Human Resource Management Strategies for Service Industries: A Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of human resource management (HRM) within the hospitality industry, using Hilton Hotel Worldwide as a case study. The assignment, written from the perspective of a trainee HRM manager, examines the role and purposes of HRM, focusing on employee relations, recruitment processes, training programs, and the impact of these elements on customer satisfaction. The report investigates various employee relations, employment laws, and the importance of maintaining a healthy relationship between employees and employers. It includes an analysis of supply and demand in the hospitality industry and explores strategic planning, including SWOT and PESTEL analyses, to address internal and external factors. The report also discusses job descriptions, selection processes, and the contribution of training and development activities. The secondary data collection involved case studies and an analysis of the hospitality industry's success in terms of customer satisfaction. This assignment, available on Desklib, offers valuable insights into HRM strategies and their application within the service sector.

ASSIGNMENT: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR
SERVICE INDUSTRIES
STUDENT NAME:
STUDENT ID:
PROFESSOR NAME:

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1:.............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Analysis of the role and the purposes of the human resource management in the hospitality
industry............................................................................................................................................3
1.2 Justification of human resource plan based on the analysis of the supply and demand for the
hospitality industry business............................................................................................................5
Task 2:.............................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Assessing current state of relations in employment relations at hospitality industry................6
2.2 Discussing employment laws that influence human resource management in hospitality
industry............................................................................................................................................8
Task 3:.............................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Discussing a job description of a person for hotel industry job................................................9
3.2 Comparing the process of selection in different service industries.........................................10
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................12
4.1 Assessing the contribution of training and development activities.........................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
Reference list.................................................................................................................................14

Introduction
The assignment deals with all the prospects of the human resource management. The studies
have been conducted considering the Hilton Hotel Worldwide. The author has been assigned the
role of a trainee human resource management manager at the hotel. To carry out the above-stated
role successfully, a thorough organizational study was conducted considering the key elements
of the human resource department. The investigation is based on the explanation of the role and
purposes of the human resource management in the Hilton Hotel Worldwide. The study moves
on to understand various employee relations and their impact on the service provided to the
customers. Various laws have also been related to the current scenario of the organization.
Thereafter, the employee selection procedures and recruitment have also been studied in details
with a complete understanding of the training given to the employees of the organization.
Therefore, the development of the Hilton Hotel Worldwide in terms of the service of the
organization has also been assessed. A secondary method of data collection has been involved
while the preparation of the assignment. It includes the study of a number of case studies on the
company. The hospitality services have been studied and their extent of success have been
analyzed in terms of customer satisfaction.
Aim
The unit aims at the understanding of the human resource management and the various roles
involving the human resource managers. The study focuses on the understanding of the
employee-employer relationship and the associated laws, the recruitment procedures and the
training programs. Therefore, the study relates the above-stated things with the development of
the organization based on the customer satisfaction.
Task 1:
1.1 Analysis of the role and the purposes of the human resource management
in the hospitality industry
The human resource management (HRM) is the term that is used to describe the formal system
that has been devised for the proper management of the people that are associated with the
organization within the organization (Bratton and Gold, 2012). The responsibilities of the human

resource management can be categorized into three major parts such as the recruitment of staffs
into the organization, the employee compensation strategies and designing or defining of works.
The understanding of the human resource management in the hospitality industry needs a
detailed discussion as it covers a huge range of services. As opined by (Kramar and Syed, 2012)
the first and foremost point that needs to be discussed is the planning of the strategies that are
needed to be taken to handle the staffs well. This must be done with a broader aspect of
satisfying the customers or the clients with the best services. Thereafter, the human resource
managers need to deal with the recruitment processes (Holm, 2012). The recruitment and the
hiring process includes various steps such as selecting of the candidates on the basis of merit as
well as the talents. Along with the recruitment process of the organization, the human resource
management must also look after the contracts regarding the employment. There must be some
proper guidelines for the employers that they need to understand and abide by in order to carry
on their employment in the organization. However, it is also in the human resource department
that decides the deployment of the employees while finding to violet the company norms. The
human resource managers (Bach, 2005) must also do the training of the employees. The training
must be updated to the level that helps the organization to have the highest output through highly
efficient customer service. Another important role of the human resource management is to
coordinate the benefits of the employees to the employer. Here, it is highly beneficial for the
company when proper suggestions are given by the human resource department in order to
maintain a healthy relationship between the employee and the employer (Torrington, 2009).
It must be always kept into consideration that a proper coordination is maintained between the
HR professionals that would account for yielding high performance through highly skilled
employees. To ensure this the HR professionals must ensure that the employees are provided
with proper training (Holmes, 2013). They should also have a complete discrete knowledge
about their responsibilities. This prevents any confusion and therefore, increases the efficiency of
the workers.
According to (Beardwell and Claydon, 2007) the HR professionals must be very efficient in
managing the budget and distributing them among the various activities of the organization.
Higher yield of the organization in terms of the hospitality service, however, must be the main
objective behind the steps towards betterment.

