Robust Human Resource Practices - Essay Example

Research Report Research Report Introduction One of the success factors that underlay the high performing organizations is the ability to put their people first through robust Human Resource practices. Most of the organizations have traditionally looked at the Human Resource function as an administrative role rather than a duty that could significantly influence the strategic bearing on the whole organization (Righeimer, 2006). Surprisingly, discussions regarding such practices often do not feature during strategic planning or meetings to chart the way forward for the organization. The irony, however, is that the Human Resource function by its very nature focuses not only on recruiting the most qualified workers to the organization but also ensuring there is a robust working environment. Lack of conducive working environment precipitates factors such as poor work moral, negative attitude to work, low or total lack of commitment to the organization. At Four Seasons, the management has taken cognizance of the fact that an organization’s most important asset is its employees. Highly qualified staffs who are well motivated would go out of their way to provide the best services to the customers. Such a quality is of profound importance in the hospitality industry where client satisfaction is the key to ensuring the hotel remains in business. An employee provides the first point of contact between a customer and the organization and as such, is the most important PR agent of the organization. Depending on how he or she is treated, a customer’s decision to make a repeat purchase is often rely much on the prior experience they had with the organization. The aspects of HR functions are not quantifiable in monetary terms, but play a big role in influencing the organization’s strategy. It is difficult estimating how much a well-motivated staff may be worth for the organization, but it is central to the firm’s profitability. According to Khan, the Human Resource department has three key roles to play in the organizations strategic advancement (Khan, 2014). These roles include one, to function as a strategic partner. This includes the provision of support for the organization’s policies, the people and implementations of regulations within the organization. Under this role, the department is usually the duty of taking care of administrative matters such as issues dealing with the individual employee payroll issues, insurance, leaves and any other benefits due to the employee. The department also provides support for the circulation of executive orders regarding employee performance and conduct within the organization. The second role or the human resource function is to act as a business partner. Through this role, the department assists various business units with the implementation of their business models (Deery, & Jago, 2009). The third role is the strategic role. This is a strategy level function for the department, and the human resource executives will be involved with the formulation of key decisions that would affect the particular business unit. While the technical business unit will come up with the model and how to implement it within a given period, the human resource department will involve an analysis of whether the key skills and human resources required to undertake the project are available. Motivation and Team Working Four Seasons Hotels have recognized the need for a highly motivated staff. The management takes into cognizance the fact that to achieve the high levels of motivation as envisaged. The company will have to incur extra costs in terms of employee salary and other benefits. However, this notwithstanding, the prohibitive costs, the company understands that labour is the key to keeping it on the productivity track. Labour is also a key factor in the company’s strategic goals of expanding from 40 to 100 branches in 2015. Just like Khan argues, while the decision to expand into the new markets does not entirely fall under the jurisdiction of the human resource department, the department has a crucial strategic role in evaluating the business viability in terms of availability of the needed skills and manpower to operate in the new ventures. Motivation in any organization helps solve key performance problems, which are indicated by employees agreeing to be distracted and choosing not to concentrate on the important tasks assigned, general resistance to change of any kind and lastly being overconfidence and failing to invest necessary time required in a particular task. A less motivated employee may choose to treat the organizations most important clients casually and offer substandard service or help (Duffy & Trisha, 2010). Lack of motivation can cause even the most talented and dedicated employee to refuse to work or look for an alternative place where their efforts can be better appreciated. Motivation will help solve these problems by initiating and maintaining a goal-directed performance to the organization’s workers. Four seasons recognizes that a good part of their staff take the minimum wage. They also interact the most with the hotels customers, which, therefore, mean that the possibility of them being demotivated is much higher. According to research conducted by Osterloh and Frey (2009) and published by the Institute for operations research and management sciences, employee motivation can both be intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation involves the transfer of tacit knowledge between work teams. By far, this is the most important form of motivations since knowledge generation and transfer between teams is an important factor for a firm in achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage over its rivals. Extrinsic motivation involves the use of reward system as a form of appreciation for the employees who perform well in the tasks assigned to them. Each of these forms of motivation has their advantages and disadvantages depending on the one that the hotel would choose to adopt. However, the two can be applied together to achieve better performance. In the case of the Four Seasons Hotel, the human resource department already is aware that the critical mass of the hotel’s employees is on a minimum wage. As such, a blend of extrinsic such as overtime pay and reward for achieving target goals and intrinsic motivation such as positioning individuals to work with their most preferred teams. The organization strives to do the best in ensuring that the employees are happy at all times. One intrinsic motivation technique is through organizing occasional invitation to the employees to come to the office parties with their families. The incentive here is to get the employee feel much appreciated by the organization. Additionally, motivation is essential to stimulate family support for the employee by letting their family members understand the kind of work they do. Use of career development motivates employees intrinsically. According to research by Duffy and Trisha (2010), the employees feel more confident and become serious about their work when they are assured of the future of their career. Employee Engagement and Commitment Donna Dickson of the Rochester Institute of Technology observes that in the coming years, managers in the hospitality industry will not only be required to possess the technical competency for their jobs but also a significant ability to manage people (Dickson, 2008). Employee commitment