HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT – DALLAS HOTEL CASE STUDY
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27th, March, 2013
Introduction
The Human Resources Management is one of the most critical departments in a hotel. This is the differentiating factor between a well performing and a poor performing hotel. Therefore, hotel performance is attached to the competitiveness and nature of its Human Resources Management (Hoque 2002). In the case of Dallas Hotel, the Human Resources Management approaches that are adopted are wanting, since this department has proved ineffective in making the hotel compete favourably in the market, which is characterized by high competition. This is despite the fact that Dallas Hotel has vast capital. Therefore, human resources management is more critical in a company’s performance, more than the amount of capital the company has. For better performance, Dallas Hotel needs to undergo an overhaul of its Human Resources Management Department.
Systems that Dallas Hotel should implement to Change its HR Practices
The Human Resources practices embraced by Dallas Hotel currently are ineffective and cannot make the hotel realize its goals; neither can these boost the productivity and profitability of the company. Therefore, the hotel should adopt a new Human Resource system, which comprises a variety of HR practices that have a high capability of boosting the performance and profitability of the company.
First, the hotel must adopt an effective recruitment and selection process. Currently, the professional in charge of recruitment and selection in the hotel does not meet the standard requirements to conduct this process. For instance, she performed poorly in her previous position before being promoted to the current position. While at the front office, she lacked people skills, therefore, could not interact with clients positively. A professional in charge of this sensitive procedure of recruitment and selection should have the skill of understanding people (Tanke 2001). Therefore, the hotel has failed at this point, thus, should hire a qualified professional for the position.
Secondly, it is imperative that the company recruits only employees who are qualified and capable of positive results in the company. The kind of employees and their level of competence in the company determine the level of success a company will experience in the market. Therefore, Dallas Hotel needs to implement a Human Resources system, which puts into consideration the competence of the employees hired (Tanke 2001).
In addition, Dallas Hotel should implement an employee training process. From the case of the Dallas Hotel, the employees lack proper training to perform well in their jobs. The hotel has not invested in any kind of training process for its employees. Therefore, the employees in Dallas hotel lack basic skills, such as customer service, which are core in the service industry.
The Human Capital Aspect of Dallas Hotel
According to Tanke (2001), human capital mainly involves the employees, as well as their input in a company. In the case of Dallas Hotel, Bobby Ewin, who is in charge of the Human Resources Management lacks sufficient knowledge on how to manage human capital in the company. The employees in Dallas hotel have failed to attract more customers to the hotel. This means that their input in the hotel is low, and this emanates from low level of expertise they have in conducting their duties in the hotel. Therefore, Ewin, being in charge of human capital in the hotel, should learn about different aspects of human capital, which will help him know how to manage the employees well, including their input in the hotel. Aspects of human capital include employee retention, behavioural training programs for employees, among others.
With regard to employee retention, Dallas hotel has failed to retain its employees. This is evident through the high rate of employee turnover in the company, which has hit the 100 percent maximum. Employee retention is a process, which encompasses various activities. For any company to retain its employees, it must ensure that the employees are satisfied with their jobs. Employee job satisfaction results in increased employee performance, which is advantageous to the company (Hoque 2002). In Dallas Hotel, Ewin, who is in charge of the Human Resources, has not put any efforts to ensure that the employees love and are satisfied with their jobs. Dallas hotel does not offer any incentives or bonuses to its employees, apart from the monthly salary. In addition, the salary of employees is delayed, as they are not paid on time. Similarly, the hotel does not provide employees with an opportunity for self-development. This hotel does not offer any training to help its employees update and upgrade their skills and expertise in their areas of practice. All these aspects have contributed to the low performance of the hotel, thus Ewin could learn important lessons from this.
First, Ewin could learn that in order to retain employees, a company must use tactical strategies such as offering incentives to employees. Incentives for employees come in different forms, both financial and non-financial forms. This makes employees feel appreciated in the company, thus boosting their level of performance (Tanke 2001). On the other hand, Ewin could learn about the importance of training employees in the hotel. This is both advantageous to the employees as individuals, as well as the company. When employees are trained, they will undergo professional development, which is makes them think positive about their company. On the other hand, skill development in employees through the trainings enhances their level of expertise in their specific area of duty. Employees will therefore, register improved performance after undergoing a training. Nonetheless, improved employee performance in any company directly translates to increased productivity and profitability for the company (Tanke 2001).
