HR Operating Practices at Northport Nights

Employees are critical in establishing the vision of an organization. The skills and values exhibited by the workforce shape the image and subsequent productivity of a firm. According to Taylor (2014), it is upon the Human Resource Management function to establish an adequate degree of control over the culture and structure of the organization so that there is stability for fruitful coexistence and performance. The competitive nature of the operating industry requires a set of a detailed and firm-oriented policies and procedures that clearly stipulate performance expectations at individual and organizational level. Policies pertaining to recruitment, selection, retirement, benefits and appraisal should be clear and embedded within the goals of the company so that the workers are motivated to maintain productivity. If Northport Nights focused on the needs of the workforce by providing an enabling and motivating environment, the predicaments that led to receivership would not have been experienced. The CEO failed to provide training and development systems, a collaborative culture, a defined reward program, and most importantly, a purposeful recruitment, appraisal and performance evaluation system leading to the high turnover rate and subsequent collapse of the company. After taking over from the current management, radical changes should be implemented to situate the workers and the entire organization in a competitive position to take advantage of the new conference centre for sustainable revenues and market leadership as examined in this report.

Changes to be made to the HR Operating Practices at the Three Northpont Nights

Based on the HR scenario observed at the hotels, re-structuring of the company’s culture and structure is important. The most visible and urgent changes that require time and financial investment are:

Job Redesign and Standardization of HR Practices

A universal but flexible management culture should be incorporated in what Dias and Sousa (2015), p. 107) refer to as intra-firm form. The type of change is job redesign. Each hotel is run by a manager that utilizes a different leadership style and management system. Taylor (2014, p. 6), Yusoff, Shah, Ali and Bakar (2013, p. 2638), and Mahmood (2014, p. 2) noted that human resource planning is integral in achieving a company’s objectives by centralizing responsibilities for coordination. Failure to exhibit standard procedures and policies leads to varying results that adversely affect the entire organization. Hotel Northpoint lacks clear lines of accountability and distinct roles that have given the three managers power to run operations based on their individual values and skills.

As such, the structure of the firm should change to promote a defined job analysis. The analysis should clearly stipulate the skills, experience and expectations of the managerial role. As a result, the recruitment process will be objective and lead to the selection of a candidate that fits the job description to foster the vision of the enterprise (Sanchez and Levine 2012, p.340). The entire job evaluation and selection process will provide a layout of the procedures and policies for the managers to use in their respective outlets so that standard results are realized. Notably however, the managers are diverse and as such, vary with respect to personality and skill level. Although the classical approach of setting guidelines and objectives for the firm will be utilized to enhance uniformity, the contingency theory of management is applied to foster individual capabilities.

Contingency framework recognizes the changing needs and situations in firms that require managers to focus on best practices. As such, the ‘best fit’ structure is advised. As such, the recruiting officer should ensure that each manager is aware of the objectives and vision of the company so that he or she designs and implements approaches with regards to employee motivation, training, and rewards for the advancement of the organizational goals (Gamage 2014, p. 40). However, the managers should be aware of the prevailing conditions and employee engagement levels at a branch level so that individualized approaches are selected. For example, most multinationals utilize a centralized decision making framework but provide for flexibility to regional managers to cater for the local changes and values of the people that cannot be standardized. In this case therefore, the managers should fit the job description by conducting a screening exercise whereby the skills and experience of the person meets the demands of the job. As a result, the three managers will exhibit similar attributes that will enable them foster a standard culture for the entire organization. With such a system, it is possible to utilize job rotation approaches and horizontal job shifts without affecting the performance or values of an employee. Healthy and productive competition breeds from such HR practices.

Introduction of a Succession Plan

The hotel lacks clear succession plans when an employee retires or goes for vacation. Notably, it may not be possible to report consistent results in a situation where there is no defined continuity (Gain and Goyal 2014, p. 3). In the Northpoint, the permanent employees are supplemented by temporary staff during the holidays. As argued by Harlay, Sergio, Opulencia, and Antiado (2015, p. 12), most employee-employer relationships develop to psychological contracts. The psychological contract is termed as the expectation of employees and employers from each other and it such that over time, unwritten assumptions and bonds develop. Security, fairness and stability are some of the aspects resulting from the contract and in return, they give way to commitment and subsequent productivity.

However, the hotel’s high turnover rate and the system that gives room for temporary workforce in certain seasons of the operating period disrupt the psychological contract. First, the permanent employees are made to believe that they are replaceable making it hard for them to commit to the firm. Given that there are no benefits during the vacation period, the motivation of the workers is low and chances of reporting back to work are minimal. Such a situation also implies that there is no continuity of the relationship (Klotz, Motta, Buckley, and Gavin 2013, p. 31). When people are only employed when needed, the viability of the long-term relationship is questionable (Kim 2012, 250). As a result, the workers are demoralized and insecure which Taylor (2014) argues that it leads to reduction in value for the organization.

