Human Resource Management Report: InterContinental Hotel

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. It begins with an introduction to HRM and the specific context of InterContinental Hotels, followed by an examination of contemporary challenges and emerging trends in the hospitality industry, drawing on various articles to highlight issues such as compliance, management changes, workforce training, and adapting to innovation. The report then presents job descriptions and person specifications for both HR Manager and Marketing Manager roles within the hotel. Furthermore, it explores the performance management process, focusing on how it operates within the hospitality sector. The report also analyzes the positive and negative impacts of HR policies and practices within InterContinental Hotel, offering insights into the organization's strategies. Finally, the report concludes with a summary of the key findings and a list of references.

Human Resource Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
Answer 1 – Challenges and emerging trends in HR ..................................................................3
Answer -2 Job description and person specification...................................................................6
Answer -3 Process of performance management within hospitality industry..........................20
Answer -4 Analyse of policies and practices of organisation .................................................22
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................25
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................26

INTRODUCTION
HRM is function performed in organisation for effective use of people to achieve goals
and objectives of organisation.
In the present report Inter Continental Hotel and Resorts is being taken which was
founded on April 4, 1946 by Juan Trippe. Its headquarters are in Denham, Buckinghamshire,
United Kingdom. It is a luxury hotel and having 213 hotels and resorts across the world. Key
people of hotel is Keith Barr, CEO. The revenue of Inter Continental Hotel is $ 4.627 billion in
the year 2019. There were 210 inter continental hotels which covers 71,045 rooms worldwide.
In the report contemporary issues in HRM are discussed like, management changes,
compliance with rules and regulations, leadership development, compensation, training and
development and emerging trends in HRM in hospitality industry are, using technology to recruit
the best candidate, managing information about employees, automating routine task. Job
description and person specification from range of management positions are designed. Further,
positive and negative impacts of HR policies and practices in Inter continental hotel.
MAIN BODY
Answer 1 – Challenges and emerging trends in HR
Article 1- Challenges for the global hospitality industry: an HR perspective
In this article various challenges were discussed which creates competition in market. In
hospitality industry day by day competition is increasing so organisations should make changes
in their polices to maintain its position in market and build good image. From this article I have
analysed that to earn profit and attract more customer innovation should be done. There are many
new competitors who want to enter into market.
Article 2- The Impact of Globalisation on Strategic Human Resources Management
In this article impact of globalisation is described and how new emerging trends and technology
are coming in market. All people are treated equally. I have analysed that men and women both

are working and there is no discrimination. It is an emerging trend to follow latest trends and
attract more customers.
Article 3- The pursuit of HR outsourcing in an emerging economy: The effects of HRM strategy
on HR labour costs
From this article I have analysed that to reduce labour cost plans are made by managers and use
technology . They invest money in recruiting new and talented people and on the job training is
provided to employees for effective outcomes.
From the above articles I have analysed that as competition is increasing day by day so it
is difficult for an organisation to survive in the market. Company should make necessary
changes or improvements in strategies and policies to perform better than competitors. In
hospitality industry focus is on attracting new customers and satisfying them. There are lot of
ways to attract guest like, interior of hotel, facilities provided, behaviour of staff members
towards customers. I have analysed that employees should work effectively and contribute in
achieving organisational goal. Contemporary issues refers to problems that is affecting people
and that are not resolve. As I was working as an intern in Inter Continental Hotel I face some
challenges that are:
Compliance with laws and regulation: As employment law keeps on changing in
sometime it is difficult for HRM to make improvements. In Inter Continental hotel I had made
changes in rules and regulations as per the guidelines given by law. I made few changes in
policies for smooth running of business. I have analysed that laws and regulations are important
for employee and employer satisfaction.
Management changes : As in today' s world there are new strategies, policies and
business is growing fast. I have noticed that changes are essential to compete with competitors.
In inter continental hotel it was difficult to adopt changes but I manage all activities by
communicating more with staff members and convey them benefits of management changes. For
conveying message meetings should be done daily and make them understand importance of
changes (Sundiman, 2017).

