Unit 18 Human Resource Management Assignment IHG Hotel

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Unit18 Human Resource Management IHG Hotel
QFC Level	Level 5

Introduction

Intercontinental Hotel Group is of the largest hotel in UK and operate the business in different parts of the world. HRM (human resource management) plays vital role in planning and managing the man power in the organization. The current study depicts the difference between HRM and PM (personnel management) and reflects the function of HRM for achievement of goal. Human resource management IHG hotel report evaluates the role and duty of line manager in human resource management and impact of legal and regulatory authority framework on HRM. It will evaluate the reasons of HR planning in the Intercontinental Hotel Group and stages involved in planning of man power requirement. The study compares the recruitment and selection process in two organizations and throws light on the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection technique of two organizations. The report assesses the link between motivational theory and reward theory and evaluates the process of job evaluation and the factors determining pay. The report assesses the reason for cessation of employment in the organization and employee exit procedure in the organization.

Task 1

1.1Difference between personnel management and human resource management

PM is a part of management concerned with employees at work and their relationship within the organization. PM involves obtaining, using and maintaining a satisfied workforce in an organization for the purpose of contributing to organizational, individual and societal goals (Klingner.et.al, 2015). HRM is the process of managing people in organizations in a structured and thorough manner by forming a collective relationship between management and employees.

                                   Figure 1: Functions of HRM

Table 1: Difference between Personnel management and HRM

BASIS	PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT	HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Meaning	Personnel management is a process of managing the people working in the organization.	Human resource management is the process of managing the people and their strength in the organization.
Approach	Traditional approach	Modern approach
Decisions taken	Top management takes all the decisions (Riccucci, 2015).	Decisions are made collectively by top management authorities, employees’, etc.
Leadership style	Transactional leadership style	Transformational leadership style
Treatment of employees	Employees are treated as input for achieving the goals of an organization.	Employees are treated as valuable asset of an organization (DeCenzo.et.al.2010).
Focus	Mainly focuses on increasing the productivity and satisfying employees in the workplace.	Mainly focuses on culture, effectiveness, productivity and employee’s participation.
Job design	Job design is done by dividing the work.	Job design is done by using teamwork or group work.
Training and development opportunities	Employees are provided with less training and development opportunities.	Employees are provided with enhanced and effective training and development programmes and opportunities.
Example	For example, British Airways uses personnel management.	For example, IHG Hotel uses human resource management in their organization (Hendry, 2012).

1.2 The functions of human resource management in contributing to organizational purposes

The human resource management functions help an organization in achieving the goals and objectives efficiently and effectively. Some of the important functions at IHG hotel are:

• Staffing: The staffing function of human resource management involves activities of recruitment and selection of the  human resources  for an organization. The recruitment function is the process of attracting the qualified applicants for filling the job vacancies. In the selection function, the appropriate applicants are selected (Bratton and Gold, 2012). The proper recruitment and selection would help the organization in contributing the successful and leading position in the marketplace and increased future growth.
• Job Analysis: The job analysis function of HRM helps in describing the nature of a job and specifying the human requirements such as experience and skills required for successful completion of the task. The job analysis would help the organization further in achieving and completing the tasks in more efficient way with the help of skilled employees.
• Training and Development: The training and development function of HRM provides the employees of IHG hotel the skills to carry out their jobs more efficiently and increases their productivity level. The development programmes helps the organization in preparing the workforce for different roles (Boxall and Purcell, 2011). This will help the IHG hotel in smooth functioning of their operations and assures the availability of skilled, dynamic and capable employees in the organization.
• Performance appraisal: This function helps the organization in monitoring the performance of the employees. The performance appraisal information helps in employee development by providing the proper motivation and guidance for performance improvements which will help further in increasing the productivity level of IHG hotel .