Secondly, the temporary workers have no attachment with the company since their contract is limited. Their only focus is to complete the assigned duties and get paid. Moreover, the relationship between the organization and the temporary workers is in most instances that of dominion with no opportunity for collaboration (Liu, Mitchell, Lee, Holtom, Hinkin 2012, p. 1368). The temporary staff is in the firm for a short period of time and as such, they do not get time to familiarize with the structure and culture of the company. As such, the outcome of the tasks particularly in the customer relations area is totally different.

The current situation implies that a succession plan is required. The plan is used to identify new workers who can adequately replace the old ones when they leave for the holidays (Losh, Peterson, Sandisk 2016, p. 3). With such a plan, it will be possible for the permanent staff to liaise with the temporary workers to train and induce them to the new environment. Each worker teachers the new staff their new roles and expectations from the organization with respect to particular tasks. As a result, there is continuity in job outcomes and the reputation of the firm is upheld irrespective of the job holder.

Training and Development Programs

One of the major individual causes of poor performance is lack of adequate training (Taylor 2014, p. 6; Mohlala, Goldman, and Goosen 2012, p. 4). According to Sparrow, Hird, and Cooper (2015, p. 180), there are three major causes of poor performance in businesses. One is attributed to the nature of the organization such that factors such as changes in technology, working conditions and benefits that are usually out of control of the individual employee reduces performance. On the other hand, personal reasons such as emotional distress, which are under the control of the worker, distract them from their jobs leading to poor performance (Twigg and McCollough 2014, p. 90). Thirdly, individual causes, which have adversely affected Hotel Northpoint performance, depend on the functional managerial systems. In this case, the company lacks a detailed training and development program that is the reason for the poor performance.

It is important for the new management to introduce a new system for training and development to ensure that there is a match between an individual skills and the task. The changes taking place in the external environment affect the internal systems of a company which imply that there is a mismatch between employee skills and knowledge level. The changes affect the manner in which businesses function, compete and deliver services. For example, consumer’s preferences keep changing after the introduction of the online business model. As such, the workers in charge of customer service need extra training so that they meet the demands of the digital-oriented consumer.

In addition, when employees remain performing similar duties for a long time, their morale is reduced (Almeida, Fernando, Sheridah 2012, p. 1955). A training program develops the competency of an employee at an individual capacity. The training can be at a personal or professional level. For example, at Ford Company, employees are encouraged to enroll in a course on ‘self awareness’. Although the training program may seem inconsequential to the performance of the employee at the organization, it essentially contributes to the emotional and spiritual wellness of the person leading to more energy and motivation to perform.

Evidently, the company’s constraint budget limits its capacity to advertise at a national level and pay employees above the minimum wage. As such, it is not possible to make selection from a pool of experienced and skilled candidates. The firm has little bargaining power given its inability to offer premium wages and working conditions. Consequently, the selected employees may not be suited to compete at the same level with the industry competitors who invest adequate amount of finances for the selection and incentive program (Bryant and Allen 2013, p. 173). With regard, the new management will provide extra resources to the HR function for an effective selection process.

Equal Opportunity Policy

Although the hotel’s goal is to growth and generates high returns, the management makes little effort to improve productivity. Employees directly affect performance since they are instrumental in implementing the underlying strategies of the company. As such, it is important to devote a considerable amount of capital and financial resources to ensure that they are motivated to participate and contribute in running affairs of the company. One important concept that should be considered by the new management is establishment of Equal Opportunity Policy (EO). An equal employment policy is such that employment opportunities are accorded to all individuals irrespective of their race, religion, disability status and colour. Employees participate in promoting the vision of the company at an equal basis without being exposed to discrimination or harassments. The two main reasons for establishing eth fostered to establish EO is to promote eth interests of the organization and for penalty avoidance through compliance (Baruch, Sayce, and Gregoriou 2014, p. 467).

Organizational Interest

The company will benefit by countering the adverse effects of labour market changes, advance better employment relations, reputation of the enterprise and manage diversity. The policy ensure that the needs the staff with respect to reward program, performance appraisal and career development are addressed. Cascio (2018, p. 11) asserted that by adequately utilizing the services of workers, an organization not only saves money and time, but the employees are motivated and thus more productive. As a result, the company will ensure that the vision of the entire organization is integrated with the individual needs of the employees so that prosperity is experienced by both parties.

Equal opportunity policy promotes relations between the organization and the worker since it stimulates a healthy working environment that enhances quality of life. The employees only focus on improving performance at an individual level. An emotional attachment to the company is created leading to more fruitful co-existence and a knowledge sharing environment that is critical for creativity and innovation (Al Emadi, Schwabenland and Wei 2015, p. 7).

