PROJECT REPORT

BENEFITS OF SOFT SKILL TRAINING

& DEVELOPMENT OF EMPLOYEES
AT FRONT OFFICE OF LUXURY
HOTEL

SUBMITTED BY :
SHIREESH BHARDWAJ
3RD YEAR
IHM BHOPAL
ROLL NO: 140411
 GUIDE’S CERTIFICATE
I have the pleasure to certify that SHIREESH BHARDWAJ
students of IHM BHOPAL have prepared the Research Project
“BENEFITS OF SOFT SKILL TRAINING &
DEVELOPMENT OF EMPLOYEES AT FRONT OFFICE OF
LUXURY HOTELS.” Under my supervision and guidance. The
presented report is the result of his own research to the best of my
knowledge this is being submitted to the institute for partial
fulfillment of the requirement of the three year full time degree in
hospitality management

Guide Name And Signature

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I gratefully thankful to Mr. SANDEEP DUA who guided me for the

completion of this project.

He gave all the important information required for the project. Without his
help the project would not have been possible.

I am grateful to all people of various Hotels who have given suggestions to

improve the project.

SHIREESH BHARDWAJ
 INDEX
 GUIDE CERTIFICATE

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 LIMITATIONS

 INTRODUCTION

 TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

 TYPES OF TRAINING METHODS

 ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS

 TRAINING AND PLACEMENT

 TRAINING OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES

 DETERMINING TRAINING NEEDS AND PRIORITIES

 FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATION OF TRAINING

 TRAINING AND PLACEMENT

 SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO TRAINING

 TRAINING METHODS

 TRAINING COST
 ADMINISTRATION OF TRAINING

 LATEST INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

 CAUSES OF TURNOVER

 WORK HOTEL FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT

 MANAGEMENT METHODS

 CAREER DEVELOPMENT

 METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

 DATA PRESENTATION

 CONCLUSION

 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The global economy of the day has endangered the survival of every hotel
front office department and in particular those who want to have a
competitive edge over the others. The competitive edge may be a distant
dream in the absence of Superior Quality Products which otherwise is the
function of well-trained employees. Today resources are scarce and have to
be used carefully and trainers of all kinds are required to justify their
position and account for their activities. Training activities, which are ill
directed and inadequately focused, do not serve the purpose of the trainers.
The trainees or the hotel front office department hence identification of
training needs becomes the top priority of every progressive hotel front
office department. Identification of training needs, if done properly, provides
the basis on which all other training activities can be considered and will
lead to multiskilling, fitting people to take extra responsibilities increasing
all round competence and preparing people to take on higher level
responsibility in future.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

 The objective of my study is to examine the training Product &

Services for the hospitality Industry,.
 To what extent the executives actually got benefit from the training
being offered.

 Roles and tasks to be carried out by the target group.

 Relationship with other positions vertically and horizontally, and

technological imperatives.

 Relevance, applicability and compatibility of training to wok

situations.

 Training as a means of bringing about a change in behavior back on

the job.

 Behavior including activities that can be observed, measured and/or

recorded

 The expected change in behavior must be useful, closely related to

and subject to maintenance in the work environment.

 Identification of the behavior where change is required.

 Nature and size of the group to be trained in terms of prior training,

situational factors, formal education.

 Existing behaviour defined in terms of ratio, frequency quality of

interaction and supervision, routines and repetitiveness, innovations,
omissions, error, etc.
 Desired behavior aimed at improving the existing condition stated
preferably n quantitative ratio, frequency of occurrence, reporting by
exceptions, self-monitoring mechanisms etc.

 Operational results to be achieved through training stated in terms of

increase in efficiency and effectiveness criteria such as productivity,
cost, down time, turnover, time for innovations and creativity.
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research in common language refers to a search for knowledge. Research is

a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific
topic. In fact, research is an act of scientific investigation. Research
methodology is a systematic way to solve research problems. It may be
understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it
we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in
studying his research problem. It is necessary for the researchers to know not
only research methods/techniques but also the methodology. The scope of
Research Methodology is wider than that of research methods.

The research process consists of a series of closely related activities. At

times, the first step determines the nature of the last step to be undertaken.
Why a research study has been undertaken, how the research problem has
been defined, in what why and why the hypothesis has been formulated,
what data has been collected and what particular methods have been adopted
and a host of similar other questions are usually answered when we talk of
research methodology concerning a research problem or study.
 LIMITATIONS

1. Due to the laziness of people in certain library, a lot of time was

wasted to collect the information.

2. Many people in certain library tried to avoid in giving information.

3. Threatening was given by some people in certain library at the time

of approaching them.

4. A lot of money, time and manpower was spent.

Many people in various hotels refused to cooperate because of their busy

schedule.
 INTRODUCTION

Every hotel front office department needs to have well-trained and

experienced people to perform the activities that have to be done of current
or potential job occupants can meet their requirement , training is not
important. When this is not the case, it is necessary to raise the skill levels
and increase the versatility and adaptability of employees.

As jobs have become more complex, the importance of employees training

has increased when jobs were simple, easy to learn, and influenced to only
as all degree by technological changes, there was little need for employees
to upgrade or alter their skills. But the rapid changes taking place during the
last quarter century in our highly sophisticated and complex society have
created increased pressures for hotel front office department to re-adapt the
product and services produced, the manner in which products and services
are produced and offered, the types of jobs required, and the types of skills
necessary to complete these jobs.

WHAT IS TRAINING ?

Training is a learning experience in that it seeks a relatively permanent

change in an individual that will improve his/her ability to perform on the
job. We typically say training can involve the changing of skills, knowledge,
attitudes or social behavior. It may mean changing employees, how they
work, and their attitudes toward their work of their interaction with their co-
workers or supervisors.
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING

 Learning is enhanced when learner is motivated.

 Learning requires feedback.

 Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a learned behavior will be

repeated.

The principle of reinforcement tell us that behaviors that are positively

reinforced (rewarded)are encouraged and sustained. When the behaviors
punished it is temporarily suppressed but is unlikely to be extinguished.
Punishment tells learners they are doing something wrong.

Learning will be facilitated by providing feedback through positive

reinforcement.

 Practice increases learner’s performance

When learners actually practice what hey have read, heard, or seen. They
gain confidence and are less likely to make errors or to forget what they
have learned.

Active involvement through practice. Therefore, should be made part of

the learning process

These are three ways a worker can practice a job. One is to practice the
whole job at once. The second is to break the job into parts and practice
each part independently. The third is to break the job into two parts, them
three and soon. Which way is the best? It lies in what type of job the
individual has to perform?
 Learning begins rapidly, then plateaus

Learning Curve : Learning rates can be expressed as a curve that usually

begins with a sharp rise, then increases at a decreasing rate until a plateau is
reached. Learning is very fast at the beginning, but then plateaus are
opportunities for improvement are reduced.
 TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Having identified the training needs based on the various analyses discussed
above, the next logical step is to set training objectives in concrete terms and
to decide on the training strategies to be adopted to meet these objectives.
The training needs basically highlight the gap between the existing and
desired repertoire of knowledge, attitude and skills at individual, group and
hotel front office departmental level to enable the employees to contribute
towards the realization of hotel front office departmental objectives at
optimum efficiency. The training effort, thus will have to aim at filling in
this gap by clearly stating the objectives in quantitative and qualitative
terms to be achieved through training. Such an exercise will also enable the
training specialists to evaluate, monitor and measure the extent to which
stated objectives have been met through training intervention. As the
training objectives are related to hotel front office departmental objectives,
the involvement of the top management will be necessary to ensure that the
two sets of objectives are integrated.
Training and Development -
Focus is on identifying and assessing Union/labour Relation Focus :
Assigning healthy union/hotel front office department relationship.  Hotel
front office department Development Focus : assessing healthy inter
relationship as bell as intra Employee Assistance Focus : Providing
personal problem solving, canceling to individual employees - Quality of
work life - Productivity - Readiness to change Hotel front office
department/Job Design. Focus : defining how tasks, authority and system
will be organized Componsation and Benefit Focus : Assessing
compensation and benefits Human Resource Planning : Determining
the origins major HRM needs strategies and policies Personnel research
and information systems Focus : assuring a personnel information base
Selection and Staffing : Focus : Matching people and their career needs and
capabilities with join and career path From the above introduction about
Human Resource management, it has been pretty clear that how important is
human resource and its allocation. Again it depends on human resource
planning. So the next question which arises is what is Human Resource
Planning?

It will be desirable to use the following criteria in setting training objectives:

I. Specific requirements of individuals and hotel front office departments so

as to achieve integration of the two.

II. Roles and tasks to be carried out by the target group.

III.Relationship with other positions vertically and horizontally, and

technological imperatives.

IV. Relevance, applicability and compatibility of training to wok situations.

V. Training as a means of bringing about a change in behavior back on the
job.

VI. Behavior including activities that can be observed, measured and/or

recorded

VII. The expected change in behavior must be useful, closely related to

and subject to maintenance in the work environment.

