Kim Hoque

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE IN THE UK HOTEL INDUSTRY

This article examines the relationship between human resource management and performance in the UK hotel industry. Using data from over 200 hotels, the results demonstrate, first, that the relationship between HRM and performance is dependent upon the business strategy the hotel is pursuing; second, that hotels pursuing an HRM approach coupled with a quality focus within their business strategy perform best; and, finally, that HRM is more likely to contribute to competitive success where it is introduced as an integrated and coherent package, or bundle of practices.

HRM in the SME sector: valuable employees and coercive networks

Although the productivity and survival of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may be enhanced if they adopt human resource management (HRM) practices, there is a far greater degree of informality in employment practices in SMEs than in larger workplaces. The aim of this paper is to assess the extent to which a range of factors both internal and external to the workplace predict the extent to which HRM practices have been adopted in SMEs. Using data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey, the analysis reveals that differences in workforce skill-mix, unionization and the customer base are important influences, with the first of these influences being particularly strong. As such, we suggest SMEs may lack the capability to develop HRM practices, but they are more likely to adopt such practices if they employ highly skilled employees and are networked to other organizations

Equal Opportunities Policy and Practice in Britain: Evaluating the ‘Empty Shell’ Hypothesis

This article evaluates the nature and incidence of equal opportunities (EO) policies in the UK using data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS 98).The article identifies the types of workplaces that are more likely to adopt formal gender, ethnicity, disability and age policies. It then assesses whether the policies are ‘substantive’ or merely ‘empty shells’: first, by evaluating the extent to which workplaces that have adopted EO policies have also adopted supporting EO practices; and second, by evaluating the proportion of employees who have access to EO practices in workplaces where they have been adopted. On balance, the ‘empty shell’ argument is more convincing. Smaller workplaces, private sector workplaces and workplaces without an HR or personnel specialist are identified as being more likely to have an ‘empty shell’ policy.While unionized workplaces are more likely to have a formal policy, those policies are no less likely to constitute ‘empty shells’. Finally, the policy, economic and legal implications of the findings are discussed.

Human resource management in the hotel industry : strategy, innovation and performance

Introduction and a framework for analysis Is there a role for HRM in the Hotel Industry? New approaches to HRM in the Hotel Industry: A comparative analysis. Influences on HRM in the Hotel Industry HRM in practice in the Hotel Industry HRM and Performance in the Hotel Industry Conclusion

Non-Standard Employment in the Management and Professional Workforce: Training, Consultation and Gender Implications

Over the past decade, important changes have occurred in the occupational mix of the non-standard workforce, with a rising number of professionals and managers entering part-time and temporary forms of employment. However, while this shift is widely acknowledged, there remains some confusion regarding its consequences. One strand in the literature argues that, at higher occupational levels, the tendency for non-standard employees to experience marginalization at work will be far less pronounced or non-existent. A second strand argues that, regardless of occupational level, workers on part-time and temporary contracts will be treated unequally in various ways. In this article our aim is to explore this matter, drawing on data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey. The analysis reveals that managers and professionals on non-standard contracts do become marginalized in terms of training opportunities and consultation at work, and that these outcomes are especially strong in the case of women. Finally, the managerial, national-level training policy and legal implications of the findings are discussed.

The antecedents of training activity in British small and medium-sized enterprises

Analysing data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey we establish the extent to which levels of training activity in Britain are lower in SMEs than in larger firms.The antecedents of training activity within the SME sector are examined in terms of the workplace characteristics that are associated with high or low levels of training. Both managers and non-managers receive less training in SMEs compared with larger organizations.Training in the SME sector is associated with larger SMEs, multi-site SMEs, franchises, the presence of a personnel/HR specialist and multiple memberships of business advisory networks. Neither Investors in People nor trade union recognition are associated with greater training activity.The implications of the findings for government policy regarding training in SMEs are discussed.

A retreat from permanent employment?: Accounting for the rise of professional agency work in UK public services

The last five years have witnessed a steady growth in the use of agency workers to fill core professional roles in public sector organizations. Whereas in the past the use of agency workers was driven mainly by employer demands for improved flexibility, this current expansion is predominantly supply led occurring against a backdrop of increasingly tight labour markets. In this article our objective is to explore some of the factors that lie behind this change. Specifically, we raise questions about how far current trends can be explained using the ‘free agent perspective’ and the notion of portfolio careers. Focusing on one group of professionals in the UK public sector -local authority social workers -we find only limited evidence to support this interpretation. Instead, it is argued that current moves into agency work are in large part a reaction to increasing rigidities in the employment system and to deteriorating conditions of work.

Agency working and the degradation of public service employment: the case of nurses and social workers

In the UK and elsewhere government efforts to reform or ‘modernize’ public services are currently having marked consequences for job quality, due to rising levels of work intensification, stress and declining morale. Such change has been linked to absenteeism, recruitment and retention problems. It is also suggested that deteriorating job quality has much to do with the current trend towards agency working among core public service professionals. In this article our aim is to explore this matter focusing on the experiences of National Health Service (NHS) nurses and local authority social workers. Our analysis suggests that benefits such as higher pay and improved flexibility have generated a strong ‘pull’ into agency contracts. However, the analysis also points to the deterioration of job quality as a key factor influencing decisions to opt out of permanent employment. The article concludes by suggesting that, in the longer term, public sector managers will only be able to stem the tide of nurses and social workers opting to work through agencies if they are also able to address wider problems associated with declining job quality.

Trade Unions, Union Learning Representatives and Employer‐Provided Training in Britain

This article provides an empirical assessment of the relationship between trade union recognition, union density, union learning representatives (ULRs) and employer‐provided training in British workplaces using linked employer–employee data from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey. The results suggest that the relationship between union recognition and training is, at best, weak. We find no consistent relationship between union density and training or between the presence of ULRs and training. We do, however, find some evidence of greater equality in the distribution of training in ULR workplaces than in other workplaces.

All in All, it’s Just Another Plaque on the Wall: The Incidence and Impact of the Investors in People Standard*

The Investors in People Standard was introduced in 1991 in order to provide a national benchmark of training and development activity. This article, using data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey (Department for Trade and Industry, 1999), conducts five tests with regard to the incidence and impact of the Standard. The first test evaluates the types of workplace that have secured accreditation. The second and third tests compare the nature of training practice in accredited and non-accredited workplaces, based on data from the WERS 98 main management survey and also the survey of employees. The fourth test evaluates the proportion of workplaces that have secured accreditation, yet are failing to engage in good practice. The final test evaluates the characteristics of workplaces that fall into this latter category. The results demonstrate considerable variation between different types of workplace with regard to the likelihood of accreditation having been secured. They also demonstrate that, on average, training practice is better in accredited workplaces than in non-accredited workplaces, but a large minority of accredited workplaces are failing to engage in good practice. Among workplaces that have accreditation, smaller workplaces stand out in particular as failing to engage in good training practice. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2003.