The Organizational Overall Goals of Productivity - Term Paper Example

Hospitality and Tourism Introduction In any business field, the workforce is an important asset for the business and need to be developed and motivated to succeed. The issue of hiring and making full potential of the employees’ expertise and skills is crucial in any organization in order to achieve its goals. The human resource department must be capable of acquiring employees that add value to the company and direct them appropriately (Scarbrough and Elias, 2002). In this drastic changing business world, employee training is an important aspect that each organization should consider. It is evident that the business world comes with many uncertainties and therefore, gaining knowledge and information is a way of creating a competitive advantage. In this way, an important feature in the modern hospitality and tourism industry is the understanding of new techniques and procedures through staff training. Training and orientation is the work of the Human Resource Management (HRM) as a way of enhancing employee performance, while putting their expertise to good use as well as specialization in their job. It is therefore, important to understand the significant of personnel training as well as orientation in hospitality and tourism industry in a bid to enhance performance (Barrows and Powers, 2008). Understanding the Changing Business World The drastic changing world of business requires making use of human capital to enhance performance in order to achieve the organizational goals. The human resource manager in the hospitality industry should understand the various changes in globalization, technological advances, staff diversity, shortage of labour, and employee involvement among others (González and Tacorante, 2004). Training and nurturing employees is a concept that cannot be undermined by the human resource because it adds knowledge and power to become successful. New employees in hospitality and tourism sector need training to understand their duties and the existing employees need more knowledge to comprehend the changes in this sector. It is evident that thorough training exposes an employee’s competencies and behaviours to perform better (Ahammad, 2013). The many changes in technology, complex business systems, and uncertainty in the business world, call for more knowledge and new skills. In essence, (Gazija, 2011) argues that the hospitality and tourism industry witness mass production and generation of different products or services and customers are especially selective when purchasing them. In this way, this new demands in the hospitality industry need new solutions and wide understanding through acquiring of knowledge. It is evident that competition is stiff in the hospitality industry and therefore, an organization ought to revise its production and services regularly in order to satisfy the need of consumers. All these issues shape the role of human resource in the hospitality and tourism industry to focus on human capital to create a competitive advantage. It is for this reason that training is reflected as an important tool to bring knowledge and awareness to the workforce (González and Tacorante, 2004). Many businesses have realized that training employees is the ideal way to deal with complex challenges that they face. Once the human resource selects the workforce in hospitality industry, they need to be trained depending on their job, orientation prepared before they commence, and other knowledge and training is bound to occur with time. Actually, tourism growth sector has simultaneously led to the enhancement of the hotel industry across the globe. The hospitality and tourism industry is constantly calling for quality services as competition in the industry is stiff and growing each day. In regards to quality, the hospitality workers play an important role in delivery of quality services since they are the ones in constant connection with the customers. In this way, staff training offers the industry a chance to achieve organizational goals and additionally, allows employees to better their job (Ahammad, 2013). Personnel Training in Hospitality and Tourism Industry Training is an organized way of development and modification of behaviour by engaging in teaching skills, programs, and directions that allows people to gain heights of knowledge, skilfulness, and required competencies to work efficiently. It grants employees information, expertise, and allows them to understand the goals and objectives of the organisation fully. In this way, training is designed to assist the workforce to generate positive contribution in terms of enhanced and improved performance. In essence, each business requires trained and experienced personnel in a bid to carry out its duties efficiently. Jobs today are extremely complex with advancing technology and therefore, the necessity of educating the workforce has enhanced. For instance, it is approximated that businesses in Europe and the United States spend billions of dollars in formal education programs and training initiatives for advancing personnel skills. In this way, personnel training is a significant aspect of HRM duties and many organization understand this concept fully in this constantly changing complex environment (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005). The fast development as well as competition in the hospitality and tourism industry has generated the need for employee training. This is because the level of quality of services and products generated depends largely on the qualities of the workforce in this industry. The hospitality and tourism industry is an area that largely focuses on close contact with consumers and customers. The workforce in this industry deal directly with clients in many levels of their operations and therefore, it is key to have qualified and skilled people who understand customer service. The workforce in this industry needs to be