43 Test of Hypothesis - - - - - - 75
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
11 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
The subject matter of the research work focuses on ‘human resources management as a tool for efficiency in the hospitality industry’ Effective human resources management is pivotal in any business or non business organization where people are groups collectively for the purposes of achieving organizational goals and objectives It is true that some people adhere to the fact that finance is the life wire of any organization but without human resources finance cannot combine other factors of production to achieve the desired goal of the organization Human resources is so important and should be seen as invaluable assets of a firm as asserted by Agbato (1980:27) that a company’s most important resource, or asset, is its human resource The human resource is the personnel and personnel department who staff the firm with the desired workers or managers Their importance cannot be over – emphasized Any company’s success, on the final analysis, depends most on the quality of the people who work for it-that is personnel or human resources This, of course, includes workers and managers at all levels in the organization from top to bottom It is a common business fact that a financed firm or even the best equipped plant will not function properly or make good enough profit if its workers and managers are incompetent
This, then, is the reason why the human resource must be well managed in any type of organizational set-up
It is, however, regrettable that although most managers recognise the value of company personnel, only very few of such managers put value or high premium on the firm or company’s human assets To illustrate this assumption, take an example of a company whose Balance sheet lists a typewriter as an asset
Question, “shouldn’t the typist also be listed as an asset? After all, without a typist one would say rightly so, a typewriter is useless to a company To this end a good management of people is vital to the success of any organization and this is done not only by a Department know as the personnel department, but more so by the individual managers under whom an employee works
Today, as the business world progresses, it is being gradually recognized that the personnel Department has a distinct role to play Its traditional functions include recruitment of new employees; training, development and appraisal of employees, motivation, and industrial relations (labour union, organization, collective bargaining, development in labour relation) Services relationship and advisory relationship
The hospitality industry cannot succeed without organizational effectiveness of her human resources It is truism according to Etuk (1995:243) organization effectiveness, the capacity of an organization to adopt, maintain itself, survive, and grow in the face of changing conditions, depends to a considerable degree upon how effectively its work-force can be managed and utilized This is so because the human resource of an organization which comprise all individuals, regardless of their role and status, who are engaged in any of the organizational activities, are its most important and valuable assets
Industries generally and business organizations in particular have been slow to realize and accept that their personnel are usually more important than machines This is why the history of labour unions is replete with stories of conflict between management and employees But the growth of powerful labour unions and scarcity of qualified personnel have jointly forced management to change their attitude by showing that they are interested in each employee as an individual and by developing the spirit of cooperation The specialized responsibilities for employee relations are now generally recognised as a primary staff function performed by the personnel manager who is the specialist in charge of the personnel department
Lack of effective management of human resources is a constraint facing Nigeria as a developing country The limitation is not only restricted to one sector of the economy, the hospitality industry as a service oriented business suffer more in terms of the adverse effect The cumulative effect and evidential impact could be cited for low service delivery and the dearth of excellent services in the hospitality industry According to ONWUCHEKWA (1995:7) personnel management has become very important in the achievement of the objectives of any business organization It helps the business firm to maintain an effective work force The personnel manager understands the expectations of the workers and society in human resources development So, through the activities of personnel management, the organization, the individual and society can satisfy their objectives
The role of personnel management has significantly changed in modern times At first, the dominant role was to satisfy top management in procuring and maintaining a work force that would be instrumental in organizational productivity As acknowledge by flippo, 1985 in ONWUCHEKWA (1995:7) the manager understands the necessity for the ascertaining and accommodating the needs of human beings who constitute the work force He or she constantly searches for the programme which would support the accomplishments of both organizational and individual objectives
As has been pointed out, Nwachukwu (1990:175) observed that human resources of an organization are its most important asset The success or failure of the enterprise depends on the people who must work there Failure by an entrepreneur to recognize this may lead to many un savory results
The entrepreneur must recognize that the selection of employees is one of his most important tasks
The hospitality sector of the Nigerian economy is very wide within the tourism industry as asserted by Okoli (2001:12) on the component of tourism drawning from the experience of Thomas and Thomas (1992:14) identified the most important components of tourism product as transport, stay and attraction Included in the modes of transport are land, water and air while attraction component of tourism involves climate, nature, shopping facilities and leisure Examples of tourism attraction facilities in Nigeria and elsewhere are the National War Museum, Umuahia (Abia State), Ogbunike cave (Anambra State), Yankari National park (Bauchi), Oguta lake Hotel and zoological Garden Nekede (Imo State) and Argungu fishing festival (Kebbi State), among others On stay, as a component, hospitality business takes care of it as the lodging of a tourist in hotels, motels, guest houses etc, the food and beverages served, how they served, when and the manner constitute tourism attractions These functions are done by human resources
John I N Inyanga and Ifeoma I Ifegbo (2006:98) supported the view of Okoli that hospitality sector is part of tourism industry and stresses on the essence of hospitality aand tourism thus “Rest, relaxation and leisure are synonymous with tourism Rest has its own place in life God created the day for work and night for rest and also created official and unofficial hours and also provided for rest But does man really rest? How many of us actually take time out to rest and visit places of our interest when we tend to work during leave periods? Rest is what repairs the body mentally, physically and otherwise A rested person is bound to be more productive (Agibe 2006:5) This is where tourism comes in as a brain box towards the growth of every man on earth
