Human Resource Management Practices in Thomas Cook: A Report

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Human resource management
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Executive Summary
This study provides guidance on the human resource management in service industries. In
the first stage, the roles and purposes of human resource management is provided.
Additionally, the current states of employee relation in he selected service industry.
However, a job description has been provided followed by a person specification.
Recruitment process of two different service industry has been compared for better
guidance. Moreover, importance of training and development has been provided in this
study. This analysis has been performed on human resource management of Thomas Cook.
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Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................4
Task 1......................................................................................................................................5
Task 2......................................................................................................................................7
Task 3......................................................................................................................................9
Task 4....................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................14
Reference list.........................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
Travel and tourism organisations highly contribute to the overall economy of a country and
therefore, are regarded as an influential organisational sector. There are several functional
departments in a travel and tourism organisation and the Human Resource Management
plays a crucial role in the growth as well as development of the organisations. The report will
be depicting the roles and purposes of Human Resource Management of Thomas Cook. The
organisation was established in the year of 1841 and is headquartered in London, England,
United Kingdom. The organisation serves several areas across the global platter and the
products of the organisation include holiday packages, hotels and resorts, scheduled
passenger airlines. The organisation has revenue of £9,584 million and an operating income
of £250 million (Thomascook.com 2019). The report will be depicting the employment
relation within a service sector along with a discussion of a specific job title as well as person
specification.
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Task 1
1.1: Analysing the role and purpose of the Human Resource Management in a
selected service industry
Several functional departments of Thomas Cook have their individual roles as well as
responsibilities for the betterment of the organisation. The Human Resource Management
has to play a crucial role in the development of Thomas Cook. The primary purpose of HRM
is to manage the needs as well as requirements of the human assets of the organisation.
There are several responsibilities of HRM including managing legal and financial matter
including the salaries of the employees, list of holidays, managing pay slips and several
other duties (Deleryand Roumpi 2017). The following depicts the roles of HRM in Thomas
Cook:
 Recruitment: An organisation has to recruit talented employees from the pool of
candidates and has to ensure that they can have a positive impact on the growth as well
as development of the organisation (Arulrajahet al., 2015). HRM has to ensure that they
recruit talented employees from the pool of candidates, which is a tough job as there are
several candidates during an interview session but the organisation cannot recruit all of
them. Therefore, the candidates have to go through a series of questions and rounds.
Candidates that clear the tests are passed for the final interview and then are selected
for the organisation.
 Training and development: Whenever an organisation recruits new employees, the
HRM makes sure that they receive suitable training as well as orientation. The
orientation provides a detailed comprehension of the roles as well as responsibilities of
the employees for the betterment of the organisation (Jhaand Kumar 2016). Training is
provided to the employees to ensure that the skills that are required for the operational
procedures of the organisation are enhanced. The HRM of Thomas Cook has to ensure
that the new employees are provided training regarding the operational procedures. The
new employees are not familiar with the operational procedures of the organisation and
therefore the training and development provided by HRM allows the employees to
provide their best for the development of the organisation
 Mitigate conflicts: Several situations arise conflicts among the employees, which has a
negative impact on the operational procedures of the organisation. The primary role of
HRM is to maintain a suitable ambience within the workplace. Therefore, it is obligatory
for the HRM to mitigate the conflicts among the employees to promote the positive
environment of the workplace.
 Motivation: HRM provides motivation to the employees in order to increase their
productivity as well as efficiency. Several external factors can affect the mindsets of the
employees due to lower sales figures and economic factors. The HRM of Thomas Cook
has to motivate the employees and ensure that the organisation maintain a consistent
development with the pace of time. Providing motivation allows HRM to increase the
efficiency of the organisation and develop suitable relationships with the employees that
is regarded to be of prime importance in the development of the ambience of a
workplace.
1.2: Justify a human resource plan based on the analysis of supply and demand for
Thomas Cook
Being one of the largest travel and tourism organisations, Thomas Cook has to ensure that
they have talented employees that can manage their demands of supply. It is extremely
essential for the HRM to have a detailed knowledge of the employees and the capabilities
that are available now. Hiring new candidates is costly procedures and therefore, the HRM
has to ensure that the need of hiring the employee is measured and the specific skills that
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are required for the development of the organisation in the future (Guest, 2017). The
following depicts a table that visualises the skills inventory of Thomas Cook:
Skill level →
Department↓
Leadership Communicating Teamwork Content
creation
Organisation
Sales 9 8 7 8 8
Marketing 7 7 8 7 7
Quality
assurance
8 9 7 8 8
Human
Resources
7 10 9 8 9
Table 1: Skill inventory
(Source: Created by the learner)
The Human Resource Management has to ensure that the skills that are required by the
organisation in the future are employed suitably. Thomas Cook needs to be prepared for
their future business venture and therefore, the HRM has to ensure that the skill sets of the
candidates include the skills that are not available in the organisation and required for the
future business venture in the travel and tourism industry.
