The Activities of the Human Resources - Essay Example

Managing Human Resources for Tourism and Events

Introduction

Human resources management is the set of management practices that define the nature of work and are concerned with the daily welfare of the employees. They are involved in setting the agenda and the programs of organizations and providing directions for people in an organization. Human resource department may range from a small group of individuals to a large department depending on the size of the organization. Also, the manner in which the human resources is managed varies depending on the company. This essay shall discuss how human resources is managed in tourism and event industries. First, let us discuss some activities involved in the human resources management.

Activities Involved in the Human Resource Management

As noted earlier, the number of activities involved in human resources management depends on the size and the need of the organization (Armstrong &Armstrong 2012, p.34; Sharma & Cartwrigh 2002, p. 33). There are a plethora of activities that go on within the human resources department; however, they can all be summarized into six key activities. These six key activities include staffing, human resource planning, performance management, labour relation, compensation and benefits, and training and development (Regis 2008, p. 162).

Staffing

This is an activity that deals with the selection of qualified human resources for an organization. It starts by recruiting people with appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to fill the job vacancies within the organization. After the recruiting process, the human resource selects the most qualified applicants for hiring (Carbery and Cross 2013, p. 9). Under the selection function, the human resource is involved in developing methods that enable the managers to decide which applicants are best suited as well as administering the methods to the applicants.

Human Resource Planning

This activity is concerned with the organization meeting the considerations of staffing requirements (Carbery & Cross 2013, p. 21). It is important to an organization as it determines the type of employees needed to achieve the company’s goals. It also ensures that the company has an adequate number of qualified personnel to perform jobs that meet the objectives of the organization (Armstrong & Armstrong 2012, p. 210). Moreover, it ensures that the persons involved are satisfied with the work they do. Nonetheless, it involves analysis of current situation, forecasting future staffing demand, developing plans to align the current situation with the future needs, implementing the developed plan and controlling of events, and reviewing as well as adjusting the plan (Carbery & Cross 2013, p. 22). Intrinsically, research forms an integral part of human resource planning as it requires collection and analysis of information in order to forecast the organizational operations.

Training and Development

This activity involves giving the employees the skills and knowledge to perform their jobs effectively. It is a way of assuring that an employee can perform his or her job at an acceptable level. It involves providing training to the new and inexperienced new recruits to help them in the transition into the firm’s culture as well as developing the already experienced workers; especially those whose jobs are undergoing change. Development programs are often aimed at preparing employees for higher level responsibilities whereas the training programs aids in improving the skills and performance of the employees (Carbery & Cross 2013, p. 143). Employees who want to achieve personal goals are also given professional training.

Performance Management

The most valuable resource in a company is the human resources (Deb 2006, p. 201). Managing your company's most valuable resources require an understanding of what is expected of the employees as far as their work is concerned. Employees in an organization need to be competent for the enterprise to develop in a fierce competitive environment. Thus, performance management focuses on what need to be done to improve individual competencies to help in achieving the business goals (Armstrong &Armstrong 2012, p. 322). It involves the human resource team conducting checks to verify and confirm the validity of the employee’s actual performance against the expected performance. Nonetheless, performance management forms the basis for promotion, pay rise, and disciplinary actions such as demotion or retrenchment. Besides, it is also essential for employees development as it helps in motivation and performance improvement.

Labour Relation

The human resource is the department that is concerned with the strengthening of employee relationship. It negotiates for the employees with the administration for better working terms favourable for both parties. In organizations where the workers have their trade union, the human resource negotiates with the union regarding issues affecting the workers such as wages, employee contracts, working conditions, grievances, and disputes. It is also involved in developing management response to unions and rendering the interpretation of labour union contract issues.

