Chapter 1. An introduction
Indeed, within and industry that is characterized by diversity and heterogeneity in terms of
the purpose, size, ownership, and demands of the enterprise.
Homogeneity: the only real point of homogeneity is delivering service to customers and the
need to manage people in such a way that they offer a quality service.
Heterogeneity: is also seen in relation to the way that organizations adopt differing routes
to competitive advantage, depending in which type of market they operate in.
The level of luxury of a company requires other skills and attributes from their employees,
which again will impact on human resource (HR) strategies such as recruitment and
selection and training.
Who makes up the tourism and hospitality workforce? A
brief snapshot.
The H&T industry are largely reliant on ‘marginal workers’, such as women, young workers,
casual employees, students, relatively high numbers of part-timers and migrant workers. A
significant part of the tourism and hospitality workforce consists of students, who are an
increasingly important segment of the labor market for H&T organizations. They are
prepared to work for low wages and be flexible in their working patterns.
The number of ethnic minority workers in the sector is 14%, which is higher than the
economy as a whole. A further increasingly important segment of the labor market is
migrant labor.
What is HRM?
HRM can be described as ‘’a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks
to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic development of a highly committed
and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel
techniques.
Hard and soft HRM
Within HRM, you can divide a hard and a soft version.
Hard HRM: is seen to be an instrumental and economically rational approach to HRM. In
this view people-management strategies are driven by strategic considerations to gain
competitive advantage, maximizing control while achieving the lowest possible labor costs.
This approach focusses on the resource management aspects of HRM
Soft HRM: is seen to be much more about adopting humanistic and developmental
approach to HRM. As a result, an organization’s people management approach is likely to be
more consensual and based on a high level of managerial commitment to employees, which
is intended to lead to mutual high commitment from employees, high trust, high
productivity and so on. This approach focusses on the human aspects of HRM.
,Best fit vs best practice HRM
Briefly explained, the difference between best fit and best practice HRM is that best-fit
argues for an approach to HRM that is fully integrated with the specific organizational and
environmental context in which they operate. Best-practice HRM, on the other hand, argues
for a universalistic approach to HRM in which all firms who adopt a range of agreed HR
policies and practices are more likely to create a high performance/commitment workplace
as organizations aim to compete on the basis of high quality and productivity.
Best fit
There are several HRM strategies a company can adopt to seek competitive advantage
(HRM for H&T industries, chapter 1, page 12):
1. Innovation strategy:
a. What do organizations seek: organizations seek to develop products or
services that are different from competitors, such that the focus here is on
companies offering something new and different.
b. Needed behavior: willingness to tolerate ambiguity and unpredictability, the
need to be creative and risk-taking.
c. Following strategy: have a large number of highly skilled individuals who are
likely to enjoy high levels of autonomy.
2. Quality enhancement strategy:
a. What do organizations seek: to gain competitive advantage by enhancing the
product and/or service quality.
b. Needed behavior: need to be cooperative interdependent (coöperatief
onderling onafhankelijk) , commitment to the goals of the organization.
c. Following strategy: create the needed employee behavior.
3. Cost reduction strategy:
a. What do organizations seek: gain competitive advantage by aiming to be the
lowest-cost producer within a particular market segment
b. Needed behavior: repetitive and predictable, low levels of risk-taking activity
and a high degree of comfort with stability.
c. Following strategy: use a higher number of part-timers, seek to simplify and
measure work via narrowly defined jobs that encourage specialization and
efficiency, and offer short-term results-oriented appraisals (beoordelingen,
evaluaties)
There can be divided four archetypes within the H&T organizations. These characteristics
are based on the degree of customization and labor intensity (arbeidsintensiviteit) involved
in the service on offer, in terms of the degree of customer contact required between
employees and customers.
1. Service factory:
a. Low labor intensity and low customization (high standardization)
2. Service shop:
a. More customization, but relatively low labor intensity. The defining
difference in the service factory lies in the degree of standardization within
the process.
