USE OF COMPETITIVE BENCHMARKING APPROACH TO ASSES THE HUMAN RESOURCE STRATEGIES WITH APPLICATION TO FOUR AND FIVE STAR HOTELS IN CAIRO, GIZA AND ALEXANDRIA

Abstract

1. Introduction

The hospitality industry is labor-intensive and its pattern of staffing is characterized by such features as mobility; seasonality and part-time work; a high proportion of unskilled, part-time and casual staff; and a high labor turnover. It is therefore particularly important that the industry, through effective human resource (HR) strategies, attracts and retains staff with the right skills and attitudes to successfully meet the demands of the customers. The increasing emphasis on effective relations, and the importance of securing the involvement of staff and their commitment to the aims of the organization, has led to the increasing use of the term "human resource". The human element · is crucial to the overall success cif any organization, especially for many'service industries including the hospitality service industry, in which the workforce is in direct contact with guests. The quality of service offered, however, depends not only on the skills of the workforce, but also on their values and attitudes that are considered vital to meet customers' expectations and sustain their satisfaction therefore contribute to the overall aim of the industry. Customer satisfaction means that staff can be seen as closely associated with a task fimction, it is likely to be affected as much by the courtesy, helpfulness and personal qualities of staff as by the standard of food and beverage, accommodation or other facilities offered by the hotel. The HR cycle includes some mechanisms (policies, pr cedures, and processes) which vary' in application among the four and five star hotels. Literature has identified a number of interrelated steps/functions to this cycle including: candidate search, staffing and recruitment, interviewing,. offers and hiring, orientation, training, development, performance measurement, compensation and motivation, employee relations, termination, outplacement. Many researches claim that five star ·hotels own the capabilities and resources to support the application of this cycle and guarantee its successful performance. It is, however, necessary for the four star .hotels to improve their HR strategies by borrowing different strategies and methodologies from· successful hotel companies via implementing different approaches, for example, "competitive benchmarking approach", this is the focus of this research.

2. Overall aim of the research:

The overall aim of this research is to conduct a competitive benchmarking research between the motivation and performance evaluation HR strategies in the five and four star hotels in Cairo, Giza and Alexandria as the two are considered important ele1hents in the HR cycle that affect the degree. of satisfaction of the staff which in turn affects the customer satisfaction in both hotel categories.