                                  Figure 2: Functions of HRM

1.3 Evaluation of roles and responsibilities of line manager in IHG Hotel

Line managers have important role as they are responsible for managing the employees who report them as well as plan the strategies to achieve the organisational goals. The line manager directs a revenue generating department in an organization. The line manager of IHG hotel is accountable for successfully achieving the goals and objectives of the organization (). The line manager of IHG hotel has the following roles:

• Managing the operational costs
• Reviewing daily work
• Assessment  of the work quality
• Assessing the operational performance
• Managing human resources
• Managing customers

                                       Figure 3: Roles of Line Managers

The line managers play a pivotal role in the IHG Hotel in implementing the people policies and practices and helping them to bring the efficiency in the production. The line managers are supported by HR for performing the specific people-related activities like recruitment and selection activities, providing training and guidance to the workforce, dealing with discipline and grievances, undertaking performance appraisals, etc (). The line manager in IHG Hotel needs to plan strategies which are aligned with the organisational goals and should encourage the employees to give their best.

It is noticed that the employees who feels positive about their relationship with the line managers are more productive, loyal, committed and have higher levels of job satisfaction. The line manager helps in building the strong and effective team and good working environment in the IHG Hotel. The line managers are also responsible for identifying the risk in the IHG Hotel and taking the appropriate course of actions for overcoming with the risk prevailing in the organization

1.4 Analysing how legal and regulatory framework have impact on human resource management

The legislation and legal frameworks related to employment helps in establishing and continuing smooth association among the management and the employees by dealing with the body of laws. The legal and regulatory framework influences the operations and activities of the organization such as IHG hotel including the human resource management. The legislation involved the issues related to the discrimination, working condition, health and safety of employees in the workplace, legal working age, etc (Conley, 2014). Following are the some of the legal and regulatory frameworks which influences the human resource management:

• Equal Pay Act, 1970: This act helps in removing the unfair discrimination made in an employment in  financial accounting  terms. According to the act there should be equal wage for same job (Oelz.et.al, 2013).
• Discrimination Act, 1997: This act dictates the removal of any kind of discrimination made on either female or male on the basis of their caste, colour, religion, gender, race, etc on the workplace.
• National Minimum Wage Rate Act, 1998: This legal and regulatory framework dictates that all the employees are eligible for a minimum wage depending upon the type of work
• Employment Equality Act, 2010: This act is aimed to reduce the socio-economic inequalities and to eliminate the discrimination and harassment and differences in the workplace (Chourabi.et.al, 2012).

Figure 4: Legal Environment of HRM

Task 2

2.1 Analysing the reasons for human resource planning in the organization

The comprehensive human resource planning is must required in an organization such as IHG hotel for its future growth. The comprehensive human resource planning covers all important aspects of the organization including recruiting the talented staff, administration over employee policies, management of payroll and benefits and employee high skilled training programmes (DeCenzo.et.al, 2010). The reasons for having the human resource planning in IHG hotel are as follows:

• Optimal use of available human resources: Planning of utilisation of human resources is termed as human resource planning (HRP). HRP allows the organization to use the resources in best possible manner. The HRP estimates the requirements of the organization and made effective policies for fuller utilization of the available manpower for achieving the desired goals and objectives of the organization.
• Recruitment: The human resource planning helps IHG hotel to determine the staffing requirements by after having a proper review of the goals and needs of the organization. The human resource planning examines any budgeting restrictions and identifies the sources of getting skilled and qualified candidates (Monk and Wagner, 2012). It also addresses how the candidates are interviewed for choosing the best applicable candidate among all the available applicants who contribute in achieving the goals and objectives of an organization effectively.
• Uncertainty reduction: The human resource planning also helps the organization in reducing the impact of uncertainty which may hinder the smooth working or operations of the organization. It helps in ensuring the smooth working without any hurdle or barrier.            
• Future Manpower Needs: Comprehensive HRP ensures that there is no disruption in operations due to non availability of human resources and the operations are run smoothly (Storey, 2014). The HRP also considers the demand and supply of human resources and helps in identifying the surplus or shortage of human resources.

                                         Figure 5: Need of HRP

2.2 The stages involved in planning human resource requirements

HRP ensures that the human resources are used in best possible manner. This is done by using the right resource at the right role and job. Following are the different stages of HRP:

• Identifying the objectives of the organisation: It is important that the objectives of an organisation are clearly stated. This helps in identifying whether the organisation has the capability in terms of the human resources to achieve the goals.
• Assess the current inventory: This is an important stage where the HRM calculates the current employee strength in terms of the performance and skill (Delahaye, 2015). This allows the organisation to identify whether there is surplus or shortage of any skill.
• Forecasting: In this stage of HRP, the human resource department forecasts the requirement of human resources considering the near future.
• Estimating the Gaps: The HRM team plans to meet the situation. In case of shortage, plan is made to recruit people with desired skills while in case of excess, employees can be laid off (Flamholtz, 2012).

