Analyzing HRM Practices in Service Industries: Hilton Hotel Case

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) within the service industry, using Hilton Hotel Stratford as a case study. It examines the role and purpose of HRM, emphasizing recruitment, training, and performance appraisals. The report includes a human resources plan based on supply and demand analysis, addressing objectives, resource needs, manpower inventory, and market adjustments, while also considering political, economic, and competitive factors. It assesses the current state of employment relations in the hotel industry, highlighting issues like employee turnover and discrimination, and discusses how employment law affects HRM practices at Hilton Hotel. Furthermore, the report discusses job descriptions and person specifications, compares selection processes across different service industries, and concludes with key findings and recommendations. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments for students.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT FOR SERVICE
INDUSTRIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................1
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P 1.1: Analysing the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected service
industry with reference to Hilton Hotel Stratford........................................................................1
P 1.2: A human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and demand for a selected
service industry with reference to Hilton Hotel Stratford............................................................2
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................4
P 2.1: Assessing the current state of employment relations for the Hotel industry.....................4
P 2.2: Discussion on how employment law affects the management of human resources for the
Hilton Hotel as selected service industry business......................................................................5
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................................7
3.1: Discuss a job description and person specification for a hotel industry job.........................7
3.2: Compare the selection process of different service industries businesses............................9
TASK 4...............................................................................................................................................11
Covered in PPT..........................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................12

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Human Resource Plan......................................................................................................3
Figure 2: Impact of employment law to organisation......................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
In the present scenario, human resources are termed as one of the most important and
crucial assets of a business enterprise. Further, effective management of employees helps
organisations to accomplish their goals and objectives (Importance of Human Resource
Management, 2015). The present report depicts different aspects of Human Resource
Management (HRM) in context with service industry. Along with this, it also demonstrates an
effective plan which is based on analysis of demand and supply within hospitality industry. In
this direction, Hilton Hotel Stratford of the UK has been taken to get in depth analysis of leading
manpower and their effective management. This report also explains the current state of
employment relation in the UK industry.
TASK 1
P 1.1: Analysing the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected service
industry with reference to Hilton Hotel Stratford
In simpler terms, HRM is defined as the process which is carried out to manage people
within business enterprise. It can be stated that it is almost impossible for companies in any
industry to achieve their vision, mission and objectives without having an effective and highly
skilled human resources (Hendry, 2012). In terms of Hilton Hotel Stratford, the role of human
resource management is to recruit qualified personnel and provide them with adequate training
and development programs. Furthermore, it is also considered as the key responsibility of human
resource department of Hilton Hotel Stratford. The hotel is required to determine its current and
future staffing needs and then develop suitable human resource plan to satisfy those identified
needs. On the other side of this, Hilton Hotel Stratford's HRM also plays very important role in
taking care of areas such as performance appraisals of employees. HRM helps workers to
identify their core strengths and weaknesses which are very beneficial for them. It also provides
suggestions for improvement so that employees can become more productive and can get better
opportunities in terms of employment.
An HR manager also plays very important role in employee motivation. Furthermore,
managers use various tools and techniques of motivation in order to encourage people in the
hotel to give their best (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). The role of HRM is to develop appropriate
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strategies which can increase the level of employee commitment towards the hotel. On the other
side of this, the purpose of HRM is to ensure that organisations are available with highly skilled
and effective personnel. HR manager also deals with other important areas such as defining
salaries, wages of employees and taking care of their promotion and appraisal. Other purpose of
HR management is to ensure that all staff members are well aware about their key roles,
responsibilities and accomplish them in the best possible manner. In the present scenario, the
industry in which Hilton Hotel Stratford is operating has become highly competitive. This is due
to the fact that now-a-days there are various small, medium and large hotels which are offering
different kinds of services to their customers (Bratton and Gold, 2012). In order to gain
competitive advantage over other market players, businesses such as Hilton hotels need to focus
on development of employees so that they can serve customers with accurate, fast and more
satisfactory services. Therefore, it is required by Hilton Hotel Stratford to make sure that
management of human resources is carried out in effective manner. Along with this, the hotel is
also required to develop appropriate strategies through which it can satisfy its future requirement
of employees.
P 1.2: A human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and demand for a selected service
industry with reference to Hilton Hotel Stratford
In simpler terms, plan can be defined as a strategy which is developed by a business
enterprise in order to accomplish certain aim and objectives. Furthermore, it can be stated that
effective human resource plan is the one in which focus is made on identifying the future
employee requirement and satisfy the same (Purce, 014). The human resources plan for Hilton
Hotel Stratford will consist of following elements: Objective related to human resources: It is one of the most important parts of a good and
effective human resource plan. Businesses such as Hilton Hotel Stratford need to
determine appropriate and feasible objectives which it wants to accomplish with the help
of its human resource plans (Stredwick, 2013). However, it can be argued that the hotel
needs to make sure that the HR objectives are incorporated with its goal. Defining needs of Human resources- At the time of formulating human resource plan,
organisations are required to define its future needs and demands of employees (All about
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Human Resources and Talent Management, 2015). Furthermore, it can be stated that
determining the needs in advance results in eliminating the chances of shortage of human
resources. The needs can be satisfied with the help of processes such as recruitment and
selection of employees.
