Nature of Human

Resource
Management
Points for Discussion
AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER, THE STUDENTS SHOULD:
 STRATEGIC
OVERVIEW
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government is completing
an ambitious project the Palm Jumeirah, a man-made island
where a wide range of tourist accommodation facilities, bars,
restaurants and entertainment outlets, shopping boutiques,
spas, aqua sports centers and the like will be built. Apart from
increasing Dubai's shoreline by 520 kilometers, Palm Jumeirah
will also have a 5.4-kilometer monorail that will transport 40,000
people to and from the island daily. This project is particularly
significant and exciting because it sets the pace of UAE's future
in the event that the country's oil reserves are depleted. With all
the mind-boggling developments in the UAE, it is clearly
repositioning itself as a tourist destination for the rest of the
world to enjoy.
Human
Capital and
Human
Talent
 The essence of every company or organization is its true mission- the reason for
its existence. It is desirable for such mission to be ever present in the corporate
culture of the workforce. Human capital refers to the knowledge, education, training,
skills, and expertise of a firm's workers, and it is more important than it has ever
been before.

The changing workforce demographics gives the hospitality and tourism industry
new challenges and new standards of product and service delivery. Issues like
workforce diversity, technological advancement, and environmental concerns need
to be addressed simultaneously with this new industry landscape. The industry
workforce has become more mobile and diverse.

Whether an employee is creating a revolutionary menu to satisfy the palate of a

certain segment of the market, neatly preparing a guestroom complete with
amenities, or providing a warm welcome at the arrival of a tourist at the front desk,
human talent is evident and it serves as the difference between a great product and
a lousy product.
 One of the key problems faced by many executive search and recruitment
companies is the fast turnover of human talent. To some extent, such human talent
could also become scarce especially in the face of constant migration of hospitality
workers. Human talent is the sum of all manifestations of analytical, creative, social
and physical abilities of people available in a community or company. Human talent
can be harnessed and managed. Human talent can also be wasted and misused.
Human talent can be developed to reach its maximum potential. Human talent can
also be rendered dormant and isolated.

One president of a Philippine-based international executive search firm said, "the

high turnover of human talent is good for two reasons: (a) companies keeping on
searching for better employees, and (b) it would mean business for us. Such
phenomena is also bad for two reasons: (a) the companies' failure to keep and
develop human talent, and (b) it reflects on our ability to recreate a perfect
employer-employee match.
Relevance of
Human
Resources
Management
 The importance of human resource management cannot be undervalued in
today's intensely competitive global marketplace. The reason for this is that there is a
very small margin for error from becoming a market leader to becoming a market
laggard. A lot of emphasis is now put on good human resource management, as it is
the difference between employing a qualified workforce and hiring inept workers.
Human resource management nowadays is not just about employing people or
drafting work policies; it is also about being able to rapidly respond to customer's
needs and competitors' moves.

Human resource management is inherent in and inevitable to the day-to-day

work of every manager. Taking care of employees' needs, managing employee-
related problems, coaching and training staff, and others are part of every manager's
duties and responsibilities.

Training waiters is the responsibility both of the human resources manager and
the food and beverage manager.
 Relevance of HR Management to
Managers
Employee performance is the command responsibility of every manager.
Human resources are the company's most valuable asset.
The quality of employees is an important determinant of operational success.
Human resources are diverse and constantly evolving.
HR costs have risen due to mistakes in hiring, training and disciplining
employees.
HR turnover is a reflection of the internal as well as external work
environment.
Managing employees is a partnership or team effort among all managers.
Recruiting quality employees is just as important as retaining them.
VITAL SIGNS CHECK
International Tourist Arrivals
903 million in 2007
1.6 billion in 2020
The number of tourism and
hospitality workers is expected to
grow proportionately
Human
Resources and
Human
Resource
Management
 Human resources refer to the people that staff and operate an organization. It is
also the organizational function that deals with the people and issues related to
people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, and training. In the
subsequent chapter, there is a detailed discussion of the transition of how human
beings were previously regarded as commodities or resources to the more politically
correct notion of creative and social assets of a company whose value is beyond
hours spent in the workplace. In microeconomics, the concept of human capital has
evolved to mean human resources.