Workforce training and development : I have analysed that training is essential
because in different companies working styles are different so, employees need training. In inter
continental hotel as I was doing internship in HR so it was my duty to provide good training to
staff members. Training requires lot of money and time. I recruit senior managers for sharing
their experience and provide training to employees. I also arrange online training during covid-
19 for staff members so that they can learn some techniques to work better and good services can
be provided to customers.
Adapting to innovation : I have noticed that due to rapid change in technology,
organisations are making innovation to survive in market. In hospitality industry there are new
ways to attract customers and interiors of hotel is changed, more facilities are provided to guest.
As an HR manager I make changes in communication style of organisation and structure, new
ways were adopted to attract more customers, set clear goals that are to be achieved, new training
methods are used like on the job training is provided, coaching is given.
Compensation : To satisfy employees and organisation proper salary structure is made
and I manage all payroll, overtime and also made a system regarding how rewards are given to
staff, when to give bonus and how much. Daily performance will be measured and on the basis
of that salary will be given (Stewart and Brown, 2019). In inter continental hotel I prepare a
sheet in which I mention salary details of every member and all the rules and policies are shared
with employees regarding bonuses, increments, profit sharing.
Recruiting talented employees : For any organisation recruiting new and talented
employee involves huge investment of money and time because it is not easy to select new
candidate. In inter continental hotel I recruit and select appropriate candidate for finance
department. I followed proper procedure for recruitment and selection process. I give
advertisement for vacancy then from applied candidates select appropriate person for vacant job.
Further, interview is being conducted of selected candidates and choose the best employee for
hotel.
Emerging trends in HR
On the job training

In today's fast growing world I notice that employees need training for improving their
performance and new candidates require training for learning new techniques and to make them
familiar with environment, culture and people of organisation (Santana and Lopez‐Cabrales,
2019). I noticed that continuous training and development programmes are required to improve
skills of workers, make staff members familiar with culture of organisation. Due to covid-19
online training is provided to staff so they can work better. I convey information to employees by
messaging them time for online training. Regular mentoring is done by me and instructions are
provided how to improve performance, good work is appreciated by giving benefits.
Artificial intelligence in recruitment
Artificial intelligence provides solutions for innovations in organisations. This can be
used by companies in recruiting and selecting process. There are many advantages of artificial
intelligence as it saves time of mangers, fast candidate screening is done and help in choosing the
best candidate for organisation. I have to hire employees for my hotel for that I will use artificial
intelligence because it will help me in choosing appropriate candidate from large pool of
applicants and provides quality hiring (Pak and et.al, 2019).
Data analytics transforming HR
Data analytics techniques is used by HR professionals to attract new and talented
candidates and to retain them. In future there will be more possibilities to identify trends on
employee absenteeism, turnover rate, engagement level and leave frequency. I am using best
recruiting practices for selecting talented candidate, increasing employee satisfaction by
motivating them or giving them benefits, improving talent development, more engagement of
employees in decision making. I give my best to retain employees and satisfy them and try to
identify reasons why workers are taking frequent leave. To reduce employee turnover some steps
are taken to make members happy. There are two types of functions that are performed by HRM
i.e., managerial and operational. Managerial function includes planning, organizing, staffing,
directing and controlling. Operational functions includes recruitment, selection, placement,
induction, training, employee relations.
Answer -2 Job description and person specification

Company Inter continental hotel
Post HR manager
Location United Kingdom
Report to CEO
Qualification MBA In field of HR, bachelor degree
inhospitality, strong understanding of hotel
management practices, data entry software,
experience of 2-3 years.
Responsibilities Recruitment and selection process, training
and development of employees, payroll,
benefits and coordinating administrative
functions of organisation.

Title of the job HR manager
Qualification required Essential Desirable Met
Completed MBA
in HR ,
knowledge about
hotel
management
practices,
leadership
abilities ,
attention to
details.
Yes
Need of Experience
Require 2-3 years
experience
Yes
Personal characteristics
& conduct
 Excellent
communication
skills.
 Ability to view
issues objectively.
 Ability to handle
complex
problems.
 Comfort with
ambiguity.
 Motivational and
leadership skills
are required to
influence
employees and
customer.
 Good
interpersonal
YES

skills are required
for interacting
with different
type of guest.
 Research and
adaptability skills
are required to
make strategies.
 Excellent
customer
services.
 Great decision
making skills .
 Know other
languages to
interact with
guest.
 Should use clear
words and
fluency in
English.
Roles and
Responsibilities
 Managing
company staff
and coordinating
with employees.
 Determining
suitable salaries
and remuneration
of workers.
 Providing system
for payroll
requirements.
YES

