Human Resources Management in Service Industries

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of human resource management (HRM) within the service industry, using Whitbread as a case study. It explores the role and purpose of HRM, justifying HRM plans based on supply and demand, and examining the current state of employment relations. The report also delves into the effects of employment laws on human resource management, compares selection processes in healthcare and hospitality, and discusses the contribution of training and development activities. The analysis includes job descriptions, person specifications, and the importance of various HRM practices in enhancing organizational effectiveness and employee relations.

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
IN SERVICE INDUSTRIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.1) Role and purpose of human resource management in Whitbread........................................3
1.2) Justification of HRM plan based on supply and demand.....................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
2.1) Current state of employment relation within the service sector...........................................5
2.2) Effect of employment laws on management of human resources........................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
3.1) Job description and person specification for HR manager...................................................7
3.2) Comparison of selection process of health care industry with Whitbread...........................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
4.1) Contribution of training and development activities to effective operations of Whitbread
....................................................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management helps to maximize employee performance to achieve
employer's strategic objective. Basically, it is concerned with managing people within
organization (Sakalas, 2015). The present report is based on Whitbread which is a multinational
hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company headquartered in Dunstable, United Kingdom. Its
largest division is Premier inn which is the largest hotel brand in UK with more than 650 hotels
and over 50000 rooms (About us, 2013). It also has Costa coffee chain of 3080 shops across 30
countries and it is the world’s second largest coffee shop chain. Its other brand includes the
restaurant chain of Beefeater Grill, Brewers Fayre, Table Table and Taybarns. It is also listed on
the London Stock Exchange and also constitutive of the FTSE 100 index. The organization is
having annual revenue of 2601.1 million in 2015. Other than this, 38816 employees are working
over there (About us, 2013). The company is operating in China, Dubai, Europe, India, Republic
of Ireland and Russia.
The report explains importance and role of human resource management in travel and
tourism industry such as managing people, increasing their efficiency and developing employee
relation at the workplace. Through this, employees feel comfortable in working with the
company. Apart from this, effect of employee relation and employment law in service industry is
also elaborated. This will help to know about various laws and regulations which have to be
taken care by the organization while recruiting the candidates. Further, recruitment and
selection process of different service industries are compared. It helps to identify different
process of different industry in recruiting candidates. Contribution of training and development in
an organization is also described which helps to find importance of arranging training for
employees at the workplace.
TASK 1
1.1) Role and purpose of human resource management in Whitbread
Human resource plays an important role in Whitbread as it is related to managing the
people within the company (The importance of Human Resource Management in Strategic
Sustainability: An Art and Science Perspective, 2013.). Apart from this, it helps to assign various
roles to people according to their ability of accomplishing work. Building capacity: Team of HRM help to develop capacity of employee to accomplish
their work. It helps the human resource complete their work more efficiently. Apart from
this, they can also give their best to the company through which they can increase their

productivity. It will also help them to get unique ideas for doing the work easily (Banytė,
Gadeikienė and Kuvykaitė, 2015). Through this, Whitbread will also be able to find new
talents at the workplace which help to measure employee performance within the
organization. Commitment building: Professionals of HR department also have the ability to
increase employee commitment within the organization. This will help to develop more
comfortable work environment at the Whitbread. Through this, the organization will be
able to assign role and duties to different employees according to their capacity and
interest (Knies and et.al., 2015). This will assist the company to get more positive results
from the workers. Collaboration: Other than all this, HR professionals also work for developing employee
skills at all the level of the organization. As every person need regular training for
developing his skills and abilities HR works for identifying training needs within
Whitbread. They work for improving skills and abilities of lower level employee as well as
higher level managers (Hornsby, Kuratko and Naffizger, 2015).
Purpose of human resource management: The purpose of developing HR department within
Whitbread is to identify needs of the workforce. Apart from this, they work for fall into major
areas such as: staffing, employee compensation and benefits and designing work for the
employee according to their interest and capability (Kumpikaitė, 2015). Other than this, the main
purpose of HRM is to recruit suitable people for various positions in the organization, so they
can give better results to the organization from their work.
1.2) Justification of HRM plan based on supply and demand
Human resource plays an important role in assessing supply and demand of
organization so that they will be able to identify demand and need of the employee within the
company (Beadles and et.al., 2015). Assessing human resources: HMR works for assessing human resources for the
organization so that they can identify the need of the human power in Whitbread. They
will identify the requirement through forecasting personnel requirement and getting
feedback from existing manpower productivity. This will make them able to find need of
new people at the company (Stone and et.al., 2015). Demand forecasting: Through forecasting the needs of the people, HR works for
appointing new candidate. This will help them to get new talent within the company.
Forecasting demand will also help to appoint people according to requirement of the