The employee-employer relationship is a very important factor in any organization (Folger and
Cropanzano, 1998). It is also the responsibility of the human resource management of the
organization to look after the proper maintenance of the same. The human resource management
department must act as a connection between the managers and the employee. All the difficulties
among the workers of all levels, if any, must be recognized. These points must be raised by the
human resource professionals, in the board meeting. Such a step always increases the liability of
the employees towards their employer which in turn help to maintain a healthy relationship
between the owner and the workers (Countouris, 2016).
1.2 Justification of human resource plan based on the analysis of the supply
and demand for the hospitality industry business
The human resource plan must be a reflection of the processes that the organization carries out.
A hospitality industry must have a very good strategic planning that would help in serving their
customers the best. The human resource planning, therefore, can be described as the process that
helps the organization in carrying out the human resources need both at the present and the future
scenario. This planning must be made with a complete focus on the goals and objectives of the
organization and the ways to achieve the same (Torrington et al. 2011). However, there must be
a link between the human resource management and the strategic plan.
The human resource planning of the Hilton Hotel Worldwide must be based on both the internal
and the external factors of the organization. All these internal and the external factors are bound
to have an influence on the organization in the present scenario where they like to expand their
services in new location sin the Stratford City. As suggested by the SWOT analysis, the
company needs to understand their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats.
SWOT analysis of the Hilton Hotel Worldwide:
Strengths: The organization has been functioning as one of the successful companies in the
hospitality industry (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). Thus it has grown a very important place in
the industry among a number of organizations functioning in the same. Therefore, it can be
accounted to be the strength of the organization.
Weaknesses:
It is the primary duty of the human resource department of the organization to find out the
factors that might prove to be the weakness of the organization. The increasing political

instability in the region of extension of the organization might be a reason for concern that may
serve as a weakness for the organization. The economic condition of the region where it likes to
extend its services must also be taken into consideration while making the strategies.
Opportunities:
The human resource department of the organization must also pay attention towards the
opportunities they can pursue. The opportunities are, for example, the way that might be used to
provide more and more services to the customers. It must be the aim of the organization to
become one of the several companies to provide maximum comfort to the customers such as
providence of baggage storage, foreign currency exchange, laundry and salon services, etc.
Threat: In the hospitality industry the organization might face a very tough competition among
the other functioning organization. Therefore, they must prepare a strategy that would fulfill
most of the market demands (Berman, 2012). Such a strategy would help them to survive in the
competing market.
The Pestel analysis of the organization would help them to understand the external factors.
Political: The political scenario of the field of a newly opened hotel must be taken into
consideration to make the appropriate strategies.
Economical: The economical condition of the Stratford City must be considered while making
the strategies.
Social: Social conditions of the location should also be studied well before they extend their
services. The services must fulfill the demand of the target customers.
Technological: New technological advancements might be involved in the strategy of the Hilton
Hotel Worldwide so as to maintain with the fast evolution of the present days.
Environmental: The environmental factors must be taken into account so that the organization
knows what should be done to prevent any inconvenience to the customers.
Legal: most importantly the legal framework must be studied and strictly abide by so that they do
not get accused to the government (Player, 2013).