• Devise an Action Plan: Considering the fourth stage, the HR team needs to draft a plan for action. In case if the organisation needs more resources, then the strategy for hiring resources matching the skills is to be planned. In case of surplus of HR resources, the organisation needs to plan strategy for terminating employees.
• Action Plan Implementation: The plan which is developed in the previous stage is implemented in this stage. The implementation of the strategies and plan is monitored by the senior HR teams (Werner and DeSimone, 2011). The human resource is allocated in the organization according to the requirements. The plan is then monitored strictly to identify and proper removal of any kind of deficiencies.

   Figure 6: Stages in Human Resource Planning

2.3 Comparison between the recruitment and selection processes in IHG Hotel and Virgin Media

The process followed foe the selection and recruitment of employees at IHG hotel and Virgin Media is different. The following presents the comparison for the two organisation:

Recruitment and Selection process of IHG Hotel: In IHG Hotel there is no proper HR planning policy in the organization. The current recruitment and selection process in the IHG hotel is followed by inviting the resume of the candidates by giving the advertisements on Medias like television, newspaper and their official websites (French and Rumbles, 2010). The resumes collected are then processed for screening for finding the most suitable resume among all available resumes of the candidates. After screening, the selected candidates are given a telephonic interview before facing the direct interview. The questions asked in the telephonic interviews are the following:

• What are the professional objectives
• What is the reason behind opting for this role

After this, the applicants go through a test to check their aptitude. A psychometric test is also taken. The short listed candidates are then selected for further direct personal interview were their skills and knowledge is tested by following a direct observation of their body language. The most desired one is selected in the last final round i.e. the direct interview and he is hired for the vacant job in the organization by providing the appointment letter.

Recruitment and Selection process of Virgin Media: The Virgin Media uses the online recruitment system. The applications received are further invited for conducting the face-to-face interview. The deserving person with the require skill and knowledge are then selected and an appointment letter is provided to him for filling the job vacancy in the organization (Chaneta, 2014).  In direct interview, the organization focuses on job description and job specification features for recruiting the right and capable person.

2.4 Evaluating the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection techniques of IHG Hotel with Virgin Media

The recruitment and selection technique used in IHG Hotel is more effective as compared to the recruitment and selection technique of Virgin Media. The recruitment process of IHG hotel is effective because it provides an equal opportunity to all the applicable candidates to have a job in their organization. With the motive of providing equal opportunity, they advertise their job vacancies in various publishing and print media like television, newspaper, magazines and internet and on their official websites (Date.et.al, 2014).  This also increases the availability of more number of potential candidates for filling the job vacancy in the organization.

The selection procedure is also effective as compared to the Virgin Media. The selection process for choosing a best potential candidate among all the candidates is done by conducting the telephonic interview, psychometric assessment, an aptitude test and face-to-face or direct interview (Wood.et.al, 1998). The selection process of IHG hotel will become so effective and complete if they also introduced the new policies on HR planning and using the features of job description and job specification for filling the vacant post in the organization.

Task 3

3.1 Link between motivational theory and reward at Virgin Media and IHG

Motivations are useful to direct the workforce towards the organizational objectives and defined  organisation behaviour . Motivational theories are framework to implement effective reward system. Herzberg motivators are useful in reward planning and strategies so that employees can be motivated toward the culture and performance in organization. Virgin media also analyze the requirements of employees on the basis of Maslow’s motivation so that more satisfaction can be delivered to employees to get advantages in improved performance and quality. Also, Virgin media uses the McClelland’s Need Theory in reward systems to ensure the motivation through the power and achievements in workplace. The reward system of Virgin consist the practices and objectives defined by motivational theories so that more effective and satisfactory behaviour can be achieved in workplace (Lepper and Greene, 2015).

