1 LT6077GN – Issues in Human Resource Management ASSESSMENT BRIEF - 2 PROGRAMME TITLE: BA (Hons) Hospitality (Top-Up) MODULE TITLE: Issues in Human Resource Management MODULE CODE: LT6077GN INTAKE/SEMESTER: January 2017 (Spring) MODULE LEADER: Dr Sajid Kazmi MODULE LECTURERS Dr Sajid Kazmi Bekhzod Klichev ASSESSMENT TYPE: Group Case Study Analysis with Individual Presentation ASSESSMENT TITLE: Case Study: Jurys Inns WEIGHTING: 40% WRITTEN BY: Bekhzod Klichev MODERATED BY: Vedna Gavaloo DATE OF ISSUE: 13 – 02 - 2017 SUBMISSION DEADLINE: In class presentation 28-04-2017 Electronic submission 30-04-2017 Learning Outcomes Covered: LO1: Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the issues and challenges associated with Human Resource Management. LO2: Critically evaluate Human Resources Management practices against emerging trends. LO4: Critically evaluate approaches to performance management and people development in line with recognised best practice. LO5: Present information and communicate effectively in a wide range of situations. Time permitted: 20 minutes2 LT6077GN – Issues in Human Resource Management Assignment Submission Guidance: This assignment should be submitted in electronic format via college systems on or before the submission deadline. The e-submission system will not allow late submissions. Assignment Aim This is a group case study analysis with individual presentation. A group should contain 3- 4 students with a nominated secretary who will maintain and complete the reflective log. Students are required to produce PowerPoint presentations between 7-10 slides and present in front of the class for up to 20 minutes and to ensure that all students equally contribute to the case study analysis. Assignment Scenario Case Study: Jurys Inns Source: Nickson, D. (2007) Human Resource Management for the Hospitality and Tourism Industries, Burlington: Elsevier Ltd. Read the following case study and prepare PowerPoint presentation between 7-10 slides. Your presentation should attempt to answer all the questions given below. The Jurys Inn hotel is a three-star plus hotel chain targeting business travellers and leisure guests. It is the key brand of the Irish Jurys Doyle Hotel Group PLC that owns and operates three-, fourand five-star hotels in the UK, Ireland and the US, and has a workforce of 4000 employees. As any other companies in the highly competitive and unstable hospitality sector, the Jurys Inn hotel had to develop a successful strategy to stand out from the competition and weather the economic slowdown. Among the strategic initiatives was the recruitment and training strategy aimed at improving quality of customer service. Every time Jurys Doyle Hotels opens a new Jurys Inn, they rely on key local employment providers, such as the Job Centre Plus, the local council and a local training provider, such as a college, to develop a gateway training programme for people willing to move into the hotel industry. Applicants who have passed the initial sifting process are then invited to an 8-week preemployment training programme run in partnership between Jurys Doyle Hotels and the training provider. This programme has proved successful since it was first launched in 1993 and 20 people who are currently working in the company are estimated to have joined the pre-employment scheme.3 LT6077GN – Issues in Human Resource Management It is now estimated that there are, on average, 30 places available at each new inn, representing 25 to 50 per cent of the staff base. After the pre-employment period, successful candidates and other new recruits alike join the Guest Service Staff (GSS) training 4 weeks before an opening. The main objective of this scheme is to develop a multi-skilled team able to operate within all areas of the hotel. Furthermore, the programme has no time limit and is available for every employee willing to advance his/her career. Finally, to make sure its employees are the most effective in the industry, Jurys Doyle Hotel strive to ensure that their staff gains external or professional qualifications such as National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) or CIPD qualifications. Jury's Inn’s recruitment and training strategy has helped them expand in a recent context of economic slowdown. Aside from building Jurys Inn’s skill base, the pre-employment scheme has contributed to creating jobs in cities often hit by unemployment, thereby improving employee loyalty to the hotel. In addition, it involves new recruits in the development of the building in which they are to work. This helps build involvement of employees who might have had doubts about the scheme or working in a hotel. On the other hand, the GSS training is aimed at developing multi-skilled staff that is beneficial both to the employer, who seek to maximize the use of its workforce, and to the employee who gains diverse levels of experience and benefit from more flexible working hours, as they are able to take on a number of different roles. As Edward Gallier, development and training manager for the UK and Ireland, puts it, ‘Our employees can work anywhere