A CASE STUDY ON HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

MADE BY VAIBHAV KATIYAR M.B.A III

ABOUT THE CASE

This is a case of two competing hotels ,Sunrise Hotel and Beachside Hotel that are located in the tourism based state Goa. The hotels are competing for the same set of guests ,as well as the same set of potential employees .They are both budget hotels and are right next door to each other. The Sunrise Hotel and the Beachside Hotel are having 60 guest rooms each and with a view of the beach .

SUNRISE HOTEL
The occupancy during peak season for Sunrise hotel is 98% but in winter season it goes down to 65% .There is a sense of teamwork at Sunrise Hotel and that helps everyone to easily discharge their duties .The guest satisfaction rating for this hotel is excellent. On a rating scale of 1-10 his hotel is rated at 9.The employees turnover at the Sunrise Hotel is 25%.

JOE - The General Manager

Joe is the General Manager of Sunrise Hotel and has been in his current position for 5 years .He has been with the Sunrise Hotel for last 10 years. He got promoted from front desk agent to front desk supervisor and finally to Assistant General Manager before he became General Manager .He does a good job of screening potential employees for his front desk area of the hotel because he realizes the importance of that area of the hotel .He has set up incentives for excellent performance .He has also designed a training and development program for better discharging of duties. Joe is involved with all of hiring decisions, and helps to give training programs himself.

Beachside Hotel
Occupancy in the Beachside Hotel is 90% in peak season which goes down to 50% in winter season. It is not having better customer satisfaction ratings and more return guests. Despite the fairly high occupancy noted during peak seasons ,the off peak season occupancy is less. The turnover of employees is 90% i.e. the hotel is running shorthanded and with new employees. On a rating scale of 1-10 his hotel is rated at 6.

BRIAN The General Manager

Brian is the GM of Beachside Hotel and deals with every different situation .He was transferred from another hotel of same group about 6 months ago from accounting and finance department .Brian has been with this hotel group since last 2 years .He is not involved in human resource aspects of the job i.e. he is not involved with hiring or training of employees. He spends most of his days looking at financial reports of hotel.

MARY
Mary is the human resource practitioner in the Beachside Hotel. She has been promoted from front desk supervisor to HR practitioner .She is too busy with hiring and has no time for training and development of the employees .

The Beachside Hotel has no policies written down for employees to use as a guide for performance ,customers are treated poorly by new and poorly trained employees ,and the departments of the hotels do not communicate among themselves.

QUESTION NO.1
What strategy should Brian implement in order to start changing the capital practices in the Beachside Hotel ?

ANSWER NO.1
In order to start changing the human capital practices at the Beachside Hotel, there need to be a serious shift in the culture there.Since Brian did not have any human resource background, he does not get involved in hiring, training and ensuring that these functions are used to build a stronger service culture .Mary the HR practitioner ,was put into place because she could not work with customers, yet she is now in charge of the employees .Brian needs to get involved in building a stronger culture by making sure that he works with Mary to make sure that she is focused on people and creating a positive atmosphere .Investments need to be made in training and development of the people currently employed at Beachside Hotel and also in the new people to build a committed workforce.

QUESTION NO.2
What should Brian learn from Joe in terms of the human capital aspects of running a hotel ?

ANSWER NO.2
Brian should start out by learning more about the human capital in his hotel first and getting himself immersed in the people of the company .The service profit chain starts internal to the organization and then looks to the external guest. Brian could then observe some of the human resources practices that are being used at the Sunrise Hotel and apply them to his own hotel .Joe is involved in all of the hiring at the Sunrise Hotel as well as the training and development there. Brian should implement more of a focus in the top management of Beachside Hotel in order to emulate Joes focus on developing a culture of service and in taking pride in the people that work for him.

QUESTION NO.3
How could training and development programs be implemented in the Beachside Hotel in order to help with turnover and occupancy rates at the hotel ?

ANSWER NO.3
Brian needs to focus on hiring the correct people for the various jobs at the Beachside Hotel and should then work with each person to determine what it would take to get them to be satisfied in their jobs .Training and development not only give people the skills that they need but also develops people in other facets of their life ,i.e. time management skills ,money management skills etc. These development classes help people feel a sense of connection with their jobs and would help them to feel satisfied. The more satisfied employees are, the more they tend to stay at a place of employment and the more they tend to satisfy the guest that they serve .Having the top management in a company get involved with the training and development of their people ,helps them commit to their future growth and helps the employees feel that their employers believe in them.

QUESTION NO.4
What other human resource initiatives could be undertaken by either the Sunrise Hotel or Beachside Hotel in order to help with the overall performance of their respective organizations ?

ANSWER NO.4
Some of the other human resources initiatives that could be undertaken by either or both hotels are regular performance reviews ,feedback programs ,round table discussions with employees to focus on their needs ,incentives programs to reward employees for positive performance towards the objectives of the organizations ,offer reward programs for guests in order to boost the level of repeat guests to the hotels ,more open communication regarding progress towards the goals of the organizations in order to keep employees in the loop regarding performance ,top management needs to focus on internal guest satisfaction i.e. the employees as well as the external guest satisfaction. .

REFERENCES
www.google.com