organization (Vomberg, Homburg and Bornemann, 2015). This will not only save time of
company buy also it will save the cost of Whitbread. Supply forecasting: It will help Whitbread to analyze number of people available in the
organization. There are basically two sources such as internal and external. Factors
which are majorly included on forecasting supply includes promoting employees within
the organization, identifying employees willing and able to be trained, availability of
required talent in local, regional and national labor market (Pluta and Rudawska, 2016).
Through forecasting the supply, the organization will be able to recruit people. Matching supply and demand: Through matching the demand and supply of the
people within Whitbread, they will be able to identify people according to their needs.
Apart from this, it will also help to manage recruitment process on the behalf of
availability of people (Marchington, 2015). The organization can match supply and
demand by finding the supply of labor in the international market.
 Action plan: Action plan is developed to implement recruitment process according to
the supply and demand of the organization. The company can take action plan on the
basis of industry growth and technological development of the organization (Aryee and
et.al., 2016). Through this, Whitbread will be able to recruit people for managing their
work.
TASK 2
2.1) Current state of employment relation within the service sector
Employment relations play an important role in service sector as it will help to develop
relations between workers of the organization. It is very important to manage employment
relations within the organization so that the company will be able to manage employee relation
for developing positive environment within the organization (Harrington, Warren and Rayner,
2015). Employee culture: Culture of human resource at the workplace plays an important role
in managing relation of people at the workplace. The companies are working for the
organization’s various event in the organization so the employee will be able to build
new relations with the other people (Navimipour and et.al., 2015). Whitbread is also
working for maintaining positive employee culture within the organization. Collective bargaining: It is basically a process of negotiation between employees and
the employer which are aimed at agreements for regulating working salaries. In an

organization employee interest is commonly represented by trade unions from which the
employee belongs (Yorio, Willmer and Moore, 2015). Companies are now-a -days
focusing on giving more salaries to employee on the basis of their work. Apart from this,
the organizations are also working on providing incentive to the human resource. Employee participation: Whitbread is also working for increasing employee
participation at the workplace. Through this, the organization will be able to increase
employee relations at the workplace. Apart from this, it will also enhance cooperation
within the employees (Machado, 2015). This will help the organisation to achieve its
goals more easily. Increasing participation also works for enhancing productivity of the
business which is responsible for growth and expansion of the company in the market. Disciplinary procedure: Other than all this, Whitbread is also working on disciplinary
procedure so that they need not to face problems regarding workplace (Ivanovic and
Collin, 2015). Through this, the employees have to work according to that procedure
which reduces chances of dispute between the employees regarding work.
 Grievances Procedure: It is related to solutions of disputes which are used by the
company to face complaints by employees, suppliers, customers and competitors. In
Whitbread, there is a hierarchical structure for presenting and setting workplace disputes
(Riccucci, 2015). Through this, the organisation will be able to easily solve problems of
workplace.
2.2) Effect of employment laws on management of human resources
Different employment laws are there that affect management of human resources within
Whitbread. This laws are designed to protect interest and rights of the people working in a
company (Dessler, Chhinzer and Cole, 2015). It is necessary for the employer to comply with
rules and regulations of law for avoiding costly employment tribunals and lawsuits. United Kingdom labour law: It is related to regulate relations between workers,
employers and trade unions. This act is related to paying minimum wage and minimum
working hours. In UK, the minimum wage is £7.20 for over 25 years old under the
National Minimum Wage Act, 1998 (Sakalas, 2015). Every organization has to pay
minimum amount of salary according to rules and regulations of the act. Whitbread is
required to follow the rules and regulations of law of United Kingdom. Discrimination act, 1995: This protect the employee interest from any type of
discrimination at the workplace. This includes discrimination on grounds of sex, age,
physical disability and race of the people. Strict action will be taken for the employer if

