Hospitality Industry: Developing and Managing People Staff Report

This report provides a critical analysis of performance management approaches within a hotel business, specifically focusing on Le Meridien hotel. It outlines action plans for delivering learning programs, emphasizing the importance of assessing skill gaps and setting clear objectives. Factors affecting employee engagement and staff development, such as employee well-being, learning opportunities, and recognition, are examined. The report also explores various leadership traits and styles applicable in the hotel industry, highlighting the role of leadership in motivating employees and fostering a positive work culture. The overall aim is to improve employee performance and engagement, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and business efficiency.

Developing and
Managing People in
Hospitality Industry
(Assessment 2 : Staff
Development and
Employee
Engagement)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Critical analysis of the approaches to the function of performance management within a hotel
business...................................................................................................................................1
Action plans required for delivering learning programmes for the employees within an
organisation............................................................................................................................3
Factors that affects the employee engagement and staff development within a hotel business
................................................................................................................................................4
Different leadership traits and styles that may be opted in a hotel business..........................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Staff development can be explained at the process of obtaining better performance of the
employees through various performance enhancement tools and activities (Allen, 2021).
Employee engagement can be explained as the level of concentration of employees towards their
work where the employees tend to work willingly and enhance their abilities to achieve
organisational goals. It is said that people are the true assets of an organisation, their overall
performance and engagement towards their work is very necessary to achieve the goals
effectively and efficiently. The Le Meridian hotel is an international branch of hotels,
headquartered in London, UK, and it was established in the year 1972. This essay will be
describing various approaches to performance management of the employees as a part of human
resource development within a hotel business. Also, it will demonstrate different actions that are
required for identifying, planning, preparing, delivering and evaluating the learning needs of the
employees within the Le Meridian hotel. Further, the knowledge and understanding of the
aspects that influence the behaviour of employees and their engagement within the hotel will be
explained in this report. In the end, the essay will be providing a complete explanation of
different leadership traits and styles that can be adopted by the leaders in this hotel business.
MAIN BODY
Critical analysis of the approaches to the function of performance management within a hotel
business
Performance management can be explained as the process of evaluating, measuring,
analyzing, developing and revaluing the overall performance of employees and their efforts to
achieve the goals of the organization (Busse and Regenberg, 2019). Performance management is
mainly an activity of discovering the gaps within the functionality of employees and aligning
their goals with organizational goals to improve the consistency of their efforts at the workplace.
Hospitality business is majorly affected by the human relation and the quality of services that are
provided to the customers, therefore performance management is required in order to enhance
the ability of employees to work better and give best services to the customers.
Mainly the performance of employees determines the level of consumer satisfaction in Le
Meridien hotel, which is crucial for maintaining and enhancing customer experience and
1

business efficiency. The performance management of this hotel includes measurement, analysis,
interpretation, development and management of the process or activities performed by
employees (Chin and et. al., 2019). It helps to improve the overall performance of individuals,
departments and teams that work consistently with the organization. The activities of Le
Meridien hotel are many and the performance appraisal of each member is very difficult if it is
done constantly. Therefore, a formal systematic approach of performance management is
conducted annually or on the midterm basis with four major purposes.
The main purpose is formal systematic performance management includes creation of
awareness among the employees regarding their current performance as per the rating criteria of
performance appraisal and the discoveries that are identified by the managers regarding
employees performance. Another purpose is to discover the best employees to raise their merits
within the organization; also the purpose is to identify the inefficient employees to make them
efficient. The last purpose is to identify the best suitable candidates who deserve promotion of
their job role in order to appreciate the work of employees (Howell, 2018). The performance
review helps to focus on the past performance of employees in order to enhance their future
performance by overriding mistakes and solving their problems.
The Le Meridien hotel uses various methods, techniques and tools in order to enhance the
performance of their employees working within the organization. It also utilizes key performance
indicators (KPI) that help the organization to understand the current skill level of the employees
and make significant changes to improve their performance. KPI helps to understand the overall
ability of employees and support them to enhance their skills, abilities and knowledge by
efficient training and development.
The use of performance appraisal is also significant because it could help to identify the
skill gaps among the deviated employees and provide them adequate learning in order to align
along the goals of the organization. It helps in motivating and influencing the work of employees
by providing adequate rewards or punishment so they work efficiently and effectively (Islam and
et. al., 2021). This could also help the organization to improve overall collaborative working of
the seniors, staff members, teams and employees.
2

