitization, and lean processes.
Currently, Hashoo Group is automating its existing processes through introducing new HRIS to
achieve excellence in internal service delivery, elevating effectiveness and efficiency, and
precise and sophisticated data management (Pakistan Services Ltd., 2018).
Hashoo Group has also made significant changes in the various performance
management systems, which may enhance accountability, collaboration, and ownership.
Presently, Hashoo’s employees are better equipped and trained on how to align, set, and cascade
duties. Thus, the essence of improving these structures are to be more supportive, and share a
performance-based culture where open feedback is allowed constantly; this will help the
organization improve there might be issues. Pakistan Services Ltd. (2018) mentions, “Through
this HR transformational journey, we are confident of making our HR a robust, dynamic and key
strategic player to the business which will create a collaborative and purposeful culture, enabling
employees to deliver our vision” (p.13).
The HACCP is a control structure that Hashoo Group uses for the hygiene of food
products. The technique has been adopted worldwide as the basis for all recommendations on

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 8
food safety and prevention against harmful substances liked to food absorption; for instance,
food poisoning, and the presence of foreign and chemical particles. The “premium
conglomerate” ensured that once the system was in place, it was implemented at all food stages
at the hotels where a certified inspection bureau carries out an assessment audit for certification.
Hotel certification began as a project undertaken by “TUV Austria,” which is a leading
certification and inspection firm in 2017 (TUI MAGIC LIFE Candia Maris, 2017). The company
began in two of Hashoo Group’s largest hotels, “Pearl-Continental Hotel,” Lahore and “Pearl-
Continental Hotel,” Karachi. The project needed investment not only during the verification
process, but also an investment in training and equipment for food handlers, and kitchen staff.
After the inspection was completed, Hashoo Group was awarded certificates which indicate that
it had made several steps in adopting digital transformation in service provision; this improved
its productivity and overall performance. Notably, the certification is valid for three years for
each of Hashoo Group’s hotels.
After an extensive survey of vendors Arabu, Huawei, Ruckus, Meru, and Cisco, the
‘premium conglomerate’ chose “Ruckus Wireless” for its leadership in smart wireless
technology. From a local perspective, value-added reseller, “CommStar” was selected as a
partner in deployment, cabling, and switching. “CommStar” trained 8 to 9 staff members at
Hashoo Group, and had technical support staff deployed all over Pakistan (Ruckus, 2017). Also
they provided adequate pre-sales support, and understood the configurations that ensure no time
was wasted exploring dead-end resolutions. Hashoo Group conducted a thorough survey on its
infrastructural network, and began the installation of the Wi-Fi in its two significant hotels;
“Pearl Continental” in Bhurban with at least 190 rooms, and the “Marriott” in Karachi with 217

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 9
suites. Alternatively, Hashoo Group continued its mission of being digital transformed by rolling
out the “Hashoo Group corporate office” with about 300 workers.
In 2017, the “premium conglomerate” had at least 2,000 “Ruckus Wireless Aps” that
deployed with six days within the three-month project to rejuvenate the entire network
infrastructure. This would assist Hashoo Group to transition to its digital era smoothly.
According to Ruckus (2017), “The ZoneFlex R500 and ZoneFlex R600 deliver high-
performance, reliable 802.11ac wireless networking at a competitive price point, which is ideal
for medium density hotspot environments like the Hashoo Group hotels” (p.2). Thus, the
“Zoneflex H500” integrated 2.4GHz and 5GHz concurrent radios within a pass-through
characteristic of devices, for instance, digital phones. This was ideal for Hashoo Group managers
as they could roam the hotels while communicating effectively with staff members.
Consequently, the “ZoneDirector 3000” developed a highly-secure “wireless LAN” that
generated high network accessibility while authorizing user data. Hence, to improve the outdoor
wireless connectivity, Hashoo Group decided to deploy the “ZoneFlex T300 Series” that would
help its guests to enjoy their stay in its various hotels.
By mid-2017, the “Ruckus Wireless” smart Wi-Fi items serviced 5,500 guests, which
enabled wireless signals to penetrate personal hotel rooms. The customers were able to enjoy
clear video and voice communications when interacting with staff, or contacting their families.
The Hashoo Group managers were also able to enjoy a seamless wireless experience when
communicating with staff members. Therefore, the partnership between “Ruckus Wireless” and
“ComStar” have been a crucial link to Hashoo Group’s transition to the digital era as they
provided “best-in-class smart Wi-Fi” solutions.

