Human resource management for the hospitality and tourism industries

HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT FOR THE

HOSPITALITY AND

TOURISM INDUSTRIES

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HUMAN

RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT

FOR THE

HOSPITALITY

AND TOURISM

INDUSTRIES

Dennis Nickson

Deputy Head of Department, Department of Human Resource

Management, Strathclyde Business School, University

of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD

PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO

Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier

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Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier

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Copyright © 2007, Dennis Nickson. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

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persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or oper￾ation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

ISBN–10: 0-7506-6572-6

ISBN–13: 978-0-7506-6572-8

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Contents

List of figures ix

List of tables x

List of abbreviations xi

Preface xiii

Chapter 1 Human resource management and the tourism

and hospitality industry: An introduction 1

Introduction 2

What are the tourism and hospitality industries? 3

Who makes up the tourism and hospitality workforce?

A brief snapshot 6

What is HRM? 7

Models or reality? 15

The bad news … pessimistic views of HRM in tourism

and hospitality 17

The good news … best practice in tourism and

hospitality 20

Where this book stands 21

Conclusion 22

References and further reading 23

Websites 24

Chapter 2 International human resource management 26

Introduction 27

The emergence of IHRM 27

MNCs and HRM policies and practices in the tourism

and hospitality industry 44

Conclusion 46

References and further reading 47

Websites 49

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vi HRM HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM INDUSTRIES

Chapter 3 Organizational culture 50

Introduction 51

In search of a definition 51

Competing views on organizational culture 53

How can we study organizational culture? 56

Organizational culture and HRM: a reprise 65

Conclusion 67

References and further reading 67

Websites 69

Chapter 4 Labour markets 70

Introduction 71

Levels of analysis in the labour market 71

The internal labour market and the utilization of

flexible labour 80

Conclusions 85

References and further reading 85

Websites 86

Chapter 5 Recruitment and selection 87

Introduction 88

Recruitment 90

Selection 104

Conclusion 111

References and further reading 111

Websites 113

Chapter 6 Equal opportunities and managing diversity 114

Introduction 115

The employment experience of socially defined

minority groups 116

The legislative response 122

Managing diversity 133

Conclusion 137

References and further reading 138

Websites 139

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Chapter 7 Training and development 141

Introduction 142

Understanding the context: national level responses

to training 142

N/SVQs 146

Investors in people 147

Apprenticeships 151

Industry level 152

Training and development: no longer a dichotomy? 153

Conducting training 157

Conclusion 164

References and further reading 165

Websites 167

Chapter 8 Performance management and performance appraisal 168

Introduction 169

The nature of performance management and

performance appraisal 170

Appraisal in practice 172

Managing poor performance 185

Conclusion 186

References and further reading 186

Websites 187

Chapter 9 Reward strategies in the tourism and hospitality

industry 188

Introduction 189

Employee and employer views of pay 189

Remuneration in tourism and hospitality 196

The practice of tipping 206

Fiddles and knock-offs 209

Other benefits 210

Conclusion 211

References and further reading 212

Websites 214

CONTENTS vii

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Chapter 10 Employee relations, involvement and participation 215

Introduction 216

Employee or industrial relations? 217

Trade unions: in terminal decline? 222

Employee involvement and participation 228

Conclusion 237

References and further reading 238

Websites 240

Chapter 11 Welfare, health and safety 241

Introduction 242

Absence management 243

AIDS/HIV 247

Alcohol/drug misuse 252

Sexual harassment 256

Smoking 264

Stress 266

Working time 270

Workplace violence 273

Conclusion 274

References and further reading 275

Websites 278

Chapter 12 Grievance and disciplinary procedures 279

Introduction 280

Setting the scene on grievance and disciplinary

procedures 280

Conclusion 290

References and further reading 291

Websites 292

Chapter 13 Concluding comments 293

References 296

Index 297

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List of figures

1.1 The HRM cycle 16

3.1 HRM and culture: contradictions and dilemmas 66

5.1 Sources of recruitment in the hospitality industry 102

7.1 The principles of the IiP standard 149

11.1 Some negative effects of stress for the individual and organization 267

12.1 Typical disciplinary procedure 286

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List of tables

2.1 A geocentric human resource profile 31

2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of using PCNs, TCNs and HCNs 34

4.1 Hotel demands variability 78

6.1 Anti-discriminatory legislation 123

6.2 Differences between managing diversity and equal opportunities 135

7.1 Levels of analysis for understanding approaches to training 143

and development

7.2 VET policies and practices in selected countries 144

8.1 Features of performance management 170

8.2 Criteria used to measure individual performance 181

9.1 How the UK NMW has evolved since 1999 204

9.2 Comparison of the level of the adult minimum wage across

selected countries, end 2004 205

10.1 Union density in selected countries 224

10.2 Direct communication and information sharing techniques 229

x

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List of abbreviations

ACAS Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service

AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

BA British Airways

BHA British Hospitality Association

CIPD Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

CEHR Commission for Equality and Human Rights

CRE Commission for Racial Equality

DDA Disability Discrimination Act

DRC Disability Rights Commission

DTI Department of Trade and Industry

EOC Equal Opportunities Commission

EAP Employee Assistance Programme

ET Employment Tribunal

EU European Union

EWC European Works Councils

HCN Host-Country Nationals

HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus

HRD Human Resource Development

HRM Human Resource Management

HSE Health and Safety Executive

ICE Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004

(ICE Regulations)