3. Mass services
a. Relatively high degree of labor intensity, limited amount of customization.
, 4. Professional services:
a. High level of service to individual customers and a high degree of labor
intensity.
The key point remains that organizations, in developing a certain product marketing
strategy, ensure that their HR policies and practices are congruent and cost-effective with
this strategy.
Best practice
By adopting a best practice approach it is argued that organizations will see enhanced
commitment from employees, leading to improved organizational performance, higher
levels of service quality and ultimately increases in productivity and profitability.
There is a range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational
strategies aimed at securing high quality service:
1. Recruitment and selection
2. Retention
3. Teamwork
4. Training and development
5. Appraisal
6. Rewarding quality
7. Job security
8. Employee involvement and employee relations
In simple terms, best practice is likely to entail attempts to enhance the skill base of
employees through HR activities such as selective staffing, comprehensive training and
broad developmental efforts like job rotation. Additionally, it also encourages
empowerment, participative problem-solving, teamwork, and performance-based
incentives (stimulansen).
Models or reality?
The reality is far too complex. The employment experience for employees can vary
enormously depending on the type of organization they work in and the job or role they
have within their organizations. All organizations have to manage employees on a day-to-
day basis.
The bad new…. Pessimistic views of HRM in H&T
Generally, H&T has often struggled with negative perceptions about employment practices
and conditions. The industry has a number of personnel problems among which low wages,
family-unfriendly work hours, unprofessional managers and owner, high labor turnover, lack
of HRM and difficulties in recruitment and retention of employees.
Recognizing this reality of poor employment practices, the importance of economics and
judgements about the relative value of skill as key determining factors for HRM policies and
practices in tourism and hospitality. Of course, in this point is likely to be true of any
, industry, but these issues have a particular resonance in H&T due to the nature of the
sector.
Another reason for continuing pessimism is the general attitude of employers, and
particularly the extent to which they are willing to recognize the extent of the HRM problem
in the sector.
Indeed, within and industry that is characterized by diversity and heterogeneity in terms of
the purpose, size, ownership, and demands of the enterprise.
Homogeneity: the only real point of homogeneity is delivering service to customers and the
need to manage people in such a way that they offer a quality service.
Heterogeneity: is also seen in relation to the way that organizations adopt differing routes
to competitive advantage, depending in which type of market they operate in.
The level of luxury of a company requires other skills and attributes from their employees,
which again will impact on human resource (HR) strategies such as recruitment and
selection and training.
Who makes up the tourism and hospitality workforce? A
brief snapshot.
The H&T industry are largely reliant on ‘marginal workers’, such as women, young workers,
casual employees, students, relatively high numbers of part-timers and migrant workers. A
significant part of the tourism and hospitality workforce consists of students, who are an
increasingly important segment of the labor market for H&T organizations. They are
prepared to work for low wages and be flexible in their working patterns.
The number of ethnic minority workers in the sector is 14%, which is higher than the
economy as a whole. A further increasingly important segment of the labor market is
migrant labor.
What is HRM?
HRM can be described as ‘’a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks
to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic development of a highly committed
and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel
techniques.
Hard and soft HRM
Within HRM, you can divide a hard and a soft version.
Hard HRM: is seen to be an instrumental and economically rational approach to HRM. In
this view people-management strategies are driven by strategic considerations to gain
competitive advantage, maximizing control while achieving the lowest possible labor costs.
This approach focusses on the resource management aspects of HRM
Soft HRM: is seen to be much more about adopting humanistic and developmental
approach to HRM. As a result, an organization’s people management approach is likely to be
more consensual and based on a high level of managerial commitment to employees, which
is intended to lead to mutual high commitment from employees, high trust, high
productivity and so on. This approach focusses on the human aspects of HRM.
