Assignment Brief

Identify a current problem, challenge or opportunity related to delivery of goods and/or services within your
organisation, make recommendations likely to deliver business performance improvements, and develop
the implementation plan.
Note that the assignment should deal with a current issue and not an historical (i.e. past) one.
The report should consist of four elements:
1. Executive summary – this element is NOT part of the word count.
2. Introduction (10% of the marks)
3. Part 1: Analysis of a current process-related problem, challenge or opportunity within your
organisation leading to recommendations to address that problem, challenge or opportunity that will
deliver performance improvements. (50% of the marks)
4. Part 2: Identify the performance improvements and develop the implementation plan and highlight
challenges to successful implementation. (40% of the marks)
.
Introduction:
The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging,
restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism
industry. The hospitality industry is a multibillion dollar industry that mostly depends on the availability of
leisure time and disposable income.

<Unnamed> Worldwide Hotels is a reputable international hotel chain which includes a portfolio of 1,000+
hotels across the world in over 100 countries and employs in excess of 50,000 staff members.

With the company vision to “To fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality”, <Unnamed>
worldwide places a very high emphasis on having a competent & trained workforce.

HotelExecutive.com report states that the “According to a recent study conducted by tourism and training
agency Cert, around 105,000 recruits will be needed in the tourism and hospitality industry over the next
five years. An analysis of the employment and training needs of the sector found 25,000 recruits would be
needed across a wide range of disciplines”

According to a report published by Deloitte named Hospitality 2015, one of the key findings indicated that
the labour turnover in the hospitality industry was as high as 31% and 33% of revenues were spent on labour
costs. Also, the report finds that 11% of employee turnover is spent on recruitment.

In this assignment, we will make an informed endeavour to analyse and make recommendations into the
<Unnamed> Recruitment and Selection process.

Part 1
Analysis:
Currently, the Recruitment Requisition-to-Offer (R2O) process in <Unnamed> hotels comprises of the
following steps:

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 1. Requisition
2. Advertising
3. Pre-Selection
4. Assessment Centre
5. Interview
6. References and Offer

We will analyze the operations involved within the existing R2O process at <Unnamed>, utilizing the
models –

A. Input-Transformation-Output: Understanding the strategic importance of Key process components

B. SIPOC: Build process landscape to understand the Supplier, Input, Process, Output and Customer
C. Process Strategy Matrix: Identification of Gaps, for inclusion during Process redesign approach

Performance
Process People Technology Information
Objectives
Skill set of team
Quality Pre-selection
members at the
questionnaire
assessment centre
Speed Requisition process too Vacancy advertisement
slow internally and externally
Skill set of team
Dependability members at the
assessment centre
More flexibility needed in
Flexibility the set up of the pre-
screening questions
Cost Delay in recruitment
adds to operating costs

Perusing the involved process steps from the above models, we would now detail each step and provide
findings which outline challenges and efficiency leakages found therewith.
1. Requisition: A requisition is an authorisation letter submitted to the Human Resources Director by the
line manager or designates, to indicate a vacancy; it is either created due to a team member’s movement
from the role or an entirely newly created role.
Process:
► The requisition has to be approved by the HR Director before the position can be processed for
advertisement.
► The requisition has all the details required for ensuring that the criteria to recruit has been met by
submitting details such as business needs, budget/payroll guidelines and organisational structure.
► After the HR Director approves the filling of the vacancy, the form is routed to the General Manager.
► The final stop for approval after the GM is the Regional Director of HR.

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► Post-Approval, the Recruiter advertises the role accordingly, in various mediums, as discussed later in
report.
Findings: The challenge with the requisition is that it requires 4 signatures for approval before the vacancy
can be advertised. Sometimes the process cycles could be over-elongated, leading to process delays and
addition of amplified strain on the operation of the business. However, this process is critical for HR planning;
it ensures that there is a clear link between business and HR plans and a better control over costs.

