Question

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. A

Revenue for the charity is derived from the operation of the central London clubhouse (situated in a fashionable street in Mayfair London W1) containing a very ‘old fashioned’ and largely unused waiter service cocktail bar, The Fox and Hound and 50 seat restaurant, The Dining Rooms, 4 function rooms (no in-built meeting room equipment) and a number of bedrooms (50) which it lets 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, 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.

Many of the staff have been there for many years and the way things operate have not changed much for a long time. Whilst familiar and comfortable with the current ways of doing things, the staff often moan 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.

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.

The Thing I Need Help With:

Using this case study I need to:

Create and outline of a human resource plan and include a memo concerning the importance of HR policy. The memo should provide examples of regulatory, legal and ethical concerns that should be covered within the policy (living wage vs minimum wage, maternity cover, Equality Act 2010, termination of employment, etc.) which would be important to the club.

Answer 1

ANSWER

Human Resource planning

        According to Bulla and Scott, Human resource planning is " the process of ensure that the the human resource requirements of an organization are identified and plans are made for satisfying those requirements. Human Resource planning is a process that assessing current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals. It should serve a connection between Human resource management and the overall strategic plan of an organization. Human resource planning includes creating an employer brand, retention strategy, absence management strategy, talent management strategy, flexibility strategy and selection strategy.

Importance of HR policy

         To smooth running of an organization , it is very important to define clear and accurate HR policies and procedures. HR policies and procedure are the backbone and foundation o fa company. The HR department of any company is the people who have been hired as employees of a company to select, recruit ,assess new candidate , as well as create the procedures and HR policies of companies.

         HR policies is a policy in which guiding principle used to set direction in an organization. It should be used as a guide to decision making under a given set of circumstances within the frame work of objectives, goals and management philosophies as determined by senior management.

         Some specific guidelines of Policies are the following:-

• Policies shows how the rules are enforced.
• It tells when the rules applies
• Policies identifying company rules.
• It Explain about why they exist.
• Describe who it covers.
• Describe the consequences
• Policies are normally using simple sentences and paragraphs.
• Policies are general in nature.

HR policies helps to an organization in many way . The Importance of HR policy are the following:-

1. Helps to train and develop employees who are consistent with the needs of the organization.
2. HR policies ensure every employee of the organization is looked after their needs respected and proper benefits are given to them for their work
3. HR policies protect employees from wrong behavior from other employees or organization itself.
4. It helps to address complaints, problem and grievances of employees and solve them appropriately
5. Helps to maintain discipline in the workplace.
6. Helps to employees receive adequate compensation.
7. It helps to ensure all policies are aligned to legal requirement.  
8.    Provide information about how to apply policies across all levels of an organization.
9. Manage all employees who are on the payroll in a fair and consistent manner.
10. HR policies helps an organization to set and manage employee expectations.
11. It helps to communicate an organization's goals and values.
12. It helps to create common and healthy working environment.
13. HR policies give a clear picture of career growth in the organization.
14. HR policies provide structure , control, consistency, fairness and reasonableness.
15. It ensure compliance with employment legislation and inform employees of their responsibilities and company's expectations.

HR policies about Legal and ethical concerns

           HR policies are made to prevent to prevent lawsuits as far as possibles, in case problems faces in the workplace. HR policies in an organization are made to comply with the laws and regulations of a country. Employees are required to be informed about these policies and procedures and legal implication to ensure smooth running in an organization.

        Living Wage Vs minimum wage

                   The Living Wage is the amount of income determined to provide a decent standard of living. The intension of a living wage is to ensure that all full time workers have enough money to live above the federal poverty level. It should pay for the cost of living in any location and it should also be adjusted to compensate for inflation.

                   the minimum wage is the wage mandated by law, to keep employees above the poverty level in their area. The minimum wage is not enough to provide one with the means to live. It is also not enough to cover medical, auto, renters and home owner's insurance.

     HR policy regarding Maternity Cover

                   As per the Act, to eligible for the Maternity cover, a woman must have been working as an employee in an organization for a period of at least 80 days within the past 12 months. Payment during the leave period is based on the average daily wage for the period of actual absence.

      Equality Act 2010

                  According to Equality Act 2010, it aims to provide , more consistent and more effective legal frame work for preventing discrimination. This Act is to reform and harmonies discrimination law, and to strengthen the law to support progress on equality.

The Equality Act covers the following ' protected characteristics'. They are:

1. Gender reassignment
2. Sex
3. Sexual orientation
4. Race
5. Age
6. Disability
7. Marriage and civil partnership
8. Pregnancy and maternity

    Termination of Employment

                 The period of notice may be reduced or eliminated by mutual agreement between the employee and the Employer. It is an employee's departure from a job and the end of an employee's duration with an employer. When an employee is terminates the employment relationship, the employee is entitled to receive any salary , paid leave, overtime pay and severance pay accrued up to the effective date of resignation.

Termination of Employment Policy are the following:-

• Policy statement
• Application
• Definitions
• Responsibilities
• Termination with cause
• Termination without cause
• Termination of Employment by Employees.