Human Resource Management - Issues Affecting Sustainable Management Project at Accor Hotel - Case Study Example

Human Resource Management Report: Issues Affecting Sustainable Management Project at Accor Hotel Name Grade Course Tutor’s Name Day, Month, Year Human Resource Management Report: Issues Affecting Sustainable Management Project at Accor Hotel The way an organization manages its human resource is crucial in determining whether a firm succeeds or fails, especially in hospitality industries such as the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) and hotel service industry where effective management of human labor is crucial for sustainable management of an organization. This report aims to determine the major issues that Tanui, Hamilton and Accor hotels management face. The report identifies major issues faced by the hotels including issues related to training of employees, problems of cooperation between employees and management besides determining the best approaches to solve such issues. Other challenges faced by the hotel include failure of management to address human resource issues and lack of interest in internal organization even as such stakeholders focus on achieving high return on investments. Similarly, revenue management and human resource management in the hotel management are evidently not related as indicated from an interview conducted on the Hamilton, Tanui, and Accor operators. The report asserts that various research in human resource management indicate that effective human resource management is a key factor in ensuring effective revenue management and ensuring sustainable management. Additionally, evidence suggest that crucial concepts in human resource management and sustainable management in hotel management are interrelated. Consequently, management must incorporate such concepts in management to address the challenges facing human resource management in order to attain a successful and sustainable hotel management project. One of the main issues facing the hotel operators is the issue of employees induction training . Whereas the management has tried to have employees finish their training, most of them have been unwilling to go through the head of department besides failing to complete the training. Career interventions that an organization may use to develop their employees and aid them to succeed in developing the organization include induction training. It is used to identify career options and implement career plans. However, failure by employees to finish induction training may result from issues related to violations in psychological contract and effort -reward imbalance (Russel, 1991). In describing the psychological contract, Rousseau (1989) asserted that, “psychological contract is an individual’s beliefs shaped by the organization, regarding perceived mutual obligations and terms of exchange between the individuals and their organization.” Where the contract is violated, employee’s loose trust in the organization and it may affect not only what they feel they owe to the organization but also what they are owed, consequently motivating employees to engage in disruptive behaviors (Rousseau, 1989). Since psychological contract is influenced by perceptions, the way an organizations management such as the head of department treats other employees influences the psychological contract and may influence employees’ readiness to finish induction training. Employees cooperation may also be affected by effort-reward imbalance. Where employees perceive they give in too much than what they receive from the employment relation, they may fail to cooperate with the management (Pettinger, 1997). The issue of selection of employees that offer the best fit with organizations needs is also a crucial factor in influencing the behavior of employees and having motivated employees (Schimt, 1971). Munsterberg believed that management ought to determine the best fit between an organizations employees and work while motivating employees by paying good wages (Munsterberg, 1913). Similarly, Taylor ( 1911) believed that an organization must first acquire the right employees, before training them on how to achieve the organizations goals as scientifically as possible. Taylor also believed that to motivate employees, a fair wage that is higher than market rate should be paid to employees. The issue of motivating employees to achieve the organizational goals was thus related to motivating and management of human resources. In order to motivate employees, McGregor (1960) tried to explain motivation using theory x and theory y, with theory x postulating that individual must be pushed, controlled or threatened to assume responsibilities with such management reinforcing theory x attitude in employees. Theory Y on the other hand asserts that an employee seeks responsibility in certain circumstances and an organization should provide such circumstances. The issue of lack of cooperation with head of department and failure to complete induction training may also be explained using other motivation theories. One other such theory was Maslow (1960) theory of motivation. Maslow believed that human beings are driven by a desire to satisfy their various diverse needs. Maslow arranged the needs hierarchically from the lowest and most basic needs which are physiological needs. These needs include the need for survival, food, drink, shelter, and clothing. Secondly, the needs for security and protection follow before social needs, which include the need to be loved, to interact with others and to be loved. Finally, esteem needs and self actualization needs are met. An individual’s motivations may differ. Maslow’s motivation theory is especially crucial in understanding the motivation of individuals to learn at the work place, especially the higher level needs esteem and self actualization ( Maslow, 1960).Thus where one may cooperate and finish induction training because they feel appreciated by the management and the head of department thus fulfilling their esteem needs, others may finish training to attain self fulfillment and a sense of achievement. Other theories such as Herzberg’s (1962) two factor theory determines what motivates employees within the context of the work place. Whereas there are factors that cause extreme satisfaction, Hertzberg also identified other factors that cause extreme dissatisfaction. Factors such as working conditions and pay easily lead to dissatisfaction among employees and Hertzberg regarded them as hygiene factors. However, the same factors were less effective as motivational factors and were in fact found not to produce long lasting job satisfaction (Herzberg, 1962). Achievement and recognition was closely linked to increased and effective motivation of employees, although their absence was less likely to lead to extreme job dissatisfaction. Understanding such factors that influence motivation of employees would also determine who is able to address problems and motivational challenges facing employees. Where the challenges involve inadequate provision of hygiene factors, an individual may have to consult with the management such as in setting new wages to avoid extreme dissatisfaction, employee failure to cooperate and inability to finish induction training. However, such factors as