 Provide training
to new employees
and development
training programs
for workers who
need to improve
their
performance.
 Recruitment and
selection.
 Setting goals for
members.
 Effective
performance
evaluation.
 Making rules and
policies for
employee benefit.
 Oversee other
departments
including
receptionist,
kitchen staff,
housekeeping
staff and other
employees.
 Monitor
employee
performance and

conduct regular
inspection to
improve customer
satisfaction.
 Collect payments
and maintain
records.
 Give instructions
for arrangement
for welcome of
guest.
 Resolve issues of
employees
regarding policies
and rules of
hotels.
 Organise all the
activities
properly.
 Assign
responsibilities to
employees.
 Coordinate with
external parties
such as, suppliers,
travel agencies,
event planners.
 Ensure health and
safety of guest as

well as staff
members.
 Setting budgets,
goals, objectives
and assigning
funds to various
departments.
 Plan and
implement daily
operations of
hotel.
 Manage daily
expenses of hotel
and maintain
records.
 Check regularly
and manage
inventory in
hotel.
 Build strong
relations with
guests and
visitors.
 Determine key
performance
indicator.
 Manage and
proper schedule
of shifts of

employees.
 Maintain proper
record of
employees
attendance and
according to that
payroll is
prepared.

Company Inter continental hotel
Post Marketing manager
Location United Kingdom
Report to CEO
Qualification MBA in marketing, knowledge of
influencing customers, good numerical skills,
budget management skills, highly organised.
Responsibilities Promotion of products and services to attract
more customers, strategies for building good
image in market, market analysis and
competitor analysis, identify environmental
factors that can affect business.
Title of the job Marketing manager
Qualification
required
Essential Desirable Met
MBA in
marketing and
knowledge of
marketing
strategies,
digital
marketing and
knowledge of
selling new
product.
Yes
Need of Experience
Required 1-2
years
experience
Yes

Personal
characteristics &
conduct
 Innovative and
creative ideas
for promotion
of product.
 Ability to
influence or
convince
people to buy
products.
 Adaptability to
changing
environment.
 Ability to think
new ideas for
increasing
sales.
 Good
organisation
and teamwork
skills.
 Focus on small
points or
details.
 Good written
and verbal
communicatio
YES

n skills.
 Focus on
customer
satisfaction.
 Entrepreneuria
l skills and
problem
solving skill.
 Flexible hours
and travelling
skills.
 Good
observational
skills.
Roles and
Responsibilities
 Attract more
customers by
making good
promotional
strategy.
 Increase brand
awareness
among people.
 Monitoring
social media
activities.
 Conducting
YES

campaign
management
for marketing
initiatives.
 Producing or
improving
internal
communicatio
ns.
 Conducting
market
research and
competitor
analysis.
 Branding and
packaging
experience.
 Ability to work
in fast moving
environment
and adopt
changes.
 Self motivated
and ability to
solve problems
of customers.
 Ability to
monitor and
analyse

campaigns.
 Knowledge
about customer
relationship
management
and analyse
target
audience.
 Effective
promotional
strategy should
be made such
as,
advertisement,
company
website.
 Proper
management of
distribution
channel.
 Make good
public relations
 Create good
image of hotel.
 Knowledge of
digital
marketing.
 Comfortable in
every

environment.
 Developing
and
implementing
plans for
benefit of
organisation.
 Maintain good
relation with
outsiders such
as, suppliers,
event
organisers,
media people.
 Build trust
among
customers.
Rationale for making job description and person specification
A job description refers to document that states essential points for job requirements. It
also contains duties, roles, responsibilities, characteristics and skills that are required for
performing specific role. Job description is also known as job specification, job profiles and job
positions. It contains preferred working conditions at workplace. Job description is a broad
written statement of a particular job on basis of job analysis. Generally it includes title of job,
company name, designation, location, qualification and responsibilities.
Person specification