such kinds of problems are identified at the workplace. It is permissible for employer to
set a fixed medical examination criteria for the candidate while selecting them (Banytė,
Gadeikienė and Kuvykaitė, 2015). Whitbread have to take care about discrimination act
to get protected from unwanted issues. Equal opportunities act, 2010: This act prohibits any discrimination in employment
services through which all the people get equal opportunities for their growth and
development within the organization (Knies and et.al., 2015). According to this act, all
the employees should be treated similarly so that the people can get motivated from the
wok.
 Equal rights act, 1996: It is the act of parliament of United Kingdom which is related to
protecting rights of employee at the workplace. According to this act, all the employees
should be given equal rights at the workplace so that they can work with confidence and
satisfaction (Hornsby, Kuratko and Naffizger, 2015). Whitbread should have to take care
about providing equal rights to each and every people working in their organization.
TASK 3
3.1) Job description and person specification for HR manager
Whitbread is now hiring HR manager who can handle and manage people within the
company. As HR plays a very important role in designing and developing strategies for the
people of organization (Kumpikaitė, 2015). These strategies will help them to get new and
effective ideas at the workplace. Apart from this, HR also helps to solve disputes between
employees and develop employee relations within workplace which will lead to enhance
productivity of Whitbread. Job and person specification are described as follows:
Job title: HR MANAGER Reporting to: Manager, Recruitment
Department: Human resource management Location:
DATE OF INTERVIEW: 29TH JUNE 2016
Key responsibilities:
 Assist in design, development and
delivery of the strategic plans.
 Assist in carrying out staff audits.
 Identifying gaps and proposes staffing
level at different level of the
Nature and purpose of job role:
 Building employee relations.
 Maintaining employee relations.
 Solving workplace disputes.
 Recruiting candidates according to the
vacant profile (Beadles and et.al.,

organization.
 Implement HR polices, practices and
procedures according to laws and
regulations (Stone and et.al., 2015).
 Drafting job advertisement for vacant
job in the company.
 Screening the applications of the
candidates, short listing and selecting
them according to the desired job.
 Review departmental recruitment to
ensure all recruitment is conducted
against the establishment of
organization's staff (Vomberg,
Homburg and Bornemann, 2015).
 Maintaining accurate records of staff
member for reviewing their
performance at the end of month.
 Building employee relations within the
organization.
 Identifying training and development
needs of the employees.
2015).
 Organizing training programs for the
employees.
Qualification required:
 Degree in human resource
management.
 Postgraduate diploma in HRM.
 Three years of working experience as
human resource manager (Pluta and
Rudawska, 2016).
 Understanding and practical knowledge
of labor laws and statutory returns.
Salary description:
 1-4 lac p.a.
 Incentives are based on the employee
performance.
Working hours: Competencies required:
 Good interpersonal relations with

 Generally 8 hours in day shift.
 Time can be extended at the time of
workload.
proven communication skills.
 Good planning organization skills.
 Technological knowledge such as
Excel, word are must (Marchington,
2015).
 Decision making skills.
 Researching, data collections and
reporting skills.
 Leading and managing abilities.
Essentials:
 Positive attitude towards work.
 Ability to deal with organizational
problems.
 Technological skills.
 Professionalism towards job (Aryee and
et.al., 2016).
 Good listening ability.
3.2) Comparison of selection process of health care industry with Whitbread
Different types of selection and recruitment process is used in different service industries
for hiring people in the organization. The process for recruitment is different because different
roles and duties of the employee and the industries. A health care organization requires a
person who can take care of their patients and provide good services to them (Harrington,
Warren and Rayner, 2015). Rather than this, a hotel industry recruit’s people because of serving
great living services to their visitors. They need the individual who can make strategies for
attracting people.
Major differences are shown below with the help of the table:
RECRUITMENT PROCESS IN HOTEL
INDUSTRIES
RECRUITMENT PROCESS IN HEALTH
CARE INDUSTRIES
In Hotel industries, vacancies are identified at
the initial level of recruitment.
In the initial stage, they are also working for
identifying need of employees at the
workplace.