More specifically the following steps could be involved in setting

training objectives:

I. Identification of the behavior where change is required.

II. Nature and size of the group to be trained in terms of prior training,
situational factors, formal education.

III.Existing behaviour defined in terms of ratio, frequency quality of

interaction and supervision, routines and repetitiveness, innovations,
omissions, error, etc.

IV. Desired behavior aimed at improving the existing condition stated

preferably n quantitative ratio, frequency of occurrence, reporting by
exceptions, self-monitoring mechanisms etc.

V. Operational results to be achieved through training stated in terms of

increase in efficiency and effectiveness criteria such as productivity, cost,
down time, turnover, time for innovations and creativity.

VI. Indicators to be used in determining changes from existing to the

desired level of performance by the employees. (Methods like test-retest
method, pre-post performance method] [Source: Stephen P. Robbins,
p.265]
 TYPES OF TRAINING METHODS

The training methods which are generally used in an hotel front office
department are classified into two i.e.

a) On the job: On-the-job training places the employees in an actual work

situation and makes them appear to be immediately productive. It is
learning by doing. For jobs, that either are difficult to simulate or can be
learn quickly by watching and doing on-the-job training makes sense.

One of the drawbacks to on-the-job training can be low productivity while

the employees develop their skills. Another drawback can be the errors made
by the trainees while they learn. However, when the damage the trainees can
do is minimal, where training facilities and personnel are limited or costly,
and where it is desirable for the workers to learn the job under normal
working conditions, the benefits of on-the-job training frequently offset its
drawbacks.

(i) Apprenticeship programs: Apprenticeship programs puts the trainee

under the guidance of a master worker. The argument for
apprenticeship programs is that the required job knowledge and skills
are so complex as to rule out anything less than a long time period
where the trainee understudies a skilled master journeyman.

(ii) Job Instruction Training: JIT consists of four basic steps: (a)
Preparing the trainees by telling them about the job and over coming
their uncertainties; (b) presenting the instruction, giving essential
information in a clear manner; (c) having the trainees try out the job to
 demonstrate their understanding; and (d) placing the workers into the
job, on their own, with a designated resource person to call upon
should they need assistance.

b) Off the job: Off-the-job training covers a number of techniques –

classroom lectures, films, demonstrations, case studies and other
simulation exercises, and programmed instruction. The facilities needed
for each of these techniques vary from a small make shift classroom to an
elaborate development center with large lecture halls, supplemented by
small conference rooms with sophisticated audiovisual equipment, two-
way mirrors, and all the frills.

 Classroom lectures/conferences: The lecture or conference approach is

well adapted to conveying specific information – rules, procedures, or
methods. The use of audiovisuals or demonstrations can often make a
formal classroom presentation more interesting while increasing retention
and offering a vehicle for more interesting while increasing retention and
offering a vehicle for clarifying more difficult points. The lecture’s
liabilities include possible lack of feedback and the lack of active
involvement by the trainees.

 Simulation exercises: Any training activity that explicitly places the

trainee in an artificial environment that closely mirrors actual working
conditions can be considered a simulation. Simulation activities include
case exercises, experimental exercises, complex computer modeling, and
vestibule training.

 Vestibule training: In vestibule training, employees learn their jobs on

the equipment they will be using, but the learning is conducted away
 from the actual work floor. In the 1980s many large retail chains train
cashiers on their new computer cash registers – which are much more
complex because they control inventory and perform other functions in
addition to ringing up orders – in specially created vestibule labs that
simulated the actual checkout-counter environment.

Training, as a process of long tem learning is essentially a developmental

tool. By effectively utilizing this tool, the hotel front office department
expects to achieve career objectives.

 Contribute towards the career progressions of the employees by

importing knowledge of an additional or reinforcing nature, developing
skills and bringing about desired attitudinal changes among them. This
would not merely prove effective in assisting them to achieve hotel front
office departmental goals but also enable enhancement of their self
esteem and self confidences to face external challenges.

 Ours is a changing and dynamic hotel front office department which has
to pay considerable emphasis on training and retraining its employees to
enable them to be competent, committed and have the capacity to change
according to the external and internal demands and pressures.

Training of employees is not merely the responsibility of the management

or the training cell alone, but the responsibility of department managers as
well. The human resource department must enable the involvement of the
department managers in the process of employee training and development.
 ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS

There are five steps towards the assessment and analysis of training and
development of the hotel front office department.

 Collection of information through interviewing and discussing with key

personnel both inside and outside the hotel front office department or
specific departments; observing the work place, working conditions,
processes and outcomes; examining records, other written information
and annual employee appraisal.

 Compare performances of each department and each employee against

objectives, targets and standards set for them and keeping in mind future
work requirements in the hotel front office department.

 Identify cause of problems faced by the hotel front office department to

enable the management to train the employees in handling the problems
as well as solving the problem in a satisfactory manner.

 Segregate identified problems into problems requiring staff development

action such as training and into problems requiring other management
actions, so that these problems are accurately addressed.

 Prioritize training actions in accordance to where the training need is

more urgent.
TYPES OF TRAINING ADDRESSING VARIOUS TRAINING NEEDS
:

 Entry training involving new recruits and employees required to take a

new job.

 Problem resolution training to meet a shortfall or deficiency in job

performance.

 Training for change to prepare employees for job identified in near

future.

 Development to equip employees to meet hotel front office departmental

changes in future.
DETERMINING TRAINING NEEDS AND PRIORITIES

Management can determine the training needs by answering the following

questions :

 What are the hotel front office department's goals?

 What task must be completed to achieve these goals.

 What behaviors are necessary for each job incumbent to complete his/her
assigned jobs?

 What deficiencies, if any, do incumbents have in skills, knowledge or

attitudes required to perform the necessary behaviors?

 It again depends on seeing the performance of an individual?

Based on our determination of the hotel front office department's needs, the
type of work that is to be done, and the type of skills necessary to complete
this work, the training programme should follow naturally.

What kind of signals can warn a manager that employee training may be
necessary?

Clearly, the more obvious, ones relate directly to productivity; inadequate

job performance assuming the individual is making a satisfactory effort,
attention should be given toward training the skill level of the worker. When
a manager is confronted with a drop in productivity, it may suggest that
skills need to be “fine tuned”.

In addition to productivity measures, a high reject rate or larger than usual

scrape may indicate a need for employee training. A rise in the number of
accidents reported also suggests some type of re-training is necessary. There
is also the future element : changes that are being imposed on the worker as
a result of a job redesign or a technological breakthrough. These types of
changes require a training effort that is less crisis oriented; that is, a
proportion for planned change rather than a reaction to immediately
unsatisfactory condition.

When inadequate performance results from a motivation problem rather

than a skills problem, the rewards and disciplinary action may be of greater
relevance. Nor would training be the answer of the problem lies outside the
job activity itself.

For examples, if salaries are low, if supervision is poor, if workers benefits

are inadequate or if the physical work tryout is deficient, spending on
employee training may have little or no effect on productivity, since
inadequate performance is due to conditions that training cannot remedy.
Training can enhance skills but does nothing to relieve monotony.

Once it has been determined that training is necessary, training goals must be
established. Management should explicitly state what changes or results are
sought for each employee. It is not adequate merely to say that change in
employee knowledge, skills, attitudes or social behavior is desirable, we
must clarify what is to change, and by how much. These goals should be
tangible, feasible and measurable. It should be clear both to the management
as well as the employee.
 FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATION OF TRAINING

Types of Evaluation Levels of Methods of Evaluation

Evaluation/
Objective

1. Context Evaluation: 1. Pre training (1) Same as the ones used in

Obtaining and using assessment of training
information about the needs.
current operational
context i.e., individual
difficulties, hotel front
office department
deficiencies - i.e.,
Training Need
Assessment as basis for
decision. To what
extent are training
courses related to job
requirement?

2. Input Evaluation: -do- (1) Same as the ones used in

Determining and using design and hotel front office
facts/opinions about department of training.
human/material
resources for training
to decide training
 methods or types of
training - inventory of
outside training
programmes

3. Process Evaluation: 2. Reactions Level (1) Observation by trainer

Monitoring training as Opinions/attitudes unsystematic/random
it is in progress – about trainer, (2) Rating Scales for each
continuos examination presentation, sessions or theme -
of administrative usefulness, Analyze, present to trainees
arrangements and involvement. and discuss.
feedback from trainees.
(3) Questionnaires/
Interviews

4. Outcome Evaluation: 3. Learning level (1) Knowledge learning,

Measuring effects of Acquisition of factual and intellectual
training on the relation knowledge, skills understanding
to his job. and attitudes capable - Programmed instruction –
of translating into multiple-choice questions
behavior in training administered at the
situation. beginning of training and
end of session

- Examinations of academic
type, written and/or oral.

(2) skill learning, technical

 and social

- practical tests to
demonstrate skill
administered at the
beginning and at end.

(3) Attitude learning

- attitude scales

semantic differential scales

4. Job Behavior (1) Activity sampling –

Level Changed percentage of time spent by
behavior back on the trainee on different aspect of
job his job.