Figure 1: Human Resource Plan Maintaining inventory of existing manpower- It can be expressed that appropriate and
result oriented human resource plans also focus on retaining existing employees within
organisations for long run. Hilton Hotel Stratford needs to make sure that existing
employee do not feel de-motivated and their needs are satisfied at regular intervals. This
will develop a sense of satisfaction among them and will also help workers to give their
best towards the success of an organisation (Ulrich, 2013).
 Adjustment of supply and demand- It can be defined as one of the most important parts of
human resource planning. The hospitality industry in which Hilton Hotel Stratford is
operating has always witnessed high demand of skilled and productive employees.
Businesses always seek for hiring candidates which can identify customer’s needs and
deliver satisfactory services according to the same (Shields and et.al., 2015). This directly
results in enhancing overall growth and development opportunities for hotels. On the
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HUMANRESOURCEPLANObjectiverelatedtohumanresourcesDefiningneedsofhumanresourcesMaintaininginventoryofexistingmanpowerAdjustmentofsupplyanddemand

other hand, the supply of human resource in entire hospitality industry has remained
always short. This is due to factors such as inadequate salaries, wages, working hours and
lack of potential growth opportunities. Therefore, Hilton Hotel Stratford is required to
make adjustments in future demand for employee according to existing market supply.
Therefore, it can be stated that at the time of developing human resources plans, Hilton
Hotel Stratford needs to take care of all the above stated elements. This will help in maintaining
a low rate of employee turnover and meeting future requirements of human resources in adequate
manner (Clark and Collins, 2007). On the other hand, appropriate plan will also support the hotel
in maintaining proper balance between demand and supply of human resources (Flamholtz,
2012). However, it can be argued that the hotel will also need to consider different internal and
external factors which will directly affect its human resource plans. The factors are discussed
below as: Political environment- The changes in political environment of a country affects human
resources plan of organisation. Increase in tax rates results in increasing expenditure of
organisations (Stone, 2013). This clearly means that companies will be available with less
amount of money to spend on hiring, selection and training of candidates. Economic environment- Economic conditions prevailing in the country also affects HR
plans to a great extent. Further, it can be stated the situations such as recession results
mean that businesses such as Hilton Hotel Stratford will have various problems in
increases sales. Low sales will directly restrict the budget of hotel for hiring and selection
of candidates. Competition- The plan related to human resources is also affected by the kind of
competition which exists in market. High or intense level of competition will lead to lack
of skilled and highly productive workforce available in the market.
 Budget- It is one of the internal factors which have a great impact on human resource
planning of organisations (Kumpikaitė, 015). Availability of adequate funds will support
Hilton Hotel Stratford in hiring the most deserving and skilled candidate. On the other
hand, lack of funds will create obstacles in hiring the best candidate for vacant position in
the hotel.
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TASK 2
P 2.1: Assessing the current state of employment relations for the Hotel industry
In simpler terms, employment relation is termed as the link between employer and
employee in a particular business enterprise. Further, the relationship is formed when one person
or individual starts carrying out a task or activity for a party or organisation against a specific
remuneration. In the present scenario, maintaining a healthy and long term employment
relationship directly contributes in success of a business enterprise in the hospitality industry
(Kehoe and Wright, 2013). The goals and objectives cannot be accomplished in situation where
relation between employee and employer is not good. Such situations also results in creating
conflicts and negative environment at workplace (Riley, 2014). Along with this, strong
employment relation also plays very important role in retaining employees and enhancing their
overall productivity. According to the current state of employment relationship in hotel industry,
it has been analysed that the relations are not good (Cardon and Stevens, 2004). Unhealthy
relation between employee and employer is considered as one of the biggest factors which have
resulted in high rate of employee turnover in the entire hotel industry. Now-a-days, there are
many hotels which do not lay any kind of emphasis on identification and satisfaction of needs of
employees. In addition to this, no policy related to human resource management is developed
and worked out to provide more benefits to the manpower. This creates a sense of dissatisfaction
among workers and also encourages them to quit their jobs (Aswathappa, 2013). Most of the
businesses or hotels are still not realising the significance of their employees as valuable asset.
Other than this, no importance is provided to training and development programs for staff
members.
It can be stated that a good employment relationship is the one in which workers always
feel positive in accomplishment of roles and responsibilities allotted to them. There are few large
hotels which are well aware of importance of their human resources (Guest, 2011). Along with
this, these businesses also lay emphasis on employee motivation. Further, positive and hygienic
working conditions are provided by large group of hotels as well (Wong, 2013). Adequate
salaries, flexible working hours and other benefits are also given to all staff members. This acts
as a driving force for workers and also supports in the development of long term healthy
employment relationship. On the other side of this, it can be expressed that relation between
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employer and employee is also affected by discrimination at workplace (Cho and et. al., 2006.).