Action plans required for delivering learning programmes for the employees within an
organisation
Learning programs can be related to the training and development that is provided by an
organization to enhance the performance of their employees. An effective learning program for
the employees should be built on the basis of a structured and well organized plan (Jiang and
Shen, 2020). The learning incentive that involves single criteria of employee development may
be a huge failure because it may not fulfill expectations and requirements of the employees,
working within an organisation. The need for effective programs for learning is very high within
a developing world of business because of consistent changes and high caliber of workforce and
employees in this advanced world. Therefore, Le Meridien hotel has developed many ways to
enhance the learning process of their employees with the help of comprehensive management
strategies which follows a series of action plans and sequences to improve the training and
development of employees.
The first step that had been identified by Le Meridien hotel consisted of assessing the skill
gaps and needs of employees and developing the best suitable learning programs for them. It is
generally accepted that employees may know certain things and may not be aware of few things,
the managers at Le Meridien focus on identifying these skill gaps of the employees in order to
understand their needs for learning. This helps in understanding where the employees lack in
skills and what learning process will suit them to improve these skills (Letcher, 2020).
The step that comes next is setting the objectives of organizational learning which is a part
of a comprehensive action plan and it consists of many theories, models, instructions, modules,
contents and equipment to enhance the overall learning process of the employees. The managers
at the meridian hotel conduct employee assessment in order to prepare a suitable plan that could
be helpful in creating a learning process that is helpful in developing effective performance of
employees.
The third step that is included in the comprehensive action plan involves implementation of
a learning incentive where the learning process becomes live and the employees need to
understand how it works. It is useful to decide the process of conducting the learning at a
particular place whether it is an on-the-job or off-the-job environment to suit the learning of
employees.
3

Evaluation and revision of the learning program helps the company to identify whether
their learning program was successful or a critical failure for their employees (Sakeru and et. al.,
2019). This is done by evaluating the performance of employees on the basis of their previous
performance and their performance after the learning program. This shows the overall impacts of
the learning program on the organization and the performance of employees by understanding
their efficiency and effectiveness of work. If the performance of employees is enhanced as
compared to their previous performance the learning activity is considered successful. On the
other hand if the performance of employees has declined then it is a clear statement that the
organization has failed in creating a successful learning program for the employees. Thereafter
the measures to improve the learning program are taken and the employee performance is
improved.
Factors that affects the employee engagement and staff development within a hotel business
Employee engagement can be defined as the complete concentration and awareness of the
employees towards their job at the workplace and their willingness to work effortlessly (Shankar
and Kuppusamy, 2018). Employee engagement can also be defined as the employees’ ability to
identify their responsibilities, activities, tasks and focus on work at their workplace. It is helpful
to identify the core of an organization which consists of its leadership practices, appraisal
system, communication, policies and the culture of the company. In regard to employee
engagement, Le Meridien hotel defines that employee engagement refers to the willingness,
passion and eagerness of people to perform their work effectively and efficiently at their
workplace.
The Le Meridien hotel clearly states that it's the policies and procedure of an organization
that affects the employee engagement, such as remuneration, growth, opportunities, career,
recognition, training and development, rewards and incentives. Employee engagement is also
considered as the level of motivation that employee has experienced and gained from their
workplace. Employee engagement highly depends on various factors such as the type of job,
training and development, growth opportunities, skill requirement, work culture and many other
factors that influence it. There are certain drivers of employee engagement which are based on
the strategies and plans that can be used by a hotel to improve employee engagement and
performance of the staff members at the workplace.
4

The key drivers and strategies of employee engagement include learning and development,
employee well-being, motivation, work recognition, work culture etc. that can improve staff
development. Employee engagement is also useful to enhance the learning activities and
development process of the staff members within a business organization. The various factors
that influence the employee engagement process for staff development in Le Meridien hotel also
affect the overall performance of the employees.
In order to maintain the primary needs of a company the overall well-being of the
employees is very critical and necessary for Le Meridien hotel. The well-being of the employees
affects their psychological, physical and social health which is a critical factor that influences
their engagement and willingness to learn and grow. The well-being of employees is also
important to maintain a good and healthy relationship of employees with their superiors and
towards their clients. The wellbeing of the employees helps in increasing the ability of staff
members to perform well and enhance their skills (Turner, 2020).
It is also discovered by Le Meridien hotel that learning and development activities would
significantly impact the employees towards their learning process. It is due to the continuous
efforts of managers to provide latest knowledge and skills to the staff members to enhance
continuous learning about their job and encourage them to take part in the business activities.
The company should invest towards long term growth of the employees and staff members so
that they are always encouraged to work with the hotel's objectives.
Employee recognition is another consideration that affects the employee engagement for
staff development as it develops enthusiasm among the employees to learn and grow. The
employee recognition could be achieved by providing opportunities to the employees for their
growth, praising and rewarding their good work and providing incentives for betterment. The Le
Meridien hotel has developed success rewards for their employees in order to provide employee
recognition and develop positive competition among the employees.
Moreover, the team building activities and work culture are other major aspects that affect
employee engagement and staff development activities. Therefore, Le Meridien hotel practices
teamwork where every other person tries to improve the performance of each other and create a
healthy work culture for developing staff performance. This helps to develop good employee
relations and encourage them towards development and growth opportunities.
5