- observer diaries and record

his activities continuously,
continuos record of his
activities

(2) Self diaries

(3) Observation of specific

indents, e.g., interviewing
skills

(4) Self recording of specific

incidents : devising tailor
made evaluation instruments
through which the trainee
 can himself record details f
the way in which he
performs certain tasks

(5) Appraisal by superiors :

asking questions such as,
“Can you describe any
specific incidents in which
the employee demonstrated
improvement in
knowledge/skill/attitude?”

(6) Self-appraisal, used in

conjunction with appraisal
by others.

5. Consequence 5. Functioning Level (1) Productivity/efficiency

Evaluation : Measuring Efficiency of the of trainee's department
effect of training on firm, effect on (2) Morale of subordinate’s
overall efficiency of other’s behavior, expressed by absence rates;
department/ hotel front cost reduction, etc. labor return over as or
office department. incidence of industrial
disputes. Any index of
functioning which is related
to the training objective can
be used.

(3) Control Groups compare

performance of similar
employees who have not
undergone training.
 TRAINING AND PLACEMENT

Every hotel front office department needs to have well-trained and

experienced people to perform the activities that have to be done of current
or potential job occupants can meet their requirement, training is not
important. When this is not the case, it is necessary to raise the skill levels
and increase the versatility and adaptability of employees.
As jobs have become more complex, the importance of employees training
has increased when jobs were simple, easy to learn, and influenced to only
as all degree by technological changes, there was little need for employees
to upgrade or alter their skills. But the rapid changes taking place during the
last quarter century in our highly sophisticated and complex society have
created increased pressures for hotel front office department to re-adapt the
product and services produced, the manner in which products and services
are produced and offered, the types of jobs required, and the types of skills
necessary to complete these jobs.
 TRAINING OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES

Having identified the training needs based on the various analyses discussed
above, the next logical steps are to set training objectives in concrete terms
and to decide on the training strategies to be adopted to meet these
objectives. The training needs basically highlight the gap between the
existing and desired repertoire of knowledge attitude and skills at individual,
group and hotel front office departmental level to enable the employees to
contribute towards the realization of hotel front office departmental
objectives at optimum efficiency. The training effort, thus will have to aim
at filling in this gap by clearly stating the objectives in quantitative and
qualitative terms to be achieved through training. Such an exercise will also
enable the training specialists to evaluate, monitor and measure the extent to
which stated objectives have been met through training intervention. As the
training objectives are related to hotel front office departmental objectives,
the involvement of the top management will be necessary to ensure that the
two sets of objectives are integrated.
It will be desirable to use the following criteria in setting training objectives :specific
requirements of individuals and hotel front office departments so as to achieve integration
of the two.
Roles and tasks to be carried out by the target group.
Relationship with other positions vertically and horizontally and
technological imperatives.

Relevance, applicability and compatibility of training to wok situations.

Training as a means of bringing about a change in behavior back on the job.
Behavior including activities that can be observed, measured and/or
recorded
the expected change in behavior must be useful, closely related to and
subject to maintenance in the work environment.

More specifically the following steps could be involved in setting

training objectives:
 Identification of the behavior where change is required.
 Nature and size of the group to be trained in terms of prior training,
situational factors, formal education.
 Existing behavior defined in terms of ratio, frequency quality of
interaction and supervision, routines and repetitiveness, innovations,
omissions, error, etc.
 Desired behavior aimed at improving the existing condition stated
preferably n quantitative terms such as ratio, frequency of occurrence,
reporting by exceptions, self-monitoring mechanisms etc.
 Operational results to be achieved through training stated in terms of
increase in efficiency and effectiveness criteria such as productivity,
cost, down time, turnover, time for innovations and creativity.
Indicators to be used in determining changes from existing to the desired
level in terms of ratio and frequency.
Depending on the objectives set, the next step is to decide on the strategy
of training involving the following:
 Classification of objectives in terms of purposes :
 Corrective objectives
 Maintenance/status-quo objectives
 Problem solving objectives, and
  Innovative objectives
 Classification of objectives in terms of levels of learning :
 Skills of motor responses, memorization and simple conditioning.
 Adaptation level where one is gaining knowledge or adapting to a
simple environment;
 interpersonal understanding and skill;
 Values of individuals and groups.
 On-the-job or off-the job training.
 In-house or external training.
 Individual or group training.
 Horizontal, vertical or diagonal/mixed group.
Changes required, if any, in the existing work roles, hotel front office
departmental relationships, work system requirements, process of
supervision and alternative structures.
 SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO TRAINING
ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS
 Identification of hotel front office departmental
objectives/needs/growth potential and resources.
TASK ROLE ANALYSIS
 Identification of knowledge, skills and attitudes required.
MANPOWER ANALYSIS
 Identification /definition of target population and performance
analysis.
STATEMENT OF TRAINING NEED
 Identification of gap between existing and required level of
knowledge skills and attitude.
 Isolate problem areas amenable to resolution through training
SETTING TRAINING OBJETIVES
 In terms of behavioral charges
 In terms of output/results
DEVELOP MEASURES FOR JOB PROFICIENCY
DEVELOP TRAINING POLICY, PLAN, PROFICIENCY
PLAN AND DESIGN TRAINING AND PROGRAMME
 Course construction
 Arrange resource
CONDUCT TRAINING PROGRAMMES
 Individual
 Group
 On-the job
FOLLOW UP AND EVALUATION
 Carry out evaluation at various phases against the training objectives
set.
 Develop follow-up measures for monitoring.
VALIDATE
 Against measures of job proficiency
ENSURE FEEDBACK OF RESULTS
REVISE IF NECESSARY
 DETERMINING TRAINING NEEDS AND PRIORITIES

Management can determine the training needs by answering the following

questions :
 What are the hotel front office department’s goals?
 What task must be completed to achieve these goals.
 What behaviors are necessary for each job incumbent to complete
his/her assigned jobs?
 What deficiencies, if any, do incumbents have in skills, knowledge or
attitudes required to perform the necessary behaviors?
 It again depends on seeing the performance of an individual?
Based on out determination of the hotel front office department's needs, the
type of work that is to be done, and the type of skills necessary to complete
this work, the training programme should follow naturally.

What kind of signals can warn a manager that employee training may
be necessary?
Clearly, the more obvious, ones relate directly to productivity; inadequate
job performance assuming the individual is making a satisfactory effort,
attention should be given toward raining the skill level of the worker. When
a manager is confronted with a drop in productivity, it may suggest that
skills need to be “fine tuned”.
In addition to productivity measures, a high reject rate or larger than usual
scrappage may indicate a need for employee training. A rise in the number of
accidents reported also suggests some type of re-training is necessary. There
is also the future element : changes that are being imposed on the worker as
a result of a job redesign or a technological breakthrough. These types of
changes require a training effort that is less crisis oriented; that is, a
proportion for planned change rather than a reaction to immediately
unsatisfactory condition.
When inadequate performance results from a motivation problem rather than
a skills problem, the rewards and disciplinary action may be of greater
relevance. Nor would training be the answer of the problem lies outside the
job activity itself.
For examples, if salaries are low, if supervision is poor, if workers benefits
are inadequate or if the physical work tryout is deficient, spending on
employee training may have little or no effect on productivity, since
inadequate performance is due to conditions that training cannot remedy.
Training can enhance skills but does nothing to relieve monotony.
Once if has been determined that training is necessary, training goals must
be established. Management should explicitly state what changes or results
are sought for each employee. It is not adequate merely to say that change
in employee knowledge, skills, attitudes or social behavior is desirable, we
must clarify what is to change, and by how much. These goals should be
tangible, verifiable and measurable. It should be clear both to the
management as well as the employee.
 TRAINING METHODS
The training methods which are generally used in an hotel front office
department are classified into two i.e.,
On the job
Off the job
Training, as a process of long tem learning is essentially a developmental
tool. Through, effectively utilizing this tool, the hotel front office department
expects to achieve career objectives.
 Sensitize employees towards their role in achieving the hotel front
office departmental vision of “Leadership through Differentiation”.
 Contribute towards the career progressions of the employees by
importing knowledge of an additional or reinforcing nature, developing
skills and bringing about desired attitudinal changes among them. This
would not merely prove effective in assisting them to achieve hotel front
office departmental goals but also enable enhancement of their self
esteem and self confidences to face external challenges.
 Ours is a changing and dynamic hotel front office department which
has to pay considerable emphasis on training and retraining its employees
to enable them to be competent, committed and have the capacity to
change according to the external and internal demands and pressures.
Training of employees is not merely the responsibility of the
management or the training cell alone, but the responsibility of
department managers as well. Accordingly, the human resource
department must enable their involvement in the process. In the
process of employee training and development.
TRAINING STEPS
There are four basic steps in carrying out the training function :
 Assessment of Training needs (A)
 Designing the training action plan (B)
 Administration of training (C)
 Retraining and Reinforcement of training (D).