2. Advertising: Advertising is a form of communication used to encourage or persuade an audience to

continue or take some new action.
Process:
The requisition is then processed by the recruitment officer on the following platforms:
► Internal advertising on the <Unnamed> team member website, for existing team members.
► External advertising in the <Unnamed> Worldwide website and using the Property Management

System called <Unnamed>.

► Engagement of external recruitment agencies or executive search organisations for specialist roles
► Review any ‘speculative’ applications or candidates that were recently interviewed and were kept in
"active files" in the <Unnamed> System.
Findings: One of the key requisites & step in this process is that the vacancy has to be advertised on the
internal team member website for 7 days, before it can be advertised externally. This is done to ensure that
there is fair amount of time to attract internal talent; but, however in case of no internal talent available, it
can sometimes be considered as losing time to fill the position from external sources.
Also, the major downside is that the present employee has to pick up the workload of the vacant position
until a suitable candidate is found.

3. Pre-Selection: Pre selection is a process where a candidate is selected, using relevant & preset criterias.
Process: All the received applications through the internal and external channels are then carefully reviewed
by the recruiter; wherein, the applications are evaluated based on the following criteria:
► Applicant experience and suitability for the role
► Relevant and current resume
► Eligibility to work (valid documentation)
► 2 references as per company policy
► Qualifying employment period for internal applicants (Team members have to employed for at least 6
months in their current role before applying for an internal vacancy)
► Completion of pre-screening questions on <Unnamed>

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Findings: Once the resumes are pre-screened / pre-selected, the candidates are then invited for the next
stage which can either be the Assessment Centre or a one-on-one interview.
An observation made through this process is that <Unnamed> system automatically rejects the applications
that do not score a 100% on their pre-screening questions, which could be a big drawback to attract the right
candidate.
4. Assessment Centre: An assessment centre is a place at which a person, such as a member of staff, is
assessed to determine their suitability for particular roles.
Process: All the pre-selected candidates have to go through the following at the Assessment Centre:
► Give a brief introduction of themselves in front of all other candidates (2-3 minutes)
► Participate in 1 or 2 scenario-based group exercises
► Give an individual presentation to the assessors, as to why the candidate should get the job
Once the assessment centre is complete, the best 2 or 3 candidates are invited for a final interview.
Findings:
The assessment centres are run by the recruitment officer and HR Manager with the help of departmental
HOD / line manager. An Observation made during analysis was that in case of the number of candidates
being very high, the additional assessors could be inducted, who may not necessarily have the required skill-
set to assess.

5. Interview: An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked by
the interviewer to elicit facts or statements from the interviewee.
Process: The candidates selected from the assessment centre are interviewed by the departmental HOD, as
part of the final stage of the recruitment process. The interview questions are situational and competency
based, in order to try and assess the candidate's suitability to the needs of the role.
Once the interview is complete and the final candidate is selected, then the references are checked before
an offer is made.
Findings: The situational and competency-based interviews have been considered to have findings of a
consistent nature because of the structure used in conducting the interview.
6. References and Offer:
Process: The selected candidate's references (2 Nos.), collected at the application process, are sent over by
the recruitment officer to be checked for the following:
► To verify & validate objective evidence and factual information (e.g. sickness, absence record etc)
► To check if any negative/unexpected/inaccurate information is mentioned by the referees, which can
be duly investigated and resolved before the offer is made
Once the references have been received satisfactory, and then the Offer is made to the candidate.

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Findings: The references are generally very objective and tend to follow a very structured "closed ended"
questions pattern. It seeks the following information such as:
• Length of employment
• Last job title
• Overall performance
• Conduct and behaviour
• Time-keeping
• Reason for leaving
However, the references do not collect any subjective information as to the candidate's suitability for the
role offered or any competency based feedback. If this information was collected, then it would help make
the best decision in offering the role to the "right" candidate.

Part 2:
Identify the performance improvements and develop the implementation plan and highlight challenges
to successful implementation. (40% of the marks)

Based on the analysis of the R2O process, we would identify the key areas for performance improvement
and go further to define a robust implementation plan. As a part of the implementation plan, we would
further integrate the envisaged challenges/hindrances for a successful implementation.

