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Human resource management practices during COVID 19

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Introduction

The emergence and the spread of Covid-19 have been posed drastic effects on the global

business world. Many departments in company operations have been affected as Gursoy & Chi

(2020)states that Covid -19 has a significant impact on companies' human resource working and

practices. As a result, the department must navigate the present and unforeseeable future by

managing people to ensure that they cope with stress and continue working in designated

locations, hence progressing business as usual. Strategies for business continuation are essential

in the crisis as they also address how people can stay psychologically resilient for all companies.

The human resource's central goal is to ensure a calm environment for all business stakeholders

while engaging in leadership. Hence, to timely, accurately, and respond through communication

from all companies' levels (Acharya,2020). During a crisis, communication is critical and should

be open and honest to ensure credibility and transparency. The approach should originate from

empathy and understanding of the various impacts the crisis has on people concerning mental

and physical effects. The staff acts as the most valuable asset of many companies; hence more

concern should be granted by the human resource management of their welfare. Covid-19 has hit

all industries hard, but the most affected sector is hospitality, which has paralyzed its activities

since the pandemic started. The paper with therefore focus on the practices that have been

implemented by the HRM in the hospitality industry during Covid-19.

The HRM Practices in Hospitality Industry During Covid 19

The spread of Covid-19 came with strict measures, with the major one being a ban on traveling

and closure of hotels across the world (Gursoy & Chi, 2020). As a result, the hospitality industry

was negatively affected in that tourists could no longer travel, and due to the ban against social
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gatherings, hotel operations were as well paralyzed (Handen, 2020). As a result, the HRM adopts

the practices that were meant to enhance the industry's operation since it thrives on the rate of

visitations. The following are the HRM practices that have been adopted in the hospitality

industry in the phase of Covid-19’

Reducing the workforce

During the Covid-19 outbreak, the hospitality industry, especially the hotels, is surviving,

prompting the human resource to lay off the workers due to the wage bill for the workers

(Gursoy & Chi, 2020). The HRM in many companies worldwide adopted temporary lay off of

employees to curb the spread and minimize the hotel's operation costs that were already running

on losses (Handen, 2020). The recent study on scaling down employees due to Covid indicated

that 32% of the travel and hotel companies had implemented employees temporary dismissal. At

the same time, 70% of the hospitality companies had approached the pay cuts for over 60%

(Handen, 2020). The other HR practice adopted in the industry was sending employees unpaid

leave, with 82% of companies admitting this approach. It further revealed that the higher

managers and supervisors were placed on partial and mandatory unpaid leave as they stayed

home. Thus, close to 25% of the industry staff have been laid off since the onset of the

pandemic.

Instilling loyalty among the employees

The primary focus of international hotels is to guarantee employees' care and place people's

value before everything else. During the pandemic, hotels have been keen on mishandling

individuals within the organization may negatively impact the brand(Gerdeman,2020).

Therefore, the HRM of different hotels in the hospitality industry has decided to enhance the
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employee psychological contracts such as Hilton that recently declared teaming up with 30 other

companies to provide temporary employment. Similarly, Accor announced the allocation of EUR

70 million to cover the employees with no medical insurance (Gursoy & Chi, 2020). This is an

unprecedented step by the HRM to ensure that as much as the industry's performance is

declining, the well-being of the employees should be prioritized.

Team optimization and transformation practice

The pandemic has led to a drastic drop in the overall business. Hence, it has forced many

hotel companies to shift to a minimum acceptable level of operation. This has made it easier for

the operators to identify the core staff and the industry's weak team players (Gerdeman,2020).

Therefore, the human resource department has optimized the workforce according to various

variables that impact the labor force structure. For instance, adjusting business plan with

tentative reopening dates, the adaptation of workforce to different occupancy levels, employees'

motivation through training concerning new hygiene rules, hence ensuring the employees' overall

well-being (Jan 2020).

Addition of Substantial Pressure to Cashflow

It is a practice implemented by the Human resource department as a result of the

Coronavirus as the cash flow management tends to become a lifeline in all hotels (Chanana &

Sangeeta, 2020). Labor costs represent a larger component of the hotel operational expenses like

in Marriott and Hilton hence furloughing schemes in response to the pandemic to slash off

cost(Jan 2020). Many hotel chains through the department declared different pay cuts for the

remaining staff. For instance, the Chief Executive Officer put a halt on cash dividends and

reduced senior staff salaries by 50%. The cost-saving practice is evident in many companies, and
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it allows many hotels to recover quickly once demand arises in the market (Gerdeman,2020).