(A) ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS

There are five steps towards the assessment and analysis of training and
development of the hotel front office department.
 Collection of information through interviewing and discussing with
key personnel both inside and outside the hotel front office department or
specific departments; observing the work place, working conditions,
processes and outcomes; examining records, other written information
and annual employee appraisal.
 Compare performances of each department and each employee
against objectives, targets and standards set for them and keeping in mind
future work requirements in the hotel front office department.
 Identify cause of problems faced by the hotel front office department
to enable the management to train the employees in handling the
problems as well as solving the problem in a satisfactory manner.
 Segregate identified problems into problems requiring staff
development action such as training and into problems requiring other
management actions, so that these problems are accurately addressed.
 Prioritize training actions in accordance to where the training need is
more urgent.
DESIGNING TRAINING PROGRAMME.
Having completed the ground work of training needs and assessment
whereby training gaps are identified and prioritized, the next step is to
design the trailing action plan which involves the following :

Types of training addressing various training needs :

 Entry training involving new recruits and employees required to take a
new job.
 Problem resolution training to meet a shortfall or deficiency in job
performance.
 Training for change to prepare employees for job identified in near
future.
 Development to equip employees to meet hotel front office
departmental changes in future.
Training imported in any type would be skill, attitude or knowledge based
training or a combination of the three.
 Identifying the Trainee groups.
 Identifying the most effective training methodology.
 Classroom training outside the hotel front office department through
external agencies for meeting specific job function related needs which
cannot be imported internally. This is normally the case when the training
involves specific areas and smaller numbers making it uneconomical to
conduct the programmed internally. These external sources must be
chosen with care and must be able to fulfill the hotel front office
department's analyzed training and development needs. This training
methods must be supplemented by enabling the trainees to apply in the
 work place and translating into job competence the knowledge and skill
gained through such training.
 Classroom training within the hotel front office department through
external and internal agencies : These programmes must be carefully
designed to ensure that they mirror the trainee group’s requirements
individually and collectively. Like the external courses, when designing
these programmes, one must ensure that the training objectives are
expressed in terms of job competence as well s knowledge and skill.
 This method of training is must effective in bringing together
employees in larger numbers to address common training needs. The
training faculty is critical to the success of such training programmes.
The importance and the initiality of the need for proper communication
of knowledge and ideas dictate that the selection of faculty members
must be made keeping the receiver in mind.
 On the job training enables the employees to learn the job while
actually carrying out the tasks involved in the job. All new recruits
joining the organization are required to undergo induction programme
with planned work experience in various departments associated with
the employee’s own department for a short duration to equip the
employee with basic knowledge fundamental to his job function.
Entry training is normally imparted through internal on-job and off-job
training methods.
Problem resolution training, training for change and development related
training may be imported through internal or external on-job or off-job
training methods depending on programme design, objective and target size.
 TRAINING COST
The cost of training is usually expressed in term of the following equations :
(a) Of the purpose is to determine per employee expenditure on training :
Training expenditure (per employee)
= Total Training Expenditure
Number of employees
(b) If the purpose is to determine per trainee expenditure on training :
Training expenditure (per trainee)
= Total training expenditure
Number of trainees
(c) If the purpose is to relate training costs to training activities one or more
of the following formulae become relevant :
Training cost per day = Training costs
Training days
Cost per Trainee = Training Costs
Number of trainee
Trainee ratio = Number of trainees
Number of employees
The following questions need to be addressed while looking at costs of
training :
 What costs? Whether and does one allocate and apportion fixed
investment costs (building, equipment, etc) and input cost (time spent by
line managers in providing training, top management time in giving
policy direction, monitoring, etc.).
 evaluation of training is extremely difficult and complex.
 Quality is not free. Cost reduction in training cannot be at the
experience of quality. Sometimes, it may cost more (in terms of after
affects of training). Wasteful training costs can be reduced, where it
becomes possible to identify. Perhaps it is less costlier to defer or avoid
training than make any compromise in ‘inputs’ merely on cost
consideration.
 FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATION OF TRAINING

Types of Evaluation Levels of Evaluation/Objective Methods of Evaluation

1. Context Evaluation Obtaining and using information about the current
operational context., individual difficulties, organization deficiencies - i.e.,
Training Need Assessment as basis for decision. To what extent are training
courses related to job requirement?1. Pre training (i) Same as the ones used
in assessment of training needs.
2. Input Evaluation Determining and using facts/opinions about
human/material resources for training to decide training methods or types of
training - inventory of outside training programmes -do-(i) Same as the ones
used in design and organization of training.
3. Process Evaluation Monitoring training as it is in progress - continuous
examination of administrative arrangements and feedback from trainees. 2.
Reactions Level Opinions/attitudes about trainer, presentation, usefulness,
involvement.
(i) Observation by trainer unsystematic/random
(ii) Rating Scales for each sessions or theme - Analyze, present to trainees
and discuss.
(iii) Questionnaires/Interviews4. Outcome Evaluation Measuring effects of
training on the relation to his job.
3. Learning level Acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes capable of
translating into behavior in training situation.
(I) Knowledge learning, factual and intellectual understanding -
Programmed instruction - multiple-choice questions administered at the
beginning of training and end of session - Examinations of academic type,
written and/or oral.
(Ii) skill learning, technical and social - practical tests to demonstrate skill
administered at the beginning and at end. (Iii) Attitude learning - attitude
scales semantic differential scales 7 o 5 point scales stretching between pairs
of adjectives with opposite meaning administered at the beginning and end
of training.
4. Job Behavior Level Changed behavior back on the job
(i) Activity sampling - percentage of time spend by trainee on different
aspect of his job. - Observer diaries, continuous record of his activities (iii)
Self dairies (iv) Observation of specific indigents, e.g., interviewing skills
(v) Self recording of specific incidents: devising tailor made evaluation
instruments through which the trainee can himself record details f the way in
which he performs certain tasks (vi) Appraisal by superiors: asking questions
such as, “Can you describe any specific incidents in which the employee
demonstrated improvement in knowledge/skill/attitude?” (vii) Self-appraisal,
used in conjunction with appraisal by others.5. Consequence Evaluation
measuring effect of training on overall efficiency of
department/organisation. 5. Functioning Level Efficiency of the firm, effect
on other’s behavior, cost reduction, etc. (I) Productivity/efficiency of
trainee's department (ii) Morale of subordinate’s expressed by absence rates;
labor return over as or incidence of industrial disputes. Any index of
functioning, which is related to the training objective, can be used. (Iii)
Control Groups compare performance of similar employees who have not
undergone training.
ENTRY POINT TRAINING APPRAISAL FORM
Name ---------------------------------- Designation
----------------------------------------
Appraisal for ------------------------------ Department
------------------------------------
Training on ------------------ From ------------------------- To
-----------------------------
Name of Appraiser -------------------------- Designation of
Appraiser----------------
Factors 1234a) Attendance and punctuality Absent Late in Reporting Late in
Coming back from Break Reports on Time b) Appearance and Grooming
Very untidy, poor, poise and purpose Some time untidy, careless about
appearance Gets untidy as the day, programmes Neat and tidy c) Health
Tires easily Frequently tired and over exerted Meets physical and energy job
requirements Excellent Health d) Interest and desire to learn Slow and dull
No desire to learn Sometimes shows a lack of interests Takes interest and
asks questions Exceptionally interest and desired to learn) Communication
(oral, written ad comprehensive) Imprecise. Difficult to understand, poor
comprehension Sometime has a difficulty in communication Clear
Communication and comprehensive Precise and pleasant and effective Any
other remarks
Suggestions/Observations made by Appraise Signature of employee
Signature of the Appraiser
 ADMINISTRATION OF TRAINING
1. Training Project sanction
The training calendar must be finalized by 31st March of every year on the
basis of training new analysis exercises. The training calendar designed must
bear a fiscal budget to meet the expenses required for its execution. The cost
projection must be made on the following:
 Cost of Training Programme including faculty fees.
 Cost of transportation and accommodation.
 Cost of training aids.
 Cost of training books/manual.
2. Circulation of Training Plan
It is circulated to all departments’ heads in an easy to read calendar for the
calendar is arranged chronologically and at a glance should enable the reader
to understand all aspects of the programme.
LATEST INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

An overview of employment in hotels and restaurants is presented in table

1.3. The table shows data supplied to the ILO by a limited number of
countries using the International Standard Industrial Classification of all
Economic Activities, Revision 3 (1990), which allows a distinction to be
drawn between hotels and restaurants and commerce in general. What is
striking about the information given in table 1.3 is the high proportion of
unpaid labour in the hotel and restaurant trade in some countries, including
the industrialized countries. This reflects a large number of small
entrepreneurs and their non-remunerated family members. In some
countries, this proportion is increasing as paid employment is growing more
slowly than total employment, although in general growth rates for both are
high.

Composition of the labour force

Worldwide, employment within the tourism economy is estimated at 192.2

million jobs (one in every 12.4 jobs in the formal sector). By 2010, this
should grow to 251.6 million jobs (one in every 11 formal sector jobs). [71]
This includes employment created by fixed capital formation activities and
by providers to the tourism industry. Direct employment for tourist
consumption amounts to about 3per cent of total employment worldwide. In
some countries, however, the proportion is three times higher (Spain – 8.3
per cent; Mauritius – 10 per cent; Barbados – 10.5 per cent). The industry is
heavily dominated by SMEs: in Europe, for example, there are 2.7 million
SMEs operating in the sector, representing almost all HCT enterprises. Some
94 per cent of this segment are micro-enterprises employing fewer than ten
people.[72] SMEs employ over half the labour force working in the industry
(see table 3.4).

