, Cebu

CASE ANALYSIS PAPER

Date: October 24, 2021

Name : PABLEO, GERLINE MAE O.

Program : Master of Business Administration
Subject : HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Professor : ROEL A. MONSANTO, Ph.D.

Case Study 3.3 Recruitment and Skills Gap in Fontainebleau and Oxygen
Title of the Case

PROCEEDINGS/DETAILS OF THE CASE:

Fontainebleau and Oxygen are two leading multinational hotel chains. Two of their outlets
reveal differences in workers’ customer service skills. Both hotels used different recruitment methods.
Oxygen emphasizes informality when serving customers and employees are allowed discretion
over service counters and their appearance at work. The employees were required to be funky, friendly
and individual.
Fontainebleau’s service brand is much more formal and characterised as traditional and
professional. Employees adhere to rigid brand standards, reinforced through regular training. Employees
were expected to interact with customers in a highly formal manner and be polite, clean and tidy. The
company also provided an industry-standard uniform and had strict appearance guidelines.

FACTS OF THE CASE:

Managers in one branch of Fontainebleau reported that a number of current staff were not fully
proficient in customer service skills, known as skills gaps. This was reported in approximately 25 percent
to 30 percent of the company’s front-line service staff rising to 60 percent in the reception desk. The
company also had a staff turnover rate of 75 percent.
In Oxygen, no customer service skills gaps were reported. The company had a staff turnover rate
of 42 percent.
In terms of recruitment, Oxygen emphasized the brand and unlike Fontainebleau took
applicants on an establishment tour as part of the recruitment process.

PROBLEMS:

When it comes to recruitment and skill gaps, Oxygen exceeds Fontainebleau in most aspects of
the case.
ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS:

1. What factors could potentially have led to Fontainebleau experiencing higher levels of customer
service skills gaps than Oxygen?

Fontainebleau managers were less selective in assessing individuals’ skills and their ‘fit’
with the establishment during recruitment and selection. Oxygen also provided candidates with an
opportunity to tour the establishment during the recruitment process and ask questions, to further
establish mutual fit, which Fontainebleau did not.

2. What perspectives on recruitment discussed in the chapter can be used to analyze Oxygen’s
superior performance in terms of skills gaps and staff turnover?

Rather than emphasizing technical (or psychometric) qualities of recruitment and selection
methods, the primary interest of Oxygen is their social or interactive qualities. Oxygen was creative and
seemed more modern than Fontainebleau’s approach. The case demonstrated how emphasizing
person-brand fit through informal yet selective and strategically integrated hiring practices, may be
superior to standardized, competency-based selection procedures.

3. Are there any apparent contradictions in terms of the recruitment approaches of Fontainebleau
and their subsequent experiences with turnover and skills gaps?

Fontainebleau were not hiring selectively or strategically on the basis of skills and the
candidate’s fit with either the job or the organization. Line managers often departed from the stated,
formal, competency-based policy, appearing to be more concerned with a person’s willingness to do the
job. They were even happy to accept the word of a current employee, alone, on an applicant’s
suitability. Although informal recruitment such as employee referrals may facilitate person-organization
fit, particularly in hospitality contexts or as part of a strategic response to difficult labour market
conditions in this hotel, there appeared to be no consistent attempt to use these methods to address
strategic goals or skills gaps.

4. Are there any potential drawbacks with Oxygen’s approach to recruitment?

Yes. The company should certainly be careful not to employ branded selection practices that are
discriminatory or reinforce harmful gender stereotypes. It should be acknowledged that
recruitment and selection processes such as Oxygens are potentially problematic because of the
risk of social exclusion and negative stereotyping. Those operating in the hospitality industry and
seeking to differentiate themselves by offering a certain ‘style’ in their service may be privileging
those from the middle class or gender roles.