,Best fit vs best practice HRM
Briefly explained, the difference between best fit and best practice HRM is that best-fit
argues for an approach to HRM that is fully integrated with the specific organizational and
environmental context in which they operate. Best-practice HRM, on the other hand, argues
for a universalistic approach to HRM in which all firms who adopt a range of agreed HR
policies and practices are more likely to create a high performance/commitment workplace
as organizations aim to compete on the basis of high quality and productivity.
Best fit
There are several HRM strategies a company can adopt to seek competitive advantage
(HRM for H&T industries, chapter 1, page 12):
1. Innovation strategy:
a. What do organizations seek: organizations seek to develop products or
services that are different from competitors, such that the focus here is on
companies offering something new and different.
b. Needed behavior: willingness to tolerate ambiguity and unpredictability, the
need to be creative and risk-taking.
c. Following strategy: have a large number of highly skilled individuals who are
likely to enjoy high levels of autonomy.
2. Quality enhancement strategy:
a. What do organizations seek: to gain competitive advantage by enhancing the
product and/or service quality.
b. Needed behavior: need to be cooperative interdependent (coöperatief
onderling onafhankelijk) , commitment to the goals of the organization.
c. Following strategy: create the needed employee behavior.
3. Cost reduction strategy:
a. What do organizations seek: gain competitive advantage by aiming to be the
lowest-cost producer within a particular market segment
b. Needed behavior: repetitive and predictable, low levels of risk-taking activity
and a high degree of comfort with stability.
c. Following strategy: use a higher number of part-timers, seek to simplify and
measure work via narrowly defined jobs that encourage specialization and
efficiency, and offer short-term results-oriented appraisals (beoordelingen,
evaluaties)
There can be divided four archetypes within the H&T organizations. These characteristics
are based on the degree of customization and labor intensity (arbeidsintensiviteit) involved
in the service on offer, in terms of the degree of customer contact required between
employees and customers.
1. Service factory:
a. Low labor intensity and low customization (high standardization)
2. Service shop:
a. More customization, but relatively low labor intensity. The defining
difference in the service factory lies in the degree of standardization within
the process.
3. Mass services
a. Relatively high degree of labor intensity, limited amount of customization.
, 4. Professional services:
a. High level of service to individual customers and a high degree of labor
intensity.
The key point remains that organizations, in developing a certain product marketing
strategy, ensure that their HR policies and practices are congruent and cost-effective with
this strategy.
Best practice
By adopting a best practice approach it is argued that organizations will see enhanced
commitment from employees, leading to improved organizational performance, higher
levels of service quality and ultimately increases in productivity and profitability.
There is a range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational
strategies aimed at securing high quality service:
1. Recruitment and selection
2. Retention
3. Teamwork
4. Training and development
5. Appraisal
6. Rewarding quality
7. Job security
8. Employee involvement and employee relations
In simple terms, best practice is likely to entail attempts to enhance the skill base of
employees through HR activities such as selective staffing, comprehensive training and
broad developmental efforts like job rotation. Additionally, it also encourages
empowerment, participative problem-solving, teamwork, and performance-based
incentives (stimulansen).
Models or reality?
The reality is far too complex. The employment experience for employees can vary
enormously depending on the type of organization they work in and the job or role they
have within their organizations. All organizations have to manage employees on a day-to-
day basis.
The bad new…. Pessimistic views of HRM in H&T
Generally, H&T has often struggled with negative perceptions about employment practices
and conditions. The industry has a number of personnel problems among which low wages,
family-unfriendly work hours, unprofessional managers and owner, high labor turnover, lack
of HRM and difficulties in recruitment and retention of employees.
Recognizing this reality of poor employment practices, the importance of economics and
judgements about the relative value of skill as key determining factors for HRM policies and
practices in tourism and hospitality. Of course, in this point is likely to be true of any
, industry, but these issues have a particular resonance in H&T due to the nature of the
sector.
Another reason for continuing pessimism is the general attitude of employers, and
particularly the extent to which they are willing to recognize the extent of the HRM problem
in the sector.