Although tourism is a growth industry and a major creator of value added,

the industry is vulnerable to a variety of economic, ecological, geopolitical
and meteorological factors, and over-reliance on it can be dangerous for a
country. Economic recession and the impact of natural disasters or terrorist
attacks can devastate the sector in a country for several years. One example
is the recent Asian financial crisis which resulted in a substantial tourism
downturn throughout 1997 and 1998 in affected countries, which have only
recently started to recover. Another is the war in the Balkans, which has
seriously reduced tourism income in that area. Events of this kind represent
the extremes of a recurrent uncertainty in an industry which is characterized
by the seasonal nature of many of its activities and by important fluctuations
even during normal periods. These factors shape the structure of the tourism
labour force, making it difficult to maintain high permanent staffing levels.
There is a generic tendency to operate on the basis of a core staff and to
employ the labour needed for day-to-day operations under atypical
contractual arrangements.

As the ultimate “just in time” deliverer of goods and services, the restaurant
sector has to face exceptional peaks of work as, to a lesser degree, does the
hotel sector – either during holiday periods or, for example, to deal with
congresses. The industry responds by maintaining a large pool of temporary
labour on which it can draw in response to demand. These workers are likely
to be young and/or female. The necessary availability is often found among
students wishing to combine university or vocational studies with flexible
working hours in hotels and restaurants. The industry employs mostly young
people, and indeed for many of them provides the point of entry into the
world of work. Women may also find flexible arrangements convenient as a
means of balancing family obligations and work. The available statistics
show that the industry also has a high proportion of female employees.

The prevailing patterns of the HCT workforce are illustrated by the

following statistics:

 a study by the National Restaurant Association in the United

States,[73] based on 1996 data, found that 52 per cent of restaurant
employees in the United States were women, 25 per cent of
employees were aged between 16 and 19 years, 19 per cent were
between 20 and 24 years and a further 25 per cent were aged between
25 and 34 years;
 in Austria in 1995, women accounted for between 60 and 70 per
cent of total HCT employment, depending on the subsector, the
proportion of women being particularly high in food services and
accommodation. In the same country, 14.5 per cent of workers in the
industry were under 20 years old;[74]
 in the Netherlands, the average age of workers in the industry is
23 years; in Denmark, 50 per cent of all employees are under 30 years
old; in Spain, over 50 per cent of all employees are under 34 years
old, and the 16-24 years age group represents 20.4 per cent of total
employment in the sector;[75]
 some 58 per cent of workers in the hospitality sector in
Australia are women; in Denmark, the industry is 62 per cent female;
 in Italy there is a 50 per cent split between men and women; in the
Netherlands 52 per cent of employees are women; and, although in
Spain the figure is 42.5 per cent, the number of women employed in
the sector is increasing.[76]

In an industry which employs a large proportion of young, mobile people,

turnover is bound to be high, and recruitment is a habitual problem in the
sector for this and other reasons. However, one hotel in the United Kingdom
has introduced a customer host scheme, under which older recruits – with a
minimum age of 55, but generally over 60 – are recruited to help out as
concierges during peak periods. Such employees often have considerable
experience in the industry and may have a lower absentee rate. [77] Another
example is found in the Canadian accommodation sector, where the
workforce is ageing owing to lower turnover in workplaces with better
working conditions and wages. One-quarter of the workforce is over 44
years old, and trade unions are starting to negotiate reduced workloads for
older employees whose work involves a high degree of physical exertion.

Salaries and wages

According to a 1996 survey by the European Foundation for the

Improvement of Living and Working Conditions covering 15 European
Union countries, working conditions within the industry included a number
of potentially problematic areas, such as irregular working hours, frequent
work on Sundays, wages without a fixed basic element in 25 per cent of
cases, widespread absence of overtime payments and wage levels generally
20 per cent below the European Union average. [87] The following national
examples from Europe and North America are illustrative:
  In Switzerland, despite an agreement of 1 January 1999
covering all hotel and restaurant employees, HCT workers had
average monthly earnings of Sw.frs.3,394 for an effective working
week of 42.8 hours, while monthly pay in the economy as a whole
averaged Sw.frs.5,000.
 In the United Kingdom, average weekly wages for full-time
manual, hotel and catering jobs were £225.80 for men and only
£170.80 for women in 1998, while national average wages for manual
workers were £328.00 for men and £211.00 for women.
 In New Orleans in the United States, the Hospitality, Hotels and
Restaurant Organizing Council (HOTROC) has stated that an average
hotel housekeeper earns US$5.48 an hour, which places most hotel
workers and their families 20per cent below the federal poverty level.
In this connection it should be noted that hotel workers in New
Orleans are the only non-unionized hospitality workers in a major
United States tourist and convention destination.
 In Canada, average weekly earnings increased by 5 per cent in
the accommodation sector between 1998 and 1999, but food and
beverage earnings lag far behind, having risen by only 1.9 per cent, in
line with inflation. The average weekly wage in Canada in
accommodation is Can$309.14, and in food and beverage
Can$221.30. These wages should be viewed against the national
average wage of Can$582.85 a week.

Such comparisons do not give a complete picture of the wage structure in the
industry. For one thing, comparisons between HCT sector wages established
by law or collective agreements and national averages may not fully account
for the real wages in those branches where tips or gratuities account for a
sizeable proportion of employees’ earnings. These are not always declared
for tax purposes, nor are they always known by the employer, and may thus
represent a net, tax-free source of income. Secondly, comparisons need to be
made with similar occupations of equivalent skill and training levels in other
sectors, but the statistical basis for doing so is often lacking.

Some comparative data are provided in the tables in Appendix 2. They are
taken from the few countries where sufficient information is available. The
figures suggest that hotel and restaurant workers earn less than workers in
socially comparable occupations, and that the differential tends to be higher
in developing countries, and higher for the occupations requiring higher
skills and responsibilities.

Changing forms of remuneration

Basic wages reflect competitive labour markets, collective agreements and

national laws. Variable pay is emerging as a way to reward employees whose
performance enhances the success of an establishment. As a strategy, this
idea is not yet common in the sector, but it is beginning to take hold. In the
United States, Rodeway Inn International, at Orlando, and Motel Properties,
Inc. have both developed successful techniques to reward employees above
their basic salaries, based on a monthly assessment scheme.

Job and income stability and staff turnover

Turnover figures vary from region to region within countries, but the overall
picture is alarming. In the United States, according to a 1998 study,[91] annual
turnover in 1997 was running at 51.7 per cent for line-level employees, 11.9
per cent for supervisory levels, and 13.5 per cent for property managers. The
study shows that the turnover rate for the managerial levels is far lower than
for line employees. In Asia, rates of around 30 per cent annually are quoted,
rising to more than 50 per cent in Hong Kong, China (possibly owing to the
construction of numerous hotels, creating a more competitive labour
market). In the United Kingdom, a study carried out by the Institute of
Personnel and Development in 1997 found a national turnover rate in the
sector of 42 per cent, second only to the retail trade, with a rate of 43.5 per
cent and far in advance of construction, where the rate was 25 per cent. In
the fast food sector, in both Europe and the United States, turnover rates as
high as 300 per cent are reported. It should be noted, however, that turnover
figures do not separate out non-standard, part-time jobs from full-time posts.
Many employees, such as college students, are not interested in permanent
positions.

An American Hotel Foundation report puts the cost of replacement of hourly

employees at between US$3,000 and US$10,000, while the average figure
for restaurant employees is similar, at US$5,000. Many companies equate
the cost of losing a trained manager with roughly one year’s salary, allowing
for the time it takes for the replacement to become fully operational. In the
United Kingdom, the 1997 report by the Institute of Personnel and
Development estimated the cost of replacing a worker in the hotel and
leisure industry at £1,922, and concluded that an average of ten weeks was
required for training.
Recent negotiations within the European Union in the context of the
employer-driven search for greater flexibility at work raise the prospect of
improved conditions for part-time and fixed-term contract workers. The
European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has made clear its position
that if employers require more flexibility, then workers must have better
protection. The Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of
Europe (UNICE), which represents private-sector employers, has said that
employers are prepared to discuss discrimination against agency workers,
provided that the unions recognize that temporary work is an integral part of
a functioning market. The UNICE has also called for an easing of
restrictions to allow shorter contracts and greater flexibility in their renewal.
The ETUC has observed that temporary agency work is increasing all over
the European Union. It doubled between 1996 and 1998 in Spain, while in
France and Germany it increased by 30 per cent in three years.[92]

CAUSES OF TURNOVER

Different reasons for high turnover are cited by employers and employees.
Employers’ representatives generally consider that turnover in the industry
should be attributed to the essentially transient nature of part of the
workforce, namely students, young mothers and young people as a whole, as
well as to the general difficulty in retaining staff. [93] Employees, on the other
hand, frequently cite low pay as a reason for changing employment,
although lack of a career structure and benefits would appear to be of even
greater importance. In the United States, for example, even if hotels and
restaurants pay US$12.00 an hour, they are in competition with such jobs as
bank tellers, and restaurant work retains the stigma of being physical work.
Job stability, career prospects and reasonable hours of work are all part of
the equation. As long as other jobs offer equal levels of pay, but more
advantageous working and employment conditions, the problem of turnover
will persist in the hotel and restaurant sector, unless the industry can create
equivalent conditions or compensate in other ways. The transparency
provided by the Internet will only serve to highlight these factors as they
become more widely known.