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 10
Hashoo Group is always focused on workers’ acquaintance with new approaches to hotel
management through proper training. Its training is usually formal and informal, which improve
the performance of staff members. Thus, the “premium conglomerate” prioritizes on the
execution of effective training processes at all management levels, which impacts on employee
performance using modern technology. Currently, Pakistan has a booming tourism industry due
to the stability in its economic status. Hence, Hashoo Group’s “Pearl Continental hotels” have
had a significant share in Pakistan’s hotel and tourism industry, and the increasing competing
with upcoming and existing hotels means that they need to improve quality provision. This
pushed the “premium conglomerate” to embrace digital transformation in quality service
provision, which determined the success and profitability of its hotels. Alternatively, quality
service provision promoted the maintenance of employees by training them continuously, and
adopted technology that automatically registers guests visiting the hotels.
Hashoo Group can practically training its employees according to various department
needs in the hotels. For instance, in “Pearl Continental” hotels training of workers is done
depending on the departments in the facilities such as customer service management, kitchen
management, resources and production departments. In contrast, Hashoo Group sources for
training from external training organizations that provide professional guideline and training to
its employees. Notably, for outsourced training to be successful, the chosen workers need to be
already trained and have adequate experience in the hospitality sector. This ensures that
resources are not wasted training employees who may not have the needed experience. Also,
Hashoo Group can smoothly shift to the digital era as experienced employees gain better
exposure to quality service provision using modern technology.

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 11
Hashoo Group also focuses on hiring “trainees” and then maintaining them as
“probationary trainees” within the hotel complexes in order to acquaint them with the modern
competencies and skills of hospitality. The aim of this is to attain a cost-effective high
performance, which enables employees to provide quality services at lower costs while
increasing productivity. Thus, Hashoo Group saves capital through training its trainees as no
much resource is wasted, while also it gains market share due to increased productivity. Besides,
the most frequently used techniques include the analysis of workers’ training profiles to obtain
data about the nature, tenure, and other vital details on skills that they have gained. These
assessments are essential for Hashoo Group as may determine which modern technology may be
adapted to improve the performance of its employees.
The “Pakistan’s premium conglomerate” understands that the hospitality sector is
multifaceted with multiple job opportunities for skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled people. This
is because the sector satisfies people from various social, cultural, and spiritual settings. Thus,
using modern technology in employee and trainee training ensures that its workforce can relate
engage with different guests at any time. Moreover, the role of leadership and managerial factors
play a central role in Hashoo Group’s endeavors in adapting modern technology. The
administrative and leadership elements assess the performance of employees using advanced
technology, which determines if they are comfortable with the new approaches set by the
“premium conglomerate.” This provides the Hashoo Group with relevant information on future
research on technology that would improve the performance of the business.
The digital age of the service sector means advanced technology may be used in
revolutionizing Hashoo Group’s hospitality sector. This was also influenced by the
deindustrialization of emerging nations as the informal sector gained popularity in Pakistan.

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING 12
Conversely, IT transformation in Pakistan played an essential role in the digital transformation of
Hashoo Group’s hospitality sector. The IT sector in Pakistan is responsible for building the
required technology in improving service provision such as automatic sign-in technology that
saves guests time from queuing on the reception area.
Employer Branding
Employer branding plays a vital role in Pakistan’s hospitality business, especially the
Hashoo Group, “Pakistan’s premium conglomerate.” This is because most organizations face
challenges when it comes to retaining their employees (Cochran, 2018). Currently, in the
globalized era, employment has become more competitive, and numerous firms are struggling to
appeal, recruit, motivate, and maintain its workforce (Shanmugam and Vinoth, 2017). Thus,
most firms are using employer branding as a new approach to distinguish their identity as
employers from those of their rivals, and publicize the merits they offer. This includes all factors
that promote motivation of employees to stay in their particular job. In addition, employer
branding indicates an organization’s role in building its brand image, and retain its key talents
(Cunningham, and Gilani, 2017). Importantly, when the employer brand is active, it helps the
firm to understand its market place, and acquire the best people. Therefore, the brand portrays
the uniqueness of the organization.
Employer Branding and Its Importance to Hashoo Group
Employer branding enables the “Pakistan’s premium conglomerate” in managing its key
talents, which has become sophisticated for numerous firms. Hashoo Group built its brand to
survive a talent crunch. Thus, employer branding is permanently significant in uncertain
economic times, primarily in a market environment where skill is dearth. In addition, the latter