People Management and Development in the Hospitality Industry IHG

This report discusses the concepts of staff development and engagement within the hospitality industry, using InterContinental Hotels Group plc (IHG) as a case study. It defines the performance management process, outlining the stages of planning, monitoring, developing, rating, and rewarding, and how these stages are implemented within IHG. The report also explores the planning and delivery of employee training programs, highlighting the importance of identifying training needs, establishing goals, creating action plans, implementing initiatives, and evaluating performance. Furthermore, it examines factors that influence employee engagement, both positively (career development, flexibility, fair pay) and negatively (inadequate education, poor relationships), and discusses leadership traits and styles relevant to IHG, emphasizing the role of leadership in achieving organizational effectiveness. The report concludes by linking leadership with performance, emphasizing the leader's role in guiding employees toward meeting targets and enhancing the company's competitive position.

MANAGING AND
DEVELOPING PEOPLE IN
THE HOSPITALITY
INDUSTRY
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Hospitality industry is a broad category of fields which are offering a variety of services,
such as- lodging, food and drink, event planning, theme parks, travel and tourism and more.
Leading, managing and developing people is a critical practice that helps an organization in
delegating the roles and responsibilities through which they can successfully manage the
activities of the organization. Training and development is the practice of management that
supports the company in developing the skills and competencies of employees through which
they can effectively perform the assigned task and activities that will support them in
accomplishing the assigned job roles and responsibilities. InterContinental Hotels Groups plc
(IHG) is a British international hotel chain that is founded in April, 2003 by Juan Trippe. The
company is operating with a number of brands that are operated under their brand name which
are- Six Sense, Regent Hotels and Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and more
(About Us, 2022). This report will be discussing about the concepts of staff development and
engagement. The assessment will define performance management process, planning and
delivering learning programmes that can be followed by employees of the selected hotel chain.
The project will outline factors which can influence engagement for staff development and will
outline leadership traits and styles that will be followed within the hotel.
TASK
Performance management process is a collaborative and communication based
approach where employees and management work together to plan, monitor and review the
objectives of employees, long term objectives and supports in development and process of the
company. The performance management process plays a crucial role in human resource
department which helps in enhancing the overall organizational productivity and performance of
the company which also supports in ensuring business success. The process of performance
management is continuous where employees and management can share their feedback through
which they can enhance the performance of employees and overall organization (Performance
Management Process, 2020). This continuous and systematic process of performance
management assist companies in meeting organizational objectives by focusing on different
stages, that are- planning, monitoring, developing, rating and rewarding.
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Planning is the first stage of performance management process that focuses on planning
organizational goals, creating a development plan and reviewing job description. Planning is the
first stage where InterContinental Hotel will be defining the hob roles in the given job
description through which hotel can attract more number of candidates (Dutt, Phelps and Scott,
2020). In case of InterContinental Hotel, the hotel will share the objectives and duties that must
be accomplished by their employees after selecting the desirable candidate for the company.
Monitoring is the second stage in which the managers of organisation are required to
track and monitor the performance of employees through which contribution to organization can
be evaluated. In this phase, InterContinental Hotel will be fowling this continuous process of
evaluating the progress and performance of employees that will assist them in identifying the
deviations between the performance standards and actual performance. InterContinental Hotel
will be using performance management software through which they can keep a track of
performance standards that has been achieved by their employees Such practices will support in
planning innovative measures that can enhance the performance standard in near future.
Developing is the stage in which the company makes use of data that has been gathered
throughout the stage of monitoring by observing the performance of their employees (What Is
Performance Management?, 2020). This stage focuses on making valuable use of information
and progress report that has been evaluated through which the company can plan innovative
strategies which will support in developing the skills and competencies of employees. In case of
InterContinental Hotel, the hotel will plan training and development strategies through which
they can improve the knowledge and performance of their employees that will also enhance their
performance and lead to organizational success.
Rating is the phase of performance management in which the performance of employees
are rated through which the companies can rate their employees accordingly and offer them
appraisal accordingly. In case of InterContinental Hotel, the international hotel chain follows the
rating method through which they can evaluate the performance of their employees according to
their contribution in the organization through which the hotel can also plan and execute change
accordingly. The InterContinental Hotel follows MBO and 360-degree feedback through which
they can evaluate the performance of their employees and rate, reward and appraise them
according to their participation in meeting organizational objectives.
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Rewarding is the last stage of performance management which focuses on rewarding
employees for their valuable contribution and effective performance in the industry. This is one
of the crucial stage where recognizing and rewarding play essential role in boosting morale of
employees through which their performance standard can be enhanced and will also lead to
higher employee engagement in the organization. In relation to InterContinental Hotel, the hotel
will be focusing on recognizing and rewarding their employees through which they can increase
employee engagement and boost their motivation level in the company. The hotel will be
offering social recognition, organize full-scale employee reward program and offer additional
benefits and bonuses through which the hotel can create a sense of appraisal among employees
where they can feel values on the behalf of the hotel which will create positive impact on their
interest within the hotel and on their performance that will also enhance the organizational
performance and efficiency.