Measures to prevent turnover

In companies where employees are recognized as valued assets and receive

the training needed to assume greater responsibility, and where their opinion
is sought with regard to operational changes, turnover rates are lower.A
study carried out at Purdue University in the United States on the basis of
questionnaires sent out to 255 fast food outlets found that establishments
which provided a package of benefits to their employees were less affected
by turnover. Turnover fell by around 30 per cent among employees who
could expect scheduled wage increases, paid holidays, health and life
insurance and Christmas bonuses.

Prevailing working conditions

(a) Working hours

Many branches of the industry are acknowledged to be particularly arduous

in terms of workload and hours of work. In France, where the 35-hour
working week is due to come into force for companies with more than 20
employees by 1 January 2001, and for all firms by 1 January 2002, the hotel
and restaurant subsectors, which overwhelmingly come within the sphere of
family-owned small businesses, regard this legislation with some
trepidation. Fifteen years of negotiation were needed to arrive at a national
collective agreement for the hotel and restaurant sector in 1997, providing
for a working week of 43 hours. A survey carried out by the European
Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
covering all 15 European Union countries in 1996 found that 50 per cent of
hotel and restaurant sector employees worked irregular hours; 80 per cent
worked two to five Sundays in a month, and 41 per cent worked six or more
nights monthly. Table3.1 shows official hours of work in the tourism
industry in the European Union.
.Official hours of work in tourism in 13 European Union countries

Hours per week

Country

More than 48 hours Ireland

45-48 hours/week

France, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy,

40-44 hours/week
Netherlands, Germany, Spain

Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Finland,

Less than 40 hours
Sweden
Source: C. Juyaux: Quels emplois dans le tourisme?(ETLC paper).

(b) Reduction in workloads

A number of negotiated workload reductions have emerged recently in

Europe and North America. In the institutional catering sector of the
Netherlands, a recently negotiated national collective agreement provides for
a 10 per cent annual reduction in workloads based on evaluations at the
workplace. Procedures are to be established for handling workload-related
grievances, and temporary contracts must now state the actual number of
hours worked. The possibility of early retirement at 61 years with 80 per
cent pay is included in the agreement. A collective agreement ratified by
HERE Local 2 in the United States covers 11hotels in San Francisco. The
agreement introduces a doubling of retirement benefits, a reduction in the
number of rooms per housekeeper from 15 to 14, and average pay rises of
3.78 per cent. It also contains provisions on the specific rights of migrant
workers, health coverage, extra personnel for special events and workloads.
[99]

(c) Accidents, violence and stress at the workplace

Work-related injuries tend to be more frequent, if generally less serious, in

the HCT industry than they are in construction. Almost 50 per cent of
workplace managers have reported one or more occurrences of work-related
illness in the preceding year. Of these, stress is the most common.

Violence in the work context is on the increase. The ILO publication

“Violence at work”[101] identifies hotel, catering and restaurant staff as likely
to experience violence and quotes a recent survey into the extent of violence
in pubs in southern England according to which 24 per cent of pub licensees
felt “highly” at risk and nearly another quarter felt “quite” at

Resource development

Introduction

The traditional constraints of the hotel, catering and tourism industry – long,
antisocial working hours, low pay, unstable, seasonal employment, low job
status, etc. – make employment within the industry appear unattractive to
many. A study carried out in 1996 in Germany found that employment in the
hotel and catering trade was not the first choice for nine out of ten
employees, while only one employee in seven was satisfied with the trade as
a choice of career. Nevertheless, the industry does attract some people either
on a short-term basis or for a long-term career.

The immediate and most obvious consequences of such a situation are the
difficulty of recruiting suitable staff and high staff turnover; both these
effects are costly to the industry. There is therefore a perceived need for
human resource development, to raise the profile of the industry, increase
productivity and provide decent, sustainable employment within the sector.

Estimating labour productivity

A wide range of technological developments in service in hotels may be

affecting productivity. Integrated management systems are enabling hotel
companies to computerize day-to-day reception operations. Clients are thus
able to make their own reservations via the Internet, while electronic in-
room installations make it possible to settle accounts from the hotel room.
This technology will also make it possible to monitor the productivity of
personnel, while new techniques in food preparation and storage are
reducing the skills needed in the kitchen and the time required for food
preparation.[163] Hotels are therefore seeking new ways to measure service
delivery that take into account customer satisfaction and return visits, rather
than sticking to a narrow “input/output” system.

In Europe, tourist-related activities account on average for 5.5 per cent of

GDP in all European Union Member States and for a total of 9 million
employees, representing 6 per cent of the total workforce. The precise
percentages vary from country to country. According to WTTC simulated
figures, the tourism industry’s labour force represents about 3 per cent of the
world’s total labour force and produces about 4 per cent of total world GDP.
The industry can therefore not be regarded as labour intensive throughout.
Table 4.1 shows the figures for four countries where tourism is a labour-
intensive industry.

WORK HOTEL FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT

(a) Flexible work

The First World Travel and Tourism Summit, held in 1977 in Vilamoura,
Portugal, recognized that travel and tourism create an unparalleled number
of entry-level jobs for young people and women and provides part-time or
seasonal employment for people seeking flexible working arrangements. The
Summit called for the reduction of rigid practices in labour markets to
encourage greater staff mobility, productivity and innovation in a
progressive employment environment, with emphasis on a flexible market
economy, avoiding protectionist regulation.[165] The Conclusions and
Recommendations of the European Union’s High Level Group on Tourism
and Employment[166] drew attention to the fact that notable adjustments were
taking place in European tourism, that these were critical to its
competitiveness, and that they would lead to important changes in the
tourism labour market. Those are: a refocusingof core competencies; a
deskilling of operational tasks in some sub-branches; upgrading of skills and
specializations, in particular in large enterprises and tourist hotel front office
departments and in complementary services; and the creation of new
professional profiles to meet tourists’ needs and preferences. The document
draws attention to a tendency within the industry to transfer work operations
from traditional core sectors to ancillary service suppliers.

A positive example of flexibility is provided by the Sheraton-Denver West

Hotel in the United States, where two experienced sales managers share one
full-time job, thus enabling the company to benefit from the energy and
experience of two persons for the price of one. In this instance, both
managers wanted to work part time to accommodate their personal and
family needs. The arrangement was particularly effective, since both
managers were in continual contact. Job-sharing opportunities of this kind
will be even more viable in the future, as information becomes more
comprehensively shared and more easily transmitted.[167]

(b) Seasonal employment

One opportunity which has been insufficiently investigated is the possibility

of using the inter-season period as a time for training to impart new skills,
guaranteeing re-employment of qualified staff in successive seasons so as to
retain their services. A hotel located in Savonlinna (South-Savo, Finland), a
city famous for its summer opera festivals, has adopted this approach. To
deal with the multicultural and demanding clientele drawn by the summer
festival, the hotel pays its core staff to attend off-season training courses in
language skills, knowledge of food and wine and leadership skills.
Employee development is seen not as a cost but as an investment which pays
good returns during the summer season.
(c) Multiskilling

The employers argue that one way to create sustainable, realistic

employment in the industry is to implement a policy of “multiskilling”. This
is also viewed as a means of reducing the problems of recruitment.
Multiskilling has always been practised in small enterprises, but it is only
recently that particular attention has been paid to it. As demand for general
competencies in small enterprises as well as in major hotel and restaurant
chains has grown, and as appropriate means of training for these
competencies have been developed, awareness has grown of the importance
of multiskilling in that segment. One person fulfilling several roles at
different times of the day combines the tasks of several (part-time) jobs into
one job. Multiskilling is also seen as a way to create or preserve a number of
full-time jobs, as opposed to part-time jobs, since the tasks may be
performed at any time of the day. Instead of employing specialists on a less
than full-time basis, employees are trained to perform the tasks of several
specialists, often supported by facilitating technology. In Finland, a
relatively small hotel has adopted a “multitask” policy. All its employees
must be willing to perform any of the tasks that are necessary to operate the
hotel. When hiring staff, the hotel manager gives precedence to “right
personality” over all other criteria. Some workers left when this decision
was taken which suggests that the approach is not universally appealing to
employees. According to the CBI, “… skills flexibility is indispensable for
functional flexibility. It requires a strong basic education system and a
commitment on the part of employers and employees to the acquisition of
new and transferable skills. It helps maintain high employability and reduces
frictional unemployment associated with skills mismatch”. [168] The IUF, on
the other hand, considers that such multiskilling may have the effect of
devaluing specific skills, since the flexible worker, as viewed by the
employer, has no specialized skills or job qualifications, and performing a
variety of tasks requires a lower level of knowledge for each of them. The
highly skilled, and consequently better remunerated, specialist worker may
become a thing of the past.[169] However, the unions also concede that an
employee able to perform a variety of tasks is more valuable to an employer
and should be remunerated accordingly.
MANAGEMENT METHODS

Corporate hotel front office departments are downsizing and restructuring,

which means that they are cutting back on layers of management. This
means that less direction is being imparted to employees, who are more
frequently required to accept a greater degree of responsibility and
accountability. Increased use of technology in the workplace also means an
added responsibility for individual workers. It is estimated that the
“knowledge revolution”, by providing clear information via the Internet on
all the industry’s tangible elements (illustrations of accommodation and
hotel facilities) will make the intangible elements (those imparted by
personal contact and service) all the more important. Lower levels of staff
will be empowered to act autonomously. Command and control structures
are thus largely giving way to a participatory teamwork approach. Human
resources trained to fit in with new working methods will have to be
regarded as an asset in which investment must be made, rather than merely
as a cost, or employees will seek employment elsewhere. Management is
developing ways in which to attract and retain employees.