The reward system of IHG is somehow different than Virgin media because employees are treated for capital profits rather than loyalty and trust. Reward system is likely to be based on Taylor’s theory which focused on the capital based motivation. Thus, IHG provides rewards those are worthy to compensate with employees’ needs and expectations. Also, IHG uses the reward-personal goals relationship as defined by Vroom to reward the employees to meet the personal goals with organizational objectives. IHG uses the motivation theories those are concentrated more on productivity rather than loyalty with organization (Byron and Khazanchi, 2012). Rewards are back end by bonus and intensives as motivations with parallel load of productive and innovative returns from employees.

3.2 Process of job evaluation and other factors determining pay at Virgin Media and IHG

Job evaluation process is necessary in order to find the contribution from each member and to offer the transparent and right distribution of rewards to employees those have right on achievements. Virgin media uses the performance, quality and behaviour of employee in work done to consider the overall job performance of employee. This is effective to lead the employees towards the better job performance and work culture of organization. Individual’s job is evaluated with standards defined by organization as goals and targets (Mawoli and Babandako, 2011). In IHG, job evaluation of employees is based on the performance and quality in work. Individual’s behaviour and management is not considered as the parameters. Thus, employees in IHG are assumed as the working units rather than as assets to organization.

Pay determination at Virgin media is simple because there is basic salary to employees and then hierarchical goals are set to meet so that more intensives and benefits can be takeover. At other side, IHG determine the amount of work done and performance by employees as the basis of payment for a specific time. Payment to employee in Virgin media depends on the skills sets, experience and performance in work. Also, organization has options to determine the pay scale as accordance to business conditions in market (Galuscak.et.al.2012). However, IHG is more centric to performance and quality to vary the payment of employees so that they can only be directed towards the productive culture.

3.3 Effectiveness in reward system of Virgin media and IHG

As reward system of Virgin media is inclined at the development of loyalty and the trustworthy culture along with the organizational objectives and profits. The strategy of Virgin media to treat the employees as the assets is at core of reward system which makes it more effective in comparison of IHG. Virgin media’s rewards follow the standard practices and principles of motivational theories in implementation of reward strategies so that employees can achieve the compensation for needs as well vision the personal growth in workplace. Hierarchical rewards as accordance to responsibilities and performance keeps the employees motivated to meet the standards of Virgin media organization (Armstrong.et.al.2011). Also intrinsic rewards are good to attract and retain the employees in workplace. Extrinsic rewards are high valued to add the functionality in employees’ performance and knowledge.

Reward system of IHG is also effective but capable only to provide money values to employees. Performance and quality in work of employees are praised with bonuses and intensives so that management need not to worry about the offers and products as rewards. This is effective due to organizational branches in different location. Employees can use the capital received as rewards as they want. However, Virgin media’s trips, fair shopping and vacations as rewards are more capable to enhance the innovative, motivated and positive nature in employees. Also the reward system of HIG seems less transparent to employees (Chen.et.al.2012).

3.4 Methods to monitor the performance of the employees

Performance of employees is required to monitor in workplace so that management can vision the advantages with employee for those paying an amount. Also, it is required to guide the employees in right directions as it will increase the productivity and quality in products of Virgin Media. Employees also get the chance to improve their personal skills in order to meet personal objective mapped with rewards. Virgin media mainly uses the two tools to measure the performance of employees:

• Benchmarks: These are the standards defined by organization to meet and employees try to meet the values to achieve the benefits and rewards in workplace (Jamil and Mohamed, 2011). Authorities and experts decide the optimum work amount and quality which can be defined with current performance and skill set of employees. In Virgin media, the performance of employee is measured with benchmark to set the pay points for him.
• 360 degree feedback: This is a lengthy but more accurate process to measure the overall contribution of employees in business development as behaviour, performance, perceptions, responsiveness and culture participations are included with the points rated to employee by colleagues and co-workers in workplace. Thus, the overall participation of employee is measured as performance. It is useful to manage the organization culture and presentation along with the better results in organizational objectives (Shah.et.al.2011). Virgin media uses this tool to measure the annual performance of employee in workplace.

