HUMAN RESOURCEMANAGEMENT FOR THEHOSPITALITY ANDTOURISM INDUSTRIES

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Dennis Nickson Deputy Head of Department, Department of Human Resource

Management, Strathc/yde Business School, University

of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland

~~ ~~o~;~~n~~~up LONDON AND NEW YORK

Dennis Nickson Deputy Head of Department, Department of Human Resource

Management, Strathclyde Business School, University

of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland

I~ ~~o~;~~n~~~up LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published by Butterworth-Heinemann

First edition 2007

This edition published 2011 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright© 2007, Dennis Nickson. All rights reserved

The right of Dennis Nickson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher

Notice No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made

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: 978-0-7506-6572-8

Contents

List of figures ixList of tables xList of abbreviations xiPreface 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

v

HRM HOSPITAL ITY AND TOURISM INDUSTRIESvi

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

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

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

HRM HOSPITAL ITY AND TOURISM INDUSTRIESviii

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

ix

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

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

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

HRM HOSPITAL ITY AND TOURISM INDUSTRIESxii

Preface

This book stems from a longstanding interest in how tourism and hospitalityorganizations and managers seek to manage their employees. As a highly labour-intensive industry, tourism and hospitality organizations are often heard to talk ofhow their people are ‘their greatest asset’. However, even a cursory understandingof the nature of work, employment and people management in tourism and hos-pitality points to the many paradoxes and contradictions that are apparent instudying human resource management (HRM) in the sector. This book aims toexplore some of these paradoxes and contradictions in seeking to submit the clichéof ‘our people are our greatest asset’ to critical scrutiny. That said, the book is inmany respects a standard HRM text for the tourism and hospitality sector, recog-nizably following the traditional concerns of organizations as to how they bestattract, maintain and develop an effective workforce.

In talking about tourism and hospitality the book is also aware of the manydebates about how the sector is best conceptualized. There are many common attrib-utes that are associated with both hospitality and tourism activities, which couldencourage them to be seen synonymously. Equally though some would argue for dis-tinctiveness between the two. Like most colleagues writing in this area the bookacknowledges these debates, whilst also at times rather fudging the distinctionbetween tourism and hospitality. In fudging what some might consider a largelysemantic 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 tocustomers 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 andmarket niches address this issue may vary enormously and this difference sustainsmany of the concerns outlined in this book. Indeed, an appreciation of culture – andthe importance of organizational culture in particular – is a strong, and hopefullynovel, 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 andexamples. Thus, whilst the primary focus of the book is the UK, there are numerous

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