Salary cut policy practices have been implemented by many hotels at every level of the

organizations to enable them to thrive in the current pandemic.

Employee support practices

Human resources understand that when employees are experiencing uncertain situations,

they are followed by stress experiences. To respond to it, many employees tend to leverage their

traits and coping responses. Stress has a significant impact on employees' ability to sympathize

with people as they find it challenging to comfort others in a similar situation and place. COVID

19 has led to tremendous uncertainty, which has influenced various people's mental health

worldwide. Employees are a group of people affect a d therefore, have difficulty working in

unfamiliar circumstances. As a result, the human resource department has come up with

practices to help mitigate the issue through support practices. For example, the selection process

has been employed naturally; some people tend to be good at managing stress than others,

enabling them to make rational decisions, especially during the pandemic. During the crisis

period, the companies have selected critical, cultural competencies and curiosity employees who

can work multiculturally. They can virtually use to provide advice to the people affected by the

pandemic. According to De Cieri, Shea, Cooper, and Oldenburg ( 2019), Companies must offer

support services to ensure stress mitigation, for instance, use webinars on resilience, virtual

counseling services, and employee assistance programs

Educating employees on the safety measures

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The HRM has adopted policies and practices that are flexible in complying with the

applicable laws. This included developing the communication plans that focus on sharing

information with the employees on the critical aspects of Covid-19 (Dwomoh & Luguterah,

2020). They also have to remind the employees about their rights, the applicable laws, and the

response plans that need to be adopted in case of any issue (Gursoy & Chi, 2020). They have

also worked, ensuring that there are applicable workplace ACT whose aim is to protect the

employee include basic employee assessment within the industry. Given that the hospitality

industry constant interacts with people, the HRM have come up with strategies and policies to

upgrade protective measures to avoid exposing employees

Question 2

Challenges faced by HR in Hospitality Industry

According to Malila (2012), the hospitality industry tends to be labor-intensive and

service-oriented business; hence many hotels focus on attracting and retaining qualified staff as

they play a critical role in asset success and prosperity. Many products in the hospitality industry

are service experiences that have to depend on the direct interaction between employers and

customers. Therefore, human resources play a vital role in products and service quality, overall

organization performance, and hotel brand loyalty. The human resource department function

tends to utilize the available resources to increase overall performance to compete effectively in

the market (Bharwani and Butt,2012. However, hotel human resource managers face various

challenges in human resource recruitment, selection, retention, and training towards achieving

customer service goals.

Challenge in Recruitment and Selection

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Kong and Cheung (2009) have identified that the Human resource challenges entail a high level

of employee turnover, lack of qualified employees, and the resistance of new graduates in

venturing into the hospitality industry. According to Eslam (2018), recruitment is considered an

essential human resource function in any hotel. It ensures creating a positive impression about

the individual business in the labor market to attract experienced and qualified personnel

interested in working in the company. Hence it allows the companies to keenly select the best

and eligible candidates as per the requirements. However, it may become a challenge to attract

graduates to the hospitality industry. Many parents may not want their children to enter the

industry as it is associated with a low level of salaries and wages than other sectors in the market

(Fathy, 2019). This results in a shortage of educated, skilled employees in many hotels, given

that they are labor-intensive.

Bharwani& Butt (2012) further assert that Other factors can result in the shortage of

employees, for example, the employees always quitting from the hospitality industry with a

desire to explore in other sectors, as many believe that hotel careers are short and still depend on

individuals physical abilities rather than mental capability. As a result, many human resource

managers are forced to reduce employee requirements as a small percentage are given aptitude

tests on skills to work in the hospitality industry. Therefore, hotels should focus on commitment

strategies towards the retention of their esteemed employees.

Challenge of training

Malila (2012) indicates that many hotels require effective training plans to face the

shortage of qualified staff, especially in the perspective of five and four-star hotels that search for

competent staff to increase overall performance efficiency in the hospitality industry. Many
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employees like to work in organizations that have employed advanced training programs to

enhance individual career development. The hospitality industry must depend on service quality

to attract many customers since it is a labor-intensive industry, creating a competitive advantage

in the market (Kumar, 2020). Consequently, it implies that quality services in the sector must be

aligned with frequent training programs. Hotels must invest in training to improve overall

performance, increase employee motivation, and increase general employee motivation towards

work.