skilled, knowledgeable, and competent while dealing with customers to ensure successful operations of the business. Through training, these employees understand how to interact with tourists and customers in the hotels which enhances productivity. Training offers them the professional understanding, experience, and indispensable expertise that can be used to generate quality services in all areas of the industry. The staffs get to understand closely the affairs of the company and how to work diligently to benefit the organization. Training of hospitality and tourism employees is therefore, an important instrument when implementing business policies and activities. Most successful hotels ensure that they incorporate staff training as a way of developing their strategy in a competitive environment (Purcell, 2006). In addition, training the workforce in the hospitality and tourism sector is crucial because of the qualities of intangibility and inseparability. In essence, service is an intangible good and it is generated and consumed simultaneously (its inseparable) which means it limits how the final product is supervised as it happens in a factory. In this respect, for the service to be quality, employees need to be trained to accomplish their work consistently, reliably, and with excellence. It is common for hospitality and tourism industry to have many low level staff in entry level like cleaners, drivers, and mechanics and the competition of the industry can led to high turnover in many instances. This means that low level staff and high turnover needs constant investment and training of all employees to bring consistency (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005). Skills and Competencies that Hospitality and Tourism Workforce Require It is evident that hospitality and tourism workers require certain qualities to generate quality service and these can be enhanced through training and nurturing. According to (Whitelaw, et al., n.d), in the hotel and tourism industry, there are four main skills that are cited to be of crucial importance in an effort to generate quality services. These include efficient communication and written skills, supervising expertise (which includes motivating others), potential to enhance customer satisfaction, and service competencies. It is also necessary for today hospitality workers to have problem solving skills, observe professional and ethical policies, as well as leadership qualities that that the power to promote operational goals. It is through training that the staff understands public and workers safety requirements like the observation of hygiene and safety in the workplace. They learn to understand legal responsibilities, and efficiently dealing with emergencies or life-threatening conditions like fire, bombs, and even illnesses. In essence, specific management competencies are necessary to deal with hotel specific operational needs, which include effective communication and leadership skills (Ahammad, 2013). It is evident that through nurturing and training of hospitality and tourism employees, they understand the crucial importance of critical thinking, solving problems, and effective leadership that are important in dealing with customers. These skills benefit employees in areas like food and beverage management, room service, and touring which are crucial to succeeding in this sector. It is evidence that with increasing globalization and technology, the employees requires regular new skills in Information Technology (IT) and accepting new systems. They are educated on the need to understand other cultures because customers in hospitality and tourism industry come from all corners of the world. They also understand the need for teamwork in order to accomplish tasks faster and with accuracy. These expertise and many more are of utmost importance and need to be advanced and nurtured regularly (Whitelaw, et al., n.d) Benefits of Training and Nurturing in Hospitality and Tourism Industry It is evident that staff training is an important way to motivate and encourage workers and in this way, it increases productivity for an organization. The current technological changes require workers to get more knowledge and skills to deal with emerging business challenges. Once an employee is empowered with knowledge, they enhance their performance in the work and therefore, increasing productivity. Organised staffs training programs are especially effective in allowing employees to assist each other by working as a team. The hospitality and tourism businesses that focus on training their own employees enable a harmonious working environment, encourage passion in work, and generate team spirit. In principle, training often improves the potential of workers and strengthens their capability of competitive advantage. This is because through quality and efficient training, employees gain self-confidence in their professional duties and this boosts their quality of work. For instance, in the hotels the employees serve customers with passion and anticipation because they are able to realize their potential in the company (Yang, 2010). The employee benefits from training and orientation by getting job satisfaction and recognition for efforts done. In reality, when hospitality and tourism employees acquire good training, they feel encouraged to work and satisfied because of the ease in doing their responsibilities. Through orientation, employees get introduced to what the work involves and this enables them to understand their work better which encourages them to love their duties. Employees also get self-confidence and self-development from training, which occurs because they have gained knowledge. They are more confidence in their endeavours within the industry and they strive to better their work. Training of hospitality employees also ensures that they focus on their personal goals like career development. Once they understand this concept they are focused to better their work to