Many companies in hospitality industry encourage discrimination among male and female
candidates. Male employees are given much preference over female workers in areas such as
recruitment, selection, training, rewards etc. The result of this is that a sense of dissatisfaction is
created among female candidates and thereby it leads to affect the employee relation to a great
extent (Hoque, 2013). Businesses in hotel industry are required to focus on developing a long
term and healthy relationship with their employees. This will not only help in retaining them but
will also provide adequate support in achieving high degree of customer satisfaction with their
contented and dedicated efforts in providing excellent services to patrons.
P 2.2: Discussion on how employment law affects the management of human resources for the
Hilton Hotel as selected service industry business
Employment law has been developed by the government of the country and thereby
directly affects human resource management of businesses such as Hilton Hotel. At the time of
dealing with areas related to human resources, the hotel is required to take care of various
aspects which are mentioned in employment law. Furthermore, as per the changes in law, Hilton
Hotel needs to make modifications in its existing practices that are related to management of
human resources (Nickson, 2013). Neglecting the law can further leads to impose several kinds
of fines and penalties which is mandatory to pay by the concerned authority or person. In
addition to this, it also has negative impact on overall brand image of the Hilton Hotel. The
discussion regarding how employment law affects the management of human resources of the
Hilton Hotel is provided below as:
 Regulations related to work timing- While carrying out HR practices, Hilton Hotel
needs to make sure that adequate work timings are provided to employees. According
to employment law, no worker is required to do work in excess amount which is
beyond the defined legal limit (Riley, 2014). Along with this, appropriate time off,
breaks and holidays are also required to be provided to staff members.
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Figure 2: Impact of employment law to organisation Minimum wages at national level- As it is already discussed that the role of HRM is to
deal with wages and salaries of workers (Boella and Goss-Turner, 2013). The
employment law has defined a minimum wage level which is strictly required to be
followed by each and every hotel in the industry. This means that at the time of carrying
out practices related to human resources, Hilton Hotel needs to provide minimum wages
which is according to the provisions of employment law. Health and safety- Employment law in the UK also lays emphasis on health and safety of
workers. This has also affected HRM of Hilton Hotel to a great extent. The organisation
is required to provide effective measures for safeguarding the health of its workers
(Karatepe, 2013). Along with this, it needs to ensure that proper safety measures are
taken at workplace for safety of all employees. Discrimination- Management of human resource is also affected by employment law in
terms of discrimination. The HR manager in Hilton Hotel needs to assure that all staff
members are treated fairly at the time of taking any decision or formulating any strategy
(Lengnick-Hall, Beck and Lengnick-Hall, 2011). All staff members are required to be
provided with equal and fair opportunity in terms of growth and development.
 Right of training- The employment law also forces businesses such as Hilton Hotel to
provide training and development programs to all its employees. As per the law, each and
every employee has the right to get training from business in situation where employer is
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ImpactofemploymentlawtoorganisationRegulationsrelatedtoworktimingMinimumwagesatnationallevelHealthandsafetyDiscriminationRightoftraining

having more than 250 workers (Sun, Aryee and Law, 2007). Therefore, it is applicable in
case of Hilton Hotel which is having a workforce of 164,000 employees.
TASK 3
3.1: Discuss a job description and person specification for a hotel industry job
Business enterprise is required to formulate job description and person specification
before carrying out the process of recruitment and selection (Hallberg and Schaufeli, 2006). It
can be stated that the formulation of job description makes candidates and hotel aware about the
key responsibilities which a person will have during the period of employment (Budhwar and
Debrah, 2013). On the other side of this, person specification depicts the core skills, knowledge
and related attributes which are required in a candidate in order to accomplish his/her duties at
work. Further, job description and person specification for a hotel industry job is provided below
as:
Job description for manager in Hotel
Position- General Manager in Hilton Hotel Report to- Senior management
Department- Operational Department Location- Hilton Hotel, UK
Job responsibilities:
 Plan and organise catering and accommodation services for hotel guest.
 Management and allocation of hotel rooms.
 Carrying out marketing and promoting activities for Hilton Hotel.
 Developing financial records and maintaining them in books of accounts.
 Determining sales targets and strategies to accomplish defined goal.
 Identifying and satisfying the training needs of employees.
 Keeping track of inventory in food and beverage department.
 Performance measurement: Performance will be measured on the basis of sales target
achieved by each employee for every month.
 Carrying out evaluation of employee turnover rate.
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 Determining the degree of customer satisfaction. Considering the financial data and
growth of Hilton Hotel.
 Seeking for reviews and feedback from employees working at lower level of
management.
Job duties:
 Management and maintenance overall operations of the Hilton Hotel.
 Providing the most accurate, satisfactory and reliable services to customers.
 Retaining employees and enhancing their skills and knowledge. .
Person specification
Person specification: GENERAL MANAGER IN HILTON HOTEL
Attainments Essential Desirable
Experience Candidates need to have
minimum 10 years of working
experience in the hotel
industry.
Individuals who have
provided services in hotel
industry as assistant
manager or employee for
more than 10 years.
Qualification and training Candidate should be post
graduate in hotel management.
Degree of masters from any
recognised university or
institute of hotel
management.
Skills required
Customer service Candidate for vacant position
needs to have effective
customer service skills and
Individual must be capable
enough to understand the
needs of customer and
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