in the Inn ... this means we have GSS who can deliver the services of a receptionist, room attendant or porter equally well, with the confidence good training gives them’. Assignment Questions In line with contemporary issues, challenges and emerging trends within Human Resource Management, the board of directors has requested you, the HR manager at Jurys Inn, to prepare a presentation covering the following areas: You must answer all the following questions in your presentation: Questions: a) Carry out a research on Jurys Inn’s HR practices and critically analyse whether its practices ‘fit’ with the organisation’s corporate, business and functional strategies (LO1). (30% of marks) b) Critically evaluate the challenges and benefits of diversity management in Jurys Inn (LO2). (20% of marks)4 LT6077GN – Issues in Human Resource Management c) Critically analyse some of the techniques that are used to train and develop staff at Jurys Inn (LO4). (20% of marks) d) Your presentation should be communicated effectively and professionally along with the correct use of visual aids during the presentation including appropriate and clear font and image size, spelling, grammar and punctuation (LO5). (15% of marks) e) Prepare a reflective statement that considers team cohesion and individual contribution to the group case study analysis i.e., cooperation, negotiation, compromise, leadership, delegation and application of subject-based knowledge and understanding (LO5). (15% of marks)5 LT6077GN – Issues in Human Resource Management Assignment Format Guidance You are advised to use the following format: Title page - The details of the module, student name(s) and ID number(s). Contents page - Should be provided with page numbers. Introduction - The background, the context and the aim of the report. Starts on Page 1. Sections - As many as necessary in line with the tasks required of you. Summary and Conclusion - Overall findings of the investigation: the overall picture that has emerged and the implications for the module. For this assignment you should include an agreed reflective statement to show the contribution from each of the group members. References - Identification of literature and other sources used and referred to in the text. Ensure that all references are quoted at the end of any quotations, definitions and websourced materials. Submission of a report without references will not be allowed. Word count - All tasks should be completed within a limit of 2,500 words plus or minus 10%. Words in tables, diagrams and appendices including your reference list do not count. You should note that there may be penalties for assignments which are over length.6 LT6077GN – Issues in Human Resource Management Appendix A: Plagiarism and Collusion Any act of plagiarism and collusion will be seriously dealt with according to the regulations. In this context the definition and scope of plagiarism are presented below: Plagiarism is defined as the act of using the work of others, intentionally or unintentionally, without acknowledging the source of that information or inspiration. “Even if the words are changed or sentences are put in a different order, the result is still plagiarism” (Cortell 2003). Collusion is described as the submission of work produced in collaboration with others for any given assignment based on the assessment of individual work when one person shares his/her work with others who submit part or all of that work as their own work. In this assignment, it is acceptable to discuss various ideas and concepts with others, but the substantive application and coverage in your submission must be your own work. Appendix B: Harvard Referencing System (HRS) Any information or work that is not yours needs to be referenced or else may be considered as plagiarism. Copying from someone’s work can be unintentionally done if you are unaware of the rules for acknowledging and referencing direct quotations. The Harvard system of citation requires you to use a given convention which places primarily the authors’ surnames and year of publication within the text. For example: According to Bell (1999), as you write your report, you will use a citation to indicate in your text the source of the information. This is called in-text referencing. The authors and publication information cited within the main body of your work must be listed in the reference list. For example: Bell, J.; (1999), ‘Doing your Research Project’, (3rd Ed), Buckingham: Open University Press, pp.1-5. Detailed guidance on the Harvard Referencing System (HRS) is available on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).7 LT6077GN – Issues in Human Resource Management Marking Criteria 70% to 100% Excellent coverage of the topic with justification. Work of distinguished quality which is based on a rigorous, comprehensive and detailed knowledge base, including awareness of the provisional nature of knowledge and its theoretical, ethical and conceptual dimensions, together with its wider context and implications. Work will demonstrate sustained ability to engage in analysis of new/abstract data and