From the words of Bassey (2006:22), tourism markets have the potential to enhance lives in a sustainable framework through providing wealth creation, choice, innovation and competition The travel and tourism industry contains these four elements that enable it becomes dynamic market force for sustainability in the future It has the capacity to increase exports, bring in capital investment, boost economics (GDP) and create employment
Following these opportunities of the sectors, the federal, state and local governments and some private business entrepreneurs invested much resource on tourism in Nigeria The extent to which the benefits realized are equated to the investments made is still another subject matter What is important is that for tourism business to be highly developed and promoted in Nigeria, the sector operators have to be well equipped with component human resources
History of Concorde Hotel Owerri
Imo Concorde Hotel limited Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria is one among the best five star hotel in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, established in 1983 by the Imo State government It is situated within the Owerri metropolis, just 30 minutes drive from Port Harcourt International Airport and 15 minutes drive from Imo Airport It is accessible from the all parts of Nigeria Its clam and serene environment is suitable for business meetings, conferences, training programs, and social gatherings and perfect for holidaymakers Children age 12 and under 12 stay free in the room with parents and in existing bedding
The hotel is located in Owerri, close to the government buildings The hotel has 7 floors with 223 rooms However, there is no suite
The amenities in the hotel include 24 hours front Desk, AM/FM Alarm clock, baby-setting/child services, bar/lounge, business center, casino, concierge, express checkout, free parking, handicapped rooms/facilities, laundry/valet services, modern lines in room The hotel has no smoking rooms/facilities Pets are allowed in the hotel
There is pool, restaurant, room service safe deposit box, shops/commercial services, television with cable, tennis and a lot of beautiful appealing recreational facilities Management/employee relations are cordial The marketing philosophy of the hotel is customer satisfaction
Nike Lake Resort Limited
Nike lake resort limited is the second hotel used as the case study of the research work Below
Hotel Description
The word “NIKE” means “with power” and it is well known that the igbo people lived up to this name The hotel is well located geographically The city’s main street “Opara Avenue” runs through the main town from the North East to the South West, offering all the usual attractions of typical in-land Nigeria, which includes street traders, shops, fashion and clothing boutiques, banks, markets, post offices, garagers, eateries and the state’s stadium Nike Lake Resort has 216 well appointed and furnished rooms 8 suites, suitable for all tastes and budgets All the rooms and suites have either a garden or lake view and each room provides the ultimate in comfort and luxury that you can expect from an African sun hotel Nike Lake Resort prides itself on being able to carter for any type of guest that stays the night, with any request never being too much The hotel property houses ten (10) self catering villas comprising of 5 Bedrooms Duplexes and 5 Bedrooms bungalows all tastefully furnished and fully equipped
Room Type & Quantity
- Classic rooms 23
- Superior rooms 109
- Deluxe rooms 35
- Executive suites 9
- Diplomatic suite 2
- Presidential suite 1
The rooms at Nike Lake Resort have the following facilities:
• Air conditioning
• Bath tub and / or shower all en-suite
• Telephone
• TV with 10 DSTV channels
• Full length mirror
• Minibar fridge (stock on request)
• Hairdryer (on request) writing desk
• 24 hour room service
• Smoke detectors and sprinklers
• Tea & coffee making facilities
• Multiple 220v plugs
• Wake up call, baby cots (on request)
• Private balconies
• Free wireless internet
Hotel Facilities
For breakfast, a full English Buffet is available at lunch time The lake restaurant offers an a’ la carte’ menu and for dinner a fabulous buffet is on offer for all the guest at Nike Lake Resort Maximum capacity of 180 people are serves a variety of mouth watering dishes from around the globe
Heineken Bar: Heineken bar serves a variety of wines, spirits and beers, 24hrs a day
• Restaurant
• Pool terrace
• 24 hour front desk operations, porters
• Wireless internet access
• EUROPE CAR live services
• Gift shop/curio shop
• Message therapy centre
• Larger car park
• Children’s play ground
• Safe deposit boxer at reception, well equipped GYM
• Swimming pool
• Volleyball
• Basketball
• 2 tennis courts
• Jogging and boat rides
12 Statement of the Problem
The hospitality industry is not observed with problems There are many challenges that plagued the industry One of these is inability of management in hospitality business to carryout effective and efficient human resources management Be it as it may, the hospitality industry required good customer relationship competency in services delivery, good reception, courtesy etc However these are lacking due to poor human resources management
The root of the problems facing hospitality industry can be traced to poor recruitment exercise based on unprofessional procedure of hiring workers eg recruitment based on god-fatherism, nepotism, ethnicity, poor remuneration of workers do promote high rate of labour turnover The industry is therefore not attractive to highly qualified workers due to inadequate motivational incentives
Some of the hotels see no need for training and manpower development despite the fact that most of their workers have low level of education, semi-illiterate and poor skill in hospitality business
Lack of good industrial relations is something that always transfers of aggression from workers to customers
The general attendant effects of poor human resources management little low patronage, low sales When the sale volume is low there will be decline in sales revenue and consequently this will lead to business failure in the hospitality industry
13 Objectives of the Study
The following are the objectives of the study:
i To find out the best way for effective and efficient human resource management in the hospitality industry
ii To explore modern procedures for employment
iii To investigate the techniques for good training and manpower development
iv To examine the method for wages and salary administration
v To unearth the most peaceful steps for industrial relations
vi To discover problems affecting human resources management in hospitality industry
14 Research Question
The basic research questions for the study are enumerated below:
i What are the best way for effective and efficient human resources management in the hospital industry?