Equal opportunity is one of the main principles for the modern labour market. Investors and employees are attracted to organizations that foster equality and oneness. As such, EO enhances the reputation of the company. Consequently, traffic to the company’s products is enhanced since the perception of stakeholders is that the quality of a brand is reflected in the way a company treats its workers (El-Amadi et al. 2015, p. 7).

Providing equal opportunities to people from all walks of life means a pool of diverse skills and knowledge is attracted during the recruitment process. Rather than trying to make people reason and behave the same, EO recognizes diversity and its ability to foster knowledge growth. With a diverse workforce, more unique and innovative ideas are generated leading to the development of competitive strategies. For example, Apple Inc relies on its diverse R$D team to come up with new designs for its users (Khan and Alam 2015, p. 958). As such, the company invests in selecting and recruiting the best talent from different nationalities. The employees share ideas through multiple virtual communities that have been enabled by the digital technology. As a result, diverse and unique ideas are generated and used to craft products and services that differentiate the company from competitors.

Legal Compliance

The Equal Opportunity policy is advanced for two reasons: it is mandatory for firms to obey the law and fruitful relations are only enhanced when the agreement binding parties in a contract is followed. Northpoint hotel has multiple legal cases that have been filed by employees due to unlawful dismissals and discrimination related claims. Also, the company only uses one platform to advertise. It therefore means that the company is in conflict with the law by limiting the number of people applying for the job vacancies. The policy will therefore ensure that the company makes use of multiple platforms to advertise and provide opportunities to all people that are qualified for the specific job offerings.

The policy protects employees from unfair dismissal. Employees have a legal right against unfair dismissal. Taylor (2014) noted four reasons that justifies dismissal which are: conduct, capability, redundancy, and contravention of law. Unlawful conduct such as poor attendance rate or theft gives employer power to dismiss an employee. However, instances of poor performance metric require the organization to come up with measures to improve performance of the worker by implementing training and appraisal programs.

Inability of an employee to work due to poor health and mismatch of skills can lead to dismissal but after an agreement between the two parties. Redundancy is when the job of an employee ceases to exist. An agreement should be reached by the firm and affected employee (Stoikovska, Ilieva and Gjakovski 2015, p.281; James and Mathew 2012, p. 79). On the other hand, where it is such that continuation in a certain role leads to breaking of the law, an employer has the right to dismiss the worker. For example if a driver loses driving license, by continuing to work under the same capacity implies contravenes the law.

The equal opportunity policy is therefore viable to ensure that the organization is in line with the legal framework to avoid cases that may damage brand reputation and financial losses.

Job Induction Retention Initiatives

Continuity is one of the factors affecting job performance. Employees should be assured of job security and potential for career development. In Hotel Northpoint, the staff turnover rate is more than 90 percent implying that job satisfaction levels are low. The situation is fostered by lack of proper job induction and development programs. Once the workers are recruited, they are taught on the job by the existing staff. As such, there is no individual to take responsibility in case of a mess. Moreover, the workers are not aware any succession plans therefore limiting their possibility of exerting more efforts on the job.

Employee retention should be high on the HR list of priorities since it is attributed to job satisfaction (Deery and Jargo 2015, p. 456). It is important to note that employees have diverse needs as stipulated in the Maslow Hierarchy of needs theory (Lazaroiu 2015, p. 97). Some are after recognition and status, others security, and there are those who main interest is high pay. However, an assumption that cuts across the different needs is that all the employees want to feel a sense of appreciation by being offered the best pay package and working conditions in the industry.

Retention strategies should be fostered on the employee first day and be updated in the course of employment. Some of the acclaimed approaches that should be implemented at the hotel to reduce turnover rate are: job induction, benefits program, and performance evaluation (Philipson 2013, p. 144; CITP and Ballaro 2014, p. 55).

Job Induction

According to Loretto and Vickerstaff (2013 p. 70) every new employee should be set up for a successful career at the onset. Job orientation and induction is one of the main processes that ensure the new worker is familiarized with the structure and culture of the company, and most importantly, the expectation of the task in hand. The induction should be conducted by the unit manager such that on-the job requirements are projected and any issues is addressed immediately. Through the process, the employee feels appreciated and is likely to put more effort to ensure successful outcomes.

Mentorship Program

It is important to set up a mentorship system that connects a new employee with a veteran. The new hires learn from the mentor and the latter is also poised to get new viewpoints from the employee. The mentors guide and assist the new employees to connect to the new system.

Benefits Program

Appreciation, monetary and non-monetary is one of the few gestures that create a culture of motivation and assists in breeding collaboration (Sparrow et al. 2015, p. 179). It is upon the management to learn the employees and determine their individual weaknesses and strengths before formulating benefits programs. The program should however be diverse to cater for the intrinsic and extrinsic incentives. Vacations, commissions, and promotions are some of the rewards that can foster strong working relationship between the employee and the organization.