On the contrary, many hotels lack employee training programs that lead to poor

performance and insufficient awareness of the job description and functions, which harms the

employee's ability to deal with the clients, leading to customer dissatisfaction (Brownell, 2016).

Other companies do not value training as they consider the process to be a waste of funds and

time. With small hotels, their budgets tend to be limited; hence, they cannot accommodate

training programs. Inadequate investment in human resource results in high levels of employee

turnover. Since the industry attracts people from remote areas that do not possess adequate skills,

training programs must be enhanced to meet the industry's general needs, increasing overall

performance (Fathy, 2019).

Challenge in Retention and Turnover

Turnover is a significant challenge faced by many human resource managers in the

industry. Many employees prefer to move to competitor hotels with higher salaries and wages,

more promotion, and benefit opportunities in the competitive market (Fathy, 2019). Hospitality

employees shift to other industries due to higher salaries, rewards, and compensation. Employees

work for many years before receiving a promotion in the hospitality industry; therefore, the
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negative aspect entails sacrificing private life and long working hours, resulting in losing

competent and talented employees. Brownell (2016) asserts that women tend to leave their jobs

because of work-related conflicts and lack of advancement opportunities, but men leave jobs due

to unclear duties and responsibilities. Therefore, retention strategies must be designed to cater to

all aspects of the lives of people.

The seasonal nature of work and inadequate training t is believed to increase staff

turnover in the industry. Various factors also contribute to turnovers, such as work-family

conflict, the nature of the workload, traditional and religious reasons, and work leisure conflicts

(Chyrychenko, Kodatsk, and Sabirov, 2020). Therefore, hospitality companies should employ

effective retention strategies and programs to increase productivity and use and an effective

employee retention strategy that includes rewards, promotions, training, compensation, and

hiring. Indeed the development of training opportunities will curb overall employee turnover and

employ servant leadership style as psychological capital has a positive relationship to retaining

the competent and experienced salesperson in the companies (Fathy, 2019).

Culture and Ethics Challenge

Unethical business practices and unhealthy culture tend to damage an individual brand,

workforce, and future viability. For example, there is a various experience above the average

harassment level in the hospitality industry in the workplace aside from ensuring empathy and

adequate care towards workforce result to systematic issues that threaten the entire hotel brand

(Bharwani and Butt, 2012). Human resources managers experience the harassment accusation

and take them seriously with other significant ethical issues perpetuate in the hospitality industry.

Human resource managers come across various topics like theft, harassment, and internet abuse
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by employers; hence, they must develop adequate strategies to adequately track the challenges

(Fathy, 2019). The larger the firm, the more challenges the manager faces, and it becomes

difficult to monitor all staff. In such a company, it is prudent to utilize the available technology

to watch on the workforce and identify systemic challenges that damage the ever-excellent

workplace culture.

Satisfaction and Morale

Gursoy & Chi (2020) argues that unsatisfied employees with low morale lack the incentive to

exceed the expectations from both the managers and the clients. The fact that the hospitality

industry is customer-oriented is detrimental to the industry at large. It also possesses effects on

the quality, the brand, and the reputation of the sector, leading to low ratings that may affect the

organization's performance. However, these are the factors that result from a sufficient number

of employees that cause job stress and unskilled employees. It, therefore, poses a challenge to the

performance of the HR department within an organization.

Challenge of managing technological changes

The current world is characterized by drastic technological changes as they positively

impact the operations of companies. Still, they also change the way and manner in which the

human resource manager executes their duties and responsibilities. Many human resource

managers tend to view technological systems as a problem. The techniques used in the restraint,

bars, and front office desk are more advanced and complex today than in the past as technology

has changed drastically due to globalization (Fathy, 2019). The managers take a lot of time to

adapt and adjust to the new systems, and the workforce's preparation in approving the new
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technology intends to be severe. For instance, when technologies are updated, workers find it

challenging to adopt; hence many do not positively affect change (Handen, 2020).

Question 3

Key trends of Human Resource post-Covid -19

Indeed, shifting the workforce trend in the pandemic period tends to be a clear definition

of specific forces as it is an emergence of new drivers for change in the workplace. Since the

pandemic rests on various major workforce trends, human resource managers must rethink

employee planning, performance experience, and management strategies (Stergiou and Farmaki,

2020). The coronavirus is expected to have a long-term effect on the future working trend in

various significant ways. Hence the human resource managers must specifically evaluate the
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impact of the future trend on the company strategic goals and operations and quickly identify the

actions to be undertaken and the extent to which the trends change the pre-Covid -19 plans and

goals.