Compensation and Benefits

The human resources function in the activity of compensation and benefit include setting compensation structures and evaluating competitive pay practices. It may also negotiate health insurance covers on behalf of the employees and coordinate activities with retirement schemes (Regis 2008, p. 352). Through practices such as job evaluation and performance appraisal, the HR can design and administer reward systems to encourage employees to work harder. It provides a rational method for determining how much the employee should be paid for performing a certain task.

Requirement for Human Resource Management in Tourism and Event Related Industries

Tourism and events form the foundation of human interaction. However, with the increasing technology, tourism has developed into a professional field in which countries and people raise revenues. On the other hand, Event Management is the application of project management to create and develop festivals or events. The professionalization of tourism and its combination with other festive events has led to the development in what is known as event tourism. Human resource management is vital to the success of any company including those in the tourism and event-related industries. Intrinsically, many companies fail because they overlook the benefits that the human resource management provide. However, the practices and requirements of human resources vary depending on the industry. This section discusses the requirement for human resources management in tourism and event related industry.

Unlike in other industries, tourism and events related industry are characterized by fast pace and electric environment. Also, most companies in the tourism and events industry are small or medium with workforce of fewer than one hundred employees. Due to the small size of the companies in the tourism industry and the diverse nature of the business, the human resource management team has to be adaptable and fast thinking so as to be up to pace with the rapidly changing environment. As such, the human resource management in the tourism and events related industry is required to be quick in thinking and also adaptable to the changes.

Tourism activities and events are often temporary thus can be classified as projects (Bladen et al. 2012, p. 23). According to Schwalbe (2009, p. 4), projects are temporary endeavours, with specific objectives to be completed within a limited timeframe and budget. On the other hand, Kloppeborg (2012, p. 3) describes a project as requiring the coordination of different functional areas. Thus, events being managed as distinct and separate entities, qualifies to be classified as projects. Every event forms a unique project with a unique requirement. Most enterprises in the industry do not have a well-developed or diversified human resource system. Consequently, the uniqueness of every project requires the human resources management to be diverse in their activities.

As opposed to other organizations, most workers in the tourism and event industry either volunteer or work under contract. Per se, event organizations often have a diverse workforce. In such cases, workers do not have the induction face where they get acquainted with the company’s values or culture or even get the basic training. Because of the diversity, experience, skills and motive of the employees, the human resources management are required to possess great leadership qualities (Van der Wagen, 2007, p. 11). Moreover, they require careful attention to be able to understand each and everybody’s strength and weaknesses so as to manage them towards delivering a meaningful and positive result for the company.

In a dynamic industry like the tourism and event related industry, the expectation of companies vary from one company to the other. Moreover, every company has its method of doing things. However, given the strict time limit and the budget constrain, it becomes difficult for the companies to find the right employee for the right job. Nonetheless, research by Elstad (2003, p.106) showed that most employees quit their jobs because of the inappropriate workload. Therefore, in the tourism industry, human resources management is required to have an understanding of the company's objectives and the employee capability. By understanding the business, its objectives and the employees, the human resource can be able to support the development of the business in terms of the resources, and human workforce. They can, therefore, make the difference by engaging and motivating the employees as well as assigning the right employee the right job. This will, in turn, boost the morale of the workers and increase productivity. The human resource in the tourism and event related industry is thus required to understand the business, its objective, and the workers.

As the market grows, things keep changing and so does the rules of the industry. For example, due to the increase in the incidences of terrorism and insecurity issues, laws regarding security have been enacted, and some changed. Also in the tourism sector, there are laws regarding the ages of those who can be allowed as workers. Given that different companies focus on different areas of development, the human resource should understand the area of development in which the company is focusing. Moreover, the human resource is required to have an understanding of the legislations and laws so as to be able to offer advice and support to the management regarding the same. Besides, being informed of the laws of the industry will help the human resource to be able to perform activities that are not against the law, hence keep the company away from conflict with the authorities.

