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Human Resources and Tourism
Skills, Culture and Industry
By Darren Lee-Ross, Josephine Pryce Multilingual Matters
Copyright © 2010 Darren Lee-Ross and Josephine Pryce
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84541-243-2
CHAPTER 1
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND THE TOURISM CONTEXT
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After working through this chapter you should be able to:
1. Understand the difficulties involved in attempting to define the tourism industry.
2. Identify the differences between personnel management and human resource management.
3. Understand the nature of services.
4. Identify the main challenges involved in establishing a human resource management strategy.
INTRODUCTION
The tourism industry is often described as complex, involving many dissimilar but related organisations along a supply chain (for example, consider the differences between an online travel agency and a luxury hotel). However, for those operating in the same subsector, strategic competitive advantage is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. This is despite firms subscribing to any number of available quality accreditations and certification schemes (for example, see ISO 9001, Michelin, EHQ, AA and RAC, RACQ, Green Globe, Tourism Accreditation Australia Ltd, Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council, UNWTO and so on). Seeking competitive advantage through accreditation may raise quality standards but also tends toward everyone offering a similar product, especially those participating in the same schemes. Points of differentiation or uniqueness become obscured, resulting in the delivery of a standardised service.
It has long been argued that people perform the most important role in tourism organisations. This is because, in an ever-frenetic marketplace, employees have the potential to provide a point of differentiation and thus competitive advantage within a sea of relative homogeneity (Kandampully, 2002). Indeed, the relationship between front-line tourism workers and overall customer perceptions of service quality cannot be overstated. Maxwell et al. (2004) consider employees as 'service performers' and comment:
[...] [staff] are central to service quality, so too is their management. (p. 162)
The implied link between effective staff management (or human resource management – HRM) and performance through service quality is acknowledged by a number of researchers. Notwithstanding the inherent challenges of establishing reliable metrics, many agree that a relationship exists between them. Gilbert and Guerrier (1997) consider this link to be positive along with Hoque (1999) and Mohinder (2004), who note that tourism firms using service quality-oriented HRM approaches tend to perform better than those that fail to make the association.
Garavan (1995) says much the same but emphasises the pursuit of service quality as a catalyst for engaging in HRM. Cheng and Brown (1998) consider the link between human resource management and organisational objectives to be a key enabler of effective recruitment, development, motivation and retention of staff in pursuit of competitive advantage. Chand and Katou's (2007) study of Indian hotels confirms the global currency of HRM upon organisational performance. Specifically they consider human resource management systems important catalysts for:
• multiskilling and experience;
• harmonised terms and conditions of employment;
• formal manpower planning;
• career planning;
• flexible jobs;
• cross cultural job design; and
• formal induction and training systems.
Others sharing this view include Grönroos (1994), Pitt et al. (1995) and Nolan (2002). Earlier, Guest (1987) argued that quality of staff, quality of performance and public image of the firm are key determinants of an effective HRM strategy.
It would therefore seem reasonable to argue that HRM, service quality and competitive advantage are inextricably linked. We can therefore begin to appreciate the central role played by HRM in tourism organisations. The aim of this chapter is to introduce some notions of HRM and overview the nature of services. It also considers the difficulty of defining the tourism industry and comments on some of its uniquely challenging characteristics in an HRM context.
HRM: TOWARDS A DEFINITION
Most international HR practitioners and associated professional bodies, such as the UK's Chartered Institute of Personnel Development would no doubt agree with the assertion that organisational effectiveness is down to managing human resources. Indeed, there is a body of scientific evidence to support such a statement. However, what exactly is meant by the term human resource management (HRM)? More prescriptive ideas of HRM often use notions of 'personnel management' in order to make their point. Chronologically, the latter precedes the former and is often understood as 'operational' and exclusively managed and administrated by a separate personnel department. Human resources management is commonly understood to have a broader and more integrated organisational remit. Synergistically, Thachappilly (2009) considers personnel management to concern employment contracts, disciplinary issues and compensation. Human resources management views workers as high-value business resources and essential in gaining strategic competitive advantage. In short, the main differences between the two are summarised in Table 1.1.