It contains all the necessary information related to vacant position such as, qualification,
skills, experience required or not, knowledge, other criteria which an applicant must possess to
perform duties. All the details are clearly stated and it starting stage of recruitment and selection
process. It includes all the details and after reading that only candidates who are having
knowledge will apply.
Answer -3 Process of performance management within hospitality industry
Performance management is a tool that helps in monitoring and evaluating work of
employees and on the basis of that training and development is provided to employees to
improve their performance. It helps in creating an environment where all the employees are
performing good and giving best to achieve organisational goals. Employees are given training
so that they can perform effectively and efficiently (Aburumman and et.al, 2020).
Performance is measured by comparing goals that are set by managers and individual
work. In hospitality industry performance is measured by feedback given by customers regarding
service provided by staff members. Performance management helps organisation in minimising
staff turnover, identify training needs and enhance promotions. When manager measures
performance they appreciate good work by giving rewards, bonuses or benefits. If employees
does not achieve goals then managers identify reasons and then training is given to employees
who did not perform well and also enhances promotions as employees who do good work they
are promoted to next level (Bisharat and et.al, 2017).
If performance is not measured then it will lead to poor work and organisational goals are not
achieved. Performance management helps in boosting employee confidence and more
engagement in accomplishing company's goals.
Performance management process is planning, coaching, reviewing and action.
Planning- This is the first step of process as it helps manager of hospitality industry to identify
key objectives and develop clear strategies to achieve those goals. If goals are not set then it will
be difficult to measure performance and make improvements. Goals should be clearly mention
and standards should be set so that it is easy to identify in which area or department training is
required. Feedback is collected to know what are needs or demands of customers.

In inter continental hotel reviews and feedback is gathered from guest so that better
services can be provided to customers next time and feedback help in getting good rating. Proper
inspection is done and plans are change according to that. In hotels all arrangement is made
according to requirement of customer. HR manager is responsible for managing and planning all
activities in different departments. So, proper planning should be done by managers and
instructions should be follow by members to receive good feedback from guest. Performance
management helps in minimising employee turnover. Planning will help in making strategy for
training and development (Delery and Roumpi, , 2017).
Coaching- This is second stage of performance management process which refers to that
continuous inspection should be done to improve employee turnover ratio of organisation. Most
of the employees are taking leaves on regular basis because they are not able to understand work
or not comfortable using machines. Some employees left organisation as they are not getting
proper training. It is responsibility of manager to provide training to new employees and focus
more on work done by workers.
In inter continental hotel training is given to staff members for how to treat customers,
their welcome, treat everyone equally, give respect to guest and provide them good quality of
food and services. Training is provided to workers how to communicate with guest and
management training is given. HR manager is responsible for providing training to staff
members when required, regularly performance should be measure which will boost confidence
of workers and they will perform well. Coaching helps in minimising employee turnover ratio as
when members are familiar with work and environment they enjoy their work. Good training and
development programmes boost confidence in employees. HR manager appraise performance of
employees who do their work on time.
Reviewing- In this stage performance is appraised by managers to enhance promotions and
motivate employees. It is strategy which is used by organisations to retain employees, influence
them to work better. If one employee is being appreciated then it motivates other employees to
do better next time so that they can also get promotion. For performance appraisal previous
records are being checked to measure work done by an employee. Previous records are checked
to determine that whether any improvement is seen in individual work. This is the only stage
which looks at past records for appraising performance in present.

In inter continental hotel HR manager keeps record of every employee and according to
that promotions, bonuses, benefits are given. This stage is important for both management and
employees as records are kept so it is easy for management team to make decision regarding
promotion. There is no partiality, everyone is given equal treatment.
Action – This is the last stage of performance management process. In this action stage reward
and recognition is given to employees. To motivate workers incentives or non monetary benefit s
should be given. Sometimes employees get motivated by receiving rewards from seniors and
they feel happy if their work is appraised by someone. After analysing performance of this year
plans are made for next year and mistakes done will not be repeated (Markoulli and et.al, 2017).
In hospitality industry feedback is collected from guest and additional services are added
according to need of customers. Reviews are given by guest for services provided to them by
staff members all these are considered while rewarding employees. Rewards can be in the form
of promotion, holiday trip, incentives, gifts or any other way. This stage is essential for making
plans for next year and motivate employees to work better to satisfy customers and earn more
profit. New strategies are made if required for next year for improving performance and
attracting more customers.
Answer -4 Analyse of policies and practices of organisation
Recruitment and selection – It is one of the important practices of HR department
which means to select best candidate for organisation. Recruitment refers to process where
management search for appropriate candidate for company from a pool of applicants. It is not
easy for managers to find new and talented candidate who will work effectively and contribute in
achieving organisational goals. Selection refers to hiring process in which the best applicant is
selected from shortlisted candidates (Emeagwal and Ogbonmwan, 2018).
In inter continental hotel staff members are selected after following proper process like,
candidates are applying for vacant job, interview is taken and then best candidate is selected.
They give advertisement on social sites for vacancy and conduct training programmes for new
staff members. This is an important part for every organisation as it helps in building good image
in market and getting new and talented people.
It is responsibility of HR manager to choose right person for the right job and who have
necessary skills required at workplace. Recruitment and selection helps in identifying job,