A broader view of human resources does not only acknowledge the contribution
of its employees in terms of work but also the recognition of the fact that they also
bring to the organization their character, ethics, creativity, social and business net-
work, family values among others.
 Human resource management is both a function within an organization and the
process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating employees, and
attending to their labor relations, health and safety, and fairness concerns.

Human resource managers, who are often regarded as managers of managers,

are strategic partners of top management because they are in charge of the human
or intellectual capital of the company. The business and corporate strategies of a
company inevitably include human resource development programs that will
address future issues like competition, crisis, growth, streamlining repositioning, and
others. In a nutshell, it could spell the difference between success and failure of an
organization.
 Some companies even practice poaching top executives of rival companies to
boost their lineup of managers hoping it could be translated into higher revenues,
profits, and shareholder value. They could even do this through headhunters and
implants. A similar HR strategy is practiced in recruiting employees for rank and file
and supervisory positions.

In the past, human resource management was called personnel management-

when the scope of responsibility was more limited and rigid. Now, human resource
management has become very challenging and continuously evolving. Some hotel
chains at present even call human resource management by more catchy and
exciting labels such as human resources development, people innovation, human
performance improvement, talent management, and others. However, the true value
of the human resources department lies not on what it is called but on how effective
it is in serving the needs of every manager and employee in the organization. For a
labor-intensive industry such as the tourism and hospitality industry, the work of a
human resource manager promises numerous challenges and opportunities for
professional growth and maturity.
 Legal Insights
A local or multinational company in the
hospitality industry in the Philippines is
justified to hire an expatriate when the
enterprise of the expatriate will greatly
enhance the quality of the company's
products and services. However, the
expatriate cannot stay in the company
forever and must train a Filipino understudy
within a period of time.
Scope of Human Resources
 The larger the organization, the bigger and more complex the human
resources function is. It is typical to find in such an organization a vice-
president or director for human resources with a complete set of sections
addressing every HR sub-function. Medium-sized organizations may have a
human resources manager who may also have another role like
administration manager or office manager. Smaller organizations, usually
likened to a mom and pop type of operations, would have an entrepreneur
manager who also acts as the human resources manager.

Generally, human resource management encompasses three main sub-

functions: personnel management, training and organizational
development, and industrial relations. Each of these sub-functions carries
out a distinct set of tasks and responsibilities.
 Personnel management involves the recruitment and selection of
employees, and planning and administration of compensation and benefits.
The scope of work includes employee health services, employee wellness
and safety programs, compensation services, performance management,
job analysis and design, recruitment and placement services, agency
coordination, employment advertising, and personnel records
management.
Training and organizational development essentially includes the
provision of orientation to new hires, development and implementation of
coaching, counseling and mentoring programs for employees, and
addressing growth or attrition issues through rightsizing, succession
planning, change management, and the like. This also includes employee
recognition programs, employee special events, and management
development programs.
 Industrial relations pertains to the perpetual organizational goal of
instilling industrial peace and harmony in the workplace through a just and
fair implementation of the company's code of discipline and other HR and
operational policies and processes. This also involves liaison with
government agencies like the Department of Labor and Employment,
Bureau of Immigration and Deportation, and City or Municipal government.

The table of organization provides a clear flow of authority from top to

bottom and the relationship of each officer and staff in the organization.
Below is a sample HR table of organization in a large deluxe hotel.
 The table of organization or organizational structure may
vary from one hotel to another or from one restaurant to
another even if they manage a similar volume of manpower.
For example, a restaurant chain need not have a legal
counsel especially if it has a zero-level of labor cases and it
does not have any expatriate employee. But a company with
many legal cases would possibly have a full-blown legal
section within the HR department. One of the country's
largest chain of casual dining restaurants, has a training
manager in charge of staff training programs but would avail
of the services of topnotch training consultants for their
management training and development programs.
 REFLECTIONS

Is it alright to hire relatives in a

company? What are the
advantages and disadvantages of
hiring relatives in a company?
SYNTHESIS