However, are these differences 'real'? Legge (1995) argues that differences only occur in the emphasis of particular aspects. She also asks whether HRM is a covert process of worker manipulation by management and notes rather cynically, after Fowler (1987), that: 'HRM represents the discovery of personnel management by chief executives' (p. 76). Whether one sympathises with Legge's insightful commentary or not, there is no doubt that a universally appropriate definition of HRM is hard to come by. Wikipedia's online definition of HRM is comprehensive:
[...] the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organisation's most valued assets – the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business. In simple sense, HRM means employing people, developing their resources, utilizing maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational requirement. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resource_management. Accessed February 2009)
However, it is non-specific and merely serves to reinforce the idea (Torrington, 1989; Timo & Davidson, 2005) that HRM can mean whatever the firm wants it to mean depending on context and purpose. Indeed, this perspective is illustrated, albeit 'tongue in cheek', in Box 1.1.
McGunnigle and Jameson (2000) prefer to consider HRM as a 'map', 'notion' or 'theory'. After reviewing the evidence, they conclude that there is much confusion and no comprehensively accepted definition. Additionally, HRM can be divided into 'hard' and 'soft' models'. The former is where workers are viewed in a 'rational' economic manner as an integrative resource in which the business invests to produce economic return. The 'soft' approach is where employees are considered assets and the main source of achieving competitve advantage. Employee commitment strategies are pursued in the belief that workers will regulate themselves towards achieving the organisation's goals. In reality, most firms operate between the two extremes. Consistent with Guest's (1987) normative model of HRM, McGunnigle and Jameson (2000) favour a focus on employee commitment as the common denominator of HRM into which feed other key associated areas of:
• culture;
• recruitment and selection;
• training and development;
• reward systems; and
• employee empowerment. (p. 405)
Accordingly, it is arguably more effective to consider HRM as a philosophy rather than a set of hard and fast practices and procedures. Clearly, administration linked to the personnel function of HRM falls into the latter category. However, it is worth considering the theory behind HRM, which is founded on the notion that workers are thinking, feeling and emotional. In short, they cannot be treated like other resources. As such, HRM seeks to engage holistically; recognising that achieving an appropriate 'fit' between employees' and organisational goals is paramount. Perhaps it is more effective here simply to acknowledge the inherent complexity and simply consider the goal of HRM in the tourism industry:
To help tourism firms to meet their shared strategic goals by attracting, developing, maintaining and managing workers effectively and efficiently.
SERVICES AND THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
Services
It is often argued that service industries such as tourism have a number of important differences from their manufacturing counterparts: for example, the composite product is intangible. This means that the impacts of staff customer interactions cannot be defined and measured in material terms. Moreover, successful service encounters are based on the adeptness of employee performance at the interface and their ability to make customers feel welcome. It is also the case that every customer encounter has the potential to be overtly or subtly unique due to the abilities of each person and their ability to respond appropriately (or not) through the dialogue and encounter process. The third element unique to tourism services (especially hospitality) is that, with some minor exceptions, they have to be produced and consumed at the same point. Finally, the product has a limited shelf-life because tourism services are perishable. Whilst a tangible element of service such as a meal can be replaced, the accompanying welcome cannot be. According to Lashley and Lee-Ross (2003) '[...] service interactions are [...] time specific, it is not possible to rework [them] and [they] have to be right first time' (p. xviii).
These four characteristics help us to understand the nature of the tourism product and most firms operate between two extremes depending on the dominance of intangibles within the mix. This is an important issue and is linked directly to employment policy and overall HRM strategy. Essentially, the more intangibles a service has, the more important becomes the input and skill of the service deliverer. This 'service experience' is the main responsibility of the front-line employee and one which depends on the 'successful' interplay between the actors. Interestingly, the service encounter is the point at which management has little direct influence. Of course some tourism firms have attempted tominimise risk by developing 'scripts' which front-line workers are expected to follow. Unfortunately, if these instructions are followed too closely the encounter often comes over as contrived and non-flexible. Do you believe that McDonald's employees really mean for you to have a nice day? Perhaps 20 or so years ago customers felt that this was the case but no longer applies as customers are increasingly sophisticated and expect far more from the service encounter than their predecessors.
