Human Resource Management And Change Management

Human imagination circumspection And Change guidancePersonnel Management, considered for much of the post Second universe War period to be a necessary, albeit uninspiring and rule re formalism administrative activity has in recent decades evolved into Human imagery Management, (HRM), a antitheticaliate function of modern day trading giving medications.Enriched stolon by the work of seminal contributors manage Maslow, Herzeberger, McGregor, and Kohn, and later by that of behavioural experts like Guest and Storey, the induceth of HR Management has also been spurred by considerable milieual interpolates in aras of traffic ad economy. With the growth of the market economy, along with technological advances, instantaneous communication, economic liberalisation and globalisation having intensified local anesthetic and global argumentation competition manifold, t afford is widespread agreement on the criticality of HR in currentising combative advantage, market growth a nd m wizardtary success. The breeding of a intimacy based economy, as also the on-going economic crisis, is driving home the importance of HR tonus in business survival and success.Modern day HRM comprises of various functions like decision making upon provideing requirements, choosing between contracted or hired workforce to fill these needs, selecting and recruiting the near suitable tail enddidates, instruction and developing employees to enhance their knowledge and skills, ensuring high accomplishment, and propel employees by dint of a combination of practices, remuneration and reenforcements. Each of these argonas comprises of numerous associated functions plying, for interpreter incorporates workforce planning, job and role specification, selection and recruitment, and formulation of compensation.This study attempts to inquire and analyse the need, utility and role of specific important aspects of HR, namely staffing (selection and recruitment), procedure ap praisal and trouble, and recompense (remuneration and reward) in improving brassal cognitive cultivate and hard-hittingness it is carried grow out with reference to the HR policies and practices of the Ritz-Carlton Group of Hotels, with approximately 38,000 employees, possibly the virtually in(predicate) and well regarded highlife hotel chain in the domain of a function.The major strategic step forward to be addressed is the replaces in competition, that the luxury hotel market has virtu every(prenominal)y collapsed and the humble end accommodation is outperforming the amphetamine end of the hotel sector. Where do we go from here?Overview of Ritz CarltonThe Ritz Carlton Group, now a subsidiary of Marriott International, runs nearly 73 luxury hotels crosswise the globe, with 30 more projects under development which includes fractional ownership, private residences and emolumentd a fragmentments, diversifying into a different prospective that the traditional hotel. Havi ng scrapinged in Boston in 1927 with the first Ritz, the theme currently operates in 23 countries in North and south America, Asia, Africa and Europe.Under the former leadership of bingle of the partners Mr. Horst Schulze who was President and Chief in operation(p) Officer (COO) from 1983 to 2002, it was the whole organisation in the table service indus chastise to get the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge National Quality mete outs twice, the Ritz Carlton separate is widely known for its nidus on optimising its employee strengths, abilities, and skills, to plus market sh ar, improve operational and monetary results and deliver the goods emulous advantage. A major factor in the attribution of this, was the fix of the The Ritz-Carlton leadership Centre which has thousands of senior executives, airwave managers and all levels of leaders done with(predicate) their doors from from each one diverse industries (such as Finance, Food Services, Human elections, Retail, Transportation, Automotive and Healthc atomic number 18) which came to go through the Ritz-Carlton principles of service. The services of this centre are ideal if a phoner is looking for to create a sustainable change, which is key to the future(a) as verbalise by xxxxx (2008), having a major competitive advantage to outperform its competitors and to increase its customers and employee loyalty.Believing in the criticality of skilled, trained, satisfied and motivated employees in action of customer contentment, the social club has patternfully planned and skilfully utilise HR policies and practices that are essentially dynamic in reputation and respond to environmental circumstances and needs. With the luxury hotel industry existence intensely competitive and every major city in the world having a take of upper end hotels providing the same sort of rooms and other physical facilities, the trouble of the Ritz Carlton differentiates its offering chiefly through provision ing of superior service to its customers.Known the world over as the ladies and gentlemen (who serve ladies and gentlemen) of the Ritz, the employees of the chain aim to provide customers with the last Wow experience and retain 100 % of their exist clientele. The groups philosophy has a real emphasis on customer and employee cheer which other organisations try to aspire too. In the words of Simon Cooper, the former President and COO of the attach to from 2002 to 2010It is their commitment to always exceeding the expectations of our customers which insures that no matter how large our caller-up may grow around the world, we go away never forget service is what we built our reputation on as a hotel company, and our commitment is to grow the service fictitious character along with the portfolio of hotels which should reach 103 by 2011.The organisation has been squeeze to take whatever drastic action of late due to the revenues at the five star group been diminished over the la st number of years, reflecting the changes in the luxury hotel industry and on August 12, 2010, the Ritz-Carlton announced that their brand- refreshed President and COO to be Mr. Herve Humler in which the leadership change was effective from September 1, 2010. Mr. Humler is one of the original founders of the Ritz-Carlton Group in 1983 and has now responsibility for leading brand operations and global growth strategy.Human Resource Policies and Practices4.1 StaffingSelection and recruitment practices at the Ritz Continental conduct been explicate with thought and care and aim to make headway the service quality and standards of the organisation. With the organisation existence a quality and market leader in its domain of a function of activity, the hotel group is always assured of well behaved response both to local advertisements and requests for staff for its central staff pool. The group seeks race with real Intensity, Energy and habit for all roles in spite of appearan ce the organisation.The organisation is stark on recruiting appropriate concourse. Whilst female genitaliadidates with the in effect(p) qualifications are preferred, extensive emphasis is paid to selecting people who are considered open of fitting in with the strong service civilisation of the group. The culture is of strategic importance and classed as special, in every location in the world, with handsome quality and service, customer and employee satisfaction is at the top of its priority.Again whilst the group selects people with diverse talents and knowledge and teaches them the technical requirements of soulfulness jobs, it essentially looks for people who are (a) high in work ethics, (b) detail oriented, and (c) consanguinity compulsive the successful candidates are expected to genuinely care and respect lymph nodes and each other. Candidates must look people presently in the eye, be warm, complaisant and capable of try outing empathy. (Living Values)You slang to make sure that youre selecting for attitudes and determine, not for skills and experience. You cant train for attitudes and values, you can train for skills, says Chi. If candidates rush the right customer taper, values and a positive attitude, anyone can be trained to do anything in the hotel, Chi saysThe selection process is driven by customised and structured interviews, which have different approaches for different types of staff. A manager would be tested for focus and sense of competition, while a recruiter needs to be caring, relationship oriented, business savvy, and able to see the talents of other people. The division head and the General omnibus of the individual hotels get involved in all selection processes so as to make a group decision and also to show the potential candidate the importance of the that individual is to the organisation.The company has elaborate raising and retraining systems. It has 20 basic standards that are constantly reinforced through t raining. Whilst every employee is provided with 120 hours, i.e. three weeks of training every year, new entrants are leave behindn a 2 day introduction before they arise in contact with any potential guest or existing employee to understand the culture and philosophy and also 40 long time of training in their first year to enhance this. The company has prepared vast training material on all aspects of service delivery, including a rock of more than a thousand customer problems, as also put acrosslines for declaration them. such problem solving is an integral portion of the training programme. isolated from such systematic training many individual hotels of the group have their in-house training programmes.At the Ritz Carlton, Hong Kong, the hotel has adopted a number of forward-looking practices. For example, all of the roughly 300 staff are expected to learn one new thing per day and time is specifically scheduled at the start of each shift to allow them to do so. This mig ht be about the work of another department, the overall tourist industry, or new properties inwardly the group.Generally all employees are permanent staff, this is to ensure that the culture and philosophy are kept at the highest standard, in contrast to this, some very minor positions are temporary wish are not directly related to the core business. (e.g. building maintenance can be some measure outsourced etc.) As suggested by Mello (2006, knave 336) specifically in the service sectors where higher turnover costs are roughhewn with the comparison of manufacturing, the organisation implementing a strategic staffing initiatives which are the key to retaining productive employees and in turn minimizing turnover/operating costs. To this the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group is at the forefront of its sector ensuring that employee satisfaction remains high with 90 to 95% compliance. This employees satisfaction is one of the key areas that are worked on, day in day out and involves trust, com munication, involvement and engagement as stated by Mark DeCocinis, Regional Vice President, Asia-Pacific of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel partnership.At commission level inside the Hotel Group, many senior positions are modify internally within the organization, approximately 70 to 80 % of the leadership positions states DeCocinis.These individuals have proven skills, able to motivate and has capabilities to fit into the organisations culture. This is classed as a reward system for their previous implementation and loyalty and promotes a positive promotional and development opportunities within the group, it also fosters to serve international assignment roles.4.2 exertion ManagementThe Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group has an elaborate performance appraisal programme that aims to regularly evaluate employee performance and provide employees with feedback about their performance. carrying into action Feedback is used as opposed to Performance Appraisal, in which the system is kept in line with the organisations strategic objectives and culture. Below is as outline by Mello (2006 pageboy 428) are the key differences between performance feedback versus performance appraisal. As can be seen from the exhibit below the feedback is more a two way change where employer and employee communication informally their performance and discuss jointly planning future work activities.Performance FeedbackPerformance AppraisalTime PeriodPast, present and futurePastFocusLink employee work activities to specific business objectives strategyCreate records, document performance problemsNature of communication bipartiteOne sided, push downward, directive, rebuttal sometimes allowedEmployee roleActive Participant resistlessFormalityInformal, VerbalHigh formality, written formsTimingSpontaneous, ad hoc call forAs prescribed (usually annual)Basis of relationshipCollegialityPowerRole of supervisory programCoach, motivator, partnerAuthority figureOutcomesParticipation, enhanced, targeted performance, improved relationshipCompensation decision task directivesMello (2006 page 428) Exhibit 10.1 Performance Feedback versus Performance AppraisalThe performance management system of the company works on a hardly a(prenominal) specific principles, namely informing employees about their responsibilities, enabling them to master the requirements of their job, generating ideas on improving the quality of their output, informing them on how well they are doing in many ways and forms, and training them constantly through their managers and peers on different jobs and tasks.Each employee gets a report everyday on his actions on the job. isolated from these reports, detailed personnel appraisals are carried out every six months. With managers providing employees with feedback, suggestions and ameliorateive training on a daily basis, most employees improve so much by evaluation time that such cause lead to become times for celebration rather than apprehension. Such assessment occasions are used to form action plans, establish future goals, and guide employees on their future responsibilities. (Lets celebrate) wholly of the Ritz-Carlton employee performance goals are aligned with the company goal, and from that to the hotel goal and in turn to the divisional goal, therefore involving everyone in part of the discharge organisation. Each and every employee is encouraged to come up with a plan to reach their goal for the succeeding(a) year based on guest satisfaction, financial performance and employee satisfaction. The bonus or incentive at the end of the year is based on improvements if you increase the performance numbers pool you give be rewarded.Communication according to the Ritz-Carlton is the key to maintaining consistence performance management. Each employee having interaction with the General managing director every day and communicate freely about what we be intimate and how we can improve is important says DeCocinis. All general managers has a policy of having a break luxuriant meeting with 10 to 15 employees from different departments once a month, in that speak openly and informally at this gathering for the purpose of what each employee is running(a) on and what can be improved is a very positive management policy and everyone learns from the meeting.Another important performance management system in place is that employees are encouraged to document either their own or another employees mistakes. It is very important when someone makes a mistake that the correct action is taken to resolve it as soon as possible, other than it could reoccur. The group recognises people for taking ownership of a problem and being part of the solution to resolve it Yeung (2006).4.3 CompensationWhilst the organisation has very strict recruitment policies, (20 people are, on an average, selected from 2000 applicants), it provides good remuneration and facilities. The company believes in maximising staff guardianship through a comb ination of good working atmosphere, excellent training, good life history prospects, opportunity to travel, and good remuneration. Whilst the company does benchmark and attempts to keep its remuneration competitive, it is nevertheless overtaken occasionally in this area by other hospitality organisations.Mark DeCocinis states if you expect your people to be the topper, you must pay at the top of the marketWe do silence benchmark on remuneration, says Ms Lau, but regard staff store as something which depends more on other factors. These include training, creating long-term career opportunities, and helping employees to find the right work-life balance.Ritz-Carlton employees who can multi-task (i.e. stand in for others etc.) are recognised and rewarded accordingly. The group reward and motivate their employees who exceed their expectations through The Ritz-Carlton bonus Awards. The organisation dispenses Gold Standard Coupons to those employees who exceed the hotel standards for qu ality and service, these coupons are past exchanged for weekend accommodations at the hotel group or at the hotels seat shop for merchandise. Additional to this is every quarter, a five Star Employee Award is granted which entitles the winner to a five-night stay for two people at any Ritz-Carlton hotel in the world, and to supplement this, round trip flight tickets and US$500 spending money is given.Strategic Organisational PerformanceThe Ritz-Carlton is considered to be one of the most successful organisations in the luxury hotel business. Globally known for the quality of its service and exceptional surroundings, the organisation has in recent years not preformed financially which diminishing revenues in the organisation. The intensifying competition in the hospitality sector notwithstanding, the organisation has grown sharply during the last decade spurred by its entry into new markets, (especially in China), a change in taste towards more casual elegance may be appropriate or not?. The introduction of spas that are operated by the best operators in the world, and the coal scuttle of restaurants run by celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Wolfgang Puck all strategically aligned to give the hotels unique character may be recrudesce suited in a more buoyant economic environment rather than today climate. With that in mind the real strategic issue, the change in competition within the hotel sector, i.e. the lower end accommodation outperforming the luxury end, with regards to staffing, leave have an wallop on a) downsizing of staff, b) other competitors depleting the staff pool of both permanent and temporary potential employees, c) potential divergence of Ritz-Carlton valuable employees to competition, d) loss of Branding (culture, relationships etc.). In performance management the impact of the organisation not performing as measured on its outputs would directly affected employee performance as they are both aligned within the organisation HR st rategy. With regards to compensation pay freezes, no bonuses or incentivises at the end of the year would be implemented, staff retention will be affected, less career prospects and less opportunities to travel within the organisation. The The Ritz-Carlton Incentive Awards and the Five Star Employee Award would be disbanded. All of the above would have a major impact on the current HR policies within the Ritz-Carlton organisation which the retention of the high performers being critical to the organisation also. What is to be through about this now?Human Resource Management AnalysisThe first thing to be completed is an Organisation-Level Diagnostic Model which will determine are the policies aligned with the organisational goals. This is a critical input which will help present problems and symptoms. The process of Diagnostic as stated by Cumming and Worley (2008 page 87) is that Diagnosis is a collaborative process between organizational segments and the consultant to collect per tinent breeding, analyze it, and draw conclusions for action planning and intervention. This disposition and results of how the organisation is currently functioning provide valuable information to objective change.INPUTS DESIGN COMPONENTS OUTPUTSCumming and Worley (2008) Figure 5.2 (page 93)INPUTS DESIGN COMPONENTSDramatic changing environment dodging keep quality and service at 5 star slowly bookings discounted rooms?Competitors Power Technology-SAP payroll systems, hand scanners etc.Customers / Buyers Performance Management outsource sales for rooms?Treat of New Entries -alignment with Entertainment Company (MCD)Ease of Choice Structure ego Managing Teams, possible outsource salesHealth Safety Measurement Sys.-customer satisfaction, occupancy rates,Golf Courses / Academy managing information systems, mystery customerCulture- No.1 for service quality, No.1 for employee Customer satisfaction, what do I achieve today?From the above analysis and specifically with refer ence to the Human Resource Systems, the details for selecting, developing, appraising and rewarding organisation members, the organisation effectiveness is satisfactory as there is good alignment between both with only minor changes to be investigated.The second analysis that is to be implemented is to complete an Organisational Development and Change Plan based on the Force knowledge domain Analysis for normative planned change. Management is all about change and by victimisation Lewins Change Model theory and using an additive magnitude of change, the model below can be implemented.FORCE report ANALYSISSteps let on a specific ChangeIdentify forces for and against changePrioritise the forcesDevelop strategies to overcome opposing and reinforce living forcesImplementing RecommendationsWith the above information to hand and being more critical, the followingrecommendations can be implemented to Senior Management within the organisation.With reference to staffing a number of opt ions are open to management for action. The selection and recruitment process is supportive of the HRM system with only a few weaknesses to be addressed. A bank of pre-approved potential employees should be developed for each and every hotel within the organisation, both permanent and temporary employees to cover sick days, holidays etc. as this would reduce the recruitment timeline. A recommendation to the HR Manager or General Manager for each hotel should be to do a self-referent strategy on the history of timelines of past recruitment drives as suggested by Mello (2006 page 339), work backwards from the time employees are indispensable to start employment, which in turn will determine when recruiting begins. This bank of potential employees will eliminate any delays in time, replacing or commencing new employees with the organisation. As to keep the turnover of staff to a minimum (i.e. below 15% would be acceptable within the service industry for turnover, xxxxx(2008), the sel ection of candidates at recruitment stage should focus on a long-term relationship or career with the organisation. The selection process to focus on a potential person theme, what do they really enjoy? What is their purpose in life? What motivate them? The task is to look for personnel who genuinely enjoy contact with people and respect and care about others. This will pull in the organisation and the employee in the long run. All senior management positions should be filled in-house once the relevant experience and leadership training from The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Centre is obtained. It is important to protect the culture of the organisation from the top down as well from the bottom up. An Empowerment strategy should be implemented as soon as possible. This will involve flattening the organisation and creating egotism Managing Groups or Teams. Reducing middle management (layoffs) or redeploying them elsewhere where required within the organisation will reduce overall costs an d give real want to the current employees for self management. The one important call for about his recommendation is to get consensus across the complete organisation for this process.The Performance Management system is very much aligned with the organisational goals with the philosophy that employee satisfaction leads to guest satisfaction which in turn leads to good financial results. The real emphasis with is on outputs not inputs as detailed in Mello (2006 page xxxx) and needs to extremely well measured so that performance can be analysed in depth. A recommendation is for each employee to come up with a plan / set of targets to reach a goal for the next year, measured by guest satisfaction, employee satisfaction and financial performance. These goals or targets will be regularly monitored by the General Manager and HR Manager each month with informal lunch meetings with up to 10 people from different department attending. Here the employee can be openly praised in front of h is colleagues based on improvements benchmarked on the individual goals. By using Victor Vrooms Expectancy Model, this will give real intrinsic motivation to the employees, in return the employee will feel valued, recognised and perceive be involved with important aspects of the hotel. Ritz-Carlton Group using the Expectancy Mode outlined below will have valued satisfied employees and the performance measures will be completely aligned with the organisations needs as detailed by Mello (2006 page xxxx).Assists managers to determine the outcomes that each employee valuesManagers should define performance levels in measurable termsManagers can determine if desired levels of performance are attainableManagers can link desired performance to outcomes desired by employeesClarifies that perceptions, not reality determine motivationClarifies that motivation will be highest when employees perceive many benefits, but not necessarily many rewardsCompensation being rewarded by respect, trust, l oyalty and a greater sense of empowerment is the correct direction for the organisation. The ultimate strategy is to create an appropriate flux of financial and non-financial compensations systems. Direct compensation in salaries should be aligned with the best in class within the industry (fairness sliding scale salaries complete by job classification) increase incentives such as bonuses, commissions, training and development to The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Centre to attractive and retain the best performers. With regards to validatory compensation, by from the legally required a full review should be undertaken for the indirect options such as retirement pension plans, life insurance, flexible working schemes etc. to ensure they are relative to the market place. The recommendation for the Self Managing Teams will complement the recommendation to utilise team based versus individual pay based on performance which will encourage flexibleness and co-operation within the teams.Co ntribution of HR Policies to Organisational PerformanceThe spectacular success of the hotel is attributed by many industry experts to its superior service quality and customer focus. Such a focus has helped the Ritz to constantly differentiate its products and services from the competition, enabled it to grow fast without compromising its commitment to its customers and allowed it to ride out bad years without losing business or compromising its operational and financial results.Being a member of the service industry, the organisation is people driven and significantly dependent upon the quality and effectiveness of its workforce for the realisation of its strategic and business objectives.The company has formulated its HRM policies in line with its strategic objectives and the complete HR system is gear to delivering of high quality standards. It has unilaterally adopted employee oriented and customer focused HR policies and procedures that are essentially scoop Practice in natur e and designed to produce high levels of employee productivity. The Ritz treats its employees with the utmost dignity both within and outside the organisation and is publicly proud of their knowledge, skills, abilities and contribution to the organisation.The company pays great attention to training, an activity that continues throughout the working life of all employees, increases their knowledge and skills and optimises their performance. Team spirit, corporate pride and human dignity are common to all employees a General Manager is expected to pick up a burnt cigarette from the carpet, even as the junior most employees have the powers to spend considerable sums of money without having to take permission from their superiors, if it is to further guest satisfaction. Ritz employees are known to go to great lengths to ensure guest satisfaction, leading their guests to come again and again and increasing the hotels customer retention to dizzy levels. Such motivation is proof of the ro le of Human Resource Management in the remarkable success achieved by the organisation.ConclusionsHR management practices have clearly come a long way since the days when the duties of personnel departments were restricted to recruiting people, maintaining leave records, and preparing salary sheets. HRM is now felt to be a critical management function that is instrumental in achieving the strategic objectives of business organisations.Whilst organisations are still divided on the adoption of Best Fit or Best Practice strategies, or on permutation over from Command and Control systems to ones that are most participative, there is olive-sized doubt over the importance of careful selection, good training, effective communication, performance appraisal and attractive compensation in increasing organisational performance and competitive advantage.Greater numbers of organisations, especially those in the knowledge sector are also seeing the advantages of employee involvement and empower ment in improving organisational induction and employee commitment and motivation which in turn results in enhancement of competitive advantage and business success.The Ritz Carlton is an important example of the brilliant operational and financial results that can be achieved by organisations in the service sector through well planned and efficiently implemented employee oriented HR practices on a consistent basis. The organisations commitment to its employees in good and bad times and its adoption of employee empowering HR policies and practices has enabled it to achieve startling levels of customer service and leadership in quality, market share, and reputation.