As stated earlier, the tourism and event related industry is experiencing rapid growth. Most workers in the industry, however, remain unskilled. However, even with the few skilled workers, the human resource of the industry can still utilize the little manpower to serve the many clients. With the few human resource and many clients, the human resources in the tourism and event related industry are, therefore, required to be able to put up with the pressure that comes with high demands.

Work-related Issues within Tourism, Events and other Person-to-person Service Industries, and their Solutions.

The person-to-person service industry has dramatically changed in the past ten years. However, some of the issues that face the industry are still witnessed to date. Volatile economic conditions, changing demographics, and shifting travel pattern are some of the issues that are facing the industry (Papatheodorou 2006, p. 4). These issues can be classified as work related or non-work related. The following section shall deal with work-related issues that affect tourism and other person-to-person service industries.

Labour and Skill Shortage

One of the major problems facing person-to-person industry is that of attracting and maintaining qualified workers. Companies lose their top performers to their competitors and even to other fairs in other industries. Some of the reasons why companies are losing their best employees include matters to do with wage level, demography, failure to address the worker’s demand and overworking (Hotel-online.com 2016, n.p). Given that companies in the hospitality industry pay less money compared to those in other sectors, most people depart for these companies that pay well. Considerably, the tourism and events related industries have a reputation for not having quality life or better wages compared to other industries. As a result, most employees in the industry depart to look for better payment packages in other industries.

However, the players in the tourism or people-to-people service industry can overcome the challenge of inability to attract and maintain qualified workers by rethinking and rehabilitating the image of the industry so that it can also be as attractive as other industries. By changing the glamor of the industry and increasing the wages of the jobs within the industry, even the courses that relate to these careers will attract more students. With more students graduating with tourism and other people-to-people service courses, the problem of shortage of employees will be no more. Another possible solution to the issue of shortage of workers can be addressed by having organizational employee training sessions.

Unhappiness of the Employees

Sometime, companies seem to have a vision that contradicts the employees’ personal development plans. When the vision of the company does not support the employees’ personal development plan, the employees tend to start feeling that they are in a wrong place where they stand no chance for growth. In that effect, most companies encourage their employees to engage in personal development plans and even perform appraisal to monitor the progress of their employees in relation to their personal development plans. Employees who feel that the company’s vision cannot support their personal development plans can feel frustrated and furious and thus, work to sabotage or destroy the company as well as migrate to other better industries (Canada.ca 2014, n.p). Also, if the image marketing and promotion of the company is different from the real issue on the ground, the workers can develop a negative attitude and fail to support the company in its pursuit for its goals.

Employees often feel offended if their employers don't treat them with the respect they deserve. To avoid conflict with the employees, the employers must engage in activities that do not diminish the status of their workers or even offend them. Employees often act as marketing agents for the company to the community where they live. The firm must therefore be honest in its dealing so as to prevent the workers from developing a negative attitude towards the company and to encourage them to market the company further. The enterprise must also work closely with the quality control to identify and fix the problems that arises among employees. The firm should also keep communicating with the employees to determine their feelings so as to stop potential sabotage.

Wrong Personality

One of the activities of the human resources is selecting the right employee for the right job. If the human resources gives the job to unqualified employee instead of the qualified one, problems arise later due to inability of the employee to meet the expectations. Just like selecting people with the right qualification is vital for the success of the company, selecting an employee with the right personality is also crucial for the success of the company especially in people-to-people industry. Businesses should thus focus on the selection and evaluation process to eliminate the people with bad personalities such as self-centred people who think more to themselves than to the company goals.

Failure by the Employees to Understand their Roles

Another work related issue that arises in tourism and event related industry is the failure by the worker to understand his or her role in the company. As such, the employees often feel that they are not of benefit to the company (Conrady et al., 2011, p. 138). The company can find a solution to this by reminding the employees that they are the company. The employees should be told of their role in the company and be made to understand of their roles as well as their importance to the company. The human resources can also use incentives, recognition, training, and constant reinforcements to stress to the employees of their importance to the organization.