Recruitment and Selection in Hospitality Management

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Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction
Recruitment and selection process
Conclusion/Summary
Bibliography

Abstract

Recruitment and selection are as a human resource function in the hospitality and management industry play a key role in ensuring that the best staff is recruited in order to achieve the set goals and objectives of the organization by providing satisfactory customer service services.

The process involves reviewing the job and needs for the job identifies the existing gaps in the organization and the need for them to fill. Job description and person specification is developed in order to enable management to come up with the duties and the personal attributes of employees to hire

The selection process should be well designed to ensure efficiency. The panel to interview the candidates should be well-constituted in terms of gender and race if possible.

Advertising of the existing post is done either internally or externally, inviting the public to apply for the said position. The advert comprises the job description and person specification.

A shortlisting of candidates is done, and those selected are invited to attend the interviews. The time and place of the interview are notified, and candidates are notified of what to have with them at the date of the interview.

After the interview, the selection is made. This is based on the merit and eligibility of the candidates interviewed. The successful candidates are sent letters and told where to report. On reporting conditional offer is made to the successful candidates. The offer should be within the salary range offered. Finally, the selected candidates are oriented and placed.

Introduction

Realizing talent in the hospitality industry is the most challenging issue in the present time. In today’s global candidate short market, a clear and refined recruitment policy is essential in order to achieve the objectives of the organization and command a big market share in the present competitive market. Recruiting and selecting the right people is paramount to the success of the hospitality industry in the sense that the best delivery will be enhanced if proper procedures are used and the right people selected who are able to handle their tasks to the best satisfaction of the customer.

Recruitment and selection process

Process outline

Assessing the need for the job and ensuring that there are enough funds
Draft the job description so as to ensure that it merits the present and future requirements
Develop person specifications so as to ensure that personal requirements to perform the task are met
Design the selection process
Prepare the advertisement
Shortlist the candidates
Validate references, qualifications and security clearances
Make appointments

Reviewing the job and the need for it

First and foremost, before any position is advertised, the managers need to consider the need for the job. They must ascertain the value the job will add to the organization in ensuring proper and efficient delivery of services. The position should be such that it is able to add value both to the organization and the team.

Further concern should be raised in terms of funds. There should be proper funds in place so as to fund the positions that are to be filled.

According to the Australian Human Resource Magazine (2005, issue 79), the estimated recruitment cost of the mid-level manager of a hotel can be as much as $15,000, and there is no guarantee that the employee will last more than six months.

Further concern should also be put on description whether it needs to be updated. The grade for the job and the person specification may need to be evaluated. The HR team should be available to provide advice on constructing both job descriptions and person specifications. The type of job to be offered should also be considered. Whether the job is full-time, part-time or on a contract basis will also have to be addressed.

Given this hospitality industry is a tough field for recruitment. Management and other senior officers should have complex skills. Sets that are relatively high in order to tackle their tasks.

Design Selection Process

The human resource manager has the task of designing the selection process to use. This will ensure that the process of selection will be carried out smoothly. He/she should give consideration to the following while designing a selection process.

Panel composition

Interviews for permanent posts should be conducted by a panel. The manager is tasked with the responsibility of selecting interview panel members. He/she should ensure that panel consists of:

At least one member – regard should be given to race and gender. Therefore they should be mixed if possible.
At least one member has training in recruitment for the hospitality management industry.
Willingness for all the panel members to take through all the interviewers during the entire process in order to ensure consistency and fair treatment to all the candidates

Designing a proper selection process will ensure that the right candidates are chosen for the task. According to the strategic finance journal (2003), it suggests that over 80% of employee turnover costs are due to ineffective recruitment practices. The argument is that a strategic perspective to recruitment creates the ability to acquire and retain the best talent in the business.

Recruitment should be business-driven. This is because hotels compete to delight their guests and aim to offer and strengthen the guest experience. They should also compete to identify, attract and hire the most qualified and suitable people.

Advertising

The human resource team should provide a centralized advertising service for the advertisement of vacancies so as to enable the manager to prepare the appropriate advertisement.

The advertisement should be done both internally and externally. External advertisements take the form of advertising in websites, magazines, newspapers as well as agencies.

Short-listing

After receiving applications for the advertised positions, short-listing is carried out based on the person specification. The HR manager has the duty of ensuring that the process is carried out fairly.

Interviewing

After short-listing has been done, it is upon the HR manager to schedule dates and times for interviews. The short-listed candidates should be informed when the interviews are to be carried out. While calling for interviews, the following details should be given: –

Date, time and place of interview
Proper directions on how to get to the venue of the interview
Person to be contacted
What the candidates will need to carry (i.e. academic certificates, letters of experience etc.)

The main purpose of the interview is to select the right candidate for the job based on merit. To achieve this, various methods are applied in order to ensure the efficiency of the recruitment process.

While carrying out the interviews, each candidate should be treated with consistency. In order to achieve this, it is appropriate that the panel should:

Ask the same questions to each candidate.
Be consistent in allowing access to presentation material, notes etc
Not allow any discriminatory questions, harassment etc
Ensure that all the information obtained throughout the selection process treated as confidential and only known to parties involved in the selection process.
Keep records of interviews and reasons for decisions.

