A Report on the HR Challenges at Huntsman Hotel in the UK

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the human resource management challenges faced by Huntsman Hotel. It identifies key issues such as high employee turnover, ineffective recruitment practices, and a lack of employee development opportunities. The report highlights the negative impact of the autocratic leadership style and the issues arising from the family-dominated ownership structure. It offers recommendations for improving the work culture, including fair compensation strategies, effective recruitment and selection processes, and comprehensive training programs to address language barriers and enhance employee skills. The report also discusses the implications of these issues on the hotel's productivity, reputation, and expansion plans, particularly in the context of its venture into the French market. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of implementing HR policies that foster employee engagement, job satisfaction, and a positive work environment. The report concludes by stressing the need for the HR department to play a more strategic role in aligning human capital with the organization's business goals, ensuring a productive and motivated workforce.

Management of Human
Resources
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
1 Identification of Huntsman Hotel HR issues............................................................................3
2 Recommendations for a change in the existing work culture..................................................5
3 Implications related to the management people at Huntsman hotel.........................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is the process of hiring and developing an employees in
order to they become more valuable to the organization. HR department is primarily concerned
with the management of people within an organization and focuses on policies and on system. It
includes several resources like job analyses, planning personnel needs and recruit the right
people for right job (Jiang, Lepak, Hu, and Baer, 2012). It also provide direction towards the
accomplishment of managerial goal. The present case study is based on the managing human
resources and to understand this, Huntsman Hotel case study is taking in to consideration. It is
one of the top leading hotel in UK where it has offered wide range of services to the customer at
affordable prices. Through this case study Huntsman has a poor reputation for managing its staff
people. Most of senior position are hold for the family person and they have majority of
remaining company shares.
1 Identification of Huntsman Hotel HR issues
Every HR department faces problems both in running of their departmental functions and
in the consistent enforcement of policies across the company. Above this case study they faces
problem of high employee turn over rate especially at senior level management. Employees are
the lifeblood of every company so that hotel needs to invest significant time and money in order
to achieve maximum productivity (Meredith Belbin, 2011). Employment retention is possible
when fine balancing between the company culture, remuneration and their incentives. The
second major challenge for HR department is to recruit attractive talent and retain for a longer
time period. Hotel follows the flat communication structure where most of decisions are made by
the director Giuseppe, they follows autocratic leadership style. They does not follow a fair
remuneration structure it causes issues and conflicts between the employees sometimes it is the
big reason for leaving the organization. Company expand its operations in France but they have
not efficient staff for managing the operations and faces some problems regarding to customer
services. Mangers and staff of a hotel is not flexible and they can't easy to move between
countries. Some of staff members have problem to fluently speak in French. Management of
people is the big weakness of an organization because it hampers the company productivity and
morale. There are several competitors which includes Travelodge, Premier Inns and Ibis. These
competitors makes greater impact on the operational productivity and sometimes booking will be
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can-celled due inefficient service which damages the reputation and causes frustration among the
staff members. Several staff members have not opportunity to held company shares because 51%
of shares are held by the managing director of Huntsman and remaining shares are held by the
family people who hold the senior position in the hotel. Managing of people is the key weakness
of hotel, they resist to adopt the changes and consequently they faces high rate of employee
turnover which affects the hotel reputation along with productivity. They are very concerned
about their recruitment and selection processes and to acquire attractive talent in order to
improve the efficiency and staff can be redeployed in to different roles when shortage occur.
Flatter communication channel is flow from top to bottom where decisions are taken by the top
management of an organization. They also faces industrial disputes with Huntsman in past and
try to improve relation in present. Sometimes junior staff faces favoritism issues and they are
blamed for a wrong things. Shortage of staff in the France also a key issue for expanding the
business because UK based mangers and staff members doesn't have an interest to go outside the
country.
Training is an essential part for employee development in order to get best result from
workforce so that hotel also suffer with those people and mangers who can't speak in France.
Proper training program helps in to improvement in the language understanding and productivity
of the customer service. Health and safety records helps in to keep employees safe at work and
ensure about that company is meeting its legal obligations towards both of them. Hotel desire to
reduce discrimination it will be required to demonstrate their progress towards their goal.
Outsources of employees is the big task and present new challenges to meet the internal
standards and requirements. Payroll department has responsibility to provide accurate payments
to staff because some employees faces the fair remuneration about salary, benefits, bonuses all
these things are distributed according to their dedication and competency which helps in to
maintain morale and prevent future pay problems due to the dissemination employees are
discourage towards the work. HR department provide interface between the company policies
and staff (Ployhart, and Moliterno, 2011). It is the department where queries are solved regarding
to the issues, disputes and work related. Many of the weaknesses are exist in the employees skill
which is Lack of soft such as creativity, adaptability or good interpersonal communication skill
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reduces the work quality. lack of technical expertise and work experience also create inefficiency
in the desirableness of work.