Working at the front-line
Indeed, one only has to consider the complex and demanding role of 'front-line' tourism workers to understand how behaviour at the customer interface cannot be left to chance; the role of HRM cannot be overstated here. In short, the perceived quality of the service relies on the 'success' of the ensuing dialogue between staff member and customer. The former must have the inherent or learned skills to react appropriately to any number of customer-generated stimuli. However, each encounter has the potential to be totally unique and is beyond the direct control of the supervisor or manager. Moreover, 'performing' at the customer interface for long periods can be stressful for the service deliverer, particularly if the emotions displayed are inconsistent with their true feelings. Workers must be able to display appropriate emotions consistent with the expectations of customers. These standardised company 'displays' can be observed in branded tourism organisations such McDonald's, TGI Fridays and Shangri-La hotels; some are easier to 'script' than others; the more interactive the experience the more difficult the scripting process.
According to Mann (1999) there are two ways of managing emotions. The first requires workers to adjust their physical appearance to match the emotional display required and the second is a deeper approach where the employee imagines themselves in the customer's place. The first is simply a 'surface' reaction where the worker only affects the emotion. The second is deeper and requires empathy. Situations where the expected emotion is displayed by the worker but is at odds with their real emotion can produce negative outcomes particularly if the 'dissonance' is maintained over long periods. According to Lashley and Lee-Ross (2003) these could include 'burn out' through increased levels of mental strain, job alienation, increased absenteeism and labour turnover. In this context 'job fit', staff values, attitudes and competencies are key. Optimal recruitment, selection, training and development practices become of paramount importance reminding us of the important role played by human resource management in tourism organisations.
The Tourism Industry
Tourism as an industry is not recognised by international governmental systems of industrial classification. Instead, it is usually represented by an amalgam of other industrial sectors. According to Riley et al. (2002) the best approximation of tourism (and employment therein) is to use statistics from various international classifications of restaurants, accommodation and cafes. In the UK the following sectors provide this information:
• hotels and other tourist accommodation (SIC 551, 552);
• restaurants, cafes etc. (SIC 553);
• bars, public houses and night-clubs (SIC 554);
• travel agencies and tour operators (SIC 633);
• libraries, museums and other cultural activities (SIC 925); and
• sports and other recreational activities (SIC 926, 927).
The international tourism industry is comprised of a fragmented and heterogeneous mix of organisations from both the private and public sectors. Some are directly concerned with customers and their satisfaction whilst others play a less direct and supportive role. Indeed, could suppliers of raw materials for tourism organisational refurbishment be considered as in the tourism business? Markets may be highly concentrated whereby supply is dominated by only a few large companies, for example, global accommodation – Accor (France), InterContinental Hotels (UK) and Marriot International (USA); Australian air travel – Qantas and Virgin Blue; international fast food – McDonald's and KFC, or diffuse where many smaller firms compete against each other. Immediately we can see a situation of complexity and thus one which is difficult to define. Riley et al. (2002: 10) would certainly agree and introduce other reasons hindering a universal definition of tourism.
• Informal economy ('unofficial' employment relationships between employer and worker).
• No universal agreement on what constitutes a 'tourist trip'.
• Paucity of reliable statistics.
• Multi-linkages to other sectors.
Another complexity is that tourism firms do not usually offer their product exclusively to tourists. Consider the potential customer profile of many resort-based firms. They undoubtedly have a mainstay of domestic and international tourists but they will also be used by members of the host community, particularly in the 'off season'. Indeed, many market their services to locals by offering discounted 'local specials'.
After reviewing various philosophies underpinning tourism and its definition, Leiper (1995) considers the practical key as establishing a common understanding and proposes that:
Tourism can be defined as the theories and practices of travelling and visiting places for leisure-related purposes. (p. 20) Leiper's pithy contribution is welcome but unnecessarily generic for our purposes. It also introduces the requirement for yet another definition; that of 'leisure' which is not entirely appropriate here unless we consider leisure to be subsumed within tourism without question. Bardgett (2000) points out that the defining feature of tourism is the tourist rather than the product and cites the internationally agreed definition:
Tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling and staying places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes. (p. 7)
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Human Resources and Tourism by Darren Lee-Ross, Josephine Pryce. Copyright © 2010 Darren Lee-Ross and Josephine Pryce. Excerpted by permission of Multilingual Matters.
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