Selection

To select successful candidates, a decision should be made based on the merit and eligibility of candidates interviewed. These candidates should be assessed on the basis of:

The content of the application
The qualifications
Individual performance at interview
The outcome of selection tests

Adopting the best selection, it incorporates the best principles in the hospitality industry. This differentiates the most successful hospitality operator from the rest. The key aspect in defining best practices in the hospitality industry is putting the guest at the core of its service processes. It has been held that a customer choice for a hotel does not merely depend on the services delivered but rather how the operators go about offering the services being purchased. This depends on the organization and its management of staff, information systems, the hotel/facility configuration, the hotel environment and other resources made available.

In the hospitality industry, the management should do more than selecting individuals to fill vacancies. Recruitment policies should be assessed, conduct job analysis and tactics, have an effective retention process as well as improve return on investment before filling vacancies within or outside the organization. Linking recruitment and selection activities together will enable the HRM to contribute significantly to the achievement of best practices. Target the right candidates for the right opportunities give the organization a greater understanding to the organization on how to manage a best practice framework.

According to the Manhattan Group Research (John Gortiner, Manhattan Group, 2006) research has shown that only 6% of employees are selected from the interviews conducted. The best candidates continue to be sourced through industry channels like networking, promotional activities, industry rankings and positive press.

Hospitality companies are using emotional intelligence (EI) to strengthen the recruitment and selection process. The method is suitable since it identifies the qualities needed by candidates to be successful as an individual in the company and perform within groups. Emotional intelligence’s strong emphasis on social skills offers the individual morale to deliver on the full potential of the team to exceed organizational and individual objectives. It provides a criterion for individuals to measure qualities of group effectiveness, individual achievement, interpersonal skills as well as succession planning.

In the mid-1990s, Daniel Goleman expanded the concept of emotional intelligence as consisting of five components, i.e. Self-awareness, Self-regulation, Motivation, Empathy and Social skills.

When these traits are incorporated into the recruitment and selection process, they offer significant insight into how an individual will achieve the organizational objective as well as develop a rewarding career in the organization.

Having the message of emotional intelligence in mind, it is imperative for the management not to solely consider only financial and operational results instead understand that a long-term investment in human capital is necessary before achieving a profit.

Leading hotel companies such as Four Seasons and Ritz carton have for a long time following the strategy that the only control a hotel has on the guest’s experience, for instance, products and service is employees motivation and attitude. This is applicable to all levels of hotels, independent of their ranking. Therefore the overall aim of the selection process in the hospitality industry is to obtain the quantities and quality of employees required to fulfil the objectives of the organization.

Offer

After the interview, an offer for employment is made to the successful candidates. The offer so made should be within the salary range stated or the remit form, if any. The offer made should be conditional while the successful candidate meets all the formalities required.

Placement

After the job offer has been made, the new employees should be taken through an orientation course so as to familiarize themselves with the tasks and duties which they to handle and how to handle them. The orientation program is very important since it imports the necessary knowledge required to handle the tasks which the employee has been tasked to undertake.

Conclusion/Summary

Recruitment selection and placement function is an important aspect of the hospitality management industry. The success of this industry solely lies in human resource manpower. Mintzberg opines that “human resource manpower is the best asset a company will have if managed well”. This means that if organizations recruit the right team, the organization will experience growth upwards. Management should also as much as possible motivate the staff in terms of regular training and provision for incentives.

The selection process has to be carried out with a lot of transparency and professionalism. The hospitality industry being mainly a service delivery industry, the staff hired should be highly qualified so as to achieve the set goals of the organization by ensuring maximum customer satisfaction. Therefore there is a need to select highly qualified and motivated staff.

Placement should be done on the person’s qualification and response to training. Keen assessment is required to assess the individual’s strengths and weaknesses before placement. Finally, managers are required to build an environment based on respect and leadership that allows the employees the confidence to ensure that superior service is being delivered with the passion needed in order to delight and retain guests.

Bibliography

Berger, F., Ghei, A. (1995), “Employment tests: a facet of hospitality hiring”, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 36

Hotel and Catering Training Company (1994), Catering and Hospitality Industry – Key Facts and Figures, HCTC, London

Lam Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.2001

Law, R., Wong, K. (1997), “Evaluating the effectiveness of interviews as a selection method”, Australian Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 4 No.1

McDaniel, M. A., Frei, R.L. (1998), “Validity of customer service measures in personnel selection: a review of criterion and construct evidence”, Human Performance, Vol. 11

Mahesh, V.S. (1988), “Effective human resource management: key to excellence in service organizations”, Vikalpa, Vol. 13 No.4, pp.9-15

Mullins, L.J. (1995), Hospitality Management: A Human Resources Approach, 2nd ed., Pitman, London,

Nolan, C. (2002), “Human resource development in the Irish hotel industry: the case of the small firm”, Journal of European Industrial Training

Price, L. (1994), “Poor personnel practice in the hotel and catering industry: does it matter?”, Human Resource Management Journal

Rowley, G., Richardson, M. (2000), “Work, employment and flexibility in hospitality”, in Purcell, K. (Eds),Changing Boundaries in Employment, Bristol Academic Press, Bristol

Scholarios, D., Lockyer, C. (1999), “Recruiting and selecting professionals: context, qualities and methods”, International Journal of Selection and Assessment

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