It is obligatory for the HRM to forecast the requirements for the sustainable business venture
of the organisation. There are several responsibilities of the HRM that has to be performed
for forecasting the needs. The following depicts the forecasting:
 Demand forecasting: This emphasises on the quantity that the organisation will be
needing in the future business venture. The number of employees that shall be required
for the business venture of the organisation is forecasted along with the calibre of talent.
 Supply forecasting: This ensures the resources that are required for the development
of the business in the future. It is mandatory for the organisation to measure the
resources that are available in order to fulfil the demand.
Matching demand supply: This procedure involves several HRM procedures and has to
ensure that the available resources match the demand. Therefore, HRM of Thomas Cook
has to recruit employees in accordance to the current needs and the available resources as
well as the supply available in the market (Moutinhoand Vargas-Sanchez2018). Training as
well as hiring new employees are involved in the procedure that shall allow the organisation
to receive favourable outcome in the market.
Development of talent strategies
The skills that are required by the organisation in the existing market have to be assessed by
the HRM and recruit candidates accordingly. The talent that are required by the organisation
can also be developed through training to specific employees that can increase the available
talents of the organisation. The rest of the procedures of the HRM has to be in accordance
with the plan has been developed (Madera, 2017). The demands of the candidates as well
as supply of the resources have to be in accordance of the various talents that are available
in the organisation.
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Task 2
2.1: Assessing the current state of employment relations in a selected services
industry 300
The Human Resource Management has to ensure that the labour market is connected with
the organisation in order to recruit the employees available in the market. The employers
have to maintain suitable relationship with the employees and there are several legal factors
associated with it. The current state of employment relations of Thomas Cook ensures that
the employees have to be recruited based on their talents and skills sets. This allows an
organisation to hire the talents that the organisation lacks. It is obligatorily for the travel and
tourism industries to maintain healthy employment relation. The Human Resource
Management has to provide motivation to the employees and communicate with them in
order to gain the issues that are currently being faced by the employees. This shall allow the
employees to trust the management and deliver their vest for the betterment of the
organisation.
Building relationship with people in the workplace is helpful for ensuring better co-operation
and collaboration in the workplace (Lee and Kim, 2016). Human resource personnel has
developed new policies and behavioural limits for the employees. These policies have
become helpful for avoiding such toxic reasons of conflicts. Conflicts can affect productivity
of the company so that it should be handled carefully. HR department of this organisation
has been able to manage employee relation and avoid these risks. It is stated that the HR
managers have set a common break time for the employees so that they can get enough
time for building connections with others (thomascook.com., 2019). Employees have often
shared their problems with others. In this way, employee mentality has been influenced
positively. The HR department also organises some fun activities and picnic for the
employees so that employee morale can also be boosted. Management of this organisation
has provided with some rewards and benefits. This has helped to improve the relation
between the employer and employees. The hierarchy between the employer and employee
is often responsible for increasing communication gap among them.
In Thomas Cook, the employers have showed respects to the employees so that the
employee has felt comfortable and motivated. Competition in the tourism sector has been
increased and Thomas Cook have been able to maintain its position by providing high
quality services to the customers (thomascook.com., 2019). Quality of service has been
developed significantly by collaborative effort of employees. It has been observed that
employees of Thomas Cook have helped each other while performing any specific task,
which was advantageous for increasing productivity. HR department of this organisation has
managed to create a biasfree and discrimination free working environment, which has been
helpful for accomplishing objectives.
2.2: Discussing how employment law affects the management of human resources in
selected service industry
There are several employment laws that can affect the business operation of the
organisation. The laws will be discussed here for providing better understanding.
Health and safety at work 1974: Health and safety procedures are beneficial for preventing
injuries and illness in a workplace. These procedures are essential for preventing
contamination (hse.gov.uk., 2019). Employee illness can also slow down business
productivity. Health and safety at work 1974 is responsible for posing a general duty of
improving workplace and hygiene and safety on the business organisation. Business
operation of Thomas Cook may be interrupted if it fails to maintain safety equipments and
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systems. Tourists may also switch to another brand due to such safety issues. In this way,
the brand image can also be stained.
