Human Resource Management in the Service Industry: A Detailed Report

This report examines Human Resource Management (HRM) within the service industry, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of HRM, particularly in the hospitality sector. It analyzes the importance of HRM in organizations like "Only Chefs" and "Dukes Hotel," exploring job analysis, personnel planning, recruitment strategies, and compensation. The report also discusses the current state of employment relations, including trade unions, grievance procedures, and disciplinary actions. Furthermore, it assesses the impact of employment laws on HRM practices, such as equality regulations, employment acts, and redundancy laws. The analysis includes job descriptions, person specifications, and a comparison of selection processes across different service industries, alongside the contributions of training and development activities to effective operations.

Human Resource
Management for Service
Industry

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Role and purpose of HRM................................................................................................1
1.2 Justification of human resource plan based on analysis of supply and demand..............2
2.1 Current state of employment relations in hospitality industry.........................................3
2.2 Affect of employment law on management of human resource.......................................4
3.1 Discussion on job description and person specification...................................................6
3.2 Comparison in selection process of different service industries businesses....................8
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Contribution of training and development activities in effective operation...................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Business enterprise has various resources in their organisation like money, infrastructure,
technology etc. Among all the assets, employees are considered as most important because they
are responsible for making and executing plans (Bratton and Gold, 2017). Human resource
management is an effective strategic approach which concentrates on managing workers of a
company. Its main focus is on earning competitive advantage and maximise employee
performance. This project is based on two organisations, first is ''Only Chefs'' and second is
''Dukes hotel''. This assignment will discuss about responsibilities of HRM and purpose of its
existence in hospitality sector. Supply and demand of customers make a huge impact on HR
planning. Present condition of employee relation in chosen industry will also become part of this
file. Selection procedure of two sectors will be included in this assignment. Contribution of
training and development will be assessed in the context of effective operations.
TASK 1
1.1 Role and purpose of HRM
Significance of human resource has been enhanced in last 6-7 decades because now
business organisations understand that if they will not have quality workforce then they cannot
meet expectations of their customers (Brewster and Hegewisch, 2017). Only Chefs builts a
platform where employers, who are looking for Chefs, can find suitable person among different
kind of jobseekers. This idea is basically a reverse approach where potential candidates does not
have to apply and wait for job positions. They will get a call from employers if job-hunter has
required set of skill. Role of HRM in hospitality sector is mentioned below:
Job Analysis – It can be defined as a process of gathering information about a particular
job. This is also considered as the key responsibility of human resource management. They
analyse content and human requirement for job profile and this process is used at the time of
making decisions regarding which source of recruitment should be used by company. All the
employers who hire workers from ''Only Chef'', first do a job analysis.
Planning personnel needs – Identifying requirement of workforce for upcoming time is
another responsibility of human resource management. Their role is important for determining
total number of employees who will be working for company an organisation in upcoming time.
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''Only Chef'' is a platform which can be used by hotel or restaurant businesses for filling vacant
posts. It help them in planning need of personnels.
Recruitment – Selecting best candidates for various post is one of the most important
work which is done by HR department. It is the role of human resource wing to find right pool
and talent and recruit suitable applicants from it (Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2017). Hiring of Chefs
is main service which is provided by ''Only Chefs''.
Purpose of HRM
Staffing – Filling vacant position is one of the main purpose of HRM. Hospitality
industry is coping up with issues like high employee turnover rate. Online platforms like ''Only
Chefs'' assist in keeping a balance between demand and supply.
Compensation and performance – Deciding salary of workers is another important task
which is done by HR team. Number of people who want to pursue career in hospitality industry
is continuously increasing. ''Only Chefs'' allow employers to find a person who agrees on the
salary which the they are ready to pay. Performance of potential Chefs can also be checked by
analysing details mentioned by job seekers.
1.2 Justification of human resource plan based on analysis of supply and demand
Human resource planning is is a process which focuses on optimum making plans in
order to assure optimum utilisation of available resource. Keeping a balance between demand
and supply of human resource is important for successfully running business operations. If a
company restaurant has less number of cook then customers will complain about slow service, if
they will have more than needed then it will be wastage of salary for the organisation. Human
resource plan consist of four parts which are as follows:
Determine HR needs – Any enterprise who is operating in food and beverage sector can
recruit Chef from ''Only Chefs''. Their needs depend on two things, first is strategic planning of
organisation and second is impact of external factors. Their is no doubt that Brexit made a huge
impact on growth of food and beverage sector. Increase in prices of food commodities is
reducing profit margin of companies who are operating in this industry. The result is not in
favour of Chefs because restaurant and hotels are recruiting less number of employees in order to
increase their revenue. Inflation is key reason behind drastic changes that are happening in
supply and demand of workforce (Brewster, Chung and Sparrow, 2016). Because of low sales
forecast, need of Chefs is also going down.