2 Recommendations for a change in the existing work culture
Effective human resources management policies is the essential element for the success
of any organization. A fundamental step in creating HR management policies and procedures is
to develop a plan and all are working towards the same goal. Organization value is based on its
human capital and their quality. HR functions are administrative focused functions which are the
extension of business strategy. Huntsman Hotel faces employees turn over problem. They does
not have an ability to retain the employees for a longer time period because they do not follow
the fair remuneration and wages structure so that it creates the conflict among them which in turn
to increases the high turn over ratio. The concept of favoritism also makes a negative impact on
the employee productivity because this policy discourage the employees towards their dedication
of work along with their competency level. Reward, bonus and other benefits should be provided
on the the basis of their quality of work. Major part of company shares are hold by the managing
director which is approximate 51% of total company and remaining shares are hold by the family
members who hold senior position in the organization so that junior level of employees have less
chances to held company share which reduces the self development opportunity (Oechsler,
2011). Risk and reward should be emphasis on the employee work quality and their dedication
towards the work. Compensation and benefit policies and procedures begin with developing
compensation strategy. compensation plan should be documented along with functional steps for
effective implementation which helps in to attract and retention of employees capacity. Effective
compensation strategy makes distinct advantage over their competitors if below market
compensation strategy influence the risk of high employee turn over and compromise with less
qualified workers which reduces the customer service productivity. Effective recruitment and
selection procedure creates the importance and value of an human capital. Recruitment
procedure is not only based on the favoritism employment. Recruitment philosophy provides
equal opportunity but it provides more specific recruiting procedures which includes
identification of staffing need, job posting and interview steps. All these steps should be
effectively followed for selecting the right people for right job at right time. Workplace policies
and standard of operating procedures should be ethical in manner which reduces the situation of
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employee harassment. Working hours, pay information, benefits and performance expectations
are core topics are included in the strategy planning of workplace. An equal employment
opportunity policy and zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment should be a part of the
organization code conduct. These policies helps in to provide a safe working environment in
which employees feel like valued contributors. Language language barrier should be overcome
by the extensive training program which enhances the employee capability and they can move
outside the country without any hesitation like lack of knowledge, inefficiency in language
understanding and other management problems. Following policies and structure are to be used
are beneficial for employees in way tom retain the employees for a longer time period. Employee
compensation, bonus and wages program should be made according to their qualification and
their competency level of work. They want to invite larger hotel group for the takeover of the
hotel in the next few years where ventures have need for capital injection for the survival of
business activities in order to some sort of profit and make sustainable image in market place.
Huntsman Hotel manager Giuseppe decided that half on the new hotels will be establish in
France but managing of staff in France is a critical task and no one staff member of UK wants to
go outside the country because they have some kind of language problem and their cultural issue
which are not in favorable of nature. Human resource management is not only engaged for
securing and developing the talent of individual employee but also be concerned about the
communication and coordination between the employees in order to nurture organizational
development (Gruman, and Saks, 2011). The basic responsibility of HR department is job
analysis and staffing, effective utilization of workforce, monitors the work performance in order
to give individual feedback and provide reward according to their performance. Human resource
maintenance facilities are engaged by the health and safety administration usually entails with
the federal laws which protects the employees from the hazards at workplace. Reward system are
typically managed by the HR department as well as other function. It is an essential feature for
the retention of employees in which organization provide reward to their employees against their
work performance in past and gives incentives for higher performance in the future.
3 Implications related to the management people at Huntsman hotel
From the given scenario HR person main role has moves beyond the personnel
management- routine activities such as administration of payroll and benefits but it plays a
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pivotal role in developing people strategy which supports the organization business goal. The
most valuable resource for an organization is its human capital, Human resources policies
provides the workplace structure and guidelines for the most effective use of human capital. The
implications of human resources policies means utilization of human capital in right in right way
in form of better human engagement, effective job satisfaction and most important facor is
impressive bottom line.
Recruitment and selection- Policies regarding to recruitment and selection are the framework
for taking decisions in process of hiring. It is established by the person who have knowledge
about the employment law and shape the policies based on the federal, state and local regulations
for employment practices. The recruitment and selection are to be framed in order to provide
equal opportunity to everyone. It is essential for building a productive workforce which helps in
retention of employment.
Training and development- Training and development policy provides benefits to its workforce
and organization. Organization appoints the qualified and expert trainer that offers the training
regarding to the skill improvement, professional development and leadership training all these
key element helps in the success of an organization. It is important for demonstrating the
company interest in employees developmental needs like french language and other country
organizational structure it helps in when expanding the business operations across the globe. Its
main motive is to enhancement in the skill level at the workplace and deliver effective services to
its customers which increases the productivity.
Workplace safety- Health and safety policies are to be designed in order where employees feel
comfortable with company policy and protect against well being. All the safety and health
policies are framed under consideration of federal and state regulations which are governed by
agency like United state occupational safety and health administration. Safety policies are
regarding to the workplace violence and gives the reward for employees for injury free month.
