Social, Professional, Financial, and Managerial Issues in the Hospitality Industry - Essay Example

Analysis of the social, professional, financial and managerial issues that occur in the hospitality industry INTRODUCTION The hospitality industry in this day and age is faced with numerous challenges and critiques especially in its management. Australia being at the forefront in tackling this issues is to be able to consider certain areas of management such as social issues, managerial, financial and professional aspects in the industry. The social aspect is significant in any given work environment and takes into consideration how the staff relates to each other and also how the employers are to deal with this kind of relationship (Irving, 1979). The social aspects not only relate to staff-staff relationship but also to that of the individual himself within the work environment. Managing any particular industry is also a daunting task in how the one runs the particular system. A manager is to use available skills to ensure that those who are employed adhere to certain codes of conduct and also give adequate modes of working. Communication as a good tool in management of any given work setting is also important because it is a tool for dealing with both clients and also the customers (Service Skills Australia, 2010). Professionalism is usually an essential element in any workplace. The employee and employers are to be able to have good and quality professional standards in how they deal with the clients and in their day to day interactions within the workplace. Professionalism is also important in boosting the total management and workability in the industry. Finance, as one would positively assert, lies at the heart of any industry. in the hospitality sector, finance is key in providing the day to day running of the activities, payment of workers and to an extent provision of taxes and enables the industry to fulfil its corporate social responsibilities to the industry players. In any given sector, finance is an important element in ensuring that there is proper management of the industry. The Social Aspects in the Workplace The workplace is a diverse institution in which a set of individuals or commonly the staff interact despite the fact that they are from different cultural and social backgrounds. A proper guideline needs to be in place to adequately cover the relationship of the staff in the working environment. In the industry, an award is usually considered to be a legal document that binds employers to provide certain minimum conditions for their employees. Essentially, this should be in place to ensure that the staff members work within the provided code of conduct. In essence contracts of employment also provide the conditions, modes and ethical codes on how the staffs are to interact with others. In any given area, the staff relationship is also governed by the work place agreement that is between the employer and an employee to outline the working conditions. In this instance, one would conclude that there must be good set up of documents and agreements to govern the conduct of staff members within the work environment. Ethics is also important in how staff-staff relationships are governed. Any association without an ethics policy, a confidentiality and privacy Act, ideally falls short in ensuring that relations at the workplace are well governance. There also needs to be a conflict resolution mechanism to ensure that in case of any disputes, a structure is in place to ensure quick resolution of the problems. A given staff in the working environment is bound to face various issues in the workplace and at times conflicting ideas can bring about major differences in the workplace. As stated by Nancy R, Lockwood (2003) in the Human Resources Magazine “the current society is filled with conflicting responsibilities and commitments, work or life balance and has become a dominant issue in the workplace” (Lockwood, 2000). It is thus important to ensure that a staff balances between the demands in a person’s life and that of the vocational life to ensure that it has no detrimental effects in performance of the staff within the workplace environment. Moreover, it is to be considered that the hospitality industry is usually filled with persons of diverse cultures, and in this instance certain activities are taken to foster good work relations. For instance seminars, workshop and outdoor activities are usually conducted and all the staff is encouraged to participate to foster understanding. Ideally, a closed workplace would increase tensions and that no person would be willing to work in such conditions. Professional Issues in the workplace In any given setup or workplace environment, issues of liability that arise are to be taken by both managers and the staff members. In this case if anything goes wrong at the workplace, the individual responsible must be capable of being responsible for the action. Communication has been considered to be a two way process of being able to give and receive information. The use of appropriate medium and listening is important in establishing customer loyalty, good business and also encouraging personal relationship within the workplace environment. A professional in any workplace is to be adequately equipped with sufficient moral and ethical skills that are important in managing the industry (Zapalska & Rudd, 2002). These are in forms of ethical policies and codes of behaviour and conduct to ensure that the industries affairs are managed in a coherent manner. Professionalism within the system is important in establishing the modes and rules of engagement of the given employees. Communication is a key tool in the dissemination of information within the hospitality management system. In this setting one must be capable in identifying communication as essential communication skills in terms of expression of ideas, to any staff member in a concise and clear manner. Poor communication and failure of expression of ideas may lead to destabilizing issues such as miscommunication, disciplinary problems, arguments and aggressive conversation such as yelling (McWilliams, 1971). Therefore adequate skills of communication need to be integrated as a core management issue. Diversity exists in any given workplace environment based on culture and background hence creating a barrier to effective communication. The staff members in this instance hold various views based on their gender, ethnicity, religion and orientation hence the need of adopting a good communication platform to accommodate all this views. The various communication channels are also to be open at all times to ensure that confidence is built on the staff (Whitelaw, et al., 2009). This also enables the managers to coordinate and unify its achievements and also establish a common goal. The channels are to include letters, conversations and feedback system to ensure that information is adequately sent and received. Solid relationship also boosts the communication mechanism within the Human Resource management because it oversees the employment and retention of the employee based on conduct and performance. It implies that communication is important in identifying the conduct of individuals in the industry system. Financial issues in the workplace In any given financial sector, there is an increase in the dependence on financial ability in the institution or concerned entities. Financial institutions such as commercial banks, investment banks and insurance