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Find recruitment strategy – Timing of recruiting new employee is very important in food
and beverage sector. There are many Chefs who does not want a permanent job. They want to
work for few hours or days and does not seek permanent employment. ''Only Chefs'' allow hotels
and restaurants to pick ''right person for right time''. Technology is supporting organisations in
formulating recruitment strategy. Platforms like ''Only Chefs'' play crucial role in deciding
strategy as they provide various information about available human resource, their professional
skills and expected salary.
Select employees – It is considered as a negative process where few people are selected
among number of applicants. Impact of Brexit can be seen on profit margin of food and beverage
companies. They are hesitating in recruitment more Chefs because they understand that it will
increase cost of business. Trend of making food at home is enhancing due to inflation. Families
are preferring to cook at their residence instead of eating in a restaurant (Brewster, 2017). On the
other hand, demand of healthy eatables is enhancing so Chefs who have specialisation in making
this type of food have better chances of getting selected for a position.
Determine compensation – Professionals who work in food and beverage industry get
decent amount of salary. Supply and demand is an important factor which decide amount of
remuneration for a Chef. ''Only Chefs'' can be explored by restaurants and hotels for getting a
rough idea about which Chef can be hired at what price. Although, factors like government
legislations sometime negatively impact strategy of a business organisation. An enterprise may
find a Cook who is ready to work at less amount compared to minimum wages. But because of
law, they have to pay him/her more amount and reduce their profit margin.
2.1 Current state of employment relations in hospitality industry
Employee relations is the link between workers and employers. Business organisations
have to keep fine relationship with their employees because they are most important resource of
an enterprise. Multinational companies in hospitality sector are organising training events and
resolving issues of workers. SMEs has their own approach for having good connection with
personnels. Trade Unions is a fading concept but it is still used by few organisations. HR
division of business corporation replaced trade unions by taking responsibilities of later one. For
example, raising demands of employees was earlier done by trade unions but now human
resource team do this task. Nowadays, demand of part time employees in hospitality sector has
increased because of the changing trend (Wilton, 2016). On weekends, hotels and restaurants
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need more cook and waiters. They do not want to hire a permanent worker as the demand remain
constant from Monday to Thursday.
Role of unionisation in current labour market
Prime aim of trade unions is to represent employees and raise their demands relating to
improving pay and working environment. Business organisations want to keep health
relationship with their workers and approaches like collective bargaining, employee participation
and negotiation play significant role in reducing differences between both sides. Conflict
management focus on eliminating negative aspects of dispute along with promoting positive
points. Employee participation allow workers to get involve in decision making and attaining
own career objectives. Collective bargaining is an important process which can provide solution
of a problem by bringing all the parties on one table. Role of unionisation is crucial in current
labour market (Johnson and Szamosi, 2018). It help employers and employees in understand
each others mindset. Important issues like increment in workers income, job security, unfair
dismissal etc. can getting resolved because of Unionisation.
Role of grievance procedures in present labour market
Health and safety of employees is now considered as primary function of business
enterprises (Guest, 2017). It does not happen in one day, the role played by human resource
management and trade unions was significant in developing culture of grievance procedure. In
hospitality industry, companies have developed a process where if something wrong happen with
an employee then he/she can file the grievance and take compensation accordingly. Disputes
between workers and employers can never decrease but basic issues like assuring safety and
security of personnels is addressed by have a grievance system.
Role of disciplinary procedure in labour market
Every organisation make some rules which are to be followed by employees of company.
If workers do not comply with the firm's policy then they have to face its consequences.
Discipline is an unpopular factor which strengthen relationship between workers and employers.
Fixed process remove confusion regarding rules in the organisation and it indirectly have great
contribution in avoiding number of conflicts.
2.2 Affect of employment law on management of human resource
''Only Chefs'' allow employees to mention expected salary and motivate employer to send
offer to the applicants. They understand that government made some regulations relating to pay,
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working hours etc. These legislations made both positive and negative affect on business
enterprise and platforms like ''Only Chefs'' is also getting impacted by it. Below are few laws
which have capability to influence human resource management:
Employment equality regulations 2003 – According to this act, employer cannot
discriminate on the basis of gender, religion and age. Companies operating in hospitality sector
have to assure that they provide equal salary to both male and female employees and their
promotions should be based on their performance instead of age, sex or religion (Tung, 2016).