Task 2:
2.1 Assessing current state of relations in employment relations at hospitality
industry
The most important part of employee relation is the connection or the healthy relation among the
people involved in the industry or business. The growing partnership among the people helps in
the good will of the industry. There should be no communication gap between each other.
Employee relations also grow when the company treats them impartially.
The culture of the company matters when it comes to recruiting other people. It also determines
the up gradation of the company, as a good culture can bring profit in their selling product and
recruiting the people who find interest in obtaining a job in the company.
There is also a bargaining part in employee relations because a negotiation happens between the
union of the company and the employee. The union of the company may be any management, a
person who works as a representative or the organisation of the employers. The negotiations can
be made to certain rules or regulations, a safety of the employees or different policies.
There should be no communication gap, whereas a constant consultation helps in the benefit of
the industry. The consultation is needed when any person or a group of people lag behind. If they
face any kind of problem, the fact should be consulted immediately. The consultation part should
be made on daily basis. Leaves, medical attention, any kind of warnings or suspension require
consultation. The consultation also faces many problems when it comes to employee’s salary,
termination or a change in the routine of work.
Employee’s participation induces the log phase of the company. It brings much of positivity and
healthy environment. The involvement and participation of each employee are needed in all jobs.
They should put forward their individual point of view for the betterment of the job and achieve
the company’s goal successfully.
Each employee participates in the task with different attitude and mindset; they may also differ
in working ideas so conflicts can arise. To solve these problems there should be a management
system who could handle these situations. The system includes supervisors or managers who
take care of this service. The conflict can be solved by two ways. One is formally and the other is
informal. Informally it can be solved by discussing the matter with the supervisor or manager, if
it doesn’t work then it is done formally. Formally means by writing letters or giving applications

to the authority asking for resolving the matter. The management supervises or investigate the
problem and solve it.
According to Estampe, D. et al. (2013, p.251), the individual daily work routine and the freedom
of an employee, help in the empowerment of the employees. Practice makes a man perfect, so a
vigorous training and developed systems play an important role in empowerment. Empowerment
provides discipline and responsibility to a person to achieve success for himself and the company
also. It raises the productivity of the company in less time.
The grievance of the employees should be solved as early as possible.
According to Monczka, R.M. et al. (2004), all employees should maintain the disciplinary
procedures and all of them should be treated in fair manner. There should be no partiality. The
nature and behaviour of the employee should be decent and the attendance should be regular.
2.2 Discussing employment laws that influence human resource management
in hospitality industry
Many employers breach ethics in their workplace. To provide safety and security in their job
from these things, legislation has been set up. There are different kinds of legislation laws like
Employment Relation Act (legislation.gov.uk, 2017). The Act is focussed on few rules and
regulations of the employers. They should discuss with the employees about their application and
inform all the details to the union. Setting up a bargaining unit is the job of the employees. They
should communicate with the employees before giving any extra or additional work.
Another Act is Employment Right Act (legislation.gov.uk, 2017). This act covers the part that
inhibits the employers to pay or deduct wages of the employees illegally. Complaints and solving
it is the job of the employer. To calculate and make surety of the payment should be done legally
and if any changes are done it should be informed to all.
The employees should get equal opportunities under this law. It is focused on the concept of the
employee’s job where no discrimination should be done. The equalities among the employees
should be influenced.
There is also a relationship between the employee and the employer.
On this assessment of relationship, there are few terms and conditions, which should be obeyed.
The contract is made on the employment of the employee and this is done with legal rights.