IDS Income Data Services

IIP Investors in People

IRS Industrial Relations Services

IHRM International Human Resource Management

JCC Joint Consultative Committees

LPC Low Pay Commission

LRD Labour Research Department

MNC Multinational Company

xi

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NMW National Minimum Wage

N/SVQ National/Scottish Vocational Qualification

PCN Parent-Country National

QC Quality Circles

RFO Race for Opportunity

RRA Race Relations Act

SSC Sector Skills Council

SDA Sex Discrimination Act

SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprise

TCN Third-Country National

TGWU Transport and General Workers Union

TQM Total Quality Management

WERS Workplace Employment Relations Survey

WTR Working Time Regulations

xii HRM HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM INDUSTRIES

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Preface

This book stems from a longstanding interest in how tourism and hospitality

organizations and managers seek to manage their employees. As a highly labour￾intensive industry, tourism and hospitality organizations are often heard to talk of

how their people are ‘their greatest asset’. However, even a cursory understanding

of the nature of work, employment and people management in tourism and hos￾pitality points to the many paradoxes and contradictions that are apparent in

studying human resource management (HRM) in the sector. This book aims to

explore some of these paradoxes and contradictions in seeking to submit the cliché

of ‘our people are our greatest asset’ to critical scrutiny. That said, the book is in

many respects a standard HRM text for the tourism and hospitality sector, recog￾nizably following the traditional concerns of organizations as to how they best

attract, maintain and develop an effective workforce.

In talking about tourism and hospitality the book is also aware of the many

debates about how the sector is best conceptualized. There are many common attrib￾utes that are associated with both hospitality and tourism activities, which could

encourage them to be seen synonymously. Equally though some would argue for dis￾tinctiveness between the two. Like most colleagues writing in this area the book

acknowledges these debates, whilst also at times rather fudging the distinction

between tourism and hospitality. In fudging what some might consider a largely

semantic debate it is important not to lose sight of the one thing that is clearly para￾mount in all organizations in tourism and hospitality: the need to deliver service to

customers and the need to manage people in such a way that they offer a quality serv￾ice. The manner though in which organizations in different countries, cultures and

market niches address this issue may vary enormously and this difference sustains

many of the concerns outlined in this book. Indeed, an appreciation of culture – and

the importance of organizational culture in particular – is a strong, and hopefully

novel, feature for a book of this nature.

In attempting to understand the importance of context to explain HRM prac￾tices this book also aims to be international in its focus and its use of sources and

examples. Thus, whilst the primary focus of the book is the UK, there are numerous

xiii

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examples from a variety of other countries across the world. The same point is also

true in terms of examples of organizational practice. A number of examples are

drawn from what is usually described as the commercial hospitality sector, which is

well served by research. Many of those activities which are more oriented towards

travel and tourism are also represented, though material of this nature is not quite so

voluminous. A further aspect of context is the need to understand the dynamic

and changing environment in which tourism and hospitality organizations operate.

Political, economic, social and technological changes significantly affect tourism and

hospitality organizations and the experience of work for those people who work in

the sector; and the book is cognizant of this point throughout. This dynamism is also

apparent with regard to emergent debates about new concepts which allow for an

appreciation of the changing nature of the employment experience of the tourism

and hospitality workforce. For example, work I have done with colleagues on aes￾thetic labour – how employees embody the tourism and hospitality product by

‘looking good’ or ‘sounding right’ – points to the manner in which organizations

increasingly take an interest in their employees’ appearance as a source of competi￾tive advantage. This book is designed to provoke thought and debate about aes￾thetic labour and a myriad of other issues and encourage the readership to challenge

its conclusions and stimulate further reading and research.

As has already been stated this book is the culmination of a longstanding interest

in the area of tourism and hospitality employment, both as teacher and researcher. In

that sense it is also an opportunity to draw on many of the ideas and writings of innu￾merable students and colleagues who have influenced my thinking. In particular, I

would very much like to acknowledge a huge debt to the work of Tom Baum, Yvonne

Guerrier, Rosemary Lucas and Roy Wood. Over the years they have given freely of

their time, advice and ideas, and shaped many of the ideas expressed in this book. I

hope this book can take its place alongside the work of my illustrious colleagues in

encouraging students and practitioners to think about how to improve the working

lives of the many who rely on tourism and hospitality for their employment.

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