The positive impact of this act can be seen on increasing diversity in an organisation. If
employees are of different culture and age then it promotes creativity in hotel/restaurant.
Employment Act 2002 – Parents are allowed to go on paid as well as unpaid
maternity/paternity leaves under employment law. If a Cook or waiter (mother) will go on 26
week leave then restaurant or hotel have to hire other person at his/her place. This will increase
cost of operations by affecting organisation in an unfavourable way.
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(Source: Employee Rights in Ireland. 2018)
Employment Rights Act 1996 – Impact of redundancy law is positive on employee
relations because it provide appropriate time to employer and worker, in case of fair process, for
finding next opportunity. If a person working in hospitality sector face unfair dismissal then
he/she can use legal redundancy rights (Hoch and Dulebohn, 2013).
3.1 Discussion on job description and person specification
Job description is a document which provide knowledge about responsibilities and
general information of a position. It briefly explains general tasks and elements like salary range,
required skills etc. are its crucial part. Below is Job description for executive chef post:
Job Description
Key Responsibilities
 Plan and direct food preparation and culinary work
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Illustration 1: Employee Rights in Ireland.

 Estimate requirement of food and determine labour/raw material cost
Job Brief: Company is looking for hard working and creative executive chef who have to take
care of matters relating to food preparation. Your position will be of ''the chief'' and
maintenance of whole kitchen will be your hand.
Other Responsibilities:
 Supervise work of others
 Assure solution of rising problem and complains Maintain payroll records and check attendance sheet
Requirements:
 Remarkable record in managing Kitchen
 Leadership quality and communication skills Bachelor's degree in Culinary science
Salary - £30000 p/a
Contract – Permanent
Closing date for application – 30th October, 2018
Discussion – Executive Chef is basically team leader of all the people who are present in kitchen.
This person has various responsibilities. Job description help a potential applicant in
understanding accountability of the individual who will be selected for given post. Information
about last date of applying, proposed salary, type of contract is also present on a Job description.
Person specification is a document which includes details about knowledge, qualification,
skills and experience that is required by a person at the time of performing given duties
(Chaneta, 2014). It assist in understanding the ability and attitude of an individual.
Person Specification for Executive Chef
Post Details
Department --- Food and Beverage
Job title --- Executive Chef
Skills
Requirement Essential/Desirable
Ability to work in a team and lead one Essential
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Communication and listening skills Desirable
Knowledge
Requirement Essential/Desirable
Food production Essential
Education and training Desirable
Experience
Requirement Essential/Desirable
5 year, as a head Chef in British restaurant Essential
2 year, in a Chinese restaurant Desirable
Qualifications
Requirement Essential/Desirable
Bachelor's degree in Culinary science Essential
MBA in hospitality management Desirable
Other
Requirement Essential/Desirable
Knowledge of customer and personal service Essential
Ability to speak foreign language Desirable
Discussion – An organisation seek different things in an applicant, few are essential and
''desirable'' which help an individual in increasing probability of getting selected for the job. For
example, Executive Chef must have all complete knowledge about cooking method and
techniques (Shen and Benson, 2016). If he/she has understanding of how to train and educate
other people then it will make impress employer.
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3.2 Comparison in selection process of different service industries businesses
Food and beverage industry is a leading and most popular segment of service sector.
There are various kind of jobs in this industry and this selection process is completely different
from Accommodation businesses. Below is selection process of both industries:
Food and Beverage (For Chef position)
Application
A job advertisement is needed to be letting applicants know about vacant post. Interested
candidates can check Job description on website of company and then they can uploaded or send
a hard copy of their resume.
Employment test
This exam include achievement, job knowledge and work sample tests. First one assist in
understanding potential of applicant while second concentrate on the knowledge which is present
in candidates. Asking Chef to make a particular dish is a work sample test.
Interview
This part of the selection process play crucial role in understand every single detail of a
candidate. Open ended questions are normally asked by adopting panel interview approach.
Selection decision
Getting feedbacks from both ''selected'' and ''not selected'' candidates allow company in
finding mistakes and good suggestions. Induction programme assist new chef in understanding
culture of organisation.
Difference of Accommodation (For receptionist) with Food and Beverage industry
Application
The difference between applying for receptionist and Chef post is not major. Applicant,
like Cook in food and beverage segment, have to upload their achievement certificates like
Michelin Star but receptionist does not need to do something like that.
Employment test
Aptitude test is one thing which is normally not present in employment test for position
of Chef. But it is an important part in the process of determining knowledge and talent of an
applicant who is applying for the position of receptionist.
