Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Human Resource Management Practices - Essay Example

Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Human Resource Management (HRM) Practices Analysis and evaluation of Compensation Components (direct, indirect, non-financial) Direct Financial Benefits Waiter F&B Manager Wage / Salaries $275/ Month $1100/ Month Service charge $550 - 700/ Month $550 - 700/ Month Tips $150 - 250/ Month $150 - 250/ Month Indirect Financial Benefits Waiter F&B Manager Discounts on food and beverages at any Mandarin Oriental in the world except one in Bangkok. Discounts on food and beverages at any Mandarin Oriental except one in Bangkok. Hotels stay at employees rate at $100 /night at any Mandarin Oriental in the world except one in Bangkok. Hotels stay at employees rate at $100 /night at any Mandarin Oriental in the world except one in Bangkok. - Family’s discount on hotel stays at all Mandarin Oriental property with 50% on rack rate (Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group , 2015). - Reserved parking space. - 30% Discount on shops (Bakery, Souvenir) in the hotel. *Hotel stay depending on the availability and the occupancy. * $100 price is the equivalent rates from Thai Baht conversion. Notice: Heading without tables with 2 split columns represents the equal in benefits to both Waiters and F&B Managers. Time Not Worked Annual Vacation Employees worked for a full year and in the first 1-2 years are eligible for 6 days vacation. Employees worked for 3 full years and in between 3-5 years are eligible for 8 days vacation. Employees worked for 6 full years and in between 6-8 years are eligible for 10 days vacation. Employees worked for 9 full years and in between 9-13 years are eligible for 12 days vacation. Employees worked for 14-17 full years and in between 14-17 years are eligible for 15 days vacation. Employees who worked 18 years and over are eligible for 18 days vacation Public Holiday 15 days per year. Sick leave Are eligible for full pay per year up to 30 days. Breaks 1 hour break on usual workday. 2 days off per week. Insurance Plans Waiter F&B Manager Provide full insurance to their employee, this insurance do not cover dental care. (Public hospital only) Provide full insurance, covers including spouse and 2 children. (Private hospital) Covers $1100 for the case of death. Covers $1100 for the case of death. Security Plans Pension No pension provide Employee Services Waiter F&B Manager Educational assistance On the job training by supervisor Several workshops by professionals held annually such as teambuilding, hygiene, CPR Educational assistance Several workshops by professionals held annually such as teambuilding, hygiene, CPR Usually shift job role once a 2 years in order to expand knowledge of different department. Recreational programs Staff party annually. Festivals celebrations. Sports facilities. Recreational programs Staff party annually. Festivals celebrations. Sports facilities. “Outing”, which is a week trip to places within Thailand once a year for managers in all departments. With an intention to bond relationship to create a better working environment. Other Benefits Free meal on working day. Partner with few sports facilities with staff discount. Non-Financial Recognition programs ‘Recognition for Dedicated Service’ awards aims to provide employee’s recognition for their years of service with the group (Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group , 2015). ‘MoWOW’ equivