MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF BUSINESS SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM, HOSPITALITY AND LEISURE SCIENCES

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (THM 433/209)1

1. INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
After completion of this topic the students should be able to:

∙ Describe the nature of the tourism and hospitality industry

∙ Describe the workforce in the tourism and hospitality industry

∙ Define HRM

∙ Understand the importance and functions of Human resource management

Background to the industry’s workforce

- A proliferation of competing brands, shorter business and product life cycles together with
many different business models all make the world’s business environment more
complex and challenging.
- The hospitality industry is no exception. Even in periods of recession such as those
experienced since 2008 the hospitality industry has seen significant changes with some
sectors growing such as restaurants, coffee houses and the budget hotels sectors, whilst
others have seen an equally dramatic decline such as the public house (licensed bar)
sector.
- Within hotels we have seen the continuing growth of the budget hotels sector and we have
seen the steady growth of boutique hotels, once the preserve of enthusiastic private hotel
operators, into significant chains within larger multinational chains. At the international
level we also see rapid expansion of international hotel brands, such as Hilton, as the
middle classes grow in many countries including the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia,
India, China) to which are added some African economies.
- Hotels and hotel companies are constantly changing hands so that we see what some may
describe as ‘churning’ of many hotel properties. Some iconic brands have been bought
and sold several times in a few years. Many have disappeared.
- Various different forms of business models are now common. Apart from simple owner
operated properties other forms of operation include management contracts (or

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agreements), franchising, voluntary chains (or consortia), joint ventures, branded
 reservation services and combinations of two or more of these.
- In addition, subcontracting, outsourcing and off- shoring alter significantly the traditional
business models.
- At the social level we are witnessing important developments. On the negative side we are
witnessing significant increases in obesity- and alcohol-related problems. On the positive
side there are increased concerns for the environment, sustainability, animal welfare,
health and healthy eating and drinking. These all impact directly or indirectly on the
industry.
- At the technological level there has been a dramatic transformation in how customers
access these services.
- In the past, customers may have relied upon classification systems and brands for
‘promises’ of quality. Today, social media has entered the business environment, with
sites such as TripAdvisor playing a significant part in customer behaviour. A report
published in Ehotelier.com (December 2011) stated that ‘60% of guests use one or more
social networking platforms during their search, shop and buy process’. And whilst
brands play a vital role they are seriously challenged to deliver on their ‘promises’ by the
social media.
- In addition, whilst hospitality operators have operated basic forms of ‘yield management’
for many years, the adoption and development of computerized hospitality-specific yield
management systems have led to the need for new skills and, in many cases, modified
organization structures.
- All these developments have significant impact on the human resourcing of businesses. -
Shorter business and product life cycles, flatter organization structures and the ‘churning’ of
properties means that lifelong careers, or even moderately long careers with one employer
are harder to encounter, being replaced by ‘portfolio’ careers and even portfolio jobs (i.e. two
or more part-time jobs at the same time).
- From the hospitality industry’s perspective, there are many accompanying societal changes
with great significance for the industry’s operators. These include easier and cheaper
travel and, as a consequence of improved lifestyles and medical services, increased
longevity, resulting in increasing populations and demographic restructuring.

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- Alongside this, the media in their many different forms are informing and shaping people’s
behaviour as never before.
- The contributions made by the hospitality industry to this general rise in standard of living
are considerable and varied, providing essential products and services, leisure services,
 large-scale employment and wealth creation.
- Tourism, of which the hospitality industry is a principal element, is now claimed to be the
world’s fastest growing industry and also one of the leading earners of foreign currency. - The
total value of tourism to the UK in 2009 was estimated to be £86 billion, with overseas
visitors spending close to £12 billion of that figure in foreign currency (People 1st, 2011).
The value to the nation’s 2009 gross domestic product (GDP) of specific hospitality sector
and related services was estimated at 4.9 per cent.
- The UK hospitality industry, with its ever-developing range of products and services, has
seen considerable growth in recent years. In 2010 and 2011 alone, according to the
British Hospitality Association, 276 new hotels were built adding 35,000 rooms to the
hotel stock. The high streets of towns are now as much a forum of branded restaurants
and coffee houses as they are for general retailers.
- Whilst there have been substantial technical improvements, and conditions in the industry
may have improved over what they were in the past, the relative status of the industry as
an employer, compared with other employers, has not improved significantly.
- Admittedly at the top of the scale, some highly skilled workers such as chefs, who are in
short supply, can command very high incomes, but at the other end of the scale, kitchen
porters and cleaners, for example, would earn considerably higher wages for broadly
similar work in other employment sectors. This is in spite of efforts being made by some
of the larger companies in the industry to improve conditions.
- Among the reasons must be the fact that most employees only generate between £42 and
£81 per hour for their employer compared with many other industries in which
employees may generate many times that for their employer. Of this between 10 and 40
per cent will be taken up by labour costs, the remainder going towards material costs,
property costs, fixed costs and profit. In contrast, the gambling sector generates around
£120 per hour per employee (People 1st, 2011). With few exceptions, catering services

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do not lend themselves easily to significant mechanization. As a result, the industry is
heavily labour-intensive and labour costs dominate many profit-and-loss accounts. - The
reasons for the relatively slow rate of improvement in the industry’s conditions of
employment are considerable, including an understandable reluctance on the part of many
proprietors and managers to be among the first to charge higher prices for their services,
particularly when the UK is reported to be among the most expensive of tourist destinations.
- Second, the industry also consists of many small employers (46 per cent with fewer than
 ten employees).
- A third reason, linked to the former reason, is that there are few barriers to entry and limited
capital requirement.
- One consequence is that many entering the industry lack knowledge and experience and so
the failure rate is relatively high.
- A fourth reason is that the trade union movement exerts no influence in most sectors of the
industry, which contrasts with some other countries.
- A fifth reason is that the industry’s workforce consists largely of people drawn from the
secondary labour market, i.e. those not committed to the industry on a long-term basis
(such as students, school leavers, housewives).
- For these reasons, the industry has its own less obvious but costly labour problems
including such phenomena as a high labour turnover rate, institutionalized pilfering and
low service standards in many establishments.
- Because of the nature of the hospitality industry (i.e. many small businesses taking cash)
the industry is host to a significant ‘black or shadow’ economy.
- It is, of course, to be expected that some aspects of working in the hospitality industry may
be unattractive when considered alongside other sectors. There are intrinsic and largely
unavoidable challenges such as having to work evenings, weekends and public holidays.
Other problems, however, can certainly be reduced or eliminated by determined
management action. These problems include split-shift working, unpredictable working
hours, staff reliance on tips, ignorance of methods of calculating pay and distributing
service charges, and management’s reluctance to involve staff in matters that affect their
working lives.

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- *A number of reports have highlighted these difficulties which, together with some
management attitudes and practices, undoubtedly cause much of the industry’s human
resourcing problems. Even today, for example, many employers and managers expect all
employees, whatever their position and wage rate, to be dedicated to their jobs, to have a
vocational fervour towards their work and to sacrifice leisure time for pay that is not high
by general economic standards.
- These same employers and managers fail to recognize that their own motivation to
work is usually completely different from that of their staff, and that many work people
throughout the community are becoming less work-oriented for various reasons.
- *Employers in industry must reconcile themselves rapidly to the fact that the majority of
potential staff are less likely to be singularly and vocationally committed unless ways and
 means are found to harness what some researchers claim is a natural motivation to work.
- At the International Hotel and Restaurants Association Human Resource Think Tank in the
Netherlands (1999) this issue was discussed and it was concluded that a distinction has to be
made between ‘loyalty’ and ‘commitment’, loyalty being a two-way long-term attitude of
trust and reliance between employer and employee, whereas commitment is perceived as a
shorter-term professional/ economic relationship which endures so long as each is dependent
upon the other.
- A similar issue has been addressed in the UK government’s MacLeod report which was
concerned with employee engagement, with examples from the hospitality industry
(MacLeod and Clarke, 2010).

Understanding the organization and the role of people

- It is now generally accepted that in an increasingly competitive global economic
environment, the competitive advantage of an organization no longer lies in its products
or technology but in its employees who are managed through its Human resource
management (HRM) capability.
- This is evidenced in most organization’s statements like “the most critical component of
our business is our people; “it is only through our people that we will succeed”. - The notion
of competitive advantage being in people is based on trying to create something in the
organization that cannot be easily replicated by competitors.

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- Competitors can imitate all other processed but cannot copy the intellectual capital of the
organization that develops through the effective management of the human talent. - The
Service Profit Chain helps us to understand the role of employees in organizations better.
( Heskett, Sasser and Schlesigner(1987)
- It emphasizes that the away to generate enduring revenue growth and profits is to build the
kind of working environment that provides internal service quality to its people, resulting
in employee loyalty and productivity and their rendering external service quality to
customers.
- So employees are central to attracting and retaining customers and thereby ensuring
organizational success.
- From the service profit chain, the conditions within the internal work environment of
employees influence their levels of satisfaction, loyalty, productivity and this impacts the
level of service quality they provide to customers during the service encounter and
therefore the level of customer satisfaction on and the loyalty experienced.
 - Customer loyalty through repeat business and referrals is a critical requirement for the
growth in revenue and profitability of an organization
- The challenge then is for organizations to realize and achieve this competitive advantage
that lies in their human assets

Characteristics of hospitality management

The industry has certain characteristics that will influence the qualities needed by managers
at all levels and thus the curriculum for tourism and hospitality graduates. Some of these
features are:

- Production and delivery are inseparable, which implies high pressure. - It is a 24/7
business, which makes personal relationship difficult for employees - It involves ethnic,
cultural and religious diversity of both guests and staff, which require high communication
and interpersonal skills.
- Occupational and public health and safety issues exist which require specific skills. - It
involves discretionary (optional) expenditure, which implies fluctuations in demand. -
The industry has high fixed capital costs and highly volatile variable operating costs
requiring diligence and prudence in the management

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- The industry has low barriers to entry for capital and labor, hence high competition. - The
industry is heavily affected by seasonality and therefore creates seasonal employment
requiring extraordinary resources devoted to recruitment, selection, and training and
employee retention.

The importance of tourism and hospitality employment in both developed and developing
countries is attested to by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC),who suggest that
travel- and tourism-related activities account for over 230 million jobs, or 8.7 per cent of jobs
worldwide (WTTC, 2006). Whilst the quantity of jobs is unquestionable, the quality of many of
these jobs is of great concern to academics and policy-makers alike.

- In some geographical and sub-sector areas, tourism and hospitality provides an attractive, high
status working environment with competitive pay and conditions, which is in high demand in the
labor force and benefits from low staff turnover … The other side of the coin is one of poor
conditions, low pay, high staff turnover, problems in recruiting skills in a number of key areas, a
high level of labor drawn from socially disadvantaged groups, poor status and the virtual absence
of professionalism.

- Organizations and managers in the tourism and hospitality industry face real challenges in
recruiting, developing and maintaining a committed, competent, well managed and well
motivated workforce which is focused on offering a high-quality ‘product’ to the increasingly
demanding and discerning customer.

What are the tourism and hospitality businesses?

-Many jobs in hospitality and tourism, ‘share common attributes and are associated with both
hospitality and tourism activities. In an attempt to avoid too much imprecision and, at the same
time, capture the diversity of the sector the people first suggest that the sector is made up of 14
sub-sectors (People 1st, 2006):

● Hotels;

● Restaurants;

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● Pubs, bars and night-clubs;

● Contract food service providers;

● Membership clubs;

● Events;

● gambling;

● Travel services;

● Tourist services;

● Visitor attractions;

● Youth hostels;

● Holiday parks;

● Self-catering accommodation;

●Hospitality services.

- Within this broad classification of travel, tourism and hospitality there is massive diversity in
the types of jobs generated, in relation to their technical and skills’ demands, educational
requirements, terms and conditions and the type of person that is likely to be attracted to
employment in them. To illustrate this point consider Baum’s (1997: 97–98) description of the
range of people a person buying a package holiday is likely to interact with:

● The retail travel agent;

● Insurance companies;

● ground transport to and from the airport;

● At least two sets of airport handling agents (outbound and return);

● Airport services (shops, food and beverage outlets, and bureau de change) (out-

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bound and return);

● The airline on all legs of the journey;

● Immigration and customs services;

● Local ground transportation;

● The hotel or apartment;

● Tour services at the destination;

● Companies and individuals selling a diversity of goods and services at the destination (retail,
food and beverage, entertainment, cultural and heritage, financial, etc.);

● Emergency services at the destination (medical, police, legal);

● Service providers on return (photography processing, medical).

- All of these possible intermediaries, and the interactions they will have with the holiday maker,
are crucial in ‘making or breaking the tourist experience’. Thus while the physical product is
important, for most tourists the quality of their experience is likely to be also reliant to a large
degree on the inter actions they will have with the variety of front-line staff in the travel, tourism
and hospitality industry. These so-called ‘moments of truth’ (Carlson, 1987) are therefore
crucial for organizational effectiveness, success, competitiveness and profitability. Indeed,
within an industry that is characterized by diversity and heterogeneity in terms of the purpose,
size, ownership and demands of the enterprise, the only real point of homogeneity is delivering
service to customers and the need to manage people in such a way that they offer a quality
service.

Who makes up the tourism and hospitality workforce?

The International Labor Organization (ILO, 2001) in their wide-ranging report on the global
tourism and hospitality industry provides evidence that suggests that the industry globally is
largely reliant on what Wood (1997) has described as so-called ‘marginal workers’, such as

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women, young workers, casual employees, students, relatively high numbers of part-timers
and migrant workers.

For example, within the UK women make up around 58 per cent of the broader hospitality,
leisure, travel and tourism workforce. More specifically, the hospitality industries and the vast
majority of students who are working do so in front-line jobs such as sales assistants,
waiters/waitresses and check out operators. The number of ethnic minority workers in the broader
hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector is 11 per cent, slightly higher than the all industry
figure of 9.6 per cent (People 1st, 2006). With regard to qualifications only 12 per cent of
employees in hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism have a degree or equivalent compared to an
all industry figure of 29 per cent with 15 per cent of the workforce having no qualification
compared to 11 percent of the total workforce (People 1st, 2006).

Having briefly considered the nature of the hospitality and tourism industry and the
characteristics of its workforce attention now turn to understanding HRM and the increasingly
important role it is felt to play in organizational success.

Definition of HRM

- The recognition and acceptance of the valuable role of people within organizations has resulted
in a shift in the view of the nature and role of HRM function in organizations

- Traditionally the function was referred to as “personnel management” and was seen as a
separate function disconnected from the actual work of the organization, providing an
administrative, rulemaking and regulatory service to the organization.

- HRM function is fully integrated with other functions such as finance, marketing and
production (horizontal integration) and also ensures the direct contribution of the people to the
achievement of strategic business objectives (vertical integration)

- Human resource management (HRM) is defined as a strategic, coherent and comprehensive

approach to the management of the organization’s human resources in which every aspect of that

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approach is wholly integrated with the overall management of the organization
(Armstrong,1997).

- it can also be defined as a distinctive approach to employment management that seeks to

achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and
capable workforce using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques. It its
there’re apparent that HRM is the responsibility of all managers not just the personnel managers.

- in essence HRM has moved away from the hiring and firing and welfare approach of personnel
management and moved towards the focus on the use of human resources to achieve strategic
objectives.

- Effective HRM enables employees to contribute effectively and productively to the overall
company direction and the accomplishment of the organizational goals and objectives.

- The challenge of human resource management is therefore how to recruit, deploy, develop,
reward, and motivate staff leading them to being a source of competitive advantage.

- Human resource management is based on the following principles:

∙ Human resources must be seen as valued assets in which to invest. This means that
sustainable competitive advantage is achieved by people. It is human capability and
commitment which distinguishes successful organizations from the rest.

∙ HRM is of strategic importance and therefore need to be considered by top management in

the formulation of the corporate plans. It seems to have long-term implications and must
be integral to the core performance of the business.

∙ Employees should not be forced to work grudgingly but by obtaining whole hearted

commitment. There must be commitment not compliance.

The aims of HRM
The main aims of HRM are:

∙ To enable management to achieve organizational objectives through peoplei.e. productivity

through people.

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∙ To enable people to utilize their full potential (people are given a say in decision making
so come up with novel ideas.

∙ To foster commitment from individuals to the success of the company through quality
orientation.

∙ It also integrates human resource policies with the business plans.

∙ Establish an environment to unleash the creativity and energy of the workforce. It creates
conditions in which innovation, teamwork and total quality can flourish.

∙ It aims to encourage flexibility in the interests of an organization that is able to adapt to the

environment and achieve excellence.

- HRM involve the management of people flow in, through and out of the organisation. -
In – recruitment and selection, transfers, mergers and takeovers.
- Through- promotion, training, development, demotion.
- Out- retrenchment, pension, firing, death.
- Therefore human resource management is a process that never stops. Rather it is an
ongoing procedure that tries to keep the organization supplied with the right people in the
right positions at the right time.

The human resource management activities

The following list identifies the main areas of management activity associate with the HRM
philosophy.

- Organizational design and effectiveness-especially in relation to the teamwork,

communications, customer service and change management.
- Resources- providing human resources required by means of recruitment. Retention and
trainingprograms.
- Performance management- improving performance by means of appraisals. -
Reward management- for example linking pay to performance.
 - Motivation, redesigning jobs and devising rewards tomotivate employees. - Commitment
related polices and procedures to encourage cooperation to the mutual benefit of all.

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- Flexibility- by means of multiskilling, redesigning jobs and new patterns of work (doing the
same things differently).
- Culture management- influencing behavior and attitudes by means of resourcing,
performance management and reward strategies.

The HRM process in organizations

- Effective managers are promoted or leave for better positions elsewhere. Ineffective
managers are demoted or even fired.
- Companies also need more or fewer employees and managers from time to time. -
Thus HRM process never stops.

The HRM process

Human resource planning Recruitment Selection

Training and Development Socialization

Performance Appraisal Promotions, transfers, demotions and separations.

- Human resource planning- is designed to ensure that the personnel needs will be constantly
and appropriately met. This is accomplished through the analysis of internal and external
factors.
- Recruitment –is concerned with developing a pool of job candidates in line with the HR
plan.
- Selection- involves using the application forms, resumes, and interviews, tests to evaluate
and screen the job candidates.
- Socialization- is designed to help the selectedindividuals to fit smoothly into the
organization. Newcomers are introduced to their colleagues, informed about the
organization’s goals, policies and expectations regarding employee’sbehavior.
- Training and development- the aim is to increase employees’ ability to contribute to
organizational effectiveness. Training is designed to improveperformance in the present
 job whilst development programs are designed to prepare employees for promotion.

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- Performance appraisal- compares an individual’s job performance to standards or objectives
developed for the individuals positions. High performance may merit a bonus or
promotion where a slow performance may prompt corrective action
- Promotions, transfers, demotions and separations- these reflect an employee’s value to the
organisation. High performers may be promoted or transferred to help them develop their
skills. Lower performers may be demoted or transferred to less important positions or
even separated. Any of these actions will in turn affect human resource planning.

Within the process there are other functions that can be done by human resource management
such as:

- Staff welfare- that is anything which affects the wellbeing of staff for e.g. provision of
canteens, social facilities, sporting facilities, medical and safety matters as well as
pensions.
- Keeping confidential staff records- all firms need certain information about their staff. The
information includes name, age, address, date of engagement, department worked in,
educational qualifications, sickness records etc.
- Industrial relations- many staff will probably be members of a tradeunion and frequently it
is the HRmanager who will negotiate with the unions on the matters relating to wages,
working conditions or staff problems.
- Healthy and safety- they are obliged to maintain a safe working environment. -
Managing stress
- Difference between Human Resource Management and Personnel
Management
- Definitions of Human resource management and Personnel management -
- According to Armstrong (1999.Page,4)” Human resource management is a strategic and
coherent approach to the management of an organizations most valued assets-the people
working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its
goals”. Other researchers such as Storey (1995 cited in Armstrong, 1999 p 4) defined
HRM in a different way. He said “Human resource management is a distinctive approach
to employment management which seeks to obtain competitive advantage through the

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strategic development of a highly committed and skilled work force, using on array of
 culture, structure and personnel technique.”
-
- The Institute of Personnel Management states “Personnel Management is that part of
management concerned with people at work and with their relationships within a firm. Its
aim is to bring together and develop into an effective organization the men and women
who make up an enterprise and, having regard for the well-being of the individual and of
working groups, to enable them to make their best contribution to its success” (Rea,
1972, p38).
-
- When considering the definition of Human resource management and Personnel
management, there are many differences on the perspectives of researchers. Legge (1989)
reviewed the definition of a variety of writers. She could come to conclude that there is
three features which seems to distinguish HRM and personnel management(Guest,1990).
These three differences will be analyzed below:
-
-
- DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HRM AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT -
ALTHOUGH both human resource management (HRM) and personnel management focus
on people management, if we examine critically, there are many differences between them.
Some are listed below:
-
I) Nature of relations: The nature of relations can be seen through two different
perspective views which are Pluralist and unitarist. There is a clear distinct difference
between both because in personnel management, the focus is more on individualistic
where individual interest is more than group interest.
- The relationship between management and employees are merely on contractual basis
where one hires and the others perform. Whereas, HRM focuses more on unitarist where
the word "uni" refers to one and together.
- Here, HRM through a shared vision between management and staff create a corporate
vision and mission which are linked to business goals and the fulfillment of mutual

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interest where the organization’s needs are satisfied by employees and employees' needs
are well-taken care by the organization. Motorola and Seagate are good examples of
organizations that belief in this Unitarist approach which also focuses in team
management and sees employees as partners in an organization.
- Relation of power and management: The distribution of power in personnel management is
centralized where the top management has full authority in decision-making where even
the personnel managers are not even allowed to give ideas or take part in any decision
which involves "employees".
- HRM, on the other hand, sees the decentralization of power where the power between top
management is shared with middle and lower management groups.
- This is known as "empowerment" because employees play an important role together with
line and HR managers to make collective and mutual decisions, which can benefit both
the management and employees themselves.
- In fact, HRM focuses more on TQM approach as part of a team management with the
involvement and participation of management and employees with shared power and
authority.
- The nature of management is focused more on bottom-up approach with employees giving
feedback to the top management and then the top management gives support to
employees to achieve mutually agreed goals and objectives.
-

- ii) Leadership and management role: Personnel management emphasizes much on

leadership style which is very transactional. This style of leadership merely sees the
leader as a task-oriented person. This leader focuses more on procedures that must be
followed, punishment form non-performance and non-compliance of rules and
regulations and put figures and task accomplishments ahead of human factors such as
personal bonding, interpersonal relationship, trust, understanding, tolerance and care.
- HRM creates leaders who are transformational. This leadership style encourages business
objectives to be shared by both employees and management. Here, leaders only focus
more on people-oriented and importance on rules, procedures and regulations are
eliminated and replaced with:

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- ∙ Shared vision;

- ∙ Corporate culture and missions;

- ∙ Trust and flexibility; and

- ∙ HRM needs that integrates business needs.

-
- iii) Contract of employment: In personnel management, employees contract of employment
is clearly written and employees must observe strictly the agreed employment contract.
The contract is so rigid that there is no room for changes and modifications. There is no
compromise in written contracts that stipulates rules, regulations, job and obligations.
- HRM, on the other hand, does not focus on one-time life-long contract where working
hours and other terms and conditions of employment are seen as less rigid. Here, it goes
beyond the normal contract that takes place between organizations and employees. The
new "flexible approach" encourages employees to choose various ways to keep
contributing their skills and knowledge to the organization.
- HRM, with its new approach, has created flexi-working hours, work from home policies
and not forgetting the creation on "open contract" system that is currently practiced by
some multinational companies such as Motorola, Siemens and GEC.
- HRM today gives employees the opportunity and freedom to select any type of working
system that can suit them and at the same time benefit the organization as well. Drucker
(1996) calls this approach a "win-win" approach.
-

- iv) Pay policies and job design: Pay policies in personnel management is merely based on
skills and knowledge required for the perspective jobs only. The value is based on the
ability to perform the task and duties as per the employment contract requirement only. It
does not encourage value-added incentives to be paid out. This is also because the job
design is very functional, where the functions are more departmentalized in which each
job falls into one functional department. This is merely known as division on labour
based on job needs and skill possessions and requirement.

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- HRM, on the contrary, encourages organizations to look beyond pay for functional duties.
Here, the pay is designed to encourage continuous job performance and improvement
which is linked to value-added incentives such as gain sharing schemes, group profit
sharing and individual incentive plans.
- The job design is no more functional based but teamwork and cyclical based. HRM creates
a new approach towards job design such as job rotation which is inter and intra
departmental based and job enlargement which encourages one potential and capable
individual to take on more tasks to add value to his/her job and in return enjoy added
incentives and benefits.
Approaches to human resource management
Hard and soft approaches to human resource management

Soft HRM

Soft HRM is concerned with the nurturing people because they are human beings whose feelings
should be considered. Developing this vulnerable resource is the best way to achieve results.

- It also emphasize the close integration between the HRM policies, systems with the
business strategy (vertical integration)
- Workers are seen as the most valuable assets and a source of competitive advantage.
Competitive advantage is obtained through commitment, adaptability, employee high
quality skills and performances.
- Workers are viewed as proactive (if the worker is left alone is capable of being self driven)
Human beings are therefore capable of being trusted.
- Emphasizes the involvement of workers to participate in decision-making.

Hard HRM

Is based on the belief that human resources are the key assets but emphasis is placed

on: - Getting the most out of people

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- Using them in the most productive way
- Workers are viewed as an expense of doing business.
- Workers are viewed as a passive element (must be obtained cheaply and used fully) -
Regards human resources as any other factor of production e.g. land.
- Emphasizes on obtaining human resources in their right numbers with the right skills.

The tourism and hospitality industry is sensitive to economic cycles and political trouble and can
be badly affect in time of uncertainty. For example the global nature of the industry means that it
is vulnerable to external events that cause fluctuations in tourist visits and spends. The global
economic turndown, 9/11, the Iraq war and the outbreak of SARS in the Far East all led to a drop
in the revenue in the industry. These factors reduced the number of travellers internationally and
left uncertainty and fragility in the tourism market.

Many of these aspects are particularly pronounced in the airline industry and trade unions have
railed against the manner in which employees are used as “shock absorbers” to protect the
industry from the cyclical nature of the market.

These hard approaches have seen major redundancy programmes in a number of airlines
especially after the 9/11. On the other hand, a number of companies have sought to more soft
approach to HRM which aimed at increasing the customer responsiveness of their frontline staff.
British Airways for example had a series of initiatives in the 1989s and 1990s such as “Putting
People First” and “Winning from Customers”. these initiatives sought to introduce team
working, extensive training programmes, enhance quality procedures and multiskilling staff.

- As companies alternate between hard and soft approaches to HRM, employees may be
confused as to what the company message is. Ultimately, employees may well be a
company’s greatest asset but in times of uncertainty and downturn they are equally
expendable as recent history suggest.

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1. ZIMBABWEAN LABOUR LEGISLATION
Having completed this topic, students must be able to:

∙ Manage employment relations in accordance with the Zimbabwean legislative and other
legal requirements

THE LAW OF EMPLOYMENT

- The law of employment governs the relationship between the employer and the employee.
- It is also governed by the rights of the employer and the employee.
Contract of employment

- It is an agreement whereby an employee agrees to perform work for and under the direction
and supervision of the other party (the employer who accepts the services in exchange for
fixed or ascertainable remuneration.
- The Labor Act states that the employee is “ any person who performs work or services for
another person for remuneration or reward on such terms and conditions as agreed by the
parties so as provide for in this act and includes a person performing work and services
 for another person”
- Employer is any person whatsoever who provides or employs another person tacitly or
expressly undertakes to remunerate (both legal (companies and corporations) and natural
persons.
- The contract of employment should fulfill the general elements of a contract. - An employee
must render to provide the services of the employer and the employer must agree to pay a
fixed or ascertainable amount to the employee.
- The employer is bestowed with the managerial prerogative to control the employee as to the
manner he or she carries out her duties.
- Unlike the ordinary contract: a minor according to the labor act can enter in to a contract on
condition that he is not younger than 13 years of age and the job provides for his or her
education especially at a vocational institute of education.
- The rider to that exception is that he should not be gainfully employed.

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- Section 11 of the labor act prohibits employment of any person under 18 if it’s likely to
jeopardize the minor’s safety, health as well as morals.

- For example it is not lawful to employ a person under 18 in to a bar for it is not good for his
or her morals. Employment in this case is a criminal offence. An insolvent person cannot
be employed also.

- The contract of employment can be oral not strictly in writing. However some Acts provide
that for a contract of employment to be valid it must be in writing. E.g. Manpower
Planning Development Act Chapter 20.02.
- apprentices must be in writing and must meet the following:
- -the contract must be signed by the apprentice assisted by a guardian -

must be signed on behalf of the registered employer

- must be signed by the secretary and must also be registered

- Failure to meet this means the contract is void.

- Various types of employment contracts

- Fixed term contract- is a contract for specific period for a particular piece of work.
Terminates at the expiration of such period or after performance of the task. - Indefinite
contract- is a contract for an indefinite period or duration and can be terminated either by
 giving notice or by lawful dismissal.
- Part-time contract- works on stipulated hours of a given day for a certain amount of money
or wage. An employee can be placed on probation before his contract is performed. Done
to try and test the competence of the employee.
- It is unlawful for an employer to stay quiet after completion of the probation period.

- if such a situation happens the court will look at the intention of the parties. If the court can
deduce from the facts of the contract of employment of the parties, they will declare
contract a permanent one.

- There is no rule that after probation you are going to be a permanent employee.

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- The terms of an employment contract

- Like any other contract, it can have both implied and expressed terms.

- The party is not free to vary the terms of the contract unless the parties to the contract are in
consensus to the variation.

- If it results in favorable conditions it is accepted.

Duties of the employer

- To provide remuneration to the employee

- He pays for the availability of the services because an employer has the right to pay an
employee even if he had not done his work.

- The doctrine of supervening impossibilities does not apply to the contract of employment.
E.g. if a hotel is burnt the employer still have to pay the employees.

- Has the duty to provide work

- The duty only arises in the following:

- If an employee is paid on commission then the employer is obliged to provide the work.

- Should also provide work where the job provides opportunities for advancement for
example singers or artists.
 - If no work is provided then the employee sues for breach of contract of for the damages
arising from the breach.

- Have the duty to provide leave e.g. vacation, annual, sick leave and maternity leave.

Vacation or annual leave

- Section 14 of the Labor Act. Any employee is entitled to payment of vacation subject of
which the employer has served for 1 year.

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- Paid vacation leave accrues at the 1/5 of an employee’s qualifying service in each year for a
period of 90 days.

- If injured on vacation, the employees cancel the vacation leave and then apply for sick
leave.

- If not qualified for a vacation leave an employee can still go for an unpaid leave. The employment
law

MARTENITY LEAVE

- Section 18: provides the right to maternity leave to female employees.

- employees are entitled to 98 days paid maternity leave provided that they had served the
company for 1 year
- If not completed a year, no pay but can go on a maternity leave.
- Requirements are:

- one year completion of service with the employer.

- The employee must have reached the 45th day and not later than the 21st day prior the
expected delivery day.
- The pregnancy must be certified by a medical practitioner
- a female is entitled to up to 3 times of maternity leave while serving one employer. Excess
will be unpaid maternity leave while serving one employer.
- Paid leave granted once in 24 months calculated from the 1st day of the last maternity leave.
- While on maternity leave one is entitled to two and half hour periods or 1 hour per day for
breastfeeding for the period one will be nursing the child within 6 months. - If you give birth
to a still baby you are entitled to maternity rights not feeding rights. - If on maternity leave
you can not serve notice of termination of employment. If you do so it is illegal.
 - Give a notice of leaving when you get back to work.

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- 4. Duty to provide safe working conditions and an employee has the right to exercise
due care when working with machinery

- Vicarious liability- the employer is liable for the delicti (wrongs) done by the employee
within the course of his employment.

- It does not include delicti committed by an independent contractor. In these the employee
remains liable, either employer or both. This is so because an independent contractor is
not subject to the law of employment as to the manner he does his work.

- # Read Guide to Zimbabwean Law of Delicti

Duties of an employee
- The law of employment also imposes duties to the employee. These are:

- Has the duty to make his services available

- Has the duty to perform his duties with due care, skill and diligence.
- Duty to act in good faith
- duty of confidence i.e. Not to divulge information of importance during the course of his
employment
- Duties of subordination i.e. obey the lawful orders and respect the employer.

CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL

- It is where an employer makes continued employment intolerable for the employee. - The
employer’s contacts must be sufficiently serious to enable the employee to leave at once.
- The intolerable situation created by the employer must go to the root of the contract of
employment which amount to the breach of the contract. This entitles the employee to
treat the contract as at end and resign.
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- If he does resign i.e. Constructive dismissal.
- *However if an employee continues to work under those conditions ha cannot be taken as
have been constructively dismissed.

- There is needed to act immediately.

TERMINATION OF EMPOYMENT

- The contact of employment can only be terminated as provided by the statutory instrument
number 15 of 2006 which provides that: no employer shall terminate the contract of
employment unless:
- the termination is in terms of an employment code of conduct which is registered under the
Code of Conduct Act. The employer is required to follow the procedures an the rules set
out in the registered code of conduct. If not registered code of conduct then the contract
can be terminated in terms of the national employment code of contact which is under the
Statutory instruments of 2006.

- the parties may mutually agree in writing to terminate the employment contract. If the
contract was a fixed term contract it might be terminated by the performance of the task
and expiration of the stipulated period.

RESIGNATION

- it is a termination of employment at the instance of the employee who terminates the

contract by giving a requisite notice.
- Once the notice is given, it is final, it cannot be withdrawn until the consent of the
employer.
- An employer cannot dismiss an employee who has tendered his resignation -
an employer has no option to reject the resignation.

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Resignation implications under Zimbabwean Law
The common law recognises the right of an employee to terminate a contract of employment on notice.

This termination is commonly known as resignation and is codified in Section 12(4) of the
Labour Act [Chapter 28:01], which governs time periods that apply when a contract of
employment is terminated on notice.

In most instances, resignation is unambiguous, while in some instances, it is not as

straightforward as it seems. This often results in disputes relating to whether or not an employee
resigned spilling into the courts.

Questions which have been raised by litigants and the courts relating to the true nature of the
legal act of resignation vary from the simple and straightforward to the complicated.

For instance, what is a resignation? What is the effect of a resignation on the employment
relationship? Is there an obligation on the employer to accept or reject a resignation? Can a
resignation be withdrawn by an employee? Can an employer continue with disciplinary
proceedings if an employee resigns to avoid such action? Is an employee entitled to terminal
benefits on resignation? What are the remedies available to an employer against an employee
who resigns without giving notice?

This contribution seeks to shed some light on the various questions raised above and the legal
implications of the statutory provisions relating to resignation. It will seek to debunk the fallacies
and myths associated with resignations.

What is resignation?

The Labour Act does not define the term resignation, as such reliance must be placed on the
definition developed by the courts. In Madondo v Conquip Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd SC 25/16,the
Supreme Court accepted that the act of resignation is a voluntary and deliberate unilateral act by
the employee in terms of which he or she brings the contract of employment to an end without
the consent of the employer, with or without notice.

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For it to be effective, it must indicate an employee’s intention to give up his or her job. In
determining whether an employee resigned, a court will look at the facts of each case from a
reasonable employer perspective.

If the employee’s conduct and or words clearly and unequivocally lead a reasonable employer to
the conclusion that the employee did not intend to continue with his or her employment, a
finding that the employee resigned will be made.

This test was confirmed in the following cases, Lee Group of Companies v Ann Clare Elder SC
6/05, Muzengi v Standard Chartered Bank 2002 (1) ZLR 334 (S) and Riva v NSSA 2002 (1)
ZLR 412 (H).

However, it must be noted that the hallmark of a resignation is that it is a voluntary and
deliberate unilateral act of the employee bringing the employment relationship to an end. Thus, if
a resignation is tainted with force, coercion, duress or undue influence by the employer, it ceases
to be a resignation but constructive dismissal.

For instance, in Fonda v Mutare Club HH 40/91, an employee who had incurred shortfalls was
forced to resign as an alternative to having the matter handed over to the police. The court did
not hesitate to conclude that the resignation was tainted with duress and, therefore, constituted
constructive dismissal.

Nevertheless, in Mudakureva v GMB 1998 (1) ZLR 145 (S), the court noted that there was
nothing wrong in giving an employee who is facing allegations of misconduct a reasonable
alternative like resignation.

Is there an obligation on the employer to accept or reject a resignation?

Since resignation is a unilateral act by the employee, it requires no acceptance thereof or

concurrence therein by the employer. Its validity is not dependent on its acceptance or rejection
by the employer. See Kadada v City of Harare HH 26/94, Saltrama (Pvt) Ltd v Majindwi SC
79/04 and A. C Controls (Pvt) Ltd v Midzi and Another HH 75/10.

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The rationale for this proposition was succinctly summarised in the South African case of Mafika
Sihlali v SABC (2010) 31 ILJ 1477 (LC) as follows, “If a resignation is to be valid only once it
is accepted by the employer, the latter would in effect be entitled, by a simple stratagem of
refusing to accept a tendered resignation, to require an employee to remain in employment
against his or her will. This cannot be – it would reduce the employment relationship to a form of
indentured labour.”

Without doubt, forcing an employee to work against his or her will would amount to forced
labour, which is prohibited in terms of Section 55 of the Constitution. This constitutional right is
given effect in Section 4A (1) of the Labour Act which makes forced labour an unfair labour
practice as well as a criminal offence.

How is a resignation communicated?

The Labour Act does not prescribe a set method of communicating a resignation.
Notwithstanding, it has since been accepted that a resignation can be conveyed through various
forms of communication. It can either be oral or written communication or by conduct, as long as
the words or conduct are unambiguous and unequivocal that an employee does not intend to
continue with his or her employment. On this aspect it may be necessary to have regard to case
law authorities.

In Lee Group of Companies v Ann Clare Elder supra, an employee had an altercation with her
manager after being advised that she was not going to be confirmed as a permanent employee.

Disturbed by this revelation, she packed her personal belongings and stayed away from work for
three days. When she came back, she brought with her an apology letter and a doctor’s report to
the effect that she was not feeling well. The employer took the stance that she had resigned and
had even addressed a letter to her to that effect.

Dissatisfied with this development, she challenged the termination and the issue for
determination was whether or not she had resigned. The court assessed the facts objectively and

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concluded that her conduct in leaving the workplace abruptly, going to stay away for three days
and the letter by the employer, indicated an unequivocal and unambiguous intention to resign.

In Madondo v Conquip Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd supra, an employee completed a document called
“Pension Withdrawal Claim Form” in terms of which she indicated reason for withdrawal as
“leaving Conquip”. The form was signed by her manager. The court accepted that by that act
alone, the employee had resigned.

In Mafika Sihlali v SABC supra, an employee sent a text message to the chief executive officer
indicating that “he quit with immediate effect”. The Labour Court of South Africa held that the
text message constituted written communication and the employee had resigned.
Can an employee withdraw a resignation?

Most employees utter words indicating an intention to resign as a result of uncertainty or a

manifestation of anger and emotions. After realising that their impulsive decision was ill
conceived, they attempt to withdraw the resignation. Once communicated to the appropriate
authority, a resignation takes effect and becomes binding such that it cannot be withdrawn
without consent of the employer.

However in certain limited circumstances, it is possible for a resignation to be withdrawn. In

ANC v Municipal Manager, George Local Municipality and Others [2010] 3 BLLR 221 (SCA),
it was held that if an employee resigns by written communication, that resignation becomes
effective when conveyed to its recipient’s mind by its reading.

Therefore, if the communication has not yet been read by its intended recipient the employee is
entitled to withdraw the resignation without consent of the employer. Once the communication
has been read, the employee cannot withdraw the communication.

What is the effect of a resignation?

A resignation brings the employment contract to an end and the rights and duties which arise
from this contract are extinguished. Termination is not on the date which the notice is given but

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on expiration of the notice period. The effect of resignation is to place the employee beyond the
reach of the disciplinary arm of the employer. In other words, an employer cannot discipline or
dismiss an employee who has resigned. The employment contract no longer exists.

This position was confirmed in Muzengi v Standard Chartered Bank 2002 (`1) ZLR 334 (S).
Thus, if an employee resigns in the middle of disciplinary proceedings, an employer can no
longer continue with the proceedings.

If an employee elects not to render his or her services during the notice period, the employer has
no obligation to remunerate the employee. Nonetheless, if the failure by the employee to render
services during the notice period is at the instance of the employer, then the employer must pay
the employee cash in lieu of notice in terms of s12 (7) of the Labour Act.

On resignation, an employee is also entitled to wages and benefits on termination prescribed in

Section 13 of the Labour Act, which include cash in lieu of notice, cash in lieu of vacation leave,
arrear salaries, any pension where applicable and outstanding medical aid, among others.

The employee’s right to terminal benefits in Section 13 of the Labour Act does not override the
employer’s right to set off any liquidated debts owing to the employer in terms of Section 12A
(6) of the Labour Act.

It must also be noted that an employee who resigns is not entitled to the minimum retrenchment
package prescribed in Section 12c (2) of the Labour Amendment Act No. 5 of 2015.

As held in Matema v Zinwa HH 103/04, a retrenchment is different from a resignation and the
benefits that arise from both are claimed differently and under different legal situations. In the
same vein, a resignation is different from retirement and mutual termination.

Remedies available to employers against employees who resign without notice

Resignation without notice or on short notice (unfair resignation) is not illegal, nor is it an unfair
labour practice under the Labour Act. However, this does not mean that employers have no
remedy against an employee who resigns summarily or who gives a deficient notice. The

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employer’s remedy lies in the common law. If an employee’s resignation is unfair, the employee
will be in breach of contract and this will entitle the employer to two alternative remedies —
specific performance and damages.

In respect of specific performance, the breach will entitle the employer to hold the employee to
the contract demanding that he or she gives proper notice and render services for the notice
period. The act of resignation remains a lawful act of bringing the employment contract to an
end. The breach relates only to the failure to give notice and an employee will be ordered to
serve the notice period.

This remedy was granted in the following South African cases – Nationwide Airlines (Pty) Ltd v
Roediger and Another (2006) 27 ILJ 1469 (H), Santos Professional Football Club (Pty) Ltd v
Igesund 2003 (5) SA 73 (C) and Immuculata Secondary School v Bvuma and Another [2012]
ZAGPJHC 168.

The other alternative remedy available to an employer is to claim damages arising from breach
of contract as a result of the failure by the employee to serve notice (See A. C Controls (Pvt) Ltd
v Midzi and Another HH 75/10).
It is common for employers to deduct from an employee’s terminal benefits an amount which is
equivalent to notice pay as damages for failure to give notice. With respect, this approach is
wrong and has no legal basis.

Section 12A (6) of the Labour Act bars employers from resorting to self-help by precluding them
from effecting any deductions or set off of any description from an employee’s remuneration
save for those prescribed in subsections (a) to (e).

The proper course of action is for the employer to institute a claim for damages and provide
compelling proof of damages with an easily identifiable quantum. There is no logic in assuming
that these damages equate to the remuneration the employee would have earned had he or she
served the notice period.

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The principles applicable in claiming these damages were set out in the following South African
cases, South African Music Rights Organisation v Mphatsoe [2009] JOL 23 476 (LC), National
Entitled Workers Union v CCMA (2007) ILJ 1223 (LAC) and Labournet Payment Solutions
(Pty) Ltd v Vasloo (2009) ILJ 2437 (LC).

It must also be noted that in terms of Section 89 (1) of the Labour Act, the Labour Court has no
jurisdiction to entertain a claim for specific performance or damages in unfair resignation cases.
This remains the province of the High Court which has inherent jurisdiction over all persons in
Zimbabwe.

Conclusion

This contribution demonstrated that resignation is a voluntary, unilateral act by the employee
whose effect is to terminate the contract of employment. It debunked myths associated with
resignations by answering various problematic questions. The most important lesson for
employees is that the decision to resign must be an informed one and not triggered by emotions
or taken impulsively.

While an employee has a right to resign, such a right must be exercised within the confines of the
law. Employees must respect the employer’s right to be given notice of resignation, otherwise
they face the risk of being saddled with a claim for specific performance or damages.

On the same note, employers must also respect employees’ rights on resignation such as the right
to be paid terminal benefits. Employers must also be reminded that they do not have the right to
reject a resignation.

Tapiwa G Kasuso (LLBS (UZ), LLM (Unisa), LLD Cand), is a registered legal practitioner,
independent arbitrator and lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Midlands State University.

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The Zimbabwe Electronic Law Journal

Commentary on Contemporary Legal Issues: 2017 Part 1

Dr T. Mutangi, Professor L. Madhuku and Dr. I. Maja (co-Chief editors) and Professors J. Stewart
and G. Feltoe.

A legal analysis of retrenchment and termination of employment under the Labour Laws of
Zimbabwe ushered in by the Labour Amendment Act, 2015: simplified, seamless and
synchronized termination and retrenchment of employees by employers

By Caleb Mucheche1

Introduction

On 17 July 2015, a five member bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku delivered a far reaching judgment in the case of Don Nyamande and Anor v Zuva
Petroleum (Private) Limited, which upheld the employer’s common law right to terminate a
contract of an employee on notice for no fault on the part of the affected employee. The
aftermath of that judgment saw mass arbitrary sacking of employees on the basis of the
common law right of the employer to terminate a contract of employment. It was such
indiscriminate and frenzied terminations which led to the legislature enacting the Labour
Amendment Act No. 5 of 2015 in an attempt to stop the hemorrhage that arose from the
Supreme Court judgment.
Meaning of Don Nyamande& Anor v Zuva Petroleum judgment

In its simplest form the import of the Supreme Court judgment in Don Nyamande and Anor v
Zuva Petroleum was that, at common law, an employer had the legal right to terminate a

1
Senior Partner and Legal Practitioner at Matsikidze & Mucheche Legal Practitioners, Commercial &
Labour Law Chambers, and Dean of Law, Faculty of Law, Ezekiel Guti University, Bindura, Zimbabwe.
Paper presented at a labour seminar held at Cresta Lodge, Harare on 29 July 2016

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contract of employment for any employee at any given time even if that employee had not
committed any wrong against the employer. The court reasoned that just like an employee had
the right to terminate a contract of employment at any time by giving a notice of resignation
from such employment, by the same token, an employer also enjoyed the same right to
terminate such contract of employment by giving an employee notice of termination. The
Supreme Court’s decision was based on a startling reasoning that employers and employees are
equal in the employment contract.

With due respect, the Supreme Court erred by holding that employers and employees are on an
equal footing. In reality, there is inequality between an employer and an employee due to the
economic disparity between the two parties and the employee is economically dependent on
the employer. It was such a fallacious employer-employee equality based reasoning of the
Supreme Court that soon after the Zuva Judgment was delivered on 17 July 2015, both
Parliament and the President of Zimbabwe moved extremely quickly to pass the Labour
Amendment Act No. 5 of 2015. Technically, the Labour Amendment Act No. 5 of 2015
(hereinafter referred to as the ‘new Labour Act’) reversed the Zuva judgment with effect from
17 July 2015.

Labour Amendment Act No. 5 of 2015 and its implications

The advent of the Labour Amendment Act No. 5 of 2015 marked the demise of the employers’
unbridled common law right to terminate a contract of employment on notice at any time. In
the Zuva case, the Supreme Court judgment gave employers the opportunity to terminate
contracts of employment on notice but that short lived prospect was shut down by the Labour
Amendment Act No. 5 of 2015. With this enactment, employers no longer no longer have the
right to terminate a contract of employment on notice.

In fact, the new section 12(4a) (a)-(d)of the Labour Amendment Act No. 5 of 2015 expressly
abolished the employer’s common law right to terminate a contract of employment on notice
as enunciated by the Supreme Court in the Zuva judgment. In terms of section 12(4a) of the
Labour Amendment Act No. 5 of 2015, an employer’s right to terminate an employee’s contract

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of employment on notice is now strictly limited to four scenarios namely; (a) termination in
terms of an employment code or, in the absence of an employment code, in terms of the model
code made under section 101(9); or (b) the employer and employee mutually agree in writing
to the termination of the contract; or (c)the employee was engaged for a period of fixed
duration or for the performance of some specific service; or (d) pursuant to retrenchment, in
accordance with section 12C. Outside the aforementioned four instances, an employer does not
have any legal right to terminate a contract of employment on notice. The common law right
that existed formerly in favour of employers to terminate a contract of employment on notice is
now a thing of the past as it was abolished by section 12(4a) of the Labour Amendment Act No.
5 of 2015 with effect from 17 July 2015.

The termination on notice in terms of an employment code or the model code means that a
registered employment code of conduct, or the national employment code of conduct (model)
code, gave an employer with a right to terminate a contract of employment on notice within
that relevant employment code or model code. In the absence of an express right of an
employer to terminate a contract of employment on notice being provided for in the applicable
employment code of conduct, an employer does not have any legal right to terminate a
contract of employment on notice in terms of an employment code. It is noteworthy to point
out that the model code, that is, the National Employment Code of Conduct, Statutory
Instrument 15 of 2006 does not give employers any right to terminate a contract of
employment on notice. Suffice to mention that section 5 of Statutory Instrument 15 of 2016
provides for legally permissible grounds upon which an employer can terminate an employee’s
contract of employment and none of these grounds closely or remotely relates to termination
on notice. Thus, in terms of the model code as it currently stands, termination on notice is
illegal.
Concerning the second scenario in terms of which termination on notice at the instance of the
employer is allowed where the employer and employee mutually agree in writing, it is
important to emphasize that there must be a mutually signed agreement between the
concerned employer and employee confirming termination on notice. Once the parties append

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their signatures to the mutual termination agreement, in sync with the legal principle known as
the caveat subscriptor rule (the person signing beware), both parties are legally bound by the
mutual termination agreement. Thus it is vital for the employer and employee to know that the
moment they sign a mutual termination agreement, they are legally bound by such a contract.
Also it is necessary that the mutual termination agreement be signed by the employer and
employee and not some other third parties, agents or proxies, otherwise such a mutual
termination agreement can be legally contested.

The third scenario which allows for termination of a contract of employment on notice at the
behest of the employer is where the employee was engaged for a period of fixed duration or
for the performance of a specific service. This circumstance applies to fixed term contracts of
employment and those contracts for some specific service. If an employee is employed for a
fixed term contract of employment or on a contract for the performance of some specific
service, then the employer has a right to terminate that contract of employment on notice.

The fourth scenario which gives an employer the right to terminate a contract of employment
on notice is where the employer terminates such contract of employment pursuant to a
retrenchment in terms of section 12C of the Labour Act. The retrenchment procedure has been
simplified by the new section 12C of the Labour Act which has created a one stop shop by giving
employers the right to retrench employees and also specifying the minimum retrenchment
package which employers can pay the affected employees. The new section 12C of the Labour
Act applies to the retrenchment of one or more employees unlike the repealed old section 12C
of the Labour Act which applied only to the retrenchment of five or more employees. In terms
of section 12C (2) of the Labour Act, unless the employer and employees concerned, or their
representatives, agree to better terms, the employer has the right to pay the affected
employees a minimum retrenchment package of not less than one month’s salary or wages for
every two years of service as an employee or the equivalent lesser proportion of one month’s
salary or wages for a lesser period of service.
One size fits all minimum retrenchment package

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This minimum retrenchment package is in full and final settlement of such retrenchment. It is
worth pointing out that, in terms of section 12C (3) of the Labour Act, should an employer
allege financial incapacity and consequent inability to pay the minimum retrenchment package
timeously or at all, the employer has the right to apply in writing to be exempted from paying
then full minimum retrenchment package or any part of it either to an employment council or, if
there is no employment council, the retrenchment board. If the employment council or
retrenchment board fails to respond to the request for exemption within fourteen days of
receiving the notice, the application is deemed granted.

If the employer succeeds in an application to be exempted from paying the full minimum
retrenchment package, the employer can retrench the concerned employees and such
employees can leave empty handed. Also due to bureaucracy that normally characterize the
operations of employment councils and the retrenchment board, once fourteen days elapse
from that date the employment council or retrenchment board receives the employer’s written
application for exemption, that application for exemption will stand granted by operation of the
law as provided for in terms of section 12C(3) of the Labour Act.

Demise/redundancy of the retrenchment board

Works councils, employment councils and the retrenchment board have been rendered white
elephants or lame ducks when it comes to retrenchment of employees in Zimbabwe as they no
longer enjoy the legal power to approve or not to approve the retrenchment of employees.
Under the former retrenchment law, the retrenchment board was the final arbiter on whether
or not to approve the retrenchment and the applicable package. In the past, a retrenchment
process could be long and cumbersome but under the new law, it has been made simple and
fast.

In the same vein, the retrenchment board now has a limited say on the retrenchment package
as its role is now confined to dealing with applications for exemptions in default of employment
councils as provided for in terms section 12C(3) of the Labour Act. There is no longer a need for
employers to seek any approval of retrenchment as that approval is already given in terms of
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section 12C of the Labour Act. Those employers who approach the retrenchment board other
than in circumstances of applying for exemption from paying the minimum retrenchment
package under section 12C(3) of the Labour Act, are not legally obliged to do so but simply do
so out of courtesy or a mere formality. One can jokingly say that the new section 12C of the
Labour Act “… retrenched” and sidestepped the retrenchment board”. Operationally, the
retrenchment board was dethroned except for the very limited role on exemptions.

Commonality of compensation for loss of employment via termination on notice in terms

section 12(4a) or retrenchment as provided in terms of section 12C of the Labour Act.

In terms of section 12(4b) of the Labour Act:

“… where an employee is given notice of termination of contract in terms of subsection (4a)

and such employee is employed under the terms of a contract without limitation of time, the
provisions of section 12C shall apply with regard to compensation for loss of employment.”

The meaning of section 12(4b) of the Labour Act is that a permanent contract of
employment/contract of indefinite duration/contact without limit of time can easily be
terminated on notice by the employer in terms of section 12(4a) of the Labour Act but the
employer must compensate the affected employee by paying him/her the minimum
retrenchment package provided for in terms of section 12C (2) of the Labour Act. Thus,
practically speaking, job security no longer exists in Zimbabwe. as it is now so easy for
employers to terminate permanent contracts of employment by simply paying the affected
employees the minimum retrenchment package stipulated in terms of section 12C(2) of the
Labour Act.

If the employer terminates a contract of employment on notice as stated in section 12(4a) of

the Labour Act and the employee was not employed on a permanent contract of employment,
that employee is not legally entitled to any compensation for loss of employment which is
entrenched in terms of section 12(4b) of the Labour Act. There is a nexus between the
compensation for loss of a permanent contract of employment and retrenchment under

39
sections 12(4a) and 12C of the Labour Act in that both attract payment of the minimum
retrenchment package. Retrenchment is now the easiest method for employers to terminate
contracts of employment such that employers are likely to forgo going through costly and
arduous disciplinary hearings for misconduct by simply resorting to termination on notice in
terms of section 12(4a) of the Labour Act.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the previously watertight legal provisions restricting termination of contracts of

employment in Zimbabwe have been watered down by the enactment of the new Labour Act.
Employees are now at the mercy of employers in so far as termination of contracts of
employment is concerned. There is need to effect further amendments to our labour laws to
protect both employers and employees from abuse.

************* access Resignation: implications under Zimbabwean law*****

40
2. HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING IN TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
 After completion of this topic the students should be able to:

∙ Define human resource planning

∙ Plan for the human resource requirements of an organization

NEED FOR HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING IN HOSPITALITY INDSUTRY -

Hospitality is an industry which is very much dependent upon the human resources. Most of
the services provided to a guest are, of course provided by it with the human resources. For
example, a tourist views perceives a destination by connecting the service received, local
behavior and the destination attractions. So the positive or negative feedback about a
destination depends very much on the people interacting with the tourist. One might argue
that a tourist is motivated to visit a place by the presence of a historical or present day
architectural splendor, or may be by a natural or man-made attraction. Here we should not
forget that the tourists may visit a place for whatever motivates them, but they will partake
services at all the steps of their visit.
- The services start at the time of deciding upon a destination till finally visiting and
departing from their destination of choice. The services would be that of a travel or tour
operator, probably staff of airlines, railways or roadways, services of the staff of a hotel
or any lodging place, help for sight-seeing or eating or shopping etc. The attitude and
behavior of the local people also forms part of a tourists' holiday experience.
- It is important to remember that no tourist or guest can have a successfu1 trip without
human element, as for most of the tourists travelling is more about interacting with new
people and cultures and not just a monument or a site for fun.
- As stated earlier, hospitality industry requires human resources like no other industry as it
provides services. The services provided cannot be pre-checked or compared like mass
produced goods but can only be felt once they have started or have been utilized. It is a
sector where the unpredictability of the human nature always affects both the service
provider and the service receiver. For example, a group of tourists visiting Great
Zimbabwe monument spends an evening watching traditional dance performance at the
Shona village. The dancer here is an entertainer providing services as the show is

41
especially for the tourists. The show would be viewed by each of the tourists differently
some might find it interesting, others may not, some may be in awe of the costume and
make-up while others might like it so much that they go for another show.

- While the dancer might not be 100 per cent fit one day and give less of a performance than
 expected and thus let down a viewer of a previous performance. Many such permutations
and combinations are possible. It is true for any destination since some tourist might like
a destination due to the human element attached to it while others may not find it so
attractive.

- The unpredictability of human nature and its need in every spectra of tourism industry
makes it necessary to plan well in advance for any expected or unexpected need in future.

- Today, every country - developing or developed - has taken up tourism planning in a

bigway. This is because the growth in the tourism sector has surpassed the growth in all
economies. As a result, Human Resource Planning in tourism naturally emerges as a vital
area of concern not only of the governments but also of the industry.

- In most of the cases the governments and industry have joined hands together but as far as
the developing countries are concerned not much investments have been made by the
tourism industry in this area and still there is a large dependence from the government's
efforts and initiatives as far as Human Resource Planning and Development are
concerned.

- As businesses grow, the amount of work that needs to be done exceeds that which the
owner can complete individually, requiring the creation of more jobs.
- It’s therefore important to understand how organizations grow, and the implications this has
for planning.
- Work that need to be done need to be understood and structured into separate yet
interdependent jobs.

42
- Human resource planning need to be done after examining the organization’s strategy and
the measurement of strategic performance of an organization.
- Greinner (1998) provided a useful model for understanding the processes of development in
business over time. According to his model, organizations pass through a number of
developmental phases characterized by periods of evolution which create their own
revolution.
- The entrepreneurs need to be particularly aware of the nature and success requirements of
the startup stage of the business.
 The table below shows main characteristics of each of the phases Greiner identified:
Category Phase1 Phase 2 Phase3 Phase 4 Phase 5
Manageme Getting Improving the Creating and Regrouping Solving
nt priority production set up efficiency of entering new and problems and
and selling the the markets improving improving
product or service organization coordination innovativeness
mechanisms

Organization Informal Formalizati Decentralizatio Centralizati Decentralizatio

al design on and n and on through n through a
centralization expansion expansion of team matrix
through a through a staff design
functional geographic departments
structure structure and creation
of product
groups

Managerial Individualistic and Controlling Empowering Active Team based

style entrepreneurial and directive and delegative monitoring participation
and
correcting
through
information
systems

Focus of Growth in market Improving Profit Developing Participatory

control share and revenue quality maximization plans and goal setting
systems standards and in business monitoring
reducing units their
costs attainment
investment
orientation

Emphasis of Ownership Basic pay with Individual Employee Team based

43
managerial merit-based performance share bonus
reward pay increases bonus schemes ownership
systems and profit
sharing
schemes

Adapted from Greiner, 1998 p66

HRP defined
- Human resource planning is an important function of any business.
- Large organizations have specialists that often use complex quantitative techniques and
computers to develop Hr plans for the organization. In small organizations HR planning
responsibility is that of a business manager.
- Human resource planning is about determing the future scope and nature of work that needs
to be done in an organization and putting plans in place that will ensure that the
organization meets these staff requirements.
- Human Resource planning may also be defined as a strategy for the acquisition, utilization,
improvement and preservation of the human resources of an enterprise. - Bulla and Scott
(1994) cited in Armstrong (2001:357) defined it as “the process of ensuring that the human
resource requirements of an organization are identified and plans are made for satisfying
those requirements”
- It is the activity of the management which is aimed at co-coordinating the requirements for
and the availability of different types of employees. This involves ensuring that the firm
has enough of the right kind of people at the right time and also adjusting the
requirements to the available supply. The same can be applicable at a macro level say
HRP for an industry like hospitality or a government planning at the national level.

The Human Resource Planning Process

- Human resource planning is essentially a three step process which involves;
1) Human resource forecasting
2) Inventory and auditing
3) Human resource plan
Alternatively the activities can be expressed as follows;
1) Forecasting future manpower requirements.

44
2) Inventorying present manpower resources and analyzing the degree to which these resources
are employed optimally.
3) Anticipating manpower problems by projecting present resources into the future and
comparing them with the forecast of requirements.
4) Planning the necessary programmes of recruitment, selection, training, etc. for future
manpower requirements.

The process of HRP

 Strategic Goal Planning e.g. to secure 20% of the market share

Human Resource Planning

Human Resource Forecasting (Determining hr. needs)

Inventory and auditing (stocktaking)

Appropriate Human Resource Plans

Demand surplus Shortage Quality Equals of of shortfalls Supply workers

workers

No Action Downsize Recruit Train

Retrench Promote Develop
Reduce hrs. Redeployment Multiskilling

Human resource forecasting

45
- Human resource forecasting is that part of HRP which involves the estimation of future HR
requirements in terms of actual numbers and the skills and competencies they will need.
- This involves analyzing the HR environment external to the organization. - There must be a
thorough understanding of the labor market both locally and globally. - You need to be aware
of pandemic diseases and their effect on availability of staff. - The human resource manager
must also be aware of the labour legislations and its
potential impact on the management of staff needs and respond proactively. - Several
techniques can be used for human resource forecasting. Some of the techniques include:
1. Zero based forecasting- a technique which estimates future hr. needs based on current
human resource levels .
2. Bottom up approach- where line managers estimate their future hr. requirements with
their HR manager and the MD reconciling the estimations.
 3. Predictor variable approach- future HR needs are forecast based on a company’s
understanding of factors that usually affect employment levels e.g. (the most
common) future employment levels can be forecast based on the relationship between
sales and employment.
4. Computer based simulation- use of computer models to answer such questions as
“what would happen if production would increase by 20%, sales by 50% and turnover
by 5%)
5. Availability forecast- this forecast technique enables the human resource managers to
determine if the organisation will be able to secure the necessary human resource
requirements from its own internal and external labor markets. It essentially
incorporates supply forecasting.

Inventory and auditing

- After having determined the Hr. requirements necessary for the organisation to meet its
goals, the human resource manager has to engage in the process of inventory analysis and
auditing.

46
- This essentially, means making a stock take of what the organisation already has in place.
Thus the following question is raised at this stage, is there a variance between our current
human resource position and our future needs and to what extend?
- analyse the current human resource situation in these areas:
- biogaraphical particulars (name, age, sex) of employees in different
jobs - general numbers inventory and auditing
- Abilities and skills (qualifications/training levels) of employees
- service records (previous positions, current position, salary scale) and
- performance as a well as promotion prospects
-Managerial inventory and auditing
- Organizations also need to track staff turnover, morale attitudes and satisfaction asa well as the
capability of the organization to respond to the HR requirements of the business. Information on
this HR competency or intellectual capital, answers the question: “With what are we going to
compete?”

Human resource plan

- The questions asked during the inventory and auditing stage are answered at the last stage
 of the human resource planning process i.e. the planning stage. Here the human resource
manager basically works on a plan to address the discoveries at the inventory and
auditing stage. The plan then becomes a document called the human resource plan. For
example if it was discovered that the 10% of the managers would have retired, a career
management or recruitment plan will be put in place or if it was discovered that 50% of
the staff lack the necessary skills, an appropriate action would be an HR plan base on
training.
- Hr planning needs to correct the situation by implementing strategies to ensure the required
staffs are available when required.
- Besides planning for human resource requirements of the organization, HR planning also
involves determining the philosophy, policies and procedures by which the human
resources will be managed.

47
- Policy provides a framework to guide managers in their action and in making decisions, and
needs to be aligned with the strategy of the organization and to be compatible with other
policies within the organization.
- Just as each e functional area needs policy on situations occurring frequently within the
function, policy pertaining to frequently occurring HRM situations is also required. E.g.
recruitment, remuneration, performance management.

Why human resource planning?

There is need to be able to say to hard pressed managers: why spend time on this activity rather
than the other issues bulging you in tray?

1. Determining the numbers to be employed at a new location

If organisations overdo the size of their workforce it will carry surplus or underutilized staff.
Alternatively, if the opposite misjudgment is made, staff may be overstretched, making it hard or
impossible to meet production or service deadlines at the quality level expected. So the questions
we ask are:

∙ How can output be improved your through understanding the interrelation between
productivity, work organisation and technological development? What does this mean for
 staff numbers?
∙ What techniques can be used to establish workforce requirements?

∙ Have more flexible work arrangements been considered?

∙ How are the staffs you need to be acquired?

The principles can be applied to any exercise to define workforce requirements, whether it be a
business start-up, a relocation, or the opening of new factory or office.

2. Retaining your highly skilled staff

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Issues about retention may not have been to the fore in recent years, but all it needs is for
organisations to lose key staff to realize that an understanding of the pattern of resignation is
needed. Thus organisations should:

∙ monitor the extent of resignation

∙ discover the reasons for it

∙ establish what it is costing the organisation

∙ Compare loss rates with other similar organisations.

Without this understanding, management may be unaware of how many good quality staff is
being lost. This will cost the organisation directly through the bill for separation, recruitment and
induction, but also through a loss of long-term capability.

Having understood the nature and extent of resignation steps can be taken to rectify the situation.
These may be relatively cheap and simple solutions once the reasons for the departure of
employees have been identified. But it will depend on whether the problem is peculiar to your
own organisation, and whether it is concentrated in particular groups (egg by age, gender, grade
or skill).

3. Managing an effective downsizing programme

This is an all too common issue for managers. How is the workforce to be cut painlessly, while at
the same time protecting the long-term interests of the organisation? A question made all the
harder by the time pressures management is under, both because of business necessities and
employee anxieties. HRP helps by considering:

∙ the sort of workforce envisaged at the end of the exercise

∙ the pros and cons of the different routes to get there

∙ how fthe nature and extent of wastage will change during the run-down ∙

the utility of retraining, redeployment and transfers

∙ What the appropriate recruitment levels might be.

49
Such an analysis can be presented to senior managers so that the cost benefit of various methods
of reduction can be assessed, and the time taken to meet targets established.

If instead the CEO announces on day one that there will be no compulsory redundancies and
voluntary severance is open to all staff, the danger is that an unbalanced workforce will result,
reflecting the take-up of the severance offer. It is often difficult and expensive to replace lost
quality and experience.

4. Where will the next generation of managers come from?

Many senior managers are troubled by this issue. They have seen traditional career paths
disappear. They have had to bring in senior staff from elsewhere. But they recognize that while
this may have dealt with a short-term skills shortage, it has not solved the longer term question of
managerial supply: what sort, how many, and where will they come from? To address these
questions you need to understand:

∙ the present career system (including patterns of promotion and movement, of recruitment
and wastage)

∙ the characteristics of those who currently occupy senior positions

∙ The organization’s future supply of talent.

This then can be compared with future requirements, in number and type. These will of course be
affected by internal structural changes and external business or political changes. Comparing
your current supply to this revised demand will show surpluses and shortages which will allow
you to take corrective action such as:

∙ recruiting to meet a shortage of those with senior management potential ∙

allowing faster promotion to fill immediate gaps

∙ developing cross functional transfers for high fliers

∙ hiring on fixed-term contracts to meet short-term skills/experience deficits ∙

Reducing staff numbers to remove blockages or forthcoming surpluses.

50
Thus appropriate recruitment, deployment and severance policies can be pursued to meet
business needs. Otherwise processes are likely to be haphazard and inconsistent. The wrong sort
of staff is engaged at the wrong time on the wrong contract. It is expensive and embarrassing to
put such matters right.

In addition to the above, a number of specific reasons for attaching importance of manpower
planning and forecasting exercise are to:
- link manpower planning with organizationalplanning,
- determine recruitment levels,
- anticipate redundancies
- determine optimum training levels,
- provide a basis for management development programmes,
- cost the manpower in new projects,
- assess future accommodation requirements,
- study the cost of overheads and value of service functions,
- have a competitive edge over other service providers,
decide whether certain activities need to be subcontracted, etc.
These objectives are relevant for any hotel though as per its specific requirements the hotel may
add more to it, like, meeting the increasing demands of guests, providing right service at the right
moment or meet the demand of changing trends and fashions in hotel industry.
 51
3. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION IN TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
At the end of the chapter, students must be able to:

∙ Conduct an effective recruitment process

∙ Create a job advertisement

∙ Select most suitable candidate for a specific position

Recruitment Process

- Recruitment is about attracting a pool of potential candidates from which an ideal

candidate will be selected and doing so as cost effectively as possible.
- Steps to be followed when recruiting employees are:
Step 1: identify the need to recruit
- Need may arise from creation of a new job or from a vacancy created by someone
resigning or being promoted
Step 2: Update the job description, specification and profile
- Helps in clarifying what one will be looking for in an individual
- Helps in creating the goal towards which the recruitment and selection is geared.
Step 3: Refer to the recruitment policy
- Gives guidelines for carrying out the recruitment.
Step 4: Take into account factors that may influence the recruitment programme
- The factors include; legislation, timing, labour market conditions

Step 5: Consider sources of recruitment

The recruitment policy gives guidelines on whether to use external sources or internal
sources

Step 6: choose appropriate recruitment method

- Advertisements in daily newspapers, weekend newspapers and professional magazines

are some of the options available.
- You can distribute pamphlets and brochures at events like exhibitions

52
- Consider online advertising on organisation’s websites
- Employment agencies can also be used
Step 7: Develop recruitment advertisement
- In designing the recruitment advertisement the AIDA concept by Swanepoel, Erasmaus
Wyk and Schenk (2003). The advertisement needs to Attract attention, develop Interest
in the organization and the job, to create within the readers a Desire for the job and to
work for a particular organization, and evoke Action from the right applicants by them to
submit their applications.
- To attract attention of readers consider the following:
o The size of the advert: should be large enough to be easily noticed and read o
Position on page: should be positioned appropriately on the page to catch the eye of
the reader
o Layout and graphics: should look professional and be visually appealing to attract
attention of the reader
o Job title
o Company name and logo
- To develop interest and desire consider the following:
o The organization: provide brief information about the organization that is
interesting eg why should someone want to work for this particular organaisation o
Nature of the job: why should someone want this job
o Type of person
o Compensation and conditions of service
- To evoke action, include the following:
o Invite applicants to apply
o Specify what potential candidates must do to apply
o Identify the contact person
o Provide a closing date for the applications

Step 8: Place advert in the suitable communication medium

- It is about implementation of the decision made in step 6

Step 9: ensure application banks are available if necessary

53
SELECTION
- Selection is a process of choosing the most suitable candidate from the pool of candidates
 recruited
Selection process

Step 1: Screen and shortlist application

- Using information provided by application blanks, all applicants are evaluated against
predetermined criteria established from the job description and specification. The
outcome of the stage is a candidate who meets minimum set requirements for the job.

Step 2: Contact candidates on the shortlist

- This is done to advise them on the process to follow. Provide all the necessary details -
Those who do not make the shortlist also need to be informed that a their application was
not successful

Step 3: conduct Interviews in an efficient and professional manner

Step 4: Check background information

- Why?

Step 5: Ensure that relevant medical examinations are conducted

- HIV/AIDS tests are not allowed without the applicant’s consent and even with the
applicant’s consent, the results of the test cannot be used to discriminate against the
person.

Step 6: Make a final hiring decision

Step 7: Make a fair job offer

Step 8: Ensure that complete records are kept

54
ORIENTATION/INDUCTION

- Also known as induction or socialization

- It is a planned and structured process of assisting a new employee to function effectively
within the organization with minimum delay
Benefits of effective induction training to the organization

1. Saves a lot of money and time: Induction training is the first training program in which
the employee participates after he joins the organization. Induction training provides him
all the information needed to start performing his duties. If an employee is trained well in
the induction program, he can easily adapt to his new role and start delivering results
quickly – that’s how it saves the organization a lot of money and time.

2. Reduces employee turnover: People join a company with a lot of expectations, and at the
same time, they have lot of questions about the organization. All these queries must be
answered in the induction training. Ineffective induction training leaves new employee
confused about the job. Employees may feel frustrated and helpless, if they are not
trained properly. On the other hand, effective induction training goes a long way in
increasing staff retention rate and reducing employee turnover in a big way.

3. Ensures operational efficiency: A good induction training program covers all aspects of
the company thoroughly. It helps new employees become familiar with the organization’s
work culture, vision, mission, and goals. At the same time, new employees understand
their own role in achieving the goals of the company. This will help enhance the
efficiency of employees quickly, as they adjust to the work culture of the organization
and get involved in their job. Overall, it greatly helps increase the operational efficiency
of the organization.

Advantages of proper induction training to the new employee

1. Makes the new employee feel respected and valued: Good induction training gives a
warm welcome to the employee and focuses on clarifying all his doubts about the
organization and his job. It ensures that the new employee feels comfortable in the

55
organization. It also makes him feel that he is welcomed, respected, and valued. This
motivates the new employee greatly.

2. Provides the necessary information: A comprehensive induction training program helps

the new employee get all the necessary information about the company and clarifies the
organization’s expectations on him. This helps him understand the culture, work norms,
policies and procedures of the organization, and thus enables him to quickly adapt to the
work environment.
3. Helps in establishing good communication: Induction training helps the new employee
in establishing good communication with the organization. As part of the induction
training program, the new employee is introduced to his direct supervisor, other
employees, leads, and directors of the organization. This makes him more comfortable
when he has to communicate with them later.

56
4. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY SECTOR

Having completed this chapter the students are expected to:

∙ Be able to utilize training and development process to ensure the ongoing improvement of
skills, knowledge and values of employees as part of the management of their
performance.

∙ Manage the training and development requirements of an organisation in line with the
Zimbabwean legislations
 - Training and development is about the organisation providing assistance to employees so
that they become effective in their jobs.

Training is a process of learning a sequence of programmed behavior. It improves the

employee's performance on the current job and prepares them for an intended job.

- Training is the process that provides employees with the knowledge and the skills required
to operate within the systems and standards set by management.”(Somerville 2007: 208
- Development not only improves job performance but also brings about the growth of the
personality. Individuals not only mature regarding their potential capacities but also
become better individuals.
Management activities, more and more companies have realized how important it is to
maintain training in the changing and complex work environment.
- Successful hotels always include staff training as their important development strategy.

The main components of training and development

- To do a job effectively 3 main components are required and these are knowledge, skills and
attitudes.
- Knowledge can be imparted by lectures, talks or films

57
- To impart skills e.g. handling a knife practices is necessary
- Attitudes are difficult to modify so it’s better to train an employee with the right attitudes
than attempting to train people with attitudes that conflict with those of the employer.

Difference between Training & Development:

Training:

1. It's a short term process.

2. Refers to instruction in technical and mechanical problems
3. Targeted in most cases for non-managerial personnel
4. Specific job related purpose

Development:

1. It is a long term educational process.

 2. Refers to philosophical and theoretical educational concepts
3. Managerial personnel.

Signs and symptoms that indicate the need for training

1. Failure to attain goals/ targets such as gross profit.

2. Dissatisfied customers
3. Slow service
4. High labor turnover, low morale
5. Friction between departments such as kitchen and the restaurant or housekeeping and the
reception
6. High accidents, breakages and wastage rates.
7. Staff unable and unprepared to adapt changes

The importance of staff training

- Staff training is a significant part as well as the key function of Human Resource

58
Management and Development; it is the crucial path of motivating employees andincreasing
productivity in the business.
- With the development of the technologies and the whole business environment, employees
are requested to be more skilled and qualified, even if you are a good employee today,
you could be out of the line some other day if you do not keep studying.
- A company needs organized staff training if wants to be competitive among others. - Staff
training is the key task to help everyone in the company to be more united. - An enterprise
could hire experienced employees or train employees to be skilled. - When the company
trains their own staff, by providing and forming a harmonious
atmosphere, accurate work specification and the passion of work, team spirit will be built
between employees and management team within the process.
- Training of work tasks is one of the main aspects of staff training, including principles at
work, professional knowledge and skills, by offering employees these essentials, staff
training helps personal abilities match with business requirements.
- Training could be enormously demanding and should be in-depth; lack of training or poor
training brings out high employee turnover and the delivery of substandard products and
services.
Benefits of staff training
Staff training enhances the capabilities of employees and strengthens theircompetitive advantage.
Effective training will improve the personal characters andprofessional abilities. Not only
employees, management and organization wouldbenefit from staff training, customers and guests
benefit as well, because of thereceived quality products and services.
Benefits the employee
• Increases job satisfaction and recognition
During the training, employees will be introduced what is the work is about, howto do, what kind
of role does the job play in the whole business, it helps them tounderstand their work better and
also love what they do by understanding thework.
• Encourages self-development and self-confidence
After systemized training, employees will understand what important role theirjobs play, and
with the information, knowledge and experiences obtained duringthe training, they will be more
confident with their work, so that better serviceswill be provided.

59
• Moves employee closer to personal goals
Employees gained not only professional knowledge and skills during training,training also
broads their choices on setting career targets. They can get theopportunity to get to know other
positions, increases the possibilities ofpromotions in the meantime.
• Helps the employee become an effective problem solver
Practical experience can be taught and guided in the training; employees will learn the methods
of solving problem or complaints during training.
• Allows the employee to become productive more quickly
By training, employees get familiar with their work tasks, advanced knowledge and techniques
which improve their capabilities, increases productivity.

Benefits the management

• Aids in evaluating employee performance
People who are responsible for training will find out those employees during training, who are
quick learners, who have better knowledge and skills, so that different methods of training can be
chosen, therefore, better results will be acquired.
• Aids in sustaining systems and standards
Within the training, employees will be introduced to the principles and standards of the hotel,
together with the policies and procedures; hence hotel can sustain its standards and system with
the help of training.
• Helps identify employees for promotions or transfers
During the training, employees‟ abilities and personalities will be easily identified by
experienced trainers, or some employees are more suitable for other positions, hotels can adjust
and make best use of employees‟ knowledge and abilities.
Benefits the organization
• Leads to improved profitability
Owing to the growth of productivity and better services after training, it is more promised for the
hotel to have more profits in return.
• Reduces accidents and safety violations
Without organized training and guidance, especially employees who work with dangerous
facilities, accidents are easily occurred, training can help organizations to prevent accidents.

60
• Aids in organizational development.
Hotels need to develop their technologies and way of working in order to be competitive, and
staff training assures the competitiveness, because training will bring good quality, effectiveness
and loyal customers to the hotels.
• Reduces wastage and costly employee turnover
Wastage and damages in different departments are commonly found out in hotel operation, with
the help of staff training; unnecessary wastage and damages can be avoided. Regular trainings
can decrease work pressures and employee turnover, as a result, less labor cost will be spent and
better service can be achieved.

- In brief training and development leads to improved productivity, improved quality,

improved organizational climate, increased health and safety and personal growth.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………....

. THE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENTPROCESS

Step 1: IDENTIFY THE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT NEEDS

- This step identifies activities to justify an investment for training.

- The techniques necessary for the data collection are surveys, observations, interviews, and
customer comment cards. Several examples of an analysis outlining specific training
needs are customer dissatisfaction, low morale, low productivity, and high turnover.
- The training need analysis can be done at two different levels that is at organizational level
and at personal level.
 - Organizational level: this comprises an analysis of the knowledge, skills, and abilities the
business organisation will require in future and is based on the strategic plan of the
business.
- Individual level: this analyses the performance appraisal information of an individual and
identify the performance gaps which could be overcome with relevant training and
development. It can also compare the present knowledge, skills, and abilities of
employees with their relevant job descriptions and specifications.
- It is also important to consider working relationships with the supervisors and colleagues

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- NB: all skills and knowledge gaps are best addressed with training.

Step 2: PLANNING THE TRAI NING

Planning is separated into specifying training objectives, designing training plan and selecting
training methods. Training goals, training method, duration, program structure, location and
selection of trainees etc. practical problems are to be considered during planning.

Formulate training and development objectives

- Once the training needs have been identified, it is useful to formulate the objectives in
terms of actual, measurable outcomes one should expect.
- By reaching the objectives the learner will reach the goal of the course. - Objectives should
provide direction and state what the learner must be able to know and do after completing the
training.
Choose appropriate training method
- a number of training methods are available, which cover a wide range of subjects. -
Training and development can take place on the job or off the job
- Techniques that can be used include coaching, mentoring, learner ships, job rotation, e
learning, talks, discussions etc.
Develop the training plan
- It is concerned about what needs to be done basing on the training needs, of individuals
departments and the organization.
- Objectives must be used as the basis for developing the training plan.
- The training plan consists of three most important components which are the syllabus
(contains basic information about training), schedule (is the day by day description of the
programme activities) and the outline (the map which describes how the trainer should
conduct the session in the schedule.
 - The training plan helps to make sure that training is delivered in a standard way each time.
Identify and adopt the necessary resources
- After the training plan has been developed, training materials needs to be created and
adopted.

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- The materials include everything needed by the trainer and the learner for effective
implementation of the training programme.

Step 3: CARRY OUT THE TRAINING

- After successfully planning the training, then the training program should be effectively
carried out following the plan.
- The trainer should be well prepared and skillful, and the trainees should be actively
participating in the training.

STEP 4: EVALUATE THE TRAINING WHICH HAS BEEN PROVIDED

- Evaluation of the training is an unavoidable stage in the training process, to get the
feedback about the training.
- To evaluate the training or development programme, as a starting point delegates on a
training programme can be asked for their opinion on the effectiveness of the training
programme once it is finished.
- Methods for evaluation are pre-and post- surveys of customer comments cards, the
establishment of a cost/benefit analysis outlining your expenses and returns, and an
increase in customer satisfaction and profits.
- There are several obvious benefits for evaluating a training program. First, evaluations will
provide feedback on the trainer's performance, allowing them to improve themselves for
future programs. Second, evaluations will indicate its cost-effectiveness. Third, evaluations
are an efficient way to determine the overall effectiveness of the training program for the
employees as well as the organization.
- Evaluation is the ending stage of a trainingcycle but at the same time it is the basis for the new
training cycle.
TRAINING TECHNIQUES

∙ Students to research on the job and off the job training techniques
 63
THE CONCEPT OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL
- It represents the knowledge that is embedded in the personnel, organizational routines and
network relationships of an organization.
- IC concept has been recognized as an important resource that all organisations need to
develop to develop to gain sustained competitive advantage.

IC Concept
- Is commonly defined as the sum of an organization’s encompassing collective tacit
knowledge, human skills, experience and any other resource that can contribute to value
creation for the organization.
- When physical assets and financial capital are no longer the resource that sustains
competitive advantage, IC becomes only the differentiating factor that provides a
competitive market position to an organisation.
- What constitutes IC in one organisation is different from another.
- IC is rare, valuable, costly to imitate and non-substitutable.
- The concept encompasses three interrelated components which are human capital, structural
capital and relational capital.
Human Capital
- Subsumes various human resource elements including knowledge, competencies,
experiences, skills, innovativeness and talents of people.
- HC cannot be owned but only rented and knowledge can only be created by individuals but
not by organisations. For example an organizational members carry human capital when
they join the organisation, when they leave they carry their talent, skills, knowledge with
them so human capital is important.
Relational Capital/ Social Capital
- Represents the organization’s relations with its external stakeholders and the perceptions
held about the organisation as well as the exchange of knowledge between the
organisation and its external stakeholders.
- Includes the loyalty of valuable customers as a result of understanding their needs and
meeting them consistently; the mutual trust and commitment given by key suppliers, the

64
reputation and the relationships that an organisation has developed over time in its
surrounding community.
Structural Capital/Organizational Capital
- Refers to the learning and knowledge that is enacted in day to day activities. - It is the pool
of knowledge that remains in the organisation at the end of the day after the individuals in the
organisation have left.
- It is supportive infrastructure for human capital. It deals with mechanisms and structures of
organisations that can assist individuals in the organisation for optimum performance. - It also
includes all of the non- human databases, routines, organizational culture and anything that
creates value for the organisation.

IC and HRM

- The three IC components offer a structured framework for human resource management
strategies which can be applied to organisations immediately.
- Human capital exists in human resources in form of knowledge and skills through a
sequence of HR functions such as employee selection, training and development.

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5. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Having completed this topic, students must are expected to:

∙ Manage and monitor employee performance on a continuous basis

- Performance management is an approach to managing people.
- It comprise of a set of practices used by managers to plan, direct and improve performance of
line with achieving the overall strategic objectives of the organization.
- Performance management begins with translating the overall strategic objectives of the
organization into clear objectives for each individual employee
- The strategic objectives have a bearing the structure of the organisation, and this influences the
design and the profile of the jobs.
- When staffed, the performance requirements expected of the job incumbent are described in the
job’s profile.
- This job profile then sets the agenda for the manager and the incumbent to plan performance
requirements and later on to monitor and review performance.

Approaches to organisational level performance management

- Organisational level performance management and measurement takes several forms and, to
promote overall success of the organisation, the performance management of individuals
need to be coupled to this organisational level system.
i) Objectives setting approach
- This is typified by management by objectives (MBO)
- It seeks to link strategic intend with day to day organisational activity. - The starting point in
this approach is to ensure that the organisation has a clear purpose and vision.
- This then needs to be broken down into supporting goals, objectives and strategy. - These goals
and objectives are cascaded down to the various departments of the organisation. - The manager
plays an important role in this and is essentially engaged in translating the business objectives
and strategy into departmental strategy and objectives.

66
- MBO is therefore a system of management that relies on the manager and the employee
collaborating in the setting of objectives , allowing the employee to be involved in, and to
manage , his/her own performance.
ii) Benchmarking
- This is strongly influenced by total quality management (TQM) and business process
reengineering.
- A benchmarking process emphasises the identification of best practice standards that the
organisation tries to emulate through continuous improvement.
- Benchmarking is most suitable for organisations that wish to become learning organisations
 iii) The Balanced Scorecard
- The concept of the balanced scorecard can be attributed to Kaplan and Norton (2006:3) who
propose that it provides the organisation “with a comprehensive framework that can translate a
company’s vision and strategy into a coherent and linked set of performance measures” - It
combines measurement of four perspectives of performance:
1) Financial: how do shareholders define financial success?
2) Customers: How do our customers see us and what must we do to keep them satisfied? 3)
Internal business processes:What internal business processes should the organisation be
excellent in, to keep both customers and shareholders satisfied?
4) Learning and growth: how does the organisation sustain its ability to develop and
improve in key areas?

These three approaches to organisational performance management are not mutually exclusive,
and in fact are often combined to create hybrid systems tailored to the organisation’s specific
requirements.

Performance management process

Step 1: Strategic Business Objectives

- Clarify the strategic objectives of the organisation.

Step 2: Meeting to agree on personal objectives

67
- The manager must know the business objectives relevant to his/ her department and consider
each job in the department.
- The manger then meets with the incumbent of each job to agree collaboratively personalised
business objectives, key performance indicators or output standards.
- The outcome of the meeting is usually a signed performance agreement between the manger
and the employee. The document details on the outputs of the job; individualised objectives;
levels and criteria / standards of performance (poor, acceptable, good and excellent
performance levels need to be defined); indicators of the way that performance objectives
will be measured; possible barriers to performance; resources required to meet the
expectations of acceptable performance and; next review date.
- The challenge is to ensure that the performance requirements of an individual employee are in
line with the overall strategic objectives of the organisation.
- Key characteristics of the objectives must be understood by both the manager and the employee
(specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic and reasonable, time bound, clear, flexible,
prioritised, several)

Step 3: Assessing performance

- Having determined the performance requirements of each employee, the manger needs to
continually review the job performance of individuals on an informal and formal basis and to
provide feedback.
- Informal assessment and review occurs in the course of the day -to -day management by
walking around. This helps managers to identify performance problems immediately, to
discuss them with the employees and decide on the corrective action.
- Formal appraisal is done systematically on a regular basis sometimes once or twice within the
performance management cycle, which is usually a 12 month period.
- Various methods can be used to appraise the employees and these are:
*********need to revise the appraisal
methods*****************

Ranking Method

The ranking system requires the rater to rank his subordinates on overall performance.
This consists in simply putting a man in a rank order. Under this method, the ranking of

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an employee in a work group is done against that of another employee. The relative
position of each employee is tested in terms of his numerical rank. It may also be done by
ranking a person on his job performance against another member of the competitive
group.

Advantages of Ranking Method

o Employees are ranked according to their performance levels.

o It is easier to rank the best and the worst employee.

Limitations of Ranking Method

o The “whole man” is compared with another “whole man” in this method. In
practice, it is very difficult to compare individuals possessing various individual
traits.
 o This method speaks only of the position where an employee stands in his group. It
does not test anything about how much better or how much worse an employee is
when compared to another employee.
o When a large number of employees are working, ranking of individuals become a
difficult issue.
o There is no systematic procedure for ranking individuals in the organization. The
ranking system does not eliminate the possibility of snap judgments.

Forced Distribution method

This is a ranking technique where raters are required to allocate a certain percentage of
rates to certain categories (eg: superior, above average, average) or percentiles (eg: top 10
percent, bottom 20 percent etc). Both the number of categories and percentage of
employees to be allotted to each category are a function of performance appraisal design
and format. The workers of outstanding merit may be placed at top 10 percent of the
scale, the rest may be placed as 20 % good, 40 % outstanding, 20 % fair and 10 % fair.

Advantages of Forced Distribution

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o This method tends to eliminate raters bias
o By forcing the distribution according to pre-determined percentages, the problem
of making use of different raters with different scales is avoided.

Limitations of Forced Distribution

o The limitation of using this method in salary administration, however, is that it

may lead low morale, low productivity and high absenteeism.

Employees who feel that they are productive, but find themselves in lower
grade(than expected) feel frustrated and exhibit over a period of time reluctance to
work.

Critical Incident techniques

Under this method, the manager prepares lists of statements of very effective and
ineffective behaviour of an employee. These critical incidents or events represent the
outstanding or poor behaviour of employees or the job. The manager maintains logs of
 each employee, whereby he periodically records critical incidents of the workers
behaviour. At the end of the rating period, these recorded critical incidents are used in the
evaluation of the worker’s performance. Example of a good critical incident of a
Customer Relations Officer is : March 12 - The Officer patiently attended to a customers
complaint. He was very polite and prompt in attending the customers problem.

Advantages of Critical Incident techniques

o This method provides an objective basis for conducting a thorough discussion of

an employee’s performance.
o This method avoids recency bias (most recent incidents are too much emphasized)

Limitations of Critical Incident techniques

o Negative incidents may be more noticeable than positive incidents.

70
o The supervisors have a tendency to unload a series of complaints about the
incidents during an annual performance review sessions.
o It results in very close supervision which may not be liked by an employee. o The
recording of incidents may be a chore for the manager concerned, who may be too
busy or may forget to do it.

Checklists and Weighted Checklists

In this system, a large number of statements that describe a specific job are given. Each
statement has a weight or scale value attached to it. While rating an employee the
supervisor checks all those statements that most closely describe the behaviour of the
individual under assessment. The rating sheet is then scored by averaging the weights of
all the statements checked by the rater. A checklist is constructed for each job by having
persons who are quite familiar with the jobs. These statements are then categorized by the
judges and weights are assigned to the statements in accordance with the value attached
by the judges.

Advantages of Checklists and Weighted Checklists

o Most frequently used method in evaluation of the employees performance.

 Limitations of Checklists and Weighted Checklists

o This method is very expensive and time consuming

o Rater may be biased in distinguishing the positive and negative questions. o It
becomes difficult for the manager to assemble, analyze and weigh a number of
statements about the employees characteristics, contributions and behaviours.

Paired Comparison Method — The use of ranking method, is difficult in large groups when
the rate cannot compare several people simultaneously In the paired comparison every employee
in a job is compared with all other employees in the group Pairs of employers are constituted to
determine which is the better worker in each pair For instance, if there are three workers (X, Y
and Z) in ajob group, there will be three pairs namely x, y and z, and x with z

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Graphic Rating Scale Method — The graphic method of rating is the most commonly used
method The employees are rated on personality characteristics and performance The rater is
provided with a printed form for each employee to be rated, containing a number of
characteristics to be rated The characteristics factors vary according to the position of the be
rated

Field Review — The type of merit rating is useful for large organisations and appears to
overcome a number of the weaknesses found is many of the other systems. It consists of having a
trained employee from the personnel department interview line supervisors about their respective
subordinates. The supervisor is asked to give his opinion about the progress of his subordinates.

Confidential Report Method — In this method each employee is rated confidentially by one or
more senior officers for his performance. A confidential report by immediate supervisiors is still
a major determinant of the subordinate’s promotion or transfer.

Assessment Centre Method - An assessment centre is an multiple assessment of several

individuals performed simultanously by a group of trained evaluators using a variety of group
and individual exercises.

Appraisal by results (MBO): - The latest development in the field of performance appraisals
by results. Result oriented appraisals are the outcome of the modern management technique
known as management by objectives or MBO.

360-degree approach
- It is a multiple - rater method.
- It uses assessment information from a variety of sources such as colleagues, peers,
subordinates, superiors, customers and suppliers.
- It gives a more comprehensive and complete picture of individuals’ performance and
contribution.

Step 4: Meeting to review performance

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- Past performance is reviewed on the basis of the performance data and new objectives are
agreed for the next performance cycle.
- The review part should be conducted in a counselling, encouraging manner where the
employee is provided with feedback based on the report.
- Performance review discussions are at times challenging to mangers but they are very critical

MANAGING POOR PERFORMANCE

Step 1: Agree that there a problem and what the problem is

- Identify and reach mutual agreement that there is a problem. The manger needs to ensure that
the individual’s performance has been assessed and there is sufficient evidence of the
performance problem.

Step 2: Explore and identify reasons

- Encourage the employee to open up.

- Identify the reasons for the performance problem, but do not attach blame to anyone. - Question
whether it is an ability problem, a motivational problem or lack of organisational support.
- The manger needs to distinguish between the reasons provided by the individual employee and
the actual causes of the problem.
- The manager also needs to evaluate whether his/ her leadership style is hindering performance.

Step 3: Agree on the corrective action

- This will depend on the causes of performance problem.

- If it is an ability problem, training and development may be an option. - Other options include
redesigning jobs around the person’s ability, transferring the person to a job more suited to the
individual’s ability and/ counselling

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- If all the options have been exhausted then dismissing the person on grounds of poor work
performance or ill health is the last resort (the process must be fair and legal).

Step 4: Implement corrective action

- This may involve making arrangements for training or additional resources depending on the
reason for poor performance and the agreed upon or most appropriate action.

Step 5: Monitor progress

- Depending on the corrective action, the individual’s progress need to be monitored and
feedback needs to be provided to the person..it is also important to empower staff to monitor
their own performance and to identify further action that could remedy their poor
performance.
 Performance Management for All Ages
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in Hospitality Businesses
THE NEED FOR PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

In an industry requiring good communication skills, many hospitality managers still find conducting employee
performance management a challenge because, in some instances, poor staff performance needs to be
addressed. Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to issues of performance because each employee
makes up a large part of the workforce.
Until recently, some businesses – hospitality included - may have relied on high levels of staff turnover or the
mandatory default retirement age (DRA) as a method of resolving employee performance problems. The
removal of the DRA in 2011 has renewed the focus on good workforce management and the necessity of
dealing with poor job performance. In addition,there is considerable evidence that improving workforce
management techniques is good for businesses both large and small.
Some employers believe that performance management is complex and burdensome, but performance
management need not be an elaborate appraisal process. It is a documented conversation that focuses on
competence, ability and potential without making assumptions. Failure to conduct performance management
can be unfair to all employees - regardless of their tenure, age or job level - as they may feel that there isn’t
an opportunity to discuss their personal performance, improve working patterns and advance in their careers.
Employees may also be unaware of a performance problem that could be resolved by simply talking it
through rather than allowing the matter to escalate to a more serious problem.
THE PERFORMANCE REVIEW PROCESS
Performance review discussions should provide both the employer and employee with an opportunity to talk
about job satisfaction levels and performance. The discussion provides an opportunity for managers to set
targets, provide direction and ensure employees understand how they can contribute to business goals. Any
development needs can be addressed, be they in the form of training, shadowing, mentoring or project work.

It is important that this type of conversation is not seen as a one-off event, but is conducted on a regular basis.
Therefore, whilst you may commence a formal annual appraisal meeting, holding regular one-to one progress
meetings mean that a problem doesn’t wait until the annual review and encouragement can be given more
frequently and informally to motivate an employee to successfully complete assigned objectives.
When conducting performance management, supervisors and managers need to determine the reasons for
poor performance. Is it laziness or could the cause could be a lack of supervision or poorly communicated job
duties? Is an employee’s poor conduct a behavioural issue or is it the need to reiterate to the employee the
company’s policies and expectations regarding a professional demeanour? If there is diminishing performance,
can the deficiencies be addressed through adjustments, retraining, ‘upskilling’ or even redeploying skills and
experience in another role within the organisation? Has there been a change in the employee’s life or health
that affects the ability to perform assigned duties? Does the change relate to a disability or being bullied? If so,
be aware of applicable laws regarding discrimination or harassment and the need to make accommodations for
disabilities in particular.
Under the Equality Act 2010, discrimination is unlawful if it is on grounds of a "protected characteristic" (race,
sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marital status, civil partnership
or pregnancy).
In instances where performance management and a discussion of job expectations relating to issues of
performance don’t ultimately result in improvement, then managers and supervisors may want to consider fair
dismissal as a route. There are a number of organisations that can assist with the disciplinary process when
employees fail to satisfactorily perform job duties.

See the ‘Further Resources’ section below.

BASIC PRINCIPLES IN DEALING WITH POOR PERFORMANCE
The basic principles of dealing with under-performing employees are simple and apply regardless of an
employee’s age. First, determine:
• What is the problem?
• What needs to improve?
Discuss this informally with the employee and seek resolution together. If counselling talks do not show the
required improvement, have a meeting with the employee to commence a Performance Improvement Plan
(PIP), documenting exactly what needs to be improved, what the improvement will look like, what - if any -
support will be given and when the improvement is required. Provide a copy of this for the employee to sign
and take away to work on.
The outcome should include the following, documented on the updated PIP if using one: •
An agreed timescale for improvement.
• Identifying where new skills may need to be learnt.
• Consideration if any other issues are causing the problem e.g. any health or disability issues, new or
heightened caring responsibilities.
• Whether advice needs to be taken on occupational health issues, and consideration of how these could affect
performance.
• Agreed changes or adaptations e.g. reduced hours or different shifts, perhaps on a trial basis.
Then:
• Regularly review progress.
• If progress cannot be sustained, refer back to the formal process.
Always:
• Keep records of all conversations and review meetings. Clearly state what will happen if there is no
improvement (i.e. the possibility of receiving formal disciplinary action).
Ensure supervisors and managers know the principles of performance management, receive training in
performance management and corrective action and obtain support from higher level management. If
improvement is still not apparent, commence the formal disciplinary process, which takes the employee from
improvement note, to final written warning, to dismissal. Always ensure the process is fair, including a written
request to meet, giving the employee time to prepare (at least 24 hours) and the right to be accompanied. Write
to confirm the outcome afterwards and note the right of appeal.
TOP TIPS ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
• Schedule a regular conversation with all employees (be aware, reviewing the performance of a particular
group of employees, e.g. only females or only younger or older workers

75
could raise concerns about unlawful discrimination).
• Tackle any issues about performance as they are happening; don’t raise issues with an employee that are
months old and that will come as a surprise during an annual review.
• Before meeting each staff member think about the requirements of their current job and whether the
business’s needs are being met. Compare this to the job description, ensure that the job description reflects the
true requirements of the role and update if not.
Ask yourself:
• Will you need the employee to work differently in the future - what skills does the employee need to have or
develop for the future?
• Do you know what the employee’s aspirations and expectations are for the future? By building this into the
conversation all workers are given an opportunity to discuss their plans. Is the employee feeling demotivated or
underused, struggling with new technology or looking for a new challenge? • Does the employee understand the
job’s requirements? Do they comply with specifications and meet deadlines?
• What needs to be done regarding unsatisfactory performance? What particular aspect is causing a problem
and has it been raised with the employee? If not, it is a good time to inform the employee of any concerns as
regular review and feedback are important.
• Are there any circumstances outside of the employee’s control causing poor performance? • Discuss with the
employee what needs to be changed and think about how to help the employee to work better in the future.
Perhaps training or coaching would be beneficial?
• Consider whether there are any adjustments or alterations needed checking against your own health and
safety workplace assessments and any legislative requirements.
• Is it possible to change the employee’s working pattern, for instance reducing hours or moving the employee
to a different role where skills and experience will be retained? In such cases, ensure the employee is aware of
the reasons for the change and that this is being done as an alternative to a disciplinary warning, wanting to
retain them, etc. Ensure the employee signs the mutual agreement to the change.
• Agree with the employee if there are actions or changes they need to take, provide the employee with a
written PIP and make sure that you take written notes of your meeting.

CONCLUSION
Under difficult economic conditions, hospitality employers need all staff to contribute through good job
performance to the business’s bottom line. Employers can no longer rely on staff turnover to address poor
performance; instead they should conduct performance management for the benefit of all employees and the
business. There is no legal requirement to carry out appraisals but, if done properly, performance management
can be an effective way of motivating and retaining staff and improving the ways in which they work.
The key to improving any poor performance is often communication. Ensure that you: •
provide timely, specific and constructive feedback to employees.
• establish why the shortfalls in performance exist.
• discuss and agree what support, development and assistance are required to help the employees improve
their performance.
• encourage employees by providing feedback on their performance when it is due. Performance management
can be a simple, regular conversation where actions are agreed and recorded. In most cases, the desired
result (improved performance) is obtained, however, where the performance management process leads to
disciplinary action, managers will want to consult with and obtain support from higher level managers or Human
Resources experts.
This guide has been produced by the Institute of Hospitality with Business HR, which provides customisable
templates of letters and contracts as well as supporting information and documents. Business HR’s website is
free to Institute members and a Business HR Helpline is available to all members at a specially negotiated
rate. Institute Members (MIH) and Fellows (FIH) are entitled to one free call annually to the Business HR
Helpline. If you have any questions regarding Business HR, contact the Institute at +44 (0)208 661 4902 or
email: [email protected] FURTHER RESOURCES
ACAS - Produces an advisory booklet on “How to manage performance” available at:
http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=2714&p=0

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BusinessHR– the BusinessHR website offers over 70 customisable documents for use in one’s own
business, including step by step guides on performance management and conducting appraisals, plus
templates forms. Specially reduced rates for use of the BusinessHR Helpline. See:
http://www.instituteofhospitality.org/info_services/info
BusinessLink– Information and support for new businesses. http://www.businesslink.gov.uk
Institute of Hospitality eBooks (held in the Online Catalogue) - A selection of ebooks providing
guidance on market research, start-ups, writing a business plan, etc.
• 201 Ways to Turn Any Employee Into a Star Performer. 2004. Hawley, Casey Fitts. McGraw-Hill. •
Competency-based Performance Reviews : How to Perform Employee Evaluations the Fortune 500
Way. 2008. Kessler, Robin. The Career Press.
• Developing Employee Capital: Setting the Stage for Lifelong Learning. 2004. Kalamas, David J.;
Kalamas, Joan. HRD Press.
• Human Resource Management for the Hospitality and Tourism Industries. 2007. Nickson, Dennis.
Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry: An Introductory Guide. {8Th Ed.} 2005.
Eade, Vincent H.; Boella, M. J.; Goss-Turner, Steven.Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann. • Improve Your
Coaching and Training Skills. 2008. Forsyth, Patrick. Kogan Page. DISCLAIMER
This document is intended as a guide only. While the information it contains is believed to be correct, it is not
a
substitute for appropriate professional advice. The Institute of Hospitality and the authors bear no
responsibility for
action taken solely on the basis of this information.
Institute of Hospitality, Trinity Court, 34 West Street, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1SH, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)20 8661 4900 Fax: +44 (0)20 8661 4901
Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.instituteofhospitality.org