benefit their own growth. Employees also become better problem solvers and productive in their service to the customers in hospitality and tourism sector (Sommerville, 2007). Training benefits the management since they develop a close relationship with the subordinates and therefore, can easily identify talent. The management close contact with subordinates through training ensures that they realize areas of weaknesses among employees and come up with methods to solve these problems. For instance, in hospitality and tourism sector the management has the power to recognize better performers and reward them. The organization benefits from improved profitability, which is enhanced by training programs that add value. Training ensures that employees know the safety rules and regulations and this means that the organisation reduces cases of workplace accidents. Hotels have specific technologies and ways of achieving competitive advantage and personnel training largely enhance this competitiveness enabling them to grow. Additionally, training hospitality employees reduces constant changing of employees for incompetence work and less cost would be used in maintaining them (Sommerville, 2007). Types of Personnel Training Training of hospitality and tourism personnel requires a systematic procedure to ensure quality results and effectiveness. For instance, the top management ensures that decisions are generated; supervisory management observes that the decisions are implemented, while front line managers check that employees carry out actual hospitality operations. Training can be done by location like in house where hotel facilities like training room or canteen are used. It can also be done on the job where each department in the hotel has supervisors and team leaders responsible for offering training appropriately. Outside training is another effective method because employees get to go to seminars and conferences and meet with other personnel from other organisations in the hospitality industry (Lloyd, 2002). There is apprentice training that allows hotel employees to interact with one another and share ideas. This is a good way of ensuring team spirit and collaborative systems within the workplace for easier completion of tasks. Simulation training is another efficient way for HRM department to assist hotel employees to enhance productivity, which is incorporated through everyday tasks. Language training is another important type that ensures that hotel personnel understand various foreign languages. This ensures that they interact with any client at the workplace without need for translation or complex mechanism of understanding a client. The hospitality and tourism industry can also benefit from cross training which is a method of ensuring close communication between various departments within an hotel. Employees are able to get ideas and tips from other departments and incorporate the ones that are efficient in enhancing customer service (Ahammad, 2013). Conclusion It is evident that human capital is an important asset for any business because they are responsible for accomplishing organizational goals. In the changing business world, human resource management has the duty to select competence employees ad train them to achieve their full potential. Training is an important aspect in hospitality and tourism industry since it adds knowledge, new skills, and competence of employees that they need to be successful in their work. It is also clear that there are many benefits of training employees since the knowledge boosts self-confidence, provides job satisfaction, team work, enables management to understand the subordinates and the organizational overall goals of productivity and profitability are achieved. In essence, various types of training hospitality and tourism like on job training, outside training, HRM initiatives, cross training, and language training are addressed. All these aspects of training bring hotel personnel in a united fashion to work closely and generate better results. Bibliography Ahammad, S., 2013. Importance of Training in Hotel industry. [online] Available at: < http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:651957/FULLTEXT01.pdf > [Accessed 26 October 2013]. Barrows, C. and Powers, T., 2008. Introduction to Management in the Hospitality Industry. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Gazija, A., 2011. Importance of staff training in hotel industry Case Study: Hotel Dukagjini. [online] Available at: < http://www.uiliria.org/iir/file/16_Albana_Gazija.pdf> [Accessed 25 October 2013]. González, M.S. and Tacorante D.V, 2004. A new approach to the best practices debate: are the best approaches applied to akk employees in the same way? The International Journal of Human Resource Management Volume 15, Issue 1, pages 56-75. Lloyd, K., 2002. Be the Boss Your Employees Deserve. Pequannock, New Jersey: Career Press. Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A. 2005. Human Resource Management at Work. London: CIPD Purcell, J. 2006. Best practice and best Fit: chimera or cul-de-sac?. Human Resource Management Journal. Volume 9, Issue 3, pages 26–41. Scarbrough, H. and Elias, J., 2002. Evaluating Human Capital. The Broadway, London: CIPD Publishing. Sommerville, K., 2007. Hospitality Employee Management and Supervision: Concepts and Practical Applications. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Whitelaw, P., et al. n.d. Training needs of the hospitality industry. [online] Available at: < http://www.sustainabletourismonline.com/awms/Upload/Resource/80093%20%20Training%20Needs%20WEB.pdf> [Accessed 25 October 2013]. Yang, X., 2010. The Importance of Staff Training in the Hotel Industry Case study: Renaissance Shanghai Yuyuan Hotel. [online] Available at < http://publications.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/7213/Final%20Thesis--The%20importance%20of%20Staff%20training%20in%20the%20hotel%20industy.pdf > [Accessed 25 October 2013] Read More