Strict guidance are to be given for safety at workplace which helps in to wastage of human
capital.
Performance management- Company mangers are responsible for the effective circulation of
necessary tools and information which helps them in understanding for company performance
expectations (Daley, 2012). Human resource policies are an essential part for supervising and
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management of duties. Performance management is the integral tool for the success of an
organization it is a ongoing or continuous process for monitoring and evaluating the individual
and group performance. It the describes the qualitative performance in order to create effective
goal attainment. Performance management policies establish a platform for recognizing the
individual employee contribution in the goal. Due to this company can achieve high productivity
in customer service and job satisfaction along with less turn over rate. Developing and
implementation of human resource policies are essential responsibility for HR. Implications of
the recommendations are fruitful which helps in reducing risk and increases return. It can be
useful for future development and enhancement in the revenue for the better position in the
market place. Analytical skill also be enhances with the performance management in makes a
positive contribution in the success of an organization.
All the human resource activities are monitor and explore by the management of people which
provides the integration in the whole over activities. Use of various tools and techniques helps in
expansion of several business activities in order to create wider network and serve to the mass
people in order to generate larger revenue. Human resources gives various strategic tools for the
improvement in the existing services and provides development guideline in order to achieve to
accomplishment certain task. Several tools and techniques are to be used for the extensive
development of human resource principles and policies which provides guidelines for the
effective completion of project. All the recommendations are successfully implement which
creates healthy and sustainable environment at the workplace of an organization. Organization
value is based on its human capital and their quality. HR functions are administrative focused
functions which are the extension of business strategy (Guest, 2011). Compensation and benefit
policies and procedures begin with developing compensation strategy. Effective compensation
plan may be documented along with their suitable functional steps in order to for effective
implement ion along with attract and retention of employees capacity.
CONCLUSION
From the above stated case study, it can be concluded that management of personnel is
the key component for the success of an organization. In case of Huntsman Hotel it face the
problem of high employment turn over ratio which reduces the productivity of customer service.
It has contained several factors that cannot be controlled by the firm. These have made both
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positive and negative impact over the companies (Daley, 2012). Fair remuneration program to be
adopted by the firm which attracts the personnel and helps in to retain for a longer time period.
effective training and development program provides opportunity towards the enhancement in
the work related knowledge, reduces the language barrier and self development opportunity as
well helps in the organizational growth. Hotel wants to invite the takeover large group for the
capital injection which helps in smooth functioning of day to day operations and provides
lifeblood for the survival in the market place. Flatter organization structure is also a complicated
because all the decisions are made by top authority some times it creates delay in the decision
making which hamper the productivity so that democratic type leadership style to be used for
timely functioning with greater productivity but all functions are monitors by the top level
authority.
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REFERENCES
Journals
Guest, D.E., 2011. Human resource management and performance: still searching for some
answers. Human resource management journal. 21(1). pp.3-13.
Jiang, K., Lepak, D.P., Hu, J. and Baer, J.C., 2012. How does human resource management
influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating
mechanisms. Academy of management Journal. 55(6). pp.1264-1294.
Meredith Belbin, R., 2011. Management teams: Why they succeed or fail.Human Resource
Management International Digest. 19(3).
Daley, D.M., 2012. Strategic human resource management. Public Personnel Management.
pp.120-125.
Kehoe, R.R. and Wright, P.M., 2013. The impact of high-performance human resource practices
on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of management. 39(2), pp.366-391.
Vörösmarty, C.J., McIntyre, P.B., Gessner, M.O., Dudgeon, D., Prusevich, A., Green, P.,
Glidden, S., Bunn, S.E., Sullivan, C.A., Liermann, C.R. and Davies, P.M., 2010. Global
threats to human water security and river biodiversity. Nature. 467(7315). pp.555-561.
Gruman, J.A. and Saks, A.M., 2011. Performance management and employee engagement.
Human Resource Management Review. 21(2). pp.123-136.
Ployhart, R.E. and Moliterno, T.P., 2011. Emergence of the human capital resource: A multilevel
model. Academy of Management Review. 36(1). pp.127-150.
Books
Oechsler, W.A., 2011. Personal und Arbeit: Grundlagen des Human Resource Management und
der Arbeitgeber-Arbeitnehmer-Beziehungen. Walter de Gruyter.
Cascio, W. and Boudreau, J., 2010. Investing in people: Financial impact of human resource i
nitiatives. Ft Press.
Renz, D.O., 2016. The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. John
Wiley & Sons.
Scullion, H. and Collings, D., 2011. Global talent management. Routledge.
Knowles, M.S., Holton III, E.F. and Swanson, R.A., 2014. The adult learner: The definitive
classic in adult education and human resource development. Routledge.
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Online
Implications for HR management function and practice. 2017. [online]. Available
through<http://futurehrtrends.eiu.com/report-2016/implications-for-hr-management-
function-and-practice/>. [Accessed on 14th March2017].
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