Recruitment Practices in Dallas Hotel and their influence on Organisational Objectives
The recruitment process in Dallas hotel is highly erroneous. First, the current Human Resources Manager does not qualify for the position, since he specialized in the field of Accounting and Finance. This therefore, has acted as the main hindrance for Ewin to perform the duties pertaining to his HR position in an effective manner. Since he is a specialist in Accounting and Finance, he does not understand most of the systems and processes in human resources management. In addition, the person in charge of recruitment and selection in the hotel does not also have the right qualifications for the position. Furthermore, the employees recruited in the company are those with a negative work experience, since most were fired from their previous jobs. The employees lack customer service, and this has contributed to the hotel receiving a low number of customers. These three elements of recruitment in Dallas hotel are the main source of the failure of the hotel’s Human Resources Department. Since employees are major determinants of the level of success of a company, the ineffective employees in Dallas hotel, together with the ineffective human resources practices adopted by the management, have led to the hotel to fail to achieve its organizational objectives.
Appropriate Recruitment Strategy for Front Desk Staff for Dallas Hotel
In hotels, the front office personnel play an important role. These bear the image of the company, since they are in charge of handling the clients of the hotel (Ismail 2002). Therefore, the front office personnel must present a positive image of their company in order to win the loyalty of customers. In the case of Dallas hotel, the front office staff is unreliable. The personnel in charge of this department handle the customers in an unprofessional manner. The needs of customers are not prioritized, and communication is ineffective. Therefore, for better results, Dallas hotel should employ a different approach in how it recruits its front office staff. Currently, the front office personnel are mainly employees fired from other hotels. This explains their inadequacies.
The best strategy for recruiting front office managers, which Dallas can adopt, is one that considers academic qualifications, work experience, and personal values and attributes of the candidate (Ismail 2002). Employees who are fired from their jobs for negative reasons are not the best option for any company. In the recruitment of front office staff, the hotel should post the vacancies in the media, so that this gets the attention of a variety of people. A trained and experienced professional must then conduct short-listing and interviewing of the applicants. Selection of the right candidates must be based on their academic qualifications, as well as personal values. The company should not accept candidates with a negative work history. Candidates with good communication skills should be given preference, since this position requires a person who has the capability of communicating well with clients. With regard to personal attributes, the hotel should consider those candidates who are courteous, pleasant, patient, and good listeners (Ismail 2002). Only personnel with these characteristics and qualifications will bear a positive image of the company.
Training and Development Programmes to Address Staff Turnover and Occupancy Rates
High employee turnover is costly to any company. Therefore, companies should develop strategies that will ensure low levels of employee turnover (Tanke 2001). Dallas hotel needs to adopt some of the strategies, considering the fact that its employee turnover is 100 percent. The major strategy lies in training and development of the employees. After recruitment and selection of employees, these are supposed to be trained in different areas. Initial training after recruitment is important as it helps employees to be familiar with the culture of the company, as well as the knowledge about what the company expects of them. Apart from the qualifications, it is important that a company ensures the candidates are familiar with the organizational culture, and are capable of adhering to it comfortably. Failure to embrace the culture of a company by employees contributes to their turnover (Tanke 2001).
Training employees in their respective job positions is important, since this makes them more competent in their work. Training will help them develop their skills further, and experience a sense of accomplishment. When employees experience accomplishment in their work, they will feel satisfied in their job, because of the personal and professional development they are offered. This will make them not to quit their jobs in search for employment in another company (Tanke 2001).
Finally, training makes the employees to be competent, therefore, these will perform effectively in their work. If Dallas hotel adopts the employee training strategy, it will help to lower the hotel’s high employee turnover, and increase the occupancy rate of the hotel. For instance, if the front office personnel are trained on language use, personal grooming, and overall customer care skills, these will be effective in handling the customers of the hotel. The customers will therefore, like the hotel’s reception, thus, maintaining their loyalty to the hotel, and help spread word about the impeccable services provided by the hotel. This in turn will raise the occupancy level of the hotel (Ismail 2002).
Additional Human Resource Initiatives to be adopted for Improved Performance
There are many HR practices, which a company can adopt, apart from those highlighted. In addition to employee training and incentives, Dallas hotel could set an appropriate compensation and benefits package for its employees. The hotel should ensure to pay employees on time. In addition, the compensation package should be attractive to motivate employees. Furthermore, the hotel should consider revising its compensation and benefits annually, as this will motivate employees to perform even better. Nonetheless, if the compensation is attractive and satisfactory to the employees, they will be obliged to perform well in their job.
The hotel management should also consider setting a positive work environment for employees. This will motivate employees thus, improving their performance. A positive work environment might be created through recognizing the efforts of employees (Hoque 2002). A manager could name and reward the employee of the month, among other employee achievements. This will make employees happy, and challenge them to become the best next time. This in turn results in a dedicated and high-performing workforce, which ensures high productivity of the company.
Works Cited
Hoque, K 2002, Human Resource Management in the Hotel Industry: Strategy, Innovation,
and Performance, Routledge, New York.
Ismail, A 2002, Front Office: Operations and Management, Cengage Learning, London.
Tanke, M 2001, Human Resources Management for Hospitality, Cengage Learning, New
York.
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