The advent of new technology will not stop the industry from being a
supplier of entry-level jobs; clearly, a large number of routine jobs will
continue to exist. However, the question of staff retention will remain a
management problem. Information technology will make potential entrants
to the industry more aware of the possibilities available, compounding the
problem for the industry. In order to retain staff, certain companies have
already set up an incentive system. McDonalds introduced a broad-based
stock ownership programme in 1995 to improve staff morale and
productivity, while in Europe, one major hotel chain has established the
CHAMPS reward programme, in which employees earn points for
cleanliness, hospitality, accuracy, product quality and speed. These points
can be used to buy catalogue merchandise.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Truly structured careers, in which workers have genuine prospects of career

development, are not numerous in the hotel, tourism and catering sector, and
efforts to retain employees through incentives or promotion are the
exception rather than the rule. Not only do people tend to “pass through” the
sector, but research has shown that it is often the most talented who leave,
since they are the most confident of finding other employment, while the
less confident stay for fear of becoming unemployed. However, for many
young people the industry is an entry point to the world of work. It brings
workers into direct contact with the public and can provide opportunities for
travel. Moreover, for young people, the provision of food and lodging – a
common practice in the industry – facilitates entry into active adult life.
These factors combine to make tourism a major motor for the social and
professional integration of the young.

(a) New and changing occupational profiles

With the advent of new technologies and an increasingly discerning public

able to keep informed through the Internet, the hotel sector is being forced to
widen its sphere of action beyond the traditional provision of food and
accommodation. In the pursuit of improving the intangibles, major hotel
chains are seeking to provide more services, both in response to customers’
needs and in an effort to provide an “experience” rather than simple lodging.
For example, the French Accor Group has expanded into travel agency
services, car hire, casinos and on-board train services, while other groups
have established connections with sectors that are indirectly linked to
tourism, such as insurance, travel articles and health and beauty services.
The range of services now expected by customers naturally requires an
upgrading of skills among front-desk staff, who will for the most part be
required to administer these services. This will call for motivated personnel
with excellent social skills and an understanding of what people want.

Advances in computer technology allow far more rapid and detailed

generation of information on quality and economic performance. Hotel
managers will thus be called on to react more quickly, to analyse situations
and take appropriate decisions. The wider range of services on offer will also
call for greater marketing skills than were previously necessary. In large
hotels and hotel chains this is resulting in the creation of posts which are
new to the industry, but which already exist in other fields, such as budget
analysis and management accounting expert, quality manager, yield
manager, technical and computer services manager. With greater emphasis
being placed on environmental protection, there is also an increasing need
for experts on the environmental impact and planning of tourism
development. Similarly, greater concern over food safety is creating a
growing need for food safety and health experts. As the hotel sphere
increasingly includes services catering for customers’ entertainment needs,
sports and games specialists as well as specialized tour guides are opening
up as careers in the tourism sector.
(b) Women’s careers

Women traditionally play an important role in the hotel, restaurant and

tourism sector. However, their access to the higher levels of the corporate
structure remains problematic. In the United States, a recent study found that
less than half (43.8 per cent) of all managerial posts in hotels were held by
women,[170] while further figures show that although between 1985 and 1995
the number of women in restaurant supervisory positions rose by 34 per cent
to 260,000, or 68.9 per cent of all food-preparation and service-providing
jobs, they held only 8 per cent of seats on the boards of directors of 100 of
the largest restaurant chains. Moreover, they represented only 4 per cent of
the industry’s highest ranking officers, and 4 per cent of its top earners. [171]
To an extent this is the result of friction between family and work
responsibilities, especially given the prevailing long working hours in the
food-service business. The lower wages paid to women make it more
feasible for them to take time off from work to look after family needs than
for their husbands to do so. To help resolve this problem, enterprises are
starting to introduce family-friendly programmes involving flexi-time, tele-
commuting and childcare schemes.

At the level of line employees, a United Kingdom hotel has found an

innovative solution to problems it had been encountering in recruiting and
retaining room service staff. The hotel decided to target its recruitment
efforts on mothers of school-age children and agreed to provide a play leader
to look after the children during school holidays. The cost of the play
leaderwas made up by saved advertising and recruitment costs previously
incurred as a result of high staff turnover.[172] Nonetheless, it remains
generally true that there is a gender-based income disparity across all
segments of the hotel, catering and tourism industry.

(c) Measures to promote career building in the enterprise

New divisions of labour and changes in the nature of jobs within the tourism
sector mean that the industry is employing an increasingly varied range of
employees. However, although tourism is a diverse sector which can provide
many working opportunities for a wide range of skills, there is a shift within
Europe away from specific skills towards broader, more generic
competencies. Good practice in training is largely limited to large hotel
chains, and small, individual enterprises tend to rely on training given “on
the job”. According to research in Spain, managers of three-star hotels
recognized that older workers rarely had any of the formal training required
to deal with a more sophisticated clientele, and younger workers lacked
industry-specific practical skills. However, they were generally reluctant or
unable to invest in training, on the grounds that the cost could not be
sustained by their operations.[173] The key training needs established by
employers and trade unions are food safety, IT, environmental awareness and
foreign language skills. The industry provides few post-experience training
or retraining opportunities, and, indeed, commitment by the private sector to
human resource development appears slight, especially where such
development lies beyond their immediate operational needs: “European
companies, especially smaller businesses, provide little by way of financial
and practical support for human resource development within the wider
educational and training framework.”
Within the multinational hotel industry, however, there is a trend towards
investment in education, training and development, to meet the need for a
higher level of customer-oriented service. The Radisson Hotel Group
acknowledges that the success of the company depends on the knowledge,
skills, abilities, motivation and dedication of its employees, and
consequently has a well-developed internal training system, with links to
outside training establishments as well, to which 0.4per cent of each hotel’s
total revenue is dedicated. Through the Radisson SAS climate analysis
system, outstanding efforts and exceptional results, both individual and on a
team basis, are rewarded through local incentive schemes. The training
emphasis is shifting towards continuous learning and increasing the potential
of individual employees. A total of 515 employees were trained in
11different areas in the Radisson SAS Management School in 1999, with
specific training in business finance, revenue management, euro handling
and business planning. Efforts have been made by the enterprise to establish
relations with European and American hotel schools, so that a steady flow of
students takes up internships at a Radisson hotel. The Per-Axel Brommesson
Scholarship enables four talented employees a year to develop management
skills through professional development programmes at institutions such as
Cornell University, and other business schools.

In order to bring the training provided by formal education institutions into

harmony with the requirements of the everyday operation of the trade, the
industry has entered into partnership with teaching establishments, to ensure
that the content of their courses is relevant to work in the sector, and to offer
students, through that linkage, practical experience in all fields.In the United
States in 1996, the Hospitality Business Alliance (HBA) was formed
between the National Restaurant Association and the American Hotel and
Motel Association to create a school-to-career programme. Worksite
experience is an integral element of the training. During the school year,
students work between 15 and 20 hours a week in the enterprise, gaining
experience in front-desk operations, housekeeping, room service, safety and
health, reservations, sales and marketing and convention services. The
system has grown from involving three high schools in 1997 to 600 high
schools in 1999, covering 25 States and 11,000 students.

One hotel group in the United Kingdom noted a training gap which was
preventing the company’s (multi-)unit managers, whose role is a largely
implementational one, from progressing to a more strategic role within the
enterprise. The company’s human resource department has organized
strategic management development schemes at a number of leading business
schools in the United Kingdom and the United States. The courses are
designed to expose area managers to the strategic concepts of operational
management, including corporate governance, finance, marketing and
human resource strategy.[176] This move to supply appropriate training is
appreciated by unit managers aspiring to strategic, policy-creative posts.

A number of hotel chains have introduced schemes to enhance careers within

their structures, with a view to reducing staff turnover. Choice Hotels
International in the United States analysed the requirements for its senior
executives on the basis of suitable existing competency models, then
assessed the competencies of current top executives and compared these
with the competencies needed for the future. This enables the company to
carry out annual readiness assessments and to establish a genuine career
structure within the group, thus avoiding the disruption and expense of
replacing executive staff. A further example is provided by Motel 6, which
has established an HRD approach whereby every employee is eligible to
become a manager, via a three-tier training scheme. By early 1998 this
system had allowed around 300 Motel 6 employees to reach the grade of
general managers, thereby helping to fill a need for qualified managers by
providing employee training and the basis of a career structure.