ii What are the modern procedures for employment?
iii What are the techniques for good training and manpower development?
iv What are the method for wages and salary administration?
v What are the most peaceful steps for industrial relations?
vi What are the problems affecting human resources management in hospitality industry?
15 Hypothesis
Ho1 – Employment functions of personal management depends on step by approach
H1 – Employment functions of personal management does not depend on step by approach
Ho2 – Training and manpower development contribute to effective human resources management
H2 – Training and manpower development does not contribute to effective human resources management
Ho3 – Effective wages and salaries administration can enhance higher productivity by the workers
H3 – Effectives wages and salaries cannot enhance higher productivity
Ho4 – peaceful working atmosphere depends on good industrial relations
H4 – peaceful working atmosphere has no relationship with good industrial relations
Ho5 – Motivation is necessary for effective performance
H5 – Motivation is not necessary for effective performance
Ho6 – Internal and external forces are the problems of human resources management
H6 – Internal and external forces are not the problems of human resources management
16 Significant of the Study
The study will be immense value to stakeholders in the hospitality industry in various ways
i It will provide useful information to the management for decision making in human resources management
ii It will reduce inefficiency and promote higher productivity
iii The study will provide information on how to recruit skilful personnel
iv The entire workforce of the hotels will find this study very illuminating in understanding the organization human resource management policy
v The study will help to promote industrial peace and harmony
vi The information found in the research work will serve as reference materials for students in higher institutions of learning
17 Scope and Limitation of the Study
The scope of the study is on human resources management as a tool for efficiency in the hospitality industry Concorde Hotel limited Imo State and Nike Lake Resort Limited Abakpa Enugu State were the unit of analyses
The limitations or constraints to the study include inadequate time for the research due to much course work, financial constraint is another problem However, the aims and objectives of the study are achieved through the application of scientific systematic approach of conducting research
18 Definition of Terms
Some of the terms used within the context of the study are defined below for purposes of clarity and avoidance of ambiguity
Board of Inquiry: Boards of inquiry are used in cases where both conciliation and arbitration are considered inappropriate and where public interest is involved (Inyang & Akpama 2002:221)
Conciliator
Is one appointed by the minister of labour productivity or by the state chief labour office to inquire into the causes and circumstances of a dispute between employers and employees (Ituen 1993:45)
Efficiency
Within the context of the study, efficiency means using minimum input to achieve maximum output
Hospitality
Friendly welcome and entertainment of guests or strangers, which usually includes offering them food and drink (chambers 21st century dictionary )
Industrial Arbitration Panel
Is the panel established by law IAP handles disputes referred to it by the minister within (14 days) when such disputes are not resolved at conciliation stage
Motivation
Motivation is defined as the willingness or propensity of individuals to act in a certain way Etuk (1995:254)
Performance Appraisal
Performance is the periodic evaluation or measurement of the performance or contribution of the employees within a particular period(Unquote)
Personnel Management
Personnel management is that part of management that is concerned with the maintenance of human relationship and ensuring the physical well-being of employees so that they give maximum contribution to efficient working” Inyang & Akpama (2002:4)
Voluntary Machinery
It is a process where employers and employees settle disputes by themselves without the involvement of third party
REFERENCE
Agbato, J O (1980) Business Management Questions and Answers series for Advanced Students University Press Ibadan
Eboh F E (2002) Management Theory Models for Decision Making Computer Villa, Enugu
Etuk, E J (1995) Foundations of Modern Business Management University of Calabar Press Calabar
Inyanga J I N & Ifegbo I I (2006) The Enterprise International Research Journal for Development October to December 2007 ISSN 1595- 0719 Vol 9 No 2, Association for public Analysis (APPA-NIG)
Nwachukwu C C (1990) The Practice of Entrepreneurship in Nigeria Africana – first publishers limited Onitsha
Okoli, Chukwudum (2001) Tourism Development Management in Nigeria, Enugu, Jee Communications
Onwuchekwa C I (1995) Personnel Management Goshen Publishers, Awka
