(Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry, 2e By David Hayes, Jack Ninemeier)
(Solution Manual all Chapters)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCES IN THE HOSPITALITY
INDUSTRY
TEACHING TIPS
Suggestions for addressing the principal learning objectives contained in this chapter
include the following:
1. Describe the travel and tourism industry and the hospitality segments within it.
The travel and tourism industry, which includes the hospitality industry, is large and
diverse. As a result, hospitality instructors routinely teach classes in which student
interests in various hospitality industry segments are quite wide. These interests
typically include institutional food service operations, commercial restaurants, hotels,
and a variety of other hospitality settings.
The purpose of this learning objective is to make students aware of the breadth of
opportunities offered within the hospitality industry. Such an understanding sets the
stage for instructors to reinforce to students the fact that effective human resource
management is important in all of the segments.
In addition to presenting relevant information regarding the entire hospitality
industry, this learning objective allows instructors the opportunity to present
information to students related to distinctions between the following types of
hospitality operations:
• Commercial versus noncommercial operations
• For-profit versus not-for-profit operations
• Franchised operations versus independent operations
• Multiunit operations versus single unit operations
This is also the proper time for instructors to point out that in many smaller
hospitality operations the unit manager will be responsible for most human resource-
related decisions, while in larger operations professional human resource managers
may play a significant role in shaping the human resource-related decision-making of
on-site unit managers.
2. Discuss how the HR function relates to the management of hospitality
organizations.
Those instructors with a background in organizational management will readily
recognize the authors’ use of Henri Fayol’s work in defining the role of management.
This classic approach to the study of management identifies key activities that all
managers perform. The purpose of this learning objective is to illustrate for students
that human resource managers, like managers in all other organizational areas,
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,perform the key tasks of:
• Planning
• Organizing
• Staffing
• Supervising
• Controlling
• Appraising
It is important to note the authors’ use of “Staffing” and “Supervising”, as two
distinct task areas (rather than the commonly utilized term “Directing” which
includes both activities). This modification is by design. It allows instructors to place
extra emphasis on the two key task areas that commonly occupy large amounts of the
typical human resource manager’s time.
This learning objective also gives instructors the chance to discuss those external and
internal factors directly affect HR management.
The external influences include:
• Legislation
• Competition
• Consumer preferences
• Demographics (of the labor force and customers)
• Global issues
• Ethical concerns
• Economy
• Employee unions
This would be a good time for instructors to address topical (current) events in each
of the above areas and to illustrate how the events directly affect human resource
management decision making. Doing so will help students understand that these
factors are not merely concepts but rather are factors that daily influence how
hospitality operations manage a labor force. For example, at the time of this writing,
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would be an excellent current example
of how legislation directly affects the human resource management effort. Similarly,
the topic of the economy and its direct effect on HR management activities might be
addressed by discussing how a falling unemployment rate resulting from an
increasingly vibrant economy impacts an HR manager's ability to secure high-quality
employees.
HR management is influenced by internal as well as external factors. The internal
influences can include:
• Policies
• Work procedures
• Corporate culture
• Long- and short-term plans
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, • Management judgment and experience
Again, instructors may wish to utilize examples illustrating the impact of these
internal influences. For example, many hospitality companies currently struggle with
policy issues related to allowable employee tattoos and body piercings. Students
might be asked to address how they personally would deal with this issue as they
recommend policies for use in organizations for which they will have HR
responsibilities. Similarly, the topic of how management judgment and experience
impacts HR managers could be illustrated by pointing out to students that an
individual manager’s own personal experience in the industry, and years of
experience on the job could easily influence the way that manager would view the
concepts of employee freedom of expression versus need for dress code conformity
when addressing the issue of which visible body piercings and tattoos should be
permissible at work. Because the classroom itself may contain students with various
backgrounds and levels of experience this point may be well illustrated via the
conducting of an in-class discussion on the topic.
3. Identify specific HR responsibilities that are important in most hospitality
organizations.
This learning objective allows instructors the opportunity to address the specific job
responsibilities human resource managers routinely assume.
While instructors could address this learning objective in a variety of ways, one good
way recommended by the authors is that of displaying (or referencing) the job
description for a director of human resources (see Figure 1.4) presented in the
chapter.
Utilizing Figure 1.4 to address this learning objective has several advantages:
1. It illustrates to students the practical reasons employers have for requiring HR
management skills and knowledge.
2. It demonstrates the real-life need to understand human resource management
tasks.
3. It illustrates the complexity of the HR manager’s job.
4. It provide somewhat of a roadmap for students interested in pursuing human
resource management as a career area.
4. Describe priority challenges that impact HR activities.
The authors suggest a number of challenges that impact many resource management
decisions. While each of these can be addressed in turn with appropriate examples
provided, students should also be asked to add to the list of challenges suggested by
the authors based on their own experiences working in hospitality operations.
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, 5. Explain the role of ethics in HR management.
While ethical behavior is important in all areas of management, ethical behavior in
the management of human resources provides perhaps the most challenging area of
all. This is so because issues of what defines ethical behavior in this area are often
times quite subjective. For example, is it “ethical” to implement a policy that smokers
will not be employed in an operation? Arguments for doing so, in this example,
include reduced healthcare costs for the employer, resulting in decreased insurance
costs for all employees.
An alternative position, however, could be that, in this example, the employer is
prohibiting a lawful activity (smoking) which an employee of the organization could
engage in within the privacy of his or her own home. (Note: Some state laws also
address this issue.)
In this example, the question of ethical behavior when discriminating against smokers
in hiring is not so clear-cut. Students will likely be able to see both sides of this issue.
The purpose of this learning objective is to reinforce to students that while all illegal
activities are unethical, some legal activities may very well be unethical as well. For
this reason, students must develop and adhere to a standard of ethical conduct with
which they are personally comfortable.
HR MANAGEMENT ISSUES 1.1
1.1 “This would be a great place to work if the HR department helped us,” Jonathon said
to Daysha, another manager at the Ocean Edge Hotel. “They send us job applicants
who are not qualified, they don’t do an adequate job of orienting new employees to
our hotel, they have no role in training, and they issue so many policies, many of
which are ridiculous, that I simply can’t keep up with everything.”
“You’re right that communication could be better, and there is probably a need for the
HR folks to learn details about what we do,” replied Daysha, “Before I started here I
spent five years working for a smaller property that didn’t have an HR department.
Each manager had to do whatever the general manager wanted. Some of the GMs we
had over those years wanted a lot of responsibility for the HR function, and others
wanted only a little.
“You know,” said Emma, “that really wasn’t a good situation either. Like everywhere
else, the managers had primary responsibilities for a specific cost or revenue center,
and they had to be concerned about HR details that affected their employees. The
world of HR management has many legal, technical, and other concerns far removed
from preparing and serving meals and cleaning guest rooms.”
“I guess I never thought about that,” said Jonathon, “I’ve been here a long time, and it
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