STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Unit Aims

The aim of this unit is to develop learners understanding of how the effective strategic management of human resources supports the achievement of organisational objectives in different contexts. Learners will evaluate the contribution of strategic human resource management, and the application of leadership and management theory for organisational benefit.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Case Study

Based in central London the European Club was founded in 1900.

The club is a non-profit making charity whose good works for the last 100+ years include offering scholarships for gifted children from poorer countries the opportunities to study in the UK. The Charity is governed by a Board of Trustees who also form part of the Board of Directors. The CEO sits on the Board of Directors whilst the General Manager and Club Secretary report into the CEO.

The vision and mission statement is represented as High quality hospitality at affordable prices. A statement of values has been an agenda item for almost a year but has not been actioned.

Revenue for the charity is derived from the operation of the central London Club House (situated in a fashionable street in Mayfair London W1) containing a very dated and largely unused waiter service cocktail bar called The Fox and Hound, a 50 seat restaurant called The Dining Rooms, 4 function rooms (no in-built meeting room equipment) and 50 bedrooms which it hires to club members for a highly subsidised amount of just 75 per night. Many of these rooms have not been refurbished in quite a while.

The building itself has a certain faded grandeur but is in need of some much needed planned and reactive renovation and maintenance to furniture, fixtures and fittings. Some of the systems in the Club House, including reservations and front office, are still on Excel spreadsheet functions. A manual process is used for creating reservations for the bedrooms, restaurant and bar and function rooms. There is however an online payment system used but there are three separate systems, one for each department. Wifi is available throughout the Club House.

Many of the staff have been there for many years and the way things operate have not changed for a long time. Whilst familiar and comfortable with the current ways of doing things, the staff often complain about the amount of time it takes and the inefficiency of the systems in place. There is a very defined hierarchy and staffing structure in the departments. The organisational chart below details the restaurant, bar and event management departments.

Staff are not encouraged to make decisions without reference to the Head of Department nor are they encouraged to put forward new ideas for enhancing or improving practice. Any changes to practice are often from the top down and staff opinions are rarely sought.

Morale, as measured by a small yearly staff survey, appears low, and many of the younger staff leave after just a couple of months citing lack of opportunities and poor training as a cause. The survey also shows that staff are not happy with their manager and feel that they do not get praised or rewarded when they do a good job.

The previous CEO had been with the charity for some 30 years and very much left the management of the club to the General Manager, who also retires later this year. The new CEO of the charity believes that there is a lot more that might be achieved, and good works undertaken, if the operation itself makes more money to invest into the charitable works, and she firmly believes that the organisation is underperforming and is inefficient. Membership of the club has been falling steadily over the past five years and now stands some 50% of its original membership. A recent member survey shows significant complaints about the conditions of the facilities, especially the restaurant and bar which the members use to entertain as well as the drop-in customer service as well as the general lack of organisation.

The CEO has approached you and wants to employ your HR consultancy services to address the strategic HR issues around a modernisation plan for the restaurant and bar facilities of the club.

The modernisation and renovation programme will include the following:

1. The refurbishment of The Fox and Hound Bar, the Dining Room and the function rooms
2. Training and development of all staff on the new processes connected to the Bar, Dining Room and function rooms.

The refurbishment has been given to an architectural firm that will employ its contactors and manage all the building work. They have promised to work to the project deadlines. Naturally, this will mean the members of the club paying more for the services; however, this will bring the charges in line with similar institutions and facilities.

The CEOs biggest concern is how to undertake this project with the minimum of disruption to both members and staff. It is not an option to shut the club down completely during the project. Business as usual, as much as possible, must be maintained.

Task 1 of 3 Presentation and Briefing Report (AC 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1 & 2.2)

Instructions:

The CEO has asked you to prepare a 15-minute presentation and accompanying briefing report for the Board of Directors selling your consultancy services. You still need to pitch for the contract as the two other board members will be involved in the decision.

Apply theoretical concept, give example and Prepare a presentation with speaker notes and a briefing report in which you should:

• Explain the importance of Strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) and how you could add value to the You should discuss how strategic HRM could be linked with other departments.

• Explain the Strategic Human Resource services you could provide to the Club House and their purposes.
• Analyse the factors that the Club House should consider before embarking on the renovation and restructure.
• Determine some preliminary HR requirements for the organisation considering the new contract.

Delivery and Submission:

• 1xPresentation file (including references) with speaker notes (500 words)
• 1xBriefing Report (500 words) excluding TOC, diagrams, references and appendices
  
  

Task 2 of 3 HR Plan and Memo (AC 2.3, 3.1, 3.2 & 3.3)

Instructions:

You have been successful in securing the contract, and you have a lot to do. The management priority is to have a HR plan and policy in place as soon as possible.

Therefore, you have decided to create the outline for a HR plan and include a memo about HR policy that is to be circulated.

For this task, you need to prepare:

• An outline of a Human Resource plan that addresses the ClubHouses position on: sustainability, social responsibility, discrimination and any other relevant ethical areas.
• A memo that:

explains the importance of HR policy

• provides examples of regulatory, legal and ethical concerns that should be covered within the policy i.e. living wage vs minimum wage, maternity cover, Equality Act 2010, termination of employment etc.) which would be important to the Club House.

Delivery and Submission:

• 1xHR plan (1000 words) excluding TOC, diagrams, references and appendices
• 1xHR memo (500 words)

Task 3 of 3 Report (AC 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2 & 5.3)

Instructions:

Having done all of the preliminary work for the Club House, you should now write a report in which you should:

• Provide a comprehensive HR Strategy that is relevant and structured towards the needs of the ClubHouse.
• Using relevant metrics, explain how your selected HR approaches will be implemented and monitored.
• Describe the impact of organisational strategies, structures and culture on the management of HR.
• Determine the effectiveness of the current Club House HRM,
• Critically evaluate the interplay between the Club Houses leadership HRM and business strategy.

• Explain how you would develop, monitor and evaluate a leadership strategy that supports the development or revision of the Club House organisational mission, vision, values and objectives.

Delivery and Submission:

• 1xReport (2000 words) excluding TOC, diagrams, references and appendices

Referencing:

• Each section must reflect any supporting Harvard style
• A comprehensive Harvard style reference list must be included at the end of the

Evidence to be submitted:

• Presentation file with speaker notes 500 words
• Briefing Report 500 words
• HR Plan 1000
• HR Memo 500 words
• Report 2000 words