defining requirement of position, advertisement are given for vacant job. It has negative as well
as positive impact. Recruitment and selection provides pool of candidates, increase profitability
and performance. More effective recruitment process will help organisation in earning more
profit (Greenfield and et.al, 2019). Recruitment is good for organisation as it helps in getting new
and talented employees which will increase productivity and company will generate more
revenue. New employee will know about the latest technology in market and how to use it, this
will save time and money of company as training is not required.
Negative impact of recruitment and selection is it will require funds as for finding
candidate organisation will contact to agencies who are having resumes of applicants and
advertisement will be given by industry to select best candidate. Sometimes employee do not get
familiar with the environment and culture of company. New employees require some time for
understanding people, roles, responsibilities, duties and culture of the organisation (Guest, 2017).
In hospitality industry recruitment and selection is done by HR manager by following
proper procedure. Some policies are made by hotel which everyone has to follow. Firstly
advertisement is given on online sites, google, newspaper and other sources. Applicants who are
eligible apply for vacant job then human resource department select some candidates for written
test. After that applicants who pass the test are called for interview and select best candidate
from them. In hotels generally some task are given like, how they will treat with guest who are
angry.
Training and development- It refers to providing more knowledge to employees in area
or field which they need to improve. It also enhances skills of workers so that they can improve
their performance and contribute in achieving goals and objectives of organisation. Training is
given to new employees to make them familiar with culture of company and to make them learn
how to use new technology. Development is for employees who are not performing well and not
able to achieve goals and objectives of company. HR manager is responsible for making
arrangement regarding training of employees (Han and et.al, 2019).
In inter continental hotel HR manager keeps record of every employee and their
performance, after analysing performance they make decisions regarding which employee needs
training and want to improve their work. They give benefits to staff members when they perform
well such as, bonuses, incentives, one day picnic.

As technology is changing day by day it is difficult for employees to work, so to achieve
targets of company HR department provides training to workers so that they can work efficiently
and effectively. Training helps in boosting confidence of employees by improving their skills,
develop new skills which help, helps in promotion and workers can easily face challenges (Hitka
and et.al, 2019). Some advantages of providing training and development are, increased job
satisfaction and morale among employees, increase employee motivation, increase efficiency and
helps in improving financial position, increasing capacity to adopt new technology and method,
it helps in making innovative and creative products, strategies are changed.
There are some negative impact of training and development are, it involves high cost as
cost of travel, facilities for training, it requires time away from work which means extra time is
needed for improving skills. If training is not given properly then it may result in poor quality
work. Sometimes trainee is not good so employees face problem in understanding what trainee
wants to convey and due to this workers are not able to perform well (Hoon, Hack and
Kellermanns, 2019).
HR manager is responsible for arranging good training programmes for employees to
increase profit of organisation. In hospitality industry training is given to staff members for
satisfying more customers and generate more revenue. Feedback are collected from customers
and according to demands of guest training is given to members.
Training and development is one of the important practice in every organisation by HR
manager to improve quality of work and customers can get good services which will lead to
increase in profit. There are various types of training and development for employees are,
orientation is arranged to make new employees familiar with culture of organisation, technical
skill development, on the job training, soft skill development. It is essential part of every
company to give training to its members to improve performance of company (Lee and et.al,
2019).
CONCLUSION
From the report it can be concluded that, there are some contemporary issues in human
resource management are, increasing competition in market, globalised marketplace,
compensation policies, adapting to innovation, management changes and changing laws and

regulations. With change in technology and rapid growth in environmental factors some
emerging trends are on the job training is provided to employees to improve their skills, artificial
intelligence is used by inter continental hotel to recruit candidates. Job description and person
specification is described and process of performance management within hospitality industry to
minimise staff turnover, identify training needs and enhance promotion is described. Further,
critically analysis of HR policies like, recruitment and selection , training and development is
discussed.

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Chai,W.,HumanResourceManagement[Online].AvailableThrough:<https://
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