A more significant percentage of organizations and firms are replacing full-time staff

with contingent employees, acting as a cost-saving measure. Therefore, the leaders must be

aware of the shifts and how the current people work, and how business is conducted. Human

resource managers must respond effectively to ensure that their firms stand out to be the best

from competitors in the market.

Increase in working from Remote

Many employees are working from remote places due to the pandemic. Many companies shifted

more to remote operations, therefore exploring the critical skills and competencies the esteemed

staff may require digitally and adjust to the current employee experience practices (Kong,

Cheung, & Zhang, H. Q. (2010). The human resource considers how to shift primary

performance goals and employee performance and evaluations in the remote perspective.

Expansion of Data collection

It is a trend that has come up as a result of the crisis. It is expected that many employers

prefer using the technology to monitor their esteemed employees through various methods like

virtual clocking in and out, monitoring employee emails and communication, monitoring

computer work usage Kong, Cheung, & Zhang, H. Q. (2010). Some companies always track

productivity as others focus on the involvement of employees and their well-being. Employee

monitoring has been increased, and the trend will be improved through remote monitoring and
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collecting all employee health and safety information. Therefore, human resource managers must

ensure that proper practices are implemented to collect data and employee analytics.

Contingent Worker Expansion trend

There is economic uncertainty due to the current crisis, causing many workers to lose

their positions as they are exposed to nonstandard work mechanisms (Gursoy & Chi, 2020).

Many firms responded to the effect of the pandemic through the reduction of the contactor

budgets. They will continue expanding the use of contingent staff to ensure workforce

management flexibility post-COVID -19 hence introducing other relevant models like talent

sharing.

Expansion of Employer role as society net trend

Indeed, the pandemic has significantly increased the employers' trend of acting in an expanded

role concerning their employees' financial, mental, and physical well-being (Kumar, 2020).

Various support mechanisms have been introduced, like financial help, adjusted hours of

operation and child care provision , and sick leave. Many organizations have played a critical

role in helping the community by shifting their major operations to producing goods and services

that basically enhance the prevention of the pandemic and offer relief finances to the community

(Handen, 2020).

The transition from efficiency to resilience

Many companies and organizations have redesigned and streamlined their roles, workflows, and

supply chains to facilitate efficiency. Building more responsive firms requires designing

functions that increase flexibility and formalize the overall flex processes (Kumar, 2020). Also,
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employees have been provided with adaptive, varied ad flexible duties to be able to acquire

knowledge and training.

Increase in Organization complexity

The global financial crisis implies companies' failure. Still, as the pandemic subsidies

acceleration must occur, all companies will focus on geographical diversification and rapid

investment in the secondary markets to mitigate and manage the risk (Kumar, 2020).

Dehumanization of Employees

The crisis encompasses humanitarian assistance. Therefore, prioritizing employees' needs and

well-being is essential. Other companies have pushed their employees to execute their duties

and responsibilities under extreme conditions that tend to be risk with no support, hence

treating them as workers first and people in the second perspective. Human resource managers

should ensure that they engage workers in team culture to enhance culture inclusiveness.

The radical transformation of learning

It tends to be a new norm as working derives many ways of acquiring information from online

platforms(Kumar,2020). The trend will increase significantly in the future due to the crisis as

many companies will be forced to turn to launch radical corporate learning through an online

platform. For instance, some companies like Best Western Hotels are already using virtual

reality in training their front desk clerk problem-solving skills (Handen, 2020). Therefore

business leaders should implement engaging experiences with fun, incorporating virtual reality,

augmented reality to enhance corporate learning.

The Action Plans In Hospitality

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Question 4

The drastic spread of the COVID -19 has dramatically disrupted the hospitality industry's

operations and business in the world (Dwomoh & Luguterah, 2020). Many organizations within

the hospitality industry are coming up with actions focused on minimizing the impact of the

pandemic on the major disruptions to the existing economies, public health as well as supply

chains. The industry should undertake various action plans to react to severe business shock and

reshape it as they focus on the recovery plan. Hotels and the tourism industry are more

susceptible to contagion than any other establishments (Fathy, 2019). They tend to be visited by

many people who actively interact among themselves and with the employees. There are also

designations that guests temporarily stay; hence, there is a high degree of interaction between the

employees and guests. Every employee must strictly comply with the protective measures

against the COVID-19 that are recommended by the World Health Organization, for instance,

social distancing, hand hygiene, avoiding touching of body parts like nose, mouth, and eyes, as

well as seeking medical advice in case one develops symptoms that tend to be consistent with the

disease.