1. Requisition Process:
Performance improvement Lever: Medium used for existing process viz. Paper-based
Recommendation: Implementation of an e-enabled approval process
Benefits:
► Reduce time in Requisition process
►
Implementation Plan:
I. Development of an online approval email template – in concurrence with <Unnamed> HR policies
II. Implementation & Availability of approval template to departments within the <Unnamed>
ecosystem
III. Training to HR and Department on usage of this new e-enabled approval process & archival
Implementation Challenges envisaged:
I. Amendments to Global <Unnamed> HR Policies could take extended approval periods
II. Resistance to change within the Process ecosystem

2. Advertising: The vacancy must be advertised Internal and External, at the same time to ensure that
there is good pool of candidates (external candidates), in case of no applications internally (By bringing in
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equilibrium of competition w.r.t internal & external, we can reduce X days of waiting before an internal
advert is taken to the external world . This could lead to a faster filling of open requirement, even work-load
on existing employees in the process and X% of improvement in the Requisition-to-Offer Cycle.)
3. Pre-Selection: It is recommended that the pre-screening questions be removed as the candidates do go
through situational competency-based questioning, in person, in the Assessment centre and the One-to-
One interview stages. (Leads to X days of reduction in the R2O process)
4. Assessment Centre Assessors: It is recommended that the assessors at the assessment centre are
trained in interviewing and exercise monitoring techniques as not all of them currently have the required
skill set to do so. (Trained Interviewers could lead to effective output w.r.t recruitment of Role-Aligned
members and reduced employee turnover (Finding the Right person for the right job))

Summary
With the endeavour to build a leaner and an effective R2O process at <Unnamed>, we will be able to deliver
Efficiency growth of upto XX% through X days of reduction in the process cycle.
Though the above summary only highlight the quantifiable benefits, would like to highlight the
qualitative/softer benefits which can be derived as an output of the Implementation plan.
► Faster Onboarding
► Improved skillset of assessors
► Reduced Employee turnover
► Higher employee satisfaction at workplace

References:
1. http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-enya/Local%20Assets/Documents/Deloitte%20Reports%20-

%20Hospitality%202015.pdf

2. Refreshed <Unnamed> Hotels & Resorts Brand Identity Emphasizes Leisure Portfolio

3. http://hotelexecutive.com/business_review/178/internships-and-the-benefits-to-your-hotels

4. http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/<Unnamed>/overview/index.html

5. Chartered Institute Of Personnel Development, 2011 survey

Executive Summary
Through this assignment, we make an informed endeavour of analysing the current process of <Unnamed>
hotel’s recruitment and selection process. <Unnamed> Worldwide Hotels is a reputable international hotel
chain which includes a portfolio of 1000+ hotels around the world in over 100 countries and employs in
excess of 50,000 staff members. According to a report published by Deloitte named Hospitality 2015, one of
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the key findings indicated that the labour turnover in the hospitality industry was as high as 31% and 33% of
revenues were spent on labour costs. Also, the report finds that 11% of employee turnover is spent on
recruitment. In the assignment, we will talk about the Implemented Recruitment processes at <Unnamed>
Hotels and how labour turnover can be controlled by finding the "Right candidate for the Right job".
Recruitment is the process of sourcing the candidates looking for employment and stimulating them to apply
for jobs in the organization and the Selection process is the end result of Recruitment. The Recruitment
process can also be described as gathering the pool of candidates from where the organisation can fill
vacancies.

The analysis was driven on the basis of looking at the following process steps involved:
a. Requisition
b. Advertising / <Unnamed> ( PMS )
c. Pre-Selection
d. Assessment Centre
e. Interviews
f. References and Offer

The output of the analysis was derived as recommendations, which are based on the following topics:
1. Requisition Process
2. Advertising
3. Pre Selection
4. Assessment Centre Assessors

If all the recommendations are to be considered, then all the bottlenecks can be eliminated, surely be an
enhancement in the speed of the recruitment and selection process and will help to bring in the "Right
candidate for the Right role"!

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