recognition and achievement may be achieved through various activities such as target setting, recognition of performance and appraisal that may be done without consulting higher-level management. Motivation of employees was also explained using expectancy theory by Vroom(1964) suggesting that motivation is influenced by two things; the things that one desires such as status, promotions and so on and secondly by the estimation that an individual makes on their ability to attain what they want. The theory thus postulates that where an individual perceives a reward to be attractive and the targets to be attainable, the person will be motivated to achieve the reward by achieving the targets. However, where an individual perceives either the reward to be undesirable or the target to be unachievable an individual may not feel motivated to achieve the target. In some circumstances, management should increase the reward while in some cases management may have to increase the employees’ expectations of success. In training, employees may thus fail to finish training if they perceive they are unable to attain the training needs or the effort is not worthwhile. This is also evidenced in the equity theory. The theory advanced by Adams(1965) asserts that the perception of an individual in a situation may influence motivation. In equity theory, individuals consider the amount of effort that they put into doing something and the rewards they receive and thereafter make a social comparison with other individuals making similar degree of effort in order to determine relative fairness. Where a discrepancy in equity in reward system exists, individuals may experience low morale, affecting subsequent behavior and motivation. In order to address such a challenge, a human resource manager may have to approach the general manager to equate rewards. Finally, Hackmans and Oldham’s (1975) developed the Job characteristics model to explain the relation between motivation and job satisfaction. Characteristics within the job context and an individual’s growth needs such as task identity, task significance, skill variety, task feedback, and autonomy increase the satisfaction with ones job. In order to deal with challenges inherent in job characteristics model an individual may seek the help of head of department to address the problems faced by employees especially in determining the job context to motivate employees. Besides the problem of induction training associated with inability of employees to finish training and unwillingness of employees to go through head of department, and determining the way to solve such issues, Tainui Group and Hamilton City Council focus entirely on return on investments but not on the human resource issues. Solving various human issues is crucial in influencing performance of employee and consequently on the ability of the organization to achieve the objectives of the organization. This will in turn influence the ability of the organization to acquire and retain customers thus increasing the productivity of employees. Motivated employees are less likely to leave employment as evidenced from various motivational theories especially where the hygiene factors are considered. Considering the high training and selection costs, an organization must be aware of the adverse effects of failure to address human resource issues in an organization on an organizations return on investments. The hotel considers human resource management as having no major impact on revenue management. In this case, revenue management at the hotel is a factor of two major variables, which are the average room rate and occupancy rate. However, recent trends indicate that unlike previously when revenue management was largely viewed only as a quantitative and technical process, inclusion of revenue management as an integral part of competitive strategies of hotels has made issues related to human resource management to be major determinants of effectiveness of revenue management (Kimes, 2008). Kimes (2008) further asserts that in order to attain effective revenue management, employers must set up policies for training, selection and determining career paths for individuals to act as strategic revenue management employees. The report thus asserts that various concepts in human resource management are crucial in determining the success of an organization and ability of an organizations management to achieve sustainable management. Most issues and problems such as problems of cooperation, refusal by employees to finish training, and the problems associated with employees cooperating with head of department are all crucially related to various concepts and theories such as motivational theories and concepts. The concepts are also crucial in determining the way to handle employee relations such as employees relation with head of departments and so on. Human resource issues also influence an organizations ability to attain higher returns on investment since employees who are not motivated are unlikely to perform and in fact are more likely to leave employment thus raising the cost of selection and new training. Other human resource factors such as selection and retention of employees are also evidently crucial in reducing cost of selection thus contributing to higher rate of return on investments. The report further identifies the link between human resource management and revenue management indicating that a correlation exists between revenue management and human resource management especially in selection and training of revenue management employees. The report thus recommends that considering the interrelationship of various issues in human resource management with sustainable management of an organization, the hotel should incorporate human resource management concepts in its management by first determining the best ways to select employees who are likely to contribute to sustainable management of the hotel by considering various human resource selection and employment concepts. Thereafter, management must determine the best way to motivate employees to acquire skills such as through induction training by using various motivational concepts. Considering the relevance of human resource concepts in influencing return on investments, the hotel should focus on addressing human resource issues and internal organization since it may be crucial to increase the rate of return on investment. The report finally recommends use of human resource selection principles to determine the requirements and skills necessary for revenue management employees in order to have an effective revenue management team. References Adams, J.S, (1965). Inequity in social exchange. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol 2, pp.267-299. New York: Academic Press. Hackman, J.R and Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the job diagnostics survey. Journal of Applied Psychology 60(2): 159-170. Herzberg, F. (1962). Work and the nature of man. London: Staple Press. Kimes, S. (2008). Cornel study says human resource is the key to revenue management. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly Maslow, A.H. (1960). Motivation and personality. 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Vroom, V.H. (1964). Work and motivation. London: New York: Wiley. Read More