Working time regulation act 1998: the working time regulation act helps all the employees
to stipulate minimum rest breaks daily or weekly. This regulation is a statutory instrument of
United Kingdom as per the time directives of EU (legislation.gov.uk., 2019). Working time of
people is generally governed by these regulations. A default rule should be set by
organisations so that it can be ensured that workers are not working more than 48 hours per
week. Violation of this law can be responsible employee turnover. Moreover, an employee
can complain against the hotel authority if this law is being violated. This can affect the
business operation of the company as well as brand image can be influenced negatively.
The
Employment rights act 1996: Employment rights act has the purpose of empowering
employees with their basic rights in the workplace. Employees can take leave for parenting
or illness. This act also covers training, study, termination and others. Protection of wages
and payments has also been ensured by this regulation (cipd.co.uk., 2019). Thomas cook
need to follow these rules and provide their employees with required leaves and other
facilities. Violation of these laws may cause penalties such as monetary fines, cancellation of
license and prison sentences, which will also influence the business operation negatively.
National minimum wage act 2018: The national minimum wage act helps employees to
avail similar and minimum wages across the United Kingdom. According to the latest edition
of this act, Workers aged over 25 will get the £7.83 per hour. Workers aged between 21-24
will and 18-20 will get £7.38 and £5.90 accordingly (legislation.gov.uk., 2019). Human
resource management of Thomas Cook can be disrupted if it fails to maintain similar pay
scale. Employee turnover rate also increases, which affect the growth of organisation
negatively. Corporate image of the brand can be affected and very less people will want to
work with such company so that this law should be followed by the organisation so that
employee retention can be maintained.
Equality act 2010: This act is responsible for empowering employees to complain against
any unfair treatments. Human resource management department needs to ensure that no
discrimination or harassment is being encouraged in the workplace (gov.uk., 2015).
Discrimination, harassment and favouritism affects employee morale negatively. Productivity
of the organisation can also be reduced due to these reasons. Business operation of
Thomas Cook can be ceased if such laws are violated.
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Task 3
3.1: Discussion of a job description and person specification for a selected service
industry job
Job description and Person specification 300
Job description is the statement that is based on the job analysis for a particular work. It
mainly contains roles, responsibilities and designation based on which the selection of the
candidate is done.
The job description has been prepared for the post of tourism officer in Thomas Cook that
has been mentioned below:
Job title: Tourism general manager
Report to: Reception hall of Thomas Cook, UK
Job overview: The role of the tourism general manager is combine with marketing,
management and public relation. It includes different types of planning and preparation.
Tourism officer is the one that works for developing and enhancing the experiences of
visitors. This member needs to guide the tourists using different innovative concepts.
Tourism officer need to promote tourism and devise the initiatives of tourist development
with the aim of increasing and generating revenue.
Duties and responsibilities:
 Supervising staff
 Preparing information of the visitor
 Production of promotional displays and materials
 Management of budgets
 Writing reports, press releases and business plans
 Making of presentations
 Maintaining of financial and statistical record
 Undertaking of administration and day-to-day centre management
 Market research
 Making connection with media and local businesses
Qualifications:
 Graduation degree in travel and tourism, leisure and marketing
 Relevant experience of work is required
 Experience received in information work or tourist spot such as museums and
national parks
 Commercial area such as marketing and sales can be helpful
Key skills required for the post:
 Communication skills
 Interpersonal skills
 Organizational skills
 IT skills
 Adaptability
 Enthusiasm
 Confidence
 Resourcefulness
Table 2: Job description
(Source: Created by learner)
For the post of tourism general manager, the individual must have certain qualities for
performing the tasks and activities effectively. This is important for dealing with the critical
situation in a sophisticated manner. The officer must be able to manage the multitasking
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activities together at a time. The tourism general manager at Thomas Cook should have
technical skills for keeping the staffs and all projects on track. The manager also needs to
have financial skills for optimisation of financial resources as well as budgets are allocated in
the proper manner in different departments of tourism (based on the viewpoint of Perova et
al. 2018). Moreover, communication skills both verbal and non-verbal are required largely for
proper instructions can be provided to the staff members.
Person specification includes skills, qualification, and educational description of a candidate.
