You are the HR Manager of Reardon Hotels, a UK based chain of boutique hotels with a head office based in Brighton, England. The MD, Andrew Reardon,
started the business 25 years ago by buying a large guesthouse and has since developed the company into a chain of twelve hotels throughout England and
Wales. Reardon Hotels are typically situated in rural locations and are considered to be up-market accommodation, attracting guests who are primarily
leisure travellers seeking a relaxed intimate atmosphere and quality service. The hotel chain prides itself on offering a quality product and excellent customer
service.
In building these customer relationships, the company recognises that the critical limiting factor to business success is the quality of company management.
In the early days when the company employed less than 30 staff, a large proportion of them family members or friends, the atmosphere or culture was that
people management practices happened ‘naturally’. As a result performance and reward systems and management development have traditionally been
viewed mostly as an individual matter and carried out on a more or less ‘ad hoc’ basis. However, as the company has expanded the HR department at
Reardon Hotels has grown from one to eight employees and moved into greater focus and visibility. The SMT is beginning to recognize that a more formal,
strategic facing HR function is required with a focus on effective talent management, including devising effective strategies on development, performance
and reward.
Furthermore, the HR department has recently analysed employee and management attitudes through carrying out a company-wide staff satisfaction survey.
Staff feedback indicates that the company faces challenges in terms of consistently implementing and communicating performance and reward policy and
in regard to strategically linking leadership and management development to reward and performance systems. Feedback scores indicate that employees
(including those with management responsibilities) generally lack understanding of policy and practice relating to pay structures (including PRP) and
information regarding opportunities for career development and progression. In addition, many staff and line-managers perceived the company-wide PDR
scheme as poorly implemented and largely ineffective. A few comments also pointed to a lack of diversity at more senior levels of the company.
Having enjoyed a profitable period pre-Covid, Reardon Hotels have now revisited their strategy of overseas expansion by acquiring a hotel located in a rural
region of Southern France. With particular regard to the position of hotel manager, their preference (at least in the short term) is to only select candidates
from their staff base in the UK, in order to ensure familiarity with the organisation’s operational procedures and values. Therefore the position will be
advertised internally to staff who are currently employed in a supervisory or deputy management role and thus the successful candidate will be effectively
offered a promotion upon accepting the assignment. He or she will be expected to lead the changeover of their new hotel over a six week period and then
sign a twelve month contract.
The company view HR strategy with regard to developing the manager of the new overseas hotel as strategically important, given that the success (or not) of
this venture will have a direct bearing on the long-term growth of the company in an increasingly competitive environment. Consequently, with regard to
development, the SMT is keen to ensure that the manager possesses the necessary capabilities and leadership skills to make the overseas assignment
successful. In terms of reward, Andrew Reardon is looking for a consistent approach to rewards (for reasons of equity and to ensure that there is sufficient
incentive to work overseas) and also wants to see a range of incentives offered over and above base pay as appropriate to the circumstances of the position.
In summary there is a firm commitment to moving away from ‘ad-hoc’ informal practices to adopting a more formal, strategic approach to the development
and reward of the new manager in the overseas hotel,
Task
As HR Manager you have been asked by the CEO to present a briefing document for the attention of the senior management team (SMT). This report should
be in the formal of a written report that addresses both (a) (b) and (c) below:
⦁ Critically evaluate the relationship between rewards, development and motivation.
⦁ Identify strategies to improve performance and engagement at Reardon Hotels.
⦁ Present recommendations as to a suitable total reward package for the new manager of the hotel subsidiary to include appropriate development activit