situations, synthesise data and concepts to design novel solutions, critically evaluate evidence and its contradictions, and confidence in application to define and propose resolutions to complex problems relevant to the field of study or assessment task. This will be the basis for authoritative arguments and judgements and work which meets professional standards in relation to a full range of key skills. There will be strong evidence of competence across a range of specialised skills using them to plan, develop and evaluate problems solving strategies, to challenge received opinion and develop reflective judgements and reports. Clear evidence of capability to operate autonomously with minimal guidance in complex and unpredictable contexts using a wide range of innovative and standard techniques will be demonstrated. Outputs will be communicated effectively, accurately and reliably. 60% to 69% Work of commendable quality based on a strong comprehensive/detailed knowledge base for the field of study, including an assured grasp of concepts, principles and major theories, and demonstrating some awareness of the provisional nature of such knowledge and understanding together with its wider implications. There will be evidence of considered and confident analysis of new/abstract data/situations, synthesis of data/concepts, critical evaluation of evidence and effective application of knowledge skills to address complex problems. The ability to work effectively within professional contexts with minimum direction to meet objectives and take responsibility for quality of outputs and criticize them will also be evident. There will be evidence of capability in all relevant subject based and key skills, including the ability to selfevaluate and work autonomously with minimal direction to use effectively a range of innovative and standard techniques in complex and unpredictable contexts. 50% to 59% Work of sound quality based on a firm detailed/comprehensive knowledge base for the field of study and its developing and provisional nature, including a good grasp of current theories and issues both abstract and practical, together with the ability to organise and communicate effectively. The work may be rather standard and limited in its insight/theoretical grasp or depth, but will be mostly accurate and provide some evidence of the ability to analyse the new or abstract, synthesise data/concepts, critically evaluate and apply appropriate methods/techniques, with minimal guidance. There will be no serious omissions or inaccuracies and there will be capability in professional contexts. There will be good evidence of ability to take responsibility for own learning, some capability to challenge received opinion and make use of a range of resources to form judgements. Evidence of the ability to operate with autonomy in complex and unpredictable situations, selecting and applying appropriate techniques will be demonstrated within limits. There will be competence in relevant key skills. 40% to 49% Work of broadly satisfactory quality based on a knowledge base which is coherent and of appropriate depth/detail for the field of study, including an awareness of current theories and issues and some key theories, appropriately8 LT6077GN – Issues in Human Resource Management presented and organised. However, work will be primarily derivative, with limited evidence of autonomous/creative analysis, synthesis, and evaluation or application. Although there will be limits to knowledge and intellectual skills, such that work may contain omissions, there will be some evidence of an ability to deploy established techniques of analysis and enquiry, sound conceptual understanding and capacity to manage own learning and communicate effectively and appropriately. There will be some evidence of operating with autonomy in predictable contexts, but less evidence of ability to operate in more complex or unpredictable situations. However, an ability to select and apply a variety of standard and possible innovative techniques, and to meet threshold standards of competence in relevant key skills, will be demonstrated. 35% to 39% Work which indicates some evidence of a systematic and coherent engagement with key aspects of the field of study, including familiarity with current scholarship, and evidence of ability to utilise specialised skills, but which also contains significant limitations in understanding or knowledge, such that there is insufficient evidence of e.g. the ability to sustain valid argument, critically evaluate evidence from a range of sources, effectively communicate complex ideas to different audiences, transfer or apply skills to solve problems in relation to threshold standards of competence. 0% to 34% Work that falls well short of the threshold standards in relation to one or more area of knowledge, intellectual, subject based or key skills. It may address the assessment task to some extent, or include evidence of successful engagement with some of the subject matter, but such satisfactory characteristics will be clearly outweighed by major deficiencies across remaining areas.