Interview
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Post of receptionist does not have any direct contribution in the revenue generation
(Collings, Wood and Szamosi, 2018). For the post of Chef, interview is taken by panel which
have experts of different field. But for receptionist, single person ask close ended questions from
the applicants.
Selection decision
A chef is selected in an organisation if he/she has passed work sample test but decision
about recruiting receptionist is based on the answers of closed ended questions which are asked
in interview. Induction programme is more important for receptionist compared to Chef because
receptionist has to sit on front desk.
TASK 2
4.1 Contribution of training and development activities in effective operation
Training is an action for teaching particular skills to a person. Development is connected
to long term learning where an employee improve at both personal and professional level. Below
is 2 day training programme workers of Dukes Hotel. 1st day will focus on explaining what will
be done in training and second will have a lecture class where significance equal opportunity and
diversity will be discussed.
Training Plan Template
TRAINING NAME
Diversity and Equal Opportunity
Objective(s):
1. To promote diversity in organisation
2. To communicate significance of equal opportunities
3. To reduce conflicts between management and employees
Result(s) desired:  More diversity in organisation
 Equal chances of growth to every person
 Less disputes between workers and employers
Time: 10 A.M. To 3 P.M. – Day 1
9 A.M. To 5 P.M. - Day 2
Team involvement:
 Human resource
 Operations
 Marketing
 Finance
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Requirements:
 Conference hall
 Experts who are working in the field of promoting
diversity and equal growth opportunity
 Mike and projector
 Lunch
Flow of training
1. The aim of training will be explained to trainees.
2. Every person, who is part of training programme, will be introduced to the other
participants.
3. Experts will give lecture on advantage of both topics.
Day 1 – Above mentioned template and flow of training will be explained on day 1 to all the
trainees. It is important to make them understand that what they are going to learn from whole
session.
Day 2
Importance of diversity
Increase productivity – If employees of an organisation are from different part of this
world then their thinking and working style also differs from one another. At the time of working
on a problem, they can easily find solution of an issue and learn from each other. New learnings
will help employees as well as organisation also. It will play crucial role in increasing profit of
hotel.
Help in understanding other persons perspective – In order to understand nature and
thinking of other people, it is important to work with them. More diversity means better
knowledge about different culture (Kokt, 2015). Dukes Hotel can use this concept at the time of
serving customer from different nation.
Importance of equal opportunity
Enhance morale – When every workers get same opportunity for career growth then
his/her morale go up and its positive impact can be seen on employee's performance. Motivated
personnels are considered as big asset for an organisation.
Reduce workplace conflict – Equal opportunity can minimise the chances of biasness in
hotel and it can generate healthy and productive environment at the workplace.
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CONCLUSION
At the end, it can be concluded that recruiting right person in the organisation is
important in hospitality industry. Planning of human resources is based on demand and supply of
available talent. Employment law has different provisions which can influence HRM in either
way. Selection procedure in service industry business differ because of demand and supply of
quality workforce.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Brewster, C. and Hegewisch, A. eds., 2017. Policy and practice in European human resource
management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield survey. Taylor & Francis.
Brewster, C., 2017. The integration of human resource management and corporate strategy. In
Policy and practice in European human resource management (pp. 22-35). Routledge.
Brewster, C., Chung, C. and Sparrow, P., 2016. Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge.
Chaneta, I., 2014. Human resource planning. International Journal of Management, IT and
Engineering. 4(2). p.333.
Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation.
Human Kinetics.
Collings, D.G., Wood, G.T. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. Human resource management: A critical
approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
Guest, D.E., 2017. Human resource management and employee well‐being: Towards a new
analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal. 27(1). pp.22-38.
Hoch, J.E. and Dulebohn, J.H., 2013. Shared leadership in enterprise resource planning and
human resource management system implementation. Human Resource Management
Review. 23(1). pp.114-125.
Johnson, P. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. HRM in changing organizational contexts. In Human
Resource Management (pp. 27-48). Routledge.
Kokt, D., 2015. Human resources management. Hospitality Management: A practical
introduction, p.1.
Shen, J. and Benson, J., 2016. When CSR is a social norm: How socially responsible human
resource management affects employee work behavior. Journal of Management 42(6)
pp.1723-1746.
Tung, R.L., 2016. New perspectives on human resource management in a global context.
Journal of World Business. 51(1). pp.142-152.
Wilton, N., 2016. An introduction to human resource management. Sage.
Online
Employee Rights in Ireland. 2018. [Online]. Available
through:<http://belltimemagazine.ie/employee-rights-in-ireland/>
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