Different leadership traits and styles that may be opted in a hotel business
Leadership plays an important role within an organisation as it help in motivating and
encouraging staff members to work with their full potential in order to attain objectives timely.
There are certain qualities, characteristics, traits and behaviors that are necessary to lead a
group of people and ensure smooth working of their activities within an organization (Yadav and
et. al., 2019). These qualities, characteristics, values and ethics are required by individuals to
lead others and theseare called traits. The most successful leadership traits and qualities which
are required by a leader in a hospitality business such as le Meridien hotel are very important to
maintain the smooth working of an organization.
Social and emotional intelligence is very important for a leader in the hospitality business
to effectively interact and manage a diversified group of customers in the hotel.
Integrity is another factor or trait that is required by a leader in order to do right things
even when they are not in the sight of others. This is a sign of a trustworthy person who could be
a model for others and guarantee positive relationships across the board.
Communication is another trait of a good leader which helps them to be clear, conscious,
precise and positive towards employees, team members and customers.
The positive attitude of a leader creates a positive environment which helps to develop
good relationships with each other such as employees, managers and customers.
Empathy makes the changes for a better employee relationship and a leader must care
about their employees within and outside the office, by avoiding grudges and practicing
forgiveness.
In context to hotel, it help in motivating employees so that they can provide effective
service to customers and guest which leads to increase in performance and customer retention.
The various leadership traits and styles which may be followed by Le Medridien hotel are given
below:
In Democratic form of leadership, leaders take decision by considering the viewpoints and
ideas of staff members. It is one of the most effective styles of leadership as it allows staff
members to share their thoughts and ideas and gain authority as well. In addition to this,
democratic leadership style allow an organisation to motivate its staff members as they feel
valued when their thoughts and ideas is considered by higher authorities. Moreover, it also helps
6

company to retain staff members for longer time frame and increase their productivity in an
effective manner.
In Autocratic form of leadership style, the leaders take decision without considering the
input of anyone or any of the staff members (Regy and Malini, 2020). In addition to this,
employees are not consulted before any change take place and is expected to adhere the decision
taken by leaders and work on it.
By analysing the above leadership styles, it is analysed that democratic leadership style is
effective and valuable for La Meridian hotel as it help in bringing creativity and new idea at
workplace that leads to increase in performance of hotel. Along with this, it also help respective
hotel to engage both customers and employees for linger time frame which will further assist to
gain higher growth and success at marketplace.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it has been concluded that it is important for an organisation to
analyse the performance on continuous basis as it help in gaining knowledge about where it lack
and what are the strategies they need to develop in order to ensure effective performance. It is
determined that there are various learning programmes developed by hotels with the objective to
improve their productivity and ensure customer satisfaction. In addition to this, it also help a
company to clarify the roles and responsibilities to staff members as it further help to serve better
to customers. Moreover, there are many factors which impact on staff development and
employee engagement within a hotel such as on-time offering, effective services, work culture,
training and development, growth and so on. All this factors help a company to retain its
customers for longer time frame and gain higher growth as well as success at marketplace.
Furthermore, it is determined that it is important for higher authorities of a hotel to adopt an
effective leadership style as it help in motivating, guiding staff members. It also assists to
execute activities in a systematic and effective manner that has positive impact on performance
of an organisation.
7

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Allen, K. L., 2021. A Study Exploring How Leaders Experience Cultivating Employee
Engagement at Work (Doctoral dissertation, Southern New Hampshire University).
Busse, R. and Regenberg, S., 2019. Revisiting the “authoritarian versus participative” leadership
style legacy: A new model of the impact of leadership inclusiveness on employee
engagement. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 26(4). pp.510-525.
Chin, T. L. and et. al., 2019. Does Transformational Leadership Influence Employee
Engagement. Global Business & Management Research, 11(2).
Howell, D. C., 2018. Virtual employee engagement identifying best practices for engaging a
remote workforce (Doctoral dissertation, Pepperdine University).
Islam, M. N. and et. al., 2021. Employee engagement and organizational change initiatives: Does
transformational leadership, valence, and trust make a difference?. Global Business and
Organizational Excellence, 40(3). pp.50-62.
Jiang, H. and Shen, H., 2020. Toward a relational theory of employee engagement:
Understanding authenticity, transparency, and employee behaviors. International Journal
of Business Communication. p.2329488420954236.
Letcher, M., 2020. Budgeting: Involving customer service, innovation, and employee
engagement in the process. Public Management, 102(2). pp.30-34.
Regy, J. and Malini, D., 2020, April. The Mediating Effect of High Performance Work Practices
on Organisational Culture and Employee Engagement in Apparel Manufacturing and
Retail Firms. In e-journal-First Pan IIT International Management Conference–2018.
Sakeru, A. C. P. and et. al., 2019. Pengaruh Employee Engagement, Pemberdayaan, dan
Komitmen Organisasi Terhadap Kinerja Karyawan PT. Toyota Motormanufacturing
Indonesia. Jurnal Manajemen Teori dan Terapan, 12(2). pp.126-148.
Shankar, S. R. and Kuppusamy, S., 2018. Impact of talent management practices on employee
retention-an empirical study in select IT companies with special reference to
Chennai. International Journal of Enterprise Network Management, 9(3-4). pp.205-216.
Turner, P., 2020. A Model for Employee Engagement. In Employee Engagement in
Contemporary Organizations (pp. 85-111). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Yadav, M. and et. al., 2019. Transformational leadership and knowledge sharing behavior in
freelancers: A moderated mediation model with employee engagement and social
support. Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing.
8

9