(d) Developing language skills

An increasingly culturally diverse clientele has necessitated specialist

training in the field of knowledge building for staff. ITT Sheraton operates a
number of resort hotels in the Hawaiian islands, where the presence of
Japanese clients has encouraged the creation of Japanese language and
culture courses. This initiative has resulted in a significant increase in the
number of Japanese guests frequenting the hotels, while the courses
themselves have become problem-solving sessions with staff. In 1992, the
Four Seasons Hotel and Resort developed the Self-Access Learning Centre
in Indonesia, where the company was opening a new resort, to teach English
to locally recruited staff. The courses were designed to take account of the
fact that around 80 per cent of the staff had no more than primary-school
education. The centre now teaches French and Japanese as well as Bahasa
Indonesia. Employees are rewarded as they complete each of the five levels
of the course with bonuses ranging from Rps.100,000 to Rps.250,000 (about
$8-20), and a certificate of achievement. Turnover at the resort is low, at 4-6
per cent.
(e) Career enhancement through increased employee responsibility

The Ritz-Carlton Company has identified the empowerment of individual

staff members as a way to retain staff through increased job satisfaction.
Employees were invited to take on certain management duties: the front-
office employees, for example, were invited to take over the role of the
front-office manager. As an incentive, the hotel proposed dividing half of the
savings obtained through the elimination of the post among the employees
who had taken on the duties (about $1.00 each an hour). The replaced staff
members were not sacked, but redistributed elsewhere in the company. At
another hotel, a system of self-directed housekeeping teams was established
and responsibility given to the teams for choosing their own work areas,
evaluating room quality and conducting room inspections; this has increased
the staff retention rate and morale among room attendants. [178] In 1993,
Accor launched a three-year programme to “re-engineer” the structure of
Sofitel North America. The programme was designed to empower
employees to make decisions to benefit guests, and called for volunteers
eager to make improvements in services provided by the hotels. Since
suggestions for improvements and alterations were now originating from the
employees, peer resistance within each department was minimal: a culture of
trust and communication was established. The result has been an increase
not only in customer satisfaction, but in employee satisfaction as well. Staff
turnover fell from 58 per cent in 1993 to 39 per cent in 1998, below the
industry average.
Among the reasons frequently cited for reluctance to taking up employment
in the hotel, tourism and catering trade, lack of promotion possibilities
features prominently. The broad pyramid of the hierarchy within the industry
renders interpretation of the word “career” difficult. While careers are
possible in the sector, and it is theoretically possible to progress from waiter
to managing director of a major hotel chain, the increasingly flat
management structures can only make this increasingly difficult. On the
other hand, systems designed to reward staff financially for their
performance, with the aim of reducing staff turnover and encouraging a
feeling of “belonging” to the enterprise, are not yet accepted by all staff, and
vertical career aspirations are still widespread. Modern-minded employers
trust that job satisfaction is tending to shift away from hierarchical feelings.
Bonuses to enhance job satisfaction can be awarded (and sometimes
withdrawn) at any time, according to individual or collective performance.

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

1. SECONDARY SOURCES: Secondary data was collected from various
sources such as :

 Broachers

 Internet

 Company Bulletin

The details of these sources are mentioned in the bibliography.

2. PRIMARY DATA: Primary data was collected through a structured, non-

disguised questionnaire wherein respondents were asked about their
changed job profile after their training in the relevant field. They were
also asked about where were they lacking and up to what extent this gap
has been fulfilled. The above questionnaire is prepared taking into
consideration the HR Training course attended by the
executives(Assistant Managers, Managers, Sr. Managers and Assistant
General Managers.

STATISTICAL METHODS USED FOR ANALYSIS OF DATA

The various methods used for the analysis of the data collected were:

Tally method

Method of Moving average

Bar graphs and Pie charts.

DATA PRESENTATION
The data collected from the respondents has been tabulated. Each question
has been handled one-by-one in sequence. The data has been collected by
Trainees.
Q. 1. What are your objectives in attending a training programme?

12 11

10
8
8 7

Respondents 6
4
2 1
0
0
A B C D E
Options

A. Gain knowledge in your area

B. Develop competencies
C. Self Development
D. Personal satisfaction
E. Overcome mental blockage and eliminate complacency
Conclusion:The above graphical presentation shows that most of the
respondents’ objective is self development. But some require that they
wanted to gain knowledge and develop competency in their particular area.

Q2. To what extent the objective of attending the training program is

normally achieved?

14 13
12
10
8 7
Respondents
6 5
4
2
2
0
0
A B C D E
Options

A. Not too much

B. Very little
C. Average
D. More than Average
E. Quite a lot
Conclusion: The above graph shows that objective of their training is
achieved more than average, which means more than half of the participants’
objective of training was fulfilled.
Q 3. What are the methods used for analysis of your training needs?

10 9
8 7 7
6
Respondents 4
4
2
0
0
A B C D E
Options

A. Analysis by superiors or company

B. Discussion with superiors
C. Questionnaires
D. Self Analysis
E Discussions at departmental levels

Conclusion:The methods used for analysis of the training needs in the

above graphs shows higher mark when there is discussion with superiors by
which they can identify which kind of training is actually in need. But
looking at the C & D part depict that their training needs was identified by
questionnaires and self analysis.
Q 4. What are the methods used to evaluate the effectiveness at a
training program?

13
14
12 10
10
8
Respondents
6 4
4
2
0
A B C
Options

A. Feedback after training

B. Improvement in performance
C. Written Test/exam

Conclusion:Most of the respondents had given their option in methods of

analysis of effectiveness by improvement in performance of their job profile.
But some of the respondents feel that by giving feedback after training
would also be benefit for analysis of effectiveness.
Q 5. Difficulty level of the training course is

16
16
14
12
10
Respondents 8
6 5
4 3 3
2 0
0
A B C D E
Options

A. Extremely difficult
B. More difficult than average
C. About Average
D. Easier than average
E. Extremely easy

Conclusion:As far as difficulty level of the course content is concerned,

most of the trainees feel that the course content was about average which is
considered to be normal course. This results that trainees were given the
course of their need.
Q 6. Do you think the methods used are relevant and effective?

16
16
14
12
10
Respondents 8 6
6 5
4
2 0 0
0
A B C D E
Options

A. Strongly agree
B. Agree
C. Neither agree nor disagree
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree
Q 7. Are you provided with adequate continuing training to keep you
abreast of the changes in the environment?

12 11
10 9
8
6
Respondents 6
4
2
0
0
A B C D
Options

A. Regularly
B. Very often
C. Sometime
D. Never
Q 8. Is there any improvement in the job profile after having trained in
your relevant field?

12
12
10 9
8
Respondents 6 5
4
2 1
0
0
A B C D E
Options

A. No improvement
B. Little improvement
C. Average
D. More than average
E. High Improvement
 CONCLUSION

 Training needs analysis is done taking into consideration the views of not
only the superiors, but also the trainees themselves. This was confirmed
from the responses of trainees. The trainees felt good that they were
involved in the analysis of their own needs and also said that the
management was very co-operative and tried to incorporate their views
and suggestions to the extent possible. Thus, as far as this aspect is
concerned, the trainees were satisfied with the procedures followed.

 The trainees felt that the thrust in future should be on developing people
skills and not only functional skills. They also said that IT would be a
focus area and for the future, As the Management related programmes are
held annually, the trainees had expressed their views about their effective
handling of different projects from time to time, so, Management related
programmes must be organized so as to gain more knowledge to apply in.

 The pre-training experience was also narrated by the trainees from whom
it came to the conclusion that the trainees were not able to apply their
skills in a particular type of work. But after the training, this gap seems to
be have been fulfilled.

 Many trainees felt that they were not being given adequate training to
keep them abreast of the changing environment.

 Most of the times trainees were not involved in the training program
planning. There were two reasons behind it. Firstly, the participants were
not given the training they actually needed. Secondly, some participants
 were so busy in their routine work that they were not granted permission
from their immediate officer to attend the training.

 In most cases, trainees had given their views in the form of discussion
when there was person-to-person interaction. They pointed out that by
attending the HRD courses at NIAMAR, like Effective Leadership
Skills programme, have helped a lot in managing their subordinates to
perform work in a systematic way.

 Taking into consideration the above facts, it is true that most of the
employees have gained a lot but a few too have queries about their
attending training programme.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Various Publications and Journals By Confederation of Indian

Industry [CII]

2. Various Magazines and Newspapers

3. Various Journals and Magazines By British High Commission

Library

4. Various Journals and Magazines By INSDOC Library

5. Human Resource Management By Frederick E. Schuster

6. Publications and Journals By Various Hotels

 Mirza S. Saiyadain- Human Resource Management 2 nd Edition

Publishers – Tata McGraw-Hill.
 V.K. Dubey – Management of Training and Development and Motivation
Skills.