The termination can be done based on an employee’s performance, attendance, health issues or
any grievance issues.
As opined by Kersley, B. et al. (2013), there is few clause of resignation for the employees too.
The employee should have a valid reason to resign, or the company have the full right to cancel
the application made for the resignation. The reasons should convince the administrative section
of the company or it may terminate the employee at any point of time. The application of
resignation should be made before a notice period of 60 days of termination.
Dismissal is made on performance or behaviour like if anyone complaints about a particular
person, so it can be done suddenly without any notice period. Dismissing a person needs a valid
reason, which can be justified or explained later during the investigation.
Redundancy cannot be done suddenly. A person working for a long period like at least 2 years
gain some trust in a company. Making any redundancy process for an individual the employer
should arrange a meeting before taking the decision.
A person lacking the ability to work further for health issues can take ill health retirement.
After a certain age most likely when a person reaches the age of 65, he can take retirement.
As opined by Haines III, V.Y. and St-Onge, S. (2012, p.1160), after a service of 1 year an
individual can take parental leave to look after their child. A pregnant woman can take a
maternity leave of 52 weeks and paternity leave is 26 weeks.
An employer when do not obey the terms and conditions the contract may be broken.
Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) deal with the courses. The requisite
training is given to the employers and employees for increasing the productivity of the concerned
body.
Task 3:
3.1 Discussing a job description of a person for hotel industry job
Job role: Banquet Manager
Required education: Degree in hotel management or equivalent
Job experience: Any previous experience in hotel job is necessary
Job description: The banquet manager should take the responsibility of delivering all foods and
beverages for all functions in the hotel without delay. The standard should be maintained and
timely delivery should be given. It is recommended that the manager should review the number

of guests, room layout, meal service with all details. Sometimes it is also needed to handle
logistics. It is also necessary to maintain the records of all cost, which includes the cost of labour,
food and beverages etc. Helping and guiding to prepare budget and balance sheet is of prime
importance for a banquet manager. Good communication skill is required for client management
and business development. The attitude should be good to staff to motivate the employee.
Leadership quality with analytical thinking is needed. A good planning is needed for cost
minimization and profit maximisation for the smooth running of business. Department meeting
should be held monthly. It is suggested that all time availability is needed with a pager or mobile
phone.As opined by Buller and McEvoy (2012, p.52) greeting customer well is the most
important part of this job as customers will help to expand the business. Service should be
provided within time and any changes made by the customer in last minute should also be
provided in a proper way and on time. Now employee training is the next priority of this job.
Both food and customer service training should be provided. Proper explanation on beer and
wine servicing with plate placement will enhance the skill of trainee. As a manager
understanding the needs of all staff is needed. According to Jiang et al. (2012, p. 81) ensuring
food expedition and controlling all kitchen equipment like linen, glassware, cutlery is required. A
good plan maintenance policy of hotel and bar should be made. Assistance on menu pricing and
planning with the supervision of all database is to be done.
In accordance with Burkhard et al. (2012, p.29) customer satisfaction along with employee
satisfaction is needed. A cool head is needed to hear customer complaints. Complaints should be
checked and solutions of that should be done at pace. Meeting sales target along with the future
expansion of business is to be done as well. Monitoring and motivating staff for their upliftment
in career development are required. It is required that manager should know all the updated
technologies required in hotel and bar jobs. Co-ordination of all public washrooms, lower lobby,
kitchen, store areas, ballroom, table and seating places should be done, The job also requires
cooperation with the chef for ensuring all arrangements whenever needed. Coffee break time and
all schedules needed to be check regularly. It is also required to cooperate with front office
manager for room service and minibar and cooperation with housekeeping manager for
cleanliness in all rooms. All the above-mentioned details are necessary along with team
cooperation and good relation with managers and clients.

3.2 Comparing the process of selection in different service industries
The different service industries include food and beverage industry, information technology
industry, tourism industry, the restaurant industry and others. Human resource management is
the basic important task for any service industry. Selecting the right and suitable candidate
among the aspirants is the difficult task of any human resource management. Factors affecting
recruitment process include organisation culture, working hours, salary facilities, brand value
and location. The selection process in information technology requires engineering background
or master degree in computer science whereas in knowledge processing industry subject matter
expert is needed. In Business Process Outsourcing job anyone with good communication skill
and holding a degree can apply.
In other industry such as tourism and hotel management, a degree holder of hotel management is
required. For managerial level, industry experience is required. For cook and chef the judgement
of selection is done based on knowledge of their skill in art of cooking, in logistics industry a
student of MBA is required. For jobs related to marketing, a business development executive
with high negotiating power is necessary.
There exist different barriers in the selection process. The most difficult among the selection
process is the inability to understand different people within short period. The limited perception
of human knowledge is the root cause of bad selection in many cases. It is suggested that no
discrimination should be done based on colour, sex or religion in any service industry.
Sometimes there exist more aspirants than needed whereas sometimes shortage of skill in a
particular sector causes inappropriate hiring.
Evaluation should be done based on subject knowledge and adequate industry knowledge.
Candidates need to be shortlisted based on merit and requirement. The strength and weakness of
the employee should be judged in the interview in any service sector job. Analytical ability also
needed to be checked. As stated by Budhwar and Debrah (2013, p.29) the judgement or selection
should focus on the validity and reliability of the candidate. Candidate psychology should be
checked by psychometry method.
There are different interview methods in different industry. In evaluating, a candidate in
information technology industry learns computer skills and programming language is asked. In
tourism industry, enthusiastic behaviour and travel experience is checked. In food and beverages
industry knowledge in supply chain, management and quality control measures are asked.