This helps the recruiters to find a suitable candidate for a specific job role. A person
specification is provided below for understanding (Davies and McDonald, 2018):
Person specification
Elements Required Desirable
skills  The candidate have
to know at least one
foreign and one
regional languages
 Must participate in
the decision making
processes
 Knowledge of basic
computer is required
 The candidate must
have team working
capacity
 Enthusiasm and
confidence is
required
 Knowledge of more
than two languages is
desirable
 The candidate should
suggest innovative
ideas into the
decision-making
process
 Quick decision-
making skill is
desirable
 IT skills of handling
latest software and e-
commerce is
desirable
 Team leading attitude
will be preferred
 Motivational skills will
also be proffered
Qualification  The candidate must
be degree of
graduation
 Master’s degree will
be preferred
 Experienced and
trained candidates
will be preferred
Table 3: Person specification
(Source: Created by learner)
It can be observed that the post of tourism general manager requires several skills.
Recruiters will be able to identify suitable candidate by analysing the person specification.
This specification shows that the candidate must have knowledge on a foreign and regional
language so that they can be able to communicate with tourists and local people. An
employee can be able to suggest new and innovative ideas by participating to a decision-
making process. However, quick decision-making skill is desirable for handling sudden
challenges (Simon, 2016). These skills will be helpful for contributing to the growth of the
organisation. A tourism manager needs to work with several people such as customer
service manager, transportation agent and others for managing a project successfully. Team
working skill is required for co-operating and collaborating with other employees.
Motivational skills help to develop performance level of employees so that this skills is
required for team development. It can be observed that the graduate fresher will be eligible
for this post but experienced candidates will be preferred, as they have gained experience in
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this field. Experience will be helpful for understanding management strategies of other
organisations as well.
3.2: Comparing the selection process of different service industry business
The selection process of two organisations will be compared for better guidance. Thomas
Cook’s recruitment of tourism management will be compared to the recruitment process of
customer service manager of Hilton hotel
Comparison base Tourism manager in
Thomas cook
Customer service manager
in Hilton hotel
Advertisements The organisation will have to
prepare some job description
for attracting talented
candidates. Personnel of this
department will analyse the
job role and list out the skills
and duties that are required
for performing this job role.
The organisation will
advertise the role through
online job portals and
websites.
Human resource manager of
Hilton hotel checks if there
are vacancies for
recruitment. They analyses
those vacancies for
preparing job description and
advertises through online
portals or newspaper. The
recruiter also prepares
person specification for the
job role so that they can be
able to pick suitable
candidate easily.
assessment HR managers of Thomas
Cook prepares for
questionnaire and interview
processes for taking tests
and conducting interviews.
There are five rounds of
recruitment process of
Thomas Cook such as
aptitude test, verbal and
logical reasoning test;
computer skills tests, group
discussion, and face-to-face
interview with HR
(thomascook.com., 2019).
Participants will have to
qualify all of these five
stages for being recruited in
this job role.
There are three stages of
recruitment for recruiting a
customer service manager in
Hilton hotel. Candidates
need to give test on basic
aptitude and communication
test. Selected candidates will
be able to participate in the
face-to-face interview with
HR This is the final stage of
recruitment (Paraskevas and
Brookes, 2018).
Post assessment In this stage, the human
resource personnel will
require to check the resumes
and interview performances.
They will require checking
the scores of candidates that
they have achieved in
different tests. They will have
to analyse the skills of
candidates with the desired
skills so that they can be
able to identify most suitable
candidate. In this way, the
In the post recruitment
stage, the HR personnel will
require to analyse person
specification with the
resumes of candidates. The
organisation will select some
candidates for the job role
and send them trainee offer
letter (Gibbs et al., 2015).
After giving one month
training, the human resource
manager will select suitable
person based on their
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suitable candidate will be
recruited.
performance during the
training period.
Selection After selection, the HR
manager prepares offer letter
and make decision on the
joining date and
compensation of tourism
manager. The offer letter is
sent to the selected
candidate.
After final selection, another
offer letter is provided to the
selected candidate. HR
manager talks to the
candidate for understanding
his or her desired pay scale.
In this way, decision of
compensation is made.
Finally, the offer letter is sent
to the candidate to let him or
her know about their joining
date and compensation.
Employee handbook is also
provided to the freshly
recruits.
Table 4: Comparison between the recruitment processes
(Source: Created by learner)
Recruitment processes of Thomas Cook and Hilton hotel is discussed here. Hilton hotel
operates business in hospitality sector. This can be observed from the above table that the
recruitment processes are partially similar for both the organisation. This can be observed
that there are five stages of recruitment in Thomas Cook. The recruitment process in Hilton
hotel is conducted in three stages. Hilton group selects candidates for training and selects
the suitable candidate from them for recruitment. However, Thomas Cook recruits
employees directly. Hilton hotel provide employees with handbooks with offer letter unlike
Thomas Cook. Thomas Cook needs to provide employees with the employment contracts
and handbook for avoiding misunderstandings.

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