Performance Evaluation Measures

Hotel Northpoint is on receivership due to its inability to meet the demands of the internal and external market. Poor management and lack of adequate resourcing structures has greatly influenced the performance of the company. The culture of the company has essentially contributed to performance issues from the employees. As such, it is important to design and implement individualized performance measures that promote the skills and expertise of the workers.

Taylor (2014) proposed the GROW approach to performance improvement that can be utilized by the new management. The managers should approach the workers as a team and at personal levels so that they are aware of their inability to meet expectations. After establishing the performance gap, a determination of the cause is established. The manager establishes whether the reason for the poor performance is due to inability or motivation such that a long term solution is crafted. The affected employee(s) should then own the problem and accept the responsibility of working towards the required performance level. An action plan in the form of a training program or appraisal system is executed to foster progress. The employee should have goals that are periodically evaluated for improvement purposes.

Recommended Staff Retention Strategies

Information obtained from the receivers representatives suggest that Hotel Northpoint’s employee turnover rate is beyond 90 percent. The rate is not adjusted for turnovers from temporary and part-time staff. The rate is above the average industry rate of 10 percent, and as such, stringent measures to reduce causes leading to turnover should be implemented.

Notably, the approaches that motivate employees to remain in a company are different due to their varying professional and personal needs. However, most studies, including the one conducted by Society of Human Resource Management indicated that there are some universal reasons that can motivate staff to retain their positions in a particular company for a long period; benefits, holiday and vacation allowances, better pay, and introduction of new work experiences (Baruch et al. 2014, p. 469).

1. Better pay and benefits

Hotel Northpoint works on a tight budget due to low returns. As a result, the company pays salaries based on the minimum wage policies. The compensation is below industry average and non-competitive. The employees therefore resort to work for competitors or other sectors where they are moderately paid. Low pay implies that the management does not appreciate the efforts of the workers. If a considerable amount of pay is given depending on the output of the individual workers, motivation increases leading to high retention rates. The workers tend to improve to perform beyond expectations for higher wages and salaries.

2. Vacation and Holiday Allowances

Employees feel appreciated when an employer invests in their personal lives. To motivate and subsequently retain the workers, Hotel Northpoint should set days and seasons that employees are allowed to go for fully, or partly paid holidays depending on the individual needs and financial position of the firm. Such experiences make the workers to refresh and become more productive upon resuming work. The national and international holiday days should be such that employees are allowed to spend time with their families and friends without the fear of losing job contract to part-time staff. Such a policy breeds teamwork and emotional attachment between the worker and organization leading to improved performance and subsequent retention rate. One company that is popular for investing in holidays and vacations for the workers is Intel. The firm provides at least 3-4 weeks annual weeks of vacation for each worker. The fully paid program is a great motivator to the workers leading to low turnover rate.

3. New and exciting challenges

Employees love to work in an interesting and challenging environment that provides opportunities for growth. It is critical to invest in new technology and structures that match with the modern consumers and market needs. As such, the firm should provide new training programs for the workers, initiate job rotations and provide an environment that allows the workers to participate in designing new strategies for the company. Such an organizational culture leads to creativity and innovations. As a result, the workers become more engaged and productive leading to better results and low turnover rate. For example, Ricardo Semler, Semco Partners CEO changed the structure of the company by giving employees complete freedom in choosing the type and amount of work to engage in (Malen 2016). The workers decide when to work without strict supervision and as a result, they are motivated to produce high returns given that they take complete responsibility of the outcome. Such an environment motivates employees leading to high retention rate.

Cost and Benefit Analysis of the Recommended Changes

Successful implementation of the strategies requires commitment by the employer and staff. Capital and financial resources are required for the execution of the approaches. As such, the company should revise the budget to incorporate the new expenses. The costs of training and empowering employees will also reduce the overall returns of the organization. However, the strategies are aimed at improving staff motivation and reduce the overall turnover rate. A high retention rate means that the firm will work at full capacity without periodical disruptions.

Conclusion

The reasons leading to the failure of Hotel Northpoint are attributed to inadequate HR management systems. The does not have effective programs and structures to handle the needs of employees at an individual and organizational level, leading to the high turnover rate. It is important for the new management to consider all the aforementioned issues and establish their root cause in order to come up with practical solutions. The employees are critical in establishing the vision of the three hotels. And as such, the managers should create an organizational structure and culture that fosters career development, participation and collaboration, and a sense of belongingness. Such a culture can be realized by implementing an equal opportunity policy that promotes diversity and individual growth such that all workers feel appreciated and motivated to contribute to the development of the vision of the organization.

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