The Human Resource Policies in Gold Sands Hotel - Case Study Example

GOLD SANDS HOTEL CASE STUDY by Student’s Name Code + Course Name Professor University City/State Date Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Examination and Discussion of the Issues 3 3.0 Recommendations 5 4.0 Conclusion 8 5.0 References 9 Gold Sands Hotel Case Study 1.0 Introduction In the Gold Sands Hotel case study, the interest is on the question raised in the roles and significance of the Human Resource Department (HR). The hotel industry relies on human capital in its daily operations. As a result, the HR functions are very crucial in creating and developing competitive advantage since they are people-centric. In reality, the management of human capital is the topmost of consideration in the hospitality industry (O'Fallon & Rutherford 2011, p.466). It can be described as a discipline that involves policymaking, strategic planning, organizing, orienting, and supervising activities for promoting the required human resources. In addition, they make enhancements to ensure sustainable growth (Kutanis, Mesci, Çömlekci, & Şahin 2012, p. 118). In the case, employees’ relations is portrayed as a black hole without managerial formalities and branded by poor employment outcomes like high labor turnovers (Wilton 2003, p.5). Every day, employees in Gold Sand Hotel are faced with an exceptional balance of challenges because of the poor management of the human resource. This paper analyzes the main challenges in Gold Sands Hotel case study and recommends improvements for the situation. 2.0 Examination and Discussion of the Issues Today, every business should care about human capital in order to survive in the global economy and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. HR managers should attract, engage, develop, and retain talent in order to attain business goals and objectives (Kutanis, Mesci, Çömlekci, & Şahin 2012, p. 118). The first major issue can be identified as bleak house or black hole. The word black hole refers to an employee relations process that is defined by what is not there; the absence of human resource management practices. The term represents firms, which have little formal individual HRM policies that guide the management of employees. Furthermore, the employees exhibit a low level of job satisfaction and high quit and dismissal rate (Wilton 2003, p.5). In Gold Sands Hotel, the lack of HR managerial practices has resulted in problems such as high level of labor turnover, high rate of employee quitting, poor recruitment procedures, and poor terms and condition of employments. In addition, poor practices are more rampant than good practices. The second issue is the lack of training and development, which is part of the HR’s department functions. Although employees’ empowerment is recognized as a tool for enhancing productivity, Gold Sands Hotel workers are not empowered. For instance, both local and Japanese customers always complain of delays in problem solving because employees have to consult their managers before decision-making. The third is that most of its employees are generations Y and their managers are baby boomers, or they are in their 40s or 50s. This problem can have a negative impact on the performance of the hotel because there are key differences between the two generations (Cairncross and Buultjens, 2007, p.5). The staff of Gold Sands Hotel complains of the lack of room for creativity, socialization, and communication between managers and employee is limited to instruction only. The fourth issue is about labor diversification. Considering that large percentage guests are from Japan, the hotel has sourced its employee from local and immigrant from other nations like China and India. Consequently, Japanese visitors are not satisfied and usually complain about the language barrier. In reality, it is a faint feat to display diversity yet uphold a unified Gold Sands Hotel image. Finally, employees are not motivated to carry out their task. There are no formal procedures to compensate the high performing employee, which result in poor performance. 3.0 Recommendations The major factor for the management of Gold Sands Hotel to consider is the creation of the HR department. Human resource is optimal since it ensures professionalism and efficiency in the delivery of services (Huda, Haque & Khan 2014, p.210). In Australia today, HR specialism has grown at a higher rate with women predominating in the field (Brewster & Mayrhofer 2012, p. 653). Gold Sands hotel can employ just one HR professional to address all these issue. There are a number of rules and regulation governing hiring, employing, and dismissing of employee in Australia. Therefore, hiring a professional to manage employee welfare at Gold stand hotel will ensure hotel protection from problems that can arise from the law (Cummings, Kwansa, & Sussman 2013, p.34). In HR practices, one of the major areas is employment. There are several areas involved in recruiting such as advertisement, interview, selection, hiring, familiarization, and discharge. Recruitment is a major issue to be reflected with full sincerity since it creates a good impression on the employer and avoids legal jeopardy (Huda, Haque & Khan 2014, p.210). Hence, it is important to recruit and develop good employees to offer better services to domestic and international guest. Therefore, effective HRM will ensure labor diversification. For instance, by avoiding the black hole issue, the HR function will ensure the welfare of employees since it serves as a link between employees and the organization. In addition, the HR will have a better understanding of the labor market; hence, he or she will be in a position to address the issue of Generation Y and baby boomer. Indeed, in Australia, the larger proportion of workforce is made up of Generation Y, and it is escalating at a higher speed. Nevertheless, in spite of being educated and keen to make new changes, apparent attributes such as lack of respect for the authority are viewed negatively by some employers. On the other hand, the growing importance of generation Y in the labor force makes it worth to use their skill and qualities. This necessitates the employer to know about their work traits (Cairncross & Buultjens 2007, p.3). Since the hospitality industry provides intangible services and products, recruiting