Action plan

The hotel management team and industry associations must establish an action plan

focusing on the situation and implement according to the local and national public health

authorities with the primary aim of preventing and managing the cases, mitigating the severe

impact among customers and employees, including cleaning and disinfecting of the areas

occupied by ill or suspected people (WHO, 2020). Necessary procedures, regulations must be

adhered to by all stakeholders in the hospitality industry.

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Mobilisation of resources

The relevant stakeholders should ensure that adequate economic and human resources are

available to achieve various industry actions. Provision of appropriate equipment must be

provided and multiple procedures in collaboration with the local health personnel to facilitate the

management of any case or possible contact within the hospitality industry.

Information and Communication

It is essential to ensure that the reception personnel is adequately informed of the COVID -19 so

that they can be able to execute their duties by preventing the spread of the virus within the

establishment (ZEPHYRO, 2010). They should also be able to inform any guests of the

prevention policy measures and other essential services that the guests might need.

Training and Information

The industry management must ensure and inform all the staff of the measures that should be

adopted to ensure their health and colleagues' protection, including staying at home and seeking

education in respiratory challenges (WHO, 2020). The management should also conduct

information briefing that tends to cover the significant protection measures and possible signs

and symptoms of the pandemic.

Communication

Communication must be maintained between the employees and management to ensure that all

guests' information policy is provided. The provision of adequate guidelines to the staff ensures

following the health ministry's relevant policies and procedures. Additionally, communication

can be further enhanced through short informative posters that amplify the staff's critical
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messages and any individual within the establishment, such as handwashing, coughing etiquette,

and respiratory hygiene (Chyrychenko, Kodatska, and Sabirov, 2020). Official information

focusing on hygiene practice should be communicated in different languages through

informative tools.

Logbook of actions

Maintaining a logbook of various important actions and measures carried out and record them

extensively is essential. Hence it can be used towards the improvement of the actions (WHO,

2020).

Supervision

Implementing the pandemic measures' plan and effectiveness should be frequently carried out to

verify compliance, identification, and adoption to practical experience. It is essential to

communicate and alert the relevant authorities of the unusual employee absenteeism, especially

that relates to the acute respiratory problem as it may be caused by the COVID -19.

Prioritizing people safety and involving in continuous engagement

Ensuring the working staff's safety in the company tends to be an issue of concern

concerning the response to COVID -19. Many people look to their esteemed employer for

guidance measures as addressing the relevant concerns must be open and transparent, therefore

engaging the business community. The industry should expand flexible work plans and other

efforts to work from remote locations safely (WHO, 2020). The sector should reorganize various

teams and resources that support a safe working condition for all stakeholders involved. Regular
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communication is essential to enable each staff to be well informed of the crisis trend, hence

organizing appropriate measures to prevent the spread.

Conclusion

COVID -19 is a pandemic that has had a significant impact on the hospitality industry.

Hospitaliy involves serving people by providing what they require as the guests tend to be

treated with respect and warmth through better services. Due to the pandemic, the global

economy is shutting down and it has confronted the hospitality industry. Various mechanisms

like social distancing, travel restrictions, and state lockdown impact the sector as there is

decreased demand for business; hence, many have been shut down. The hospitality industry must

come up with drastic changes to ensure that customers' and employees' safety is enhanced. The

human resource has implemented various practices during the pandemic, such as redesigning the

industry purpose and redesigning employee work plans like ensuring flexible working schedules

and capacity enrichment. Human resource function plays a critical role in the industry as they

help the hotels actively utilize the available resources to increase performance in the competitive

world. However, the managers tend to face many challenges concerning human resource

recruitment, training, retention, high staff turnover, shortage of qualified personnel, and the

graduates' resistance to venture into the hospitality industry. As the pandemic rests, major work

trends are experienced, and the human resource managers must ensure various strategies must be

implemented for efficient planning, management, and performance. The trend includes an

increase in remote working, expansion of data collection, contingent worker expansion, and

employees' dehumanization. Employees within the hospitality industry must comply with the

protective measures against the pandemic to ensure the industry's smooth function.
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