BUSM4499 Industry Case Studies Report - Assignment Solution

Introduction 

The human resource management function is a key ingredient for the success of an organization. A poor HR model can give rise to numerous issues that can negatively impact the survival and sustainability of the entity. The failure of human resource management can be detrimental to a business. The implications will be severe which can be felt by the organization, the staff members and the other stakeholders that are associated with the concern. A number of real-life HR issues have been captured in various industrial settings like the hospitality industry and the banking industry. Similarly, the failure of HR policies has also been observed in the Country Fire Authority (Noe et al., 2017). As per Berman and Bowman, HRM plays a vital role in both the public services as well as the private setting. The poor handling of HR issues is not just restricted to the HR function but it has a detrimental impact on the entire business entity.  

The ultimate objective of human resource management is to manage the human capital so that it can contribute to the organizational goals and objectives. It is indispensable in each and every business irrespective of the industry in which it operates. Specific HR-related issues have been identified like the underpayment and exploitation of staff members, the poor treatment of female employees and the financial misconduct (Cascio, 2015).  The failure of HRM towards the organizations, the staff, and other stakeholders has been assessed in detail. It is followed by suitable recommendations which would enable HRM to expediently resolve the identified. Ultimately, the AHRI model of excellence has been used which could help to deal with the human resource issue in the very first place. 

Hospitality Industry

Key problems in the restaurant organizations

The main issue that has been identified in the restaurant organizations relate to the underpayment issue and the exploitation of the workforce. The main issue that has been identified in Rockpool restaurant that is co-owned by Neil Perry relates to underpayment of works, on-payment for overtime work, and the exploitation of the migrant workers (Ben Schneiders, 2019). The firm does not pay the remuneration to its employees based on the industry standards. The Visa status of the vulnerable migrant works gives them little scope to raise their voice against the issue. They fear that they will not just lose their job but they will also be deported from Australia. 

A similar problem has been identified in the international restaurant business of Heston Blumenthal, the world-renowned chef from Britain. The core issue is the underpayment of the restaurant staff (Ben Schneiders, 2019). The businesses are routed through Nevis which is known as a tax haven, In spite of the abundant cash the restaurant makes the chefs work overtime without giving them the due payment. The workers receive the payment that is well below the minimum industry award. 

Failure of HRM towards the organizations, their staffs, and other stakeholders

The role of Human Resource Management is of paramount importance in an organizational context. It is because HRM creates a system that acquires, motivates, develops, and retains talent and is a key source of competitive advantage (McCaffery, 2018). It manages all the aspects relating to the staffing area like designing suitable rewards and benefits, taking care of their health and safety needs and managing the employee-management relationship. The ultimate objective of HRM is to seek employee commitment and engagement by taking care of their needs in the dynamical organizational context. But in the hospitality industry, HRM failed miserably and could not give justice to the organization, the staff members and other stakeholders. According to Sparrow and Brewster, employers need to act in a responsible manner so that proper employer branding can be enabled. The restaurants failed to respond to the needs of the employees thus adversely impacted their employer branding (Brewster et al., 2016). 

The Rockpool restaurant empire and Blumenthal’s restaurants like Dinner and The Fat Duck did not have suitable employment policies and procedures that could outline its employees’ compensation relating to overtime work. Thus it created a hostile environment for the employees (Ben Schneiders, 2019). According to Noe and Hollenbeck, the existence of an effective HRM model can help a firm to gain a competitive advantage (Noe et al., 2017). But in Rockpool, the HRM model failed to check whether proper records of the hourly work of the employees and the treatment of migrant workers were being maintained by the firm or not.  The HRM policy lacked a suitable work system and reward system which impacted the staff members. Other stakeholders like the customers were also affected due to the weak HRM model. As the staff members were forced to work overtime in harsh conditions, the quality of their work could be affected which could adversely influence the dining experience of the customers and other stakeholders (Ben Schneiders, 2019). According to Brewster, the HRM model must take into account cultural aspects so that HR issues can be effectively resolved. But in the hospitality organizations, the migrant workers were exploited and their cultural sentiments were not respected (Brewster, Chung & Sparrow, 2016).