Importance of Human Resource in Services Industry - Research Paper Example

Introduction Human resources are becoming increasingly important in today’s fast moving world as the dynamics of business world is changing. The changing dynamics of businesses all over the world require human resources to stay vigilant and accommodate any changes that occur on the wider business scene. Hospitality industry is a very important industry of the world as tourism will always remain an ongoing activity. Also people travel to different countries for businesses and this will never stop. In this paper the importance of human resources to the hospitality industry will be explained. Role of Human Resources in Hospitality Industry The role of human resources is vital in services industry as the main selling point of the business is the service that is being provided to the customer. These services are directly being provided by the employees of a company therefore human resources are an important part of services sector. Hospitality industry is also a service industry as it serves travelers by providing them with food and stay. Human resources should be motivated and skilled when dealing with customer as it is vital for future business. People do not like to visit hotels or resorts that provide bad services. Also word of mouth spreads like a wild fire therefore one bad incident can hurt any hotel or resort significantly. Employees should be trained if this situation is to be avoided. Skilled and motivated employees are the only way through which a clientele can be kept loyal and satisfied. Perfect substitutes are also available for travelers therefore human resource can play a great role in the success or failure of a company working in the hospitality industry. Importance of Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry Human resource is the only thing that can serve as an attraction in this industry. No matter what facilities are provided if workers are not polite and gentle towards clients than hotel or resort will not work properly. Competition in the hospitality industry is increasing and this sector is expected to grow in future (ILO, 2001). Firms can only survive in this competitive environment if focus is on human resources because it is the only thing through which value addition can be achieved. The cultural diversity in the hospitality industry is also important to cater and no technology can do that. Guests can belong to any culture because travelers come from different parts of the world. Employees can be trained to treat guests of different cultures differently. This is the only method of survival in culturally diverse industry. The turnover of employees is very high in the hospitality industry (Iverson & Deery, 2007). This means that costs of doing business is increasing and this can hurt the profits of the company. Human resource therefore becomes extremely important in the hospitality industry and employee motivation is important to lower costs. Another importance of human resources in hospitality industry is related to the nature of skill of the employees. The skill of a person working in a particular hotel is unique because each hotel has a different clientele and market. It is difficult for employees to adjust and learn the ways of a new company easily. For hotels and resorts it is therefore difficult to find skilled labor and this is why human resource is important. Differences with HR of other Industries In over industries human resource has a limited role in their interaction with employees. A normal person working in a production line will never meet the customer of the company or the user of the product he is making. His beliefs and actions are not important to company. This is not the case with hospitality industry as all employees are in constant interaction with employees. Also in hospitality industry cultural diversity is at an all time high when it comes to the target market. A hotel or a resort cannot have a limited ethnicity or race as its market therefore it has to deal with all clients of different cultures. This causes difficulties and human resource is the only way through which it can happen. No company can have one policy for Japanese and American customers but in resorts and hotels there can be no difference between services that are given to clients of different cultures. The nature of problems that employees have to deal with is changing daily and this is another contracting feature of hospitality industry (Riley, M. 1996). No one knows what problems will come tomorrow as clients are the sole source of revenues and they come from different background. The nature of demand is also changing constantly therefore this industry is different from other industries. Future of HR in Hospitality Industry In future it is expected that employees of this industry will get more attention from companies and they will be treated in a better way. The focus of hotels and resorts will be in promoting sustainable human resources in future (Goldsmith, A. 1997). There will be no drastic improvement in situation of employees but comparatively more attention will be given to them than it is given today. Pays will not increase too much but the focus will be on sustainable development. Training of the employees and workers will be the main focus of hospitality industry. Through human resources hotels and resorts will attempt to differentiate their services from competitors. Conclusion Human resource is a very important element in all businesses but it is extremely important in services industry. Hospitality industry specially relies on their human resource because they cater to guests who come from a diverse background. The role of technology and facilities becomes very limited because guests are always interacting with clients. This makes hospitality industry different from other industries with regards to the use of human resources. The issues faced by employees also change on a daily basis therefore human resource has great importance in this industry. The future of human resources in this industry is bright and the focus in future will be on sustainable development. Works Cited Page Goldsmith, A. Human resource management for hospitality services. London: Cengage Learning EMEA, 1997. Print Human resources development, employment and globalization in the hotel, catering and tourism sector. International Labor Organization, 2001. Web. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/techmeet/tmhct01/tmhct-r.pdf Iverson & Deery. Turnover culture in the hospitality industry. Human Resource Management Journal, Volume 7, Issue 4, pp. 71–82, 1997 Riley, M. Human resource management in the hospitality and tourism industry. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1996. Print Read More