The next step:
 Conducting written tests for the
candidates on recent hotel industries
and current situation of hotel business
(Navimipour and et.al., 2015).
The next step: Written test along with
practical test is conducted to identify
knowledge of the candidate regarding health
care issues.
Types of interview:
 Generally, non structured interviews
are conducted to identify the
knowledge of different candidates. This
will help the organization to find more
eligible person.
Interview type:
 Structured and non structured
interviews are conducted to find out the
knowledge about health care sector.
Generally, behavioral based interviews
are conducted (Yorio, Willmer and
Moore, 2015).
Requirement:
 In hotel industries, requirement of
people is regarding understanding of
human nature as people of different
cultural background come to visit hotel
for different reasons (Machado, 2015).
Requirement:
 Major requirement of the health care
units are regarding knowledge and
understanding of health care issues
and knowledge of different disease and
their treatments.
Method of advertising:
 Hotel industries generally post on their
official websites and other employment
sites.
Advertising methods:
 Health care industries prefer to use
employment sites and employment
newspaper for making advertisement.
There is less issue of experience in the hotel
industries while recruitment process.
Working experience plays an important role in
health care industries. People with more
experience are preferred for selection process.
Candidates with good communication skills
are preferred for job.
Main specifications are knowledge regarding
medical issues (Ivanovic and Collin, 2015).

TASK 4
4.1) Contribution of training and development activities to effective operations of Whitbread
Training and development programs are generally designed to help new employees so
that they can adjust in new working environment. Training programs also helps to develop skills
and abilities of people at the workplace so that they can adopt new working practices within the
company. It also helps Whitbread to identify new talent within the organization. Training and
development programs are considered as a formal business function through which an
employee will get knowledge about environment and working practices of the company
(Riccucci, 2015). This will not only make them adjust in the company but also they can build
relationships with the existing employees of the organization. In hotel industry, it is very
essential to organize training and development programs for employees as they have to deal
with different types of people. Training of employees not only contributes in developing the skills
but also it will help organization to improve their performance in the market.
 Make contribution in understanding the nature of the hotel industry.
 Contribute in developing strategies for attracting visitors to the hotel.
 Contribute in knowledge and understanding of human behaviour.
 It is very important in the hotel industry to get knowledge about different cultures
because people of different cultural background come to visit hotel (Dessler, Chhinzer
and Cole, 2015).
 Apart from this, it will also contribute in learning different cultural issues through which
the staff will be able to deal with people of different cultures.
 Training and development has major contribution in improving efficiency of the
organization to improve its growth in the hotel industry.
 Different types of training programs are there such as induction training, job instruction
training and vestibule training (Hornsby, Kuratko and Naffizger, 2015). Induction training
helps to gain knowledge about organization while job instruction training assists in
getting knowledge about role and profile of the particular job.
 It also contributes in improving the level of motivation within the employees so that they
can work more efficiently.
 It also contribute in reducing the conflict in workplace so that positive environment can
be created within the company (Navimipour and et.al., 2015).

 Other than this, training and development helps to identify learning ability of the
employees at the workplace so that the company will be able to increase its profitability.
CONCLUSION
The aforementioned report concludes that, human resource management plays an
important role in increasing productivity and profitability of the business. Human resources plans
are based on demand and supply of the labour in the international market. Apart from this,
different employment laws such as United Kingdom labour law, Discrimination act, 1995, Equal
opportunities act, 2010 should be abided by the employer while recruiting employees. These
laws are related to protecting employee interest at the workplace. Designing Job description
plays an important role in finding desired qualification of the candidates for the vacant post.
Training and development plays an important role in increasing productivity of the organization.