The Hospitality Industry and Providing Employment Opportunities to Marriott and Southwest Airlines - Case Study Example

After establishing a thorough understanding of the websites of our chosen companies Marriott and Southwest Airlines, we have made a few conclusions based on the assignment questions. As the name suggests, both our chosen companies are quite renowned in the hospitality industry and providing employment opportunities to thousands across the globe. Marriott and Southwest Airlines have separate tabs where they have mentioned in detail about their corporate culture and the values and philosophy they follow. Both sites have been designed in a way to attract potential customers and employees equally. Marriott and Southwest Airlines are socially responsible companies as is reflected by their activities and participation in preserving the environment. Candidates can get to know the information about job openings, how they can create a career path, the values and culture practiced in the work environment. They can even make their resumes after logging in and post it for the recruitment team’s review. The selection process has been listed down step wise so that candidates can get a vivid idea of how the procedure will go. Tips for interview have also been provided so that the candidates know how they must prepare themselves for this important day. Employees’ testimonials have also been provided so that the applicant learns from their experience and how the company helped in their grooming. As a manager, I would suggest that Marriot website should provide complete detail of compensation and perks like Southwest has mentioned in their site. Candidates seeking job at Marriott will feel more motivated and work hard to improve upon their skills if they know how the company will reward them. Secondly, when job openings are announced, a proper job description should be there so that the candidates have an idea of the requirements of the job. As for Southwest Airlines, I believe they should discuss their corporate responsibility in a more clear and detailed manner and provide testimonials of existing employees so as to attract more applicants and communicate soundly about their culture. The job duties of an HR manager at Marriott includes working directly with the associates to carry out significant human resource activities such as recruitment and selection, appraising employees’ performance, training and development and compensation and benefits. As suggested by Stephen, Flynn, M, one of the core responsibilities of HR manager is to ensure that all employees comply with the policies designed by Marriott International and non compliance is dealt with. He must also make certain that the goals of all employees are set up in line with the goals of the organization. An HR manager has to provide constructive feedback to its subordinates on their day to day performance so that any performance related issues could be tackled on time. Most importantly, he has to act as a mentor for its employees and assist them gauge their performance standards effectively. The qualification demanded by Marriot is a master’s degree in HR or equivalent with an experience of five to ten years. Three Recruitment Methods Whenever any position is lying vacant at the company, the HR tries to find the most effective and low cost methods of recruitment so as to attract the best talent. Recruitment can be done through both internal and external sources. For our chosen position that is of Human Resource Manager, we will use the following three methods of recruitment: 1) Internal Employee Referrals Employee referral is a very important internal method of recruitment that many organizations value because it allow the existing employees to identify candidates for a vacant position from their social connections (Durai, Pravin, 2010). Marriott could use this method for filling the position of Human Resource Manager as this technique will not only make the existing employees feel valued but also bring in reasonable applications. The existing employees understand the culture and working environment at Marriott so they will be in a better position to refer competitive candidates for the post of HR manager. Marriott rewards its employees for referring potential candidates in the forms of bonuses. 2) Advertising Marriott could make use of the method of advertising to attract potential candidates for the position of HR manager. In this method, the human resource department will post ads in the newspapers or on their website with brief details of the job duties, experience and required levels of qualification. Marriott is one of the topmost companies in the hospitality industry and candidates wish to become a part of the group so when they see a job positing by Marriott, hundreds and thousands of applications are received online as well as through mail. Advertising is a fairly good method of recruitment our chosen company can opt for. 3) Headhunters Another popular method of recruitment is through headhunting agencies. There are recruitment agencies operating around the globe where candidates seeking jobs drops in their resumes and when companies need to fill a vacancy, they simply contact these agencies with their requirements and get to review the resumes of suitable candidates. Marriot could also use this method for recruitment of Human Resource Manager. Selection Process for Human Resource Manager The selection process we will be designing for the recruitment of Human Resource Manager would be based on four steps. a) Vacancy Identification and Criteria Assessment In this first process of selection, the selection committee will analyze the vacant position and list down properly defined job specification (qualification, experience) and job description (job duties) and then make use of the above mentioned recruitment methods to create awareness among the applicants. Then an assessment criteria will be formed which will guide the selection team on how much weight age they have to give to each process of selection. b) Written Tests Once the job posting has been done and assessment criteria identified, the selection committee will start short listing the applications and then make a call to the chosen applications for screening test. A written test will be assigned to the candidates which they would have to complete within the given time frame. The questions assess the analytical and field related knowledge of the candidates as well as how they can express their ideas in a composed form. c) Psychometric tests A great screening test which candidates applying for the position of HR manager have to go through is called psychometric test. In this test, the candidates are given questions which they can answer online- this test is aimed at judging the analytical, judgmental, reasoning and IQ level (Healy, Liam, 2008). A psychologist alongwith the recruitment team assess the performance of candidates in this test. d) Job based tests The candidates applying for the position of HR manager at Marriott are sometimes given real life scenarios where they have to exhibit their decision making skills while ensuring that they keep the benefit of company’s assets (the employees) at top. They are asked to provide recommendations to situations that an HR manager has to face on a daily basis. e) Interviewing Once these screening tests are assessed by the selection and recruitment team, they short list candidates for interview. The interview is a one to one interaction of the interviewee and the interviewer. The candidate is judged on his ability to respond to the questions presented, his ability to have a control over his nerves, confidence level, eye to eye contact, logical and reasoning and the way he carries his persona. f) Final Decision Based on the above mentioned screening processes, the candidate’s performance is evaluated and then the recruitment and selection team decides whether he or she is suitable for the position of HR manager or not. When hired, the HR manager is presented with a career path, orientation and formal training. References Arthur, Diane. Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting & Orienting New Employees. New York: Arthur Associates Management Consultants, Ltd, 2012. Print. Durai, Pravin. Human Resource Management. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley, 2010. Print. Healy, Liam. Psychometric Tests For Dummies. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Print. Stephen, Flynn, M. Linking Human Resource Strategy and Practice: An Integrated Framework. Leicester: Matador, 2010. Print. Read More