Different jobs require different skill in service sector. Even if all the skills are adequate of a
candidate, there exists different psychology of different people. A team worker who has the
ability to solve problems quickly and manage situations with responsibility should be taken.
Different cases and real life situations should be asked in an interview to know the ability of the
individual to respond in any difficult situations. Now finally the interview skill is judged,
compared, and based on that selection process is done.
Task 4
4.1 Assessing the contribution of training and development activities
Different types of training
Hilton Hotel uses orientation training to introduce a new employee about the organisation and
make him familiar with the services, rules and regulations. It is provided to every new employee
by the human resources (HR) department.
Safety training is also providing for minimising the frequencies of accidents and the damage to
the hotel property. The training involves the use of safety devices and safety instructions and is
generally conducted by safety experts.
Internship training is provided at Hilton Hotel to the interns. It helps the students from the
educational or vocational institutes to obtain practical knowledge about the daily operation of the
hotel. Generally, post training, the interns are absorbed into the direct payroll of Hilton Hotel.
Difference training between and development
The basic difference between training and development is that the former is a learning process
whereas the latter is basically an educational process concerned with the overall growth of
employees. Training is generally conducted for short term basis while development is a long
term procedure. While training is job oriented, development is oriented for the career (Sung and
Choi, 2014). Lastly, the objective of training is to improve the productivity of Hilton Hotel
employees; in contrast, development aims to prepare the employees for the challenges in the
future. Another difference between training and development can be attributed to the motivation
factor. In training, the motivation comes from outside, in this case, the trainer in the Hilton
Hotel. However, the motivation in development originates from within. The internal motivation
helps to develop from within and thus the results are more permanent in nature. Nevertheless, as
the motivation in training is stimulated from outside, the outcomes are often short-lived.

Benefits and effectiveness of training
The benefits of training are too many to count. It improves the profitability of Hilton Hotel and
creates positive attitude among the employees, enhances the productivity by filling the
knowledge and skill gap of the employees (Ford, 2014). Not only this, training is also helpful in
the creation of a better corporate image, which is a crucial factor for a prestigious organisation
like Hilton Hotel. Lastly, training helps to make the employee’s identity the organisational goals
and also build rapport within the organisational hierarchy. Training is also beneficial for the
company as through the training process the organisation can screen potential leaders who are
able to train others. Thus, training is also a process through which future leaders are born.
The role of training
Through training, employees are able to show the skills that they learned. It helps to usher
change in the professional attitude of employees (Jaeggi et al. 2014). Finally, training produces
the necessary improvements that translate into the rise in organisational performance.
The needs of training
Training is needed for the performance improvements that Hilton Hotel could perform better
than their competitors are. It is also required to develop the professional relationships, in this
case, the stakeholders of Hilton Hotel. Lastly, training would help the Hotel to keep pace with
the ever-changing scenario.
Conclusion
The study has focused on the human resource management of the Hilton Hotel Worldwide. It
discusses various human resource management techniques that would help in the proper
maintenance of the organizational strategy. Various roles and purposes of the human resource
department have been studied and related to the strategies that are mandatory in order to achieve
success in the hospitality industry. The training and development of the staffs have also been
focused upon. The study has shed a bright light on the employee-employer relationship. The
discussion finds that maintaining a good relationship between the owner and the employees of
the organization promotes a healthy working condition. This, in turn, helps in the betterment of
the quality of services from the workers. Lastly, the study has found that adequate training helps
the employers to be more and more efficient that ultimately helps in increasing customer
satisfaction.

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