Employee training and development is an ongoing process where companies support
their employees to gain knowledge and skills through which they can reach their potential and
deliver optimum performance ( Josh Brown, 2019). The training and development of employees
is essential as this support the InterContinental hotel in ensuring higher productivity, retaining
greater number of employees, leading to higher employee engagement and will also support in
securing long term organizational success. In case of InterContinental Hotels, the hotel follows
various stages of employee training through which they can develop the skills and competencies
of their employees.
The first stage of training plan is to identify the training needs of employees where the
hotel will be evaluating the performance of their employees with the performance standards that
needs to be accomplished through which the training requirements can be determined.
Establishing goals for training is the second stage that is followed by the InterContinental Hotels
where they focus on planning the objectives that needs to be accomplished by the employees and
organization. In this stage, the InterContinental Hotel will be planning and communicate the
training objectives that will be focused in the training program (Heinrichs, 2018). In the next
stage, InterContinental Hotels will be focusing on creating training action plan where the
management of hotel creates a layout through which they can develop the skill, competencies
and knowledge of their employees. In the next stage, InterContinental Hotels will be
implementing training initiatives through which they can put the planned strategy into action and
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enhance the performance of their employees that will support them in delivering quality
customer experience ad will foster job satisfaction to their employees. Evaluating and revising
performance will be the last stage of training and leaning program of InterContinental Hotels
where the management will the effectiveness of the training program that has been conducted by
the hotel through which they can plan and take future development initiatives.
Employee engagement is the concept of human resource management that plays a vital
role in ensuring business success and this can be considered as the outcome of job satisfaction
and employee morale (TIM SMITH, 2020). In order to increase employee engagement, an
organization is required to develop an emotional connection with their employees through which
positive organisational culture can be maintained. Staff development is the process of
developing, skills, competencies and knowledge of employees working in the organisation. The
practice of staff development focuses on enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of
individuals through which they can effectively contribute in accomplishing the organizational
targets and support in strengthening the brand name and position of the company within the
industry. There are various factors that are responsible to create an impact on employee
engagement and such factors can create positive as well as negative impact.
Some of the factors that can increase and create positive impact on the employee
engagement are career development opportunities, flexibility at workplace, fair pay structure,
adopting a learning culture, cultural diversity, transparency in workplace, communication,
employee recognition, employee and employer relations are the factors that can increase
employee engagement within the organization (Heryati R, 2022). By recognizing and rewarding
employees can maximize employee potential which will create a better and stronger performance
through which the company can also increase the level of engagement of employees within the
company. In case of Intercontinental hotel, the hotel focuses on maintaining effective
communication through which they can build strong relationship and understanding that will
boot employee interests within the hotel. By maintaining transparency, cultural diversity and
flexibility, this helps in in boosting employee motivation level and deliver job satisfaction
through which the global hotel chain increases employee engagement within the hotel. The
future career growth opportunities, fair wages and opportunity to learn and develop new skills
and competencies can bring various future career growth opportunities that are also focused by
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InterContinental Hotel for increasing the employee engagement and enhance employee
performance within the hotel.
There are various factors which are also responsible for leading to low employee
engagement in the organization as well. Some the factors that causes poor employee engagement
are- inadequate education, inability to affect change, poor relationship development, lack of
motivation are the factors that can hinder the performance and interest of employees through
which the employee engagement within the organization can be reduced as well (Erin Schreiner,
2022). The lack of motivation is responsible for creating a negative impact on the performance
standards of the employee which can also reduce the interest and engagement of employees
within the organization. In context of InterContinental Hotel, due to poor employee and
employer relationship, this can create significant impact on the performance of employees that
can lead to lack of employee engagement within the hotel. Due to lack of knowledge and poor
skills and competencies, such factors also negatively influence the ability and performance of
employees of InterContinental Hotel to perform effectively which also decreases their motivation
level and interest in company activities and leads to poor employee engagement in the hotel.
Leadership is the act of motivating group of people through which people can accomplish
a common goal. Leadership is the act of inspiring others through which business leaders can
direct employees to act accordingly through which they can meet business targets and enhance
the competitive position of company within the industry (SUSAN WARD, 2020). Leadership is
linked with performance and it is the role of business leaders through which they can guide and
direct employees for meetings the targets and accomplish organisational effectiveness.
Leadership traits are the personal qualities and abilities that guides individuals, teams and
organizations towards meeting the corporate goals. In case of InterContinental Hotel, the
business leaders of the hotel use their leadership skills and characteristics through which they can
create path to business excellence. Some of the leadership traits that has been reflected in the
business leaders of InterContinental Hotel are their accountability skills, adaptability skills,
confidence, creativity, focus, positive attitude, problem solving ability, empathy, stability, team
spirit, communication and more. Leadership style is the approach and behaviour of leaders of
directing, motivating and managing people. The leadership styles of business leaders of
InterContinental Hotel follows different leadership styles through which they can strategize and
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implement plans through which they can meet the expectations of their stakeholders and enhance
the well-being and performance of their team.
The leadership traits plays a crucial role in making an effective leader and the
accountability skills are the ability of leader to take responsibility of their work and performance
of the team. In relation to InterContinental Hotel, the business leaders of hotel take full
responsibility of their team where they praise well performing employees through which they
can engage in activities that can build a sense of accountability in the organization and will also
support in improving the performance standards of the employees. The other leadership traits of
business leaders of InterContinental Hotel focus on driving creativity in the hotel where they
encourage their employees to contribute in discussing innovative ideas that can be helpful in
meeting the company goals in most effective manner and also support in maintaining a positive
organizational culture.
Autocratic leadership styles is the leadership approach of giving direction to employees
and asking them to do as the management has directed them to do (Bruna Martinuzzi, 2021). In
case of InterContinental hotel, the business leaders of the hotel follows autocratic leadership
style which is the style of command and control approach of leading and guiding the team
through which they can meet the targets and form crucial decisions that can help the hotel meet
their targets and maximize the profitability of the hotel chain.
Democratic leadership is the leadership style where the business leaders take part with
their employees in the decision making process of the company. In case of InterContinental
Hotel, the hotel chain follows democratic leadership style where the business leaders of the hotel
focuses on encouraging their employees to take part in managerial activities through which they
can engage in planning innovative ideas that can enhance the organizational efficiency and
effectiveness that can support in meeting the business goals.
The another leadership style that is followed by the business leaders of InterContinental
Hotel is Coaching. The approach of coaching helps the business leaders to provide required
training through which they can encourage their employees to perform effectively through which
they can ensure higher organizational performance can be deliver that can bring various
advantages to the company (Parrott and et.al, 2019). By following this leadership style, the
business leaders of the hotel focus on developing and maximize the potential of employees
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through which they can deliver effective performance that can bring various advantages to the
organization and support company in meeting targets.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be summarized that performance management is the
approach that is helpful in managing the performance of employees within the organization
through which their performance standards can be maintained. The process of performance
management is continuous and systematic through which a company can maintain the
performance standards of their employees and can also drive various benefits, such as incline in
employee engagement and higher employee motivation in the company. As per the project
employee training is one of the essential practice that is helpful in developing the skills and
competencies through which employees can effectively perform and meet targets of the
organization.
This will also support in maintain the competitive position of the company within
dynamic business environment. According to the report, there are various factors which are
responsible for creating a positive as well as negative impact on the engagement of employees
within the organisation. Leadership is the act of guiding and inspiring people through which they
can meet the planned objectives and bring the required change in most effective and efficient
manner. There are various leadership styles that can be followed by business leaders according to
their traits and approaches of leading a team which can differ from one another.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Dutt, S., Phelps, M. and Scott, K. M., 2020. Curricular change and delivery promotes teacher
development and engagement. Higher Education Research & Development. 39(7).
pp.1425-1439
Heinrichs, J., 2018. School leadership based in a philosophy and pedagogy of parent
engagement. School Leadership & Management. 38(2). pp.187-201.
Parrott, L and et.al., 2019. Understanding key drivers of staff and manager engagement: linking
research to leadership. Nurse Leader. 17(3). pp.248-252.
Online
About Us, 2022. IHG HOTELS AND RESORTS [Online]. Available through
<https://www.ihgplc.com/en/about-us>
Performance Management Process, 2020 [Online]. Available through
<https://www.valamis.com/hub/performance-management-process>
What Is Performance Management?, 2020 [Online]. Available through
<https://www.toolbox.com/hr/performance-management/articles/what-is-performance-
management/>
TIM SMITH, 2020. Employee Engagement [Online]. Available through
<https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/employee-engagement.asp>
Heryati R, 2022. 10 Factors Contributing to Employee Engagement [Online]. Available through
<https://inside.6q.io/10-factors-contributing-employee-engagement/>
Erin Schreiner, 2022. Reasons for Low Employee Engagement [Online]. Available through
<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/reasons-low-employee-engagement-20028.html>
SUSAN WARD, 2020. What Is Leadership? [Online]. Available through
<https://www.thebalancesmb.com/leadership-definition-2948275>
Bruna Martinuzzi, 2021. Leadership Styles and How to Find Your Own [Online]. Available
through <https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/
articles/the-7-most-common-leadership-styles-and-how-to-find-your-own/>
Josh Brown, 2019. What is Employee Training And Development [Online]. Available through
<https://helpjuice.com/blog/employee-training-development>
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