Task 4

4.1 Reasons for termination of Faisal’s employment contract with The Chicken Master

Employees in an organization are hired to add values to functionalities and performance of organization so that a sustainable position in market can be achieved with a great margin on profits. But Faisal did not played the role for that he was hired accordance to experience in industry. Like every other employees, Faisal also received the booklet of rules and polices defined by Chicken Master. Faisal was observed not capable to manage the organization in term of resources and culture as most of time kitchen and front store were dirty and improper behaviour with customers is seen (Butler.et.al.2010). Faisal used organizational resources for unethical activities and to accomplish personal needs and goals rather than organizational objectives which were against the policies of Chicken Master. Addition to it, wastage of business time and capital were reasons behind the termination of employment contract. Also Chicken Master got unsuccessful attempts of improvements in Faisal’s behaviour. Therefore Bob had no options other than to terminate the employment contract with Faisal.

Normally employment contract is terminated for retirement, resignation and dismissal purpose. It occurs in dismissal form because of poor performance, bad behaviour, work against the policies and rules, high number of absentees and negative perception towards the operations in organization (Lagerveld.et.al.2010). Retirement and resignation are  employee relationship  will which may be due to achieve more benefits in other organization or due to retire from the industry because of overage.

4.2 Employment exit procedures used by The Chicken Master and IHG

Organizations need to follow systematic procedures to ensure the proper exit of employees so that any future chances of conflict and confusions between employee and employer can be removed. Chicken Master uses the following procedures:

• A week prior notice to Bob for resignation for managerial post or notice to manager to resign from other post in restaurant.
• Manager tries to identify the reason of resignation and convey the employee to retain in workplace.
• Try to negotiate on salary and time.
• If employee is still willing to exit, Manager submits the assets given to employees as keys, ID card, file and document and other equipments like laptop and kitchen accessories.
• Then manager clears the due salary and returns the documents of employee those are submitted at employment time (Altman.et.al.2013).

This is effective due to the restaurant is in development process and have a few number of employees in workplace. However, procedure followed by IHG is more effective for a large and secure organization:

• At least 2 weeks before written notice to management for resignation.
• Management tries to know the reason of resignation with the help of leaders and supervisors.
• If employee is extremely valuable in business context then organization tries to fulfil the expectation of employee so a negotiation can be done to reduce the turnover of employee.
• If employee is sure to exit, management takes all the assets back like Keys, identity proofs, documents, gadgets and accessories those as assigned to employee in workplace.
• Cancellation of authorization on fingerprints and signatures, account access and database entries (Eckerson, 2010).
• Clearance of salary along with the deduction of lost things.
• Legal document signing to prevent disclose of information and to close the relationship with organization.
•  Return of documents of employees those are collected at employment time as guarantee.
• Formal and informal interview and forms to feedback the experience in workplace and operations.

4.3 The impact of the legal and regulatory framework on employment cessation arrangements

If employee is not satisfied against the reason of firing from job, legal and regulatory framework helps him to protect rights. However, employee as well as organization needs to have sufficient evidence to claim their actions. Employment cessation in Virgin media is fully based on legal laws and regulations so that any mismatch between employer and employee can be eliminated regarding discriminations and biasing in workplace. Legal and regulatory framework helps the employees to stand for rights and equality in Virgin like organizations (Haidar, 2012). In case of cessation, organization must have evidence to prove that employee was violating the policies and rules of organization and not using capabilities for that hiring was made.

However, the claim of Faisal doesn’t looks right because Bob has enough evidence in form of digital media, degraded performance and unsatisfied customers to prove that Faisal was not appropriate selection for Chicken Master. Legal frameworks help the organizations to claim the loss with cessation of employment whereas employees have rights to prevent unfair treatment with them (Gouldson and Murphy, 2013). In this manner, Legal and regulatory framework helps the organization as well as employees in cessations to prevent their rights and claims.

Conclusion

The report has been made comparative study of human resource management and personnel management to identify the differences between them. Also the role of line managers and legal implementations on HRM practices has been concluded. The study has been identifies the importance of human resource planning and the ways in which it can be used in favour of organization. The report has been highlighted the relationship of motivational theories and reward system. The effectiveness of reward system has been concluded along with methods to implement them.  Also, various methods to measure the performance of employees have been described in detail. Later section of report has been described the cessation of employment contract and impact of legal framework on cessation of employees from workplace. The report has been detailed the reasons behind the cessation.