is achieved when the individual employee does not harbour any feeling of uncertainty about their future career development. However, for the companies and many other businesses in the hospitality industry, many of their employees see their jobs just as a stepping-stone to greater opportunities outside the industry (Dickson, 2008). The inference of this is that the organizations need to spend more effort in engaging the employees to reduce the high rates of turnover. A study by the Incentive Research Foundation in 2002 found out that the employees who felt least engaged at their places of work were the most likely to leave. Those who feel valued and supported are more likely to stay for longer periods in their current jobs. The findings are supported by DiPietro and Pizam (2007) who observed that employee delineation or disengagement is caused by several factors with the most prominent one being dissatisfaction with the style of management at their workplace. Organizations need to find ways of unleashing the employee talent and energy at every level of performance to ensure they achieve a robust and highly engaged workplace culture. Employee engagement relates to the willingness to work hard and a strong desire to stay with the company. Engagement is a three-dimensional matrix that entails cognitive, affective and behavioural considerations. Cognitive considerations involve what the employees think about their company. Whether they see an intellectual fit between themselves and the demands of the company and if the employee believes in the goals and objectives of the company. An affective consideration has to do with what the employees feel about the company, whether there is an emotional bond developed between the employee and the organization. Finally, behavioural considerations take into account how the employee acts in relation to the company. It also takes into account whether the employee exerts their maximum effort in their work and if they desire to stay with the company. One way of engaging the employees is to have them clearly understand the company values, goals, and objectives. They also need to understand what they are required to do to help in achieving the goals and maintaining the values (Interbrand, 2007). Such an engagement will ensure that the organization factors the cognitive considerations of the employee. Providing employees with an environment where they feel a sense of belonging will influence the way they feel about the company. The employees also need to feel a sense of pride being associated with the company. A study by Stefan Thau on the sense of belonging and workplace behaviors found out that those employees who felt a stronger sense of belonging displayed higher levels of cooperation and teamwork (Thau et al., 2007 ). When employees do not feel a sense of belonging, it increases disengagement, which in turn leads to lower productivity; hence, reduced profits to the firm. Ensuring that the employees feel a sense of pride in the organization they work for not only results in high commitment levels but also serve as a strong marketing tool for the firms products and services. A proud employee will likely recommend the organization to his or her colleagues seeking employment. They will also likely to recommend the company products and services to their friends. Work and Family (Life) Balance Work life balance relates to a concept of prioritizing between one’s careers, ambitions, and lifestyle that includes family, health, leisure and spiritual nourishment (Deery & Jago, 2009). Practices that the firm usually introduce to enable its employee experience a balanced life system are often called the Work-Life balance and are central to improving productivity in the company. The practices include a wide array of adjustments including where one works, how long an employee works in a day, schedule shifting or flexible schedules. The hospitality industry in which the Four Seasons hotel operate is notorious for high employee turnover. Some of the reasons the departing employees give is the lack of enough time to attend to other non-paid personal obligations. Juggling life and work balance is not easy for many employees. Yamamoto and Toshiyuki found out that firms are introducing such practices as child care and family care leaves that are aimed at reducing worries among the workers at the workplace (Isamu & Toshiyuki, 2012). Studies conducted on the effectiveness of such programs points to their effectiveness in enabling workers concentrate on their tasks at the workplace. Work- life balance, traditionally viewed as a source of worry to mainly the female workers, has undergone some changes in the recent past (Isamu & Toshiyuki, 2012). Many companies in the industrialized countries have introduced both paternal and maternal leaves to enable both parents take care of their families. Work-life balance practices also enable the companies to minimize the rates of absenteeism and to reduce the rate of employee turnovers (Marques, 2005). Organizations that have initiated work-life balance practices show characteristics of workplace citizenship among its employees. These characteristics include increased employee commitment and willingness to work harder. Such organizations also foster a good working environment in which the employees engage and form social support groups. The employees also show lesser intentions of quitting. Recommendations From the preceding discussions, it is clear that the labour market over the years faced a number of evolution. More women are entering the labor force and what this means, therefore, is that the industry players must adjust to the changing circumstances. The hospitality industry where the Four Seasons hotel operate is characterized by high staff turnover, low worker morale, long working hours and a general less than the average qualified workforce. Female workers constitute a majority of the workforce in this industry. To ensure low employee turnover and reduced productivity, the firm should implement a raft of the practices suggested above. Waiters interact the most with the clients, yet the majority of them take the minimum wage or are unsure of their contracts. The HR department should concentrate on removing this uncertainty by investing in career development training that will help give them assurance for their future job progress. The biggest challenge that brings set back to guarantees of job security is the seasonality of the tourism market. Amid global terrorism and economic meltdown, hotels record lower bookings and as such, several staffs often find themselves idle or jobless. Another recommendation would be for the department to foster the growth of work groups or teams. These teams can be used as sources of intrinsic motivation to the employee and keep them happy even as they serve the clients. Bibliography Anonymous, 2003, ‘Motivation secrets of the 100 best employers’, HR focus, 80 (10), p1. Aube, C & Rousseau, V., 2014, ‘Counterproductive behaviors’, Team Performance Management, 20 (5/6), p202-220. Bal, P.M, Kooij, D.T & Jong, S.B., 2013, ‘How Do Developmental and Accommodative HRM Enhance Employee Engagement and Commitment? The Role of Psychological Contract and SOC Strategies’, Journal of Management Studies, 50 (4), p545-572. Boonyada, N., 2014, ‘The Relationship among Leadership Commitment, Organizational Performance, and Employee Engagement’, International Business Research, 7 (9), p77. 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