stakeholders is a critical role. It helps in attracting outstanding talents and fully utilizing them to attain the firm`s objectives. In addressing the issue of many guests, the management should consider employing more labor force from Japan. As part of strategic human management, HR managers are looking forward to achieving a multiculturalism environment to achieve competitive advantage. As part of the employment cycle, training as well represents a part of the benefits package for employees. In addressing the issue of customer satisfaction, the Hotel must consider staff training and development. Steps can be introduced to demonstrate efforts in career nurturing and enlarge care for employees. For instance, job enrichment process is anintrinsic reward. For example, waiters can be sent for wine-tasting courses to put more prestige into their professions (Xuan 2014, p.10). According to Yang (2010, p. 1), as part of HRM, staff training is very crucial since it helps managers know their employees more. In addition, it is a path for assisting workers to use their innovations and become professionals in what they do. On the other hand, training is part of the empowerment program. When employees are well trained, managers will find it easy to delegate some controls to them (Sternberg 1992, p.69). Giving employees authority to make everyday decisions without consulting their superior will address the problem of customers' satisfaction. Considering HRM’s support, the realization of business victory is definite. Additionally, training can as well help in advancing good customer relations. Another major role of HR that results in increased guests’ satisfaction is employee and labor relations. The HR department motivates employees through different mechanisms such as social events and award programs. In addition, the department ensures favorable and peaceful working environments. For instance, in the case study, the departments’ managers in charge of some HR functions have very little knowledge about their roles. Consequently, they only focus on the needs of their departments and take only a short-term approach to employee relations. Therefore, the HR function is important since it will intervene when employees have long-term needs that the line managers cannot handle. In addition, it deals with the compensation programs. To address the issue of employees leaving hotel to others in the area, the HR department has a responsibility of collecting data from a number of sources to ensure all compensation package are competitive. Benefits such as Medicare, FICA, vacations, and sick offs are the major parts of compensation. They are essential tools that enhance employees’ satisfaction since they are internal customer of the firm. One duty of the HR manager is to manage in such a manner that all employees and external customers find contentment (Scott-Halsell, Blum, & Huffman 2011, p.136). Finally, in the hospitality industry, some of the HR policies are well taken of when there is a department that controls them. For instance, safety policies are very significant and can only be taken care of when they are controlled by one department. The HR manager is in most cases the head of the safety committee, and the committee tries to ensure that the property is a safe workplace through policies and procedures. Gold Sands Hotel has several retail outlets it operates; for instance, recreation facilities such as swimming and fitness areas that require expertise employees and clear policies and regulation (Cummings, Kwansa, & Sussman 2013, p.43). In reality, HR managers are very vital in the hospitality industry as they have a diverse range of skills and talents. They are marketers, accountants, masters of peace envoys, and most significantly, leaders. 4.0 Conclusion In the Gold Sands Hotel case study, the major issue raised is regarding the roles and the significance of the Human Resource Department. Currently, the HR department is important for the hotel industry since it helps the industry remain at a competitive edge. Today, the HR profession has gained increased importance as it helps in the management of human capital. Gold Sands Hotel problem can be identified as bleak house or black hole or lack of formal human resource management practices. It is challenging recruit and develop good employees to offer better services to both domestic and international guest without effective HRM department being in place. Therefore, the management should create a HR department to manage its human resources. In hospitality industries, human resource department is very essential because human capital is the topmost contributor of success. 5.0 References Brewster, C & Mayrhofer, W 2012, Handbook of research on comparative human resource management, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. Cairncross, G & Buultjens, J 2007, ‘Generation Y and Innovator Employers in the Australian Tourism And Hospitality Industry’, Centre for Enterprise Development and Research Southern Cross University Coffs Harbour Campus, vol. 9, pp. 1-23. Cummings, P, Kwansa, F & Sussman, M 2013, The role of the hospitality industry in the lives of individuals and families, Routledge, New York. Huda, K, Haque, A & Khan, R 2014, ‘Effective Recruitment Challenges Faced by the Hospitality Industry in Bangladesh: A Study on Selected Star Rated Residential Hotels’, Economia. Seria Management, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 1-13. Mesci, M, Kutanis, R. O, Comlekci, I & Sahin, 0 2012, ‘Investigating hotel employee involvement in strategic human resources management’, Tourismos: An International Multidisciplinary Journal Of Tourism, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 117 - 134. Rutherford, D. G & O'Fallon, MJ 2011, Hotel management and operations, Wiley, New York. Scott-Halsell, SA, Blum, SC & Huffman, L 2008, ‘A study of emotional intelligence levels in hospitality industry professionals’, Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 135- 151. Sternberg, LE 1992, ‘Empowerment: Trust vs. Control’, The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 69-72 Xuan, AN 2014, ‘Conrad centennial: A case study emerging human resource management issues in Singapore’, Report Work, SSB2216. Yang 2010, ‘The importance of staff training in the hotel Industry’, Case study: Renaissance Shanghai Yuyuan Hotel, 1-57. Read More