companies provide capital to ensure that there is maintenance on the industry and also in overseeing their activities. A manager is therefore to be endowed with good skills in managing the financial obligations in the institution. The effective financial management in the institution is highly important based on the budget that is usually remitted by the budgetary committee. The annual expenditure of the company are travelling, food cost, employee wages, payment of miscellaneous expenditure, maintain ace and also the purchase of culinary and equipment for the day to day running of the company. The budget returns are usually given to the board of directors annually for approval and is usually given to all the employers (Cole, 1996). The fact that the financial obligations are made publican and available, effectively shows a mode of accountability of the managers and financial officers. It is to be contended that various economic variables tend to challenge the financial standing of the company for instance, recessions, inflations; price stability of commodities, taxes all affects the financial capability of the industry. However the industry managers have put available measures to ensure that their profits are not extensively affect by the variables. For instance when the demand for hospitality services are low, there is a reduction in the costs of food and beverages , an increase in fuel prices makes the company cut down its expenditure on fuel prices. This therefore exhibits the fact that all industry players within financial areas are to be equipped with good economic skills (Drucker, 1989). The cost of labour in the industry is also important because it is one of the largest and single expense items for any hospitality manager. A proper accounting system needs to be in place to ensure that there is a proper operating cost as created within this institution. The industry has also embraced a perpetual and periodic inventory system in how it writes its financial statements by using the services of a certified financial planner. It also ensures that their revenue analyses are provided to effectively provide detailed assessment of financial records. To fulfil its financial managerial obligations, bank statements, agreements, taxes are all provided to ensure proper accountability. Financial motivation and recognition also provides a basis in which the employees and staff are motivated in terms of their work. The payment of the staff is financial friendly and seeks to expose the current trends of remunerating employees. The Management style and its effectiveness Managing any given hospitality industry institution is a critical aspect in ensuring that it is successful in carrying out its business and also an overall rate in success. In this instance the managerial roles can be split up into different organizational structures that are manager’s capabilities, experience, managerial effectiveness and also the manager’s personality in managing the industry itself. The managerial roles in this case focuses on the ability of the manager to monitor, to be a spokesperson, leadership, decision making, innovation and also playing the role of a good negotiator (Wilson & Murray, 2000). In this instance the manager players a role of being able to foster a good working relationship with the employees. This mode seems to enable the employees to have a good working relationship and confidence in the decisions that are made. The manager is respected by the employees on the basis of using good interpersonal roles. Leadership qualities such as coaching, team building, supervision of the e work and issuing of instructions has been sufficient in ensuring that the proper level s of work is achieved (Quinn, 1990). A manager in this setting has also been capable of liaising with other players in the industry through networking, increasing the span of the organizational boundaries and with other entities, demonstrates the importance of a manager being open minded in managing the entire industry. The effectiveness of the manager in having good action roles is outstanding. For instance the decisions that are made by a manger seek to change the employee’s perceptions and industry at large. Thus the ability of taking action and also troubleshooting are important skills in the management of the industry in general. Ethics also plays an important role in any management aspects; hence a manager should not act contrary to ethical skills or any given percepts in management. The areas of improvement as regards proper management of any given industry sector is to efficiently provide a framework for manager and employee feed-back. This would enable any given manager to effectively gauge his performance and improvement. The management should also endeavour to provide a good code of ethics and conduct to ensure that managers work well. Risk taking and assessment in management should also be an important aspect to ensure that proper risk assessment is carried out before the making of any particular decision is undertaken by the manager. Regular training of managers would also seek to encourage proper management of the hospitality management. CONCLUSION It is important and critical in any management institution and industry as in this case of the hospitality industry to embrace certain aspects of proper management to ensure its proper running. The main aspect focuses on the social aspects that tend to affect the staff relations and also with that of the employer. In this study certain measures such as good policies and codes of behaviour need to be implemented to ensure good working relations exist. Professionalism focuses on providing a good working environment for both the managers and employers. Professional conduct such as good communication and listening skills are important in ensuring that effective communication is achieved within the work setting. Moreover communication boosts the general moral and tenets of the workers. Financing management is also important to ensure the success of the industry player. Budgets that seek to be clear and concise are sufficient to ensure that a proper accountability system is attained. Good managerial skills offer a good platform to ensure that the maximum success is achieved within the workplace. A good manager must be capable of exhibiting good managerial skills such as leadership and action roles to foster confidence. In general it can be concluded that management of any industry is a key element in ensuring success and proper accountability mechanisms. LIST OFREFERENCES Cole, G. A., 1996. Management Theory and Practice. London: Ashford Press. Drucker, P. F., 1989. The Practice of Manangement. London: Heinemann. Irving, K., 1979. Business Ethics and Economic Man. Wall Street Journal, Volume 20, p. 18. Lockwood, N., 2000. Work/Life Balance. Human Resources Magazine. McWilliams, S. A., 1971. Corporate Socail Responsibility. Academy of Mnagement Review, 26(1), pp. 119-127. Quinn, R., 1990. Becoming a master manager. New York: Wiley. Service Skills Australia, 2010. Tourism and Hospitality. Sydney: Service Skills Australia. Whitelaw, A. P. et al., 2009. Training Needs of The Hospitality Industry. Queensland: CRC for Sustainable Tourism Pty Ltd. Wilson , M. D. & Murray, E. A., 2000. Contract catering. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(1), pp. 75-78. Zapalska, A. & Rudd, D., 2002. Teaching Business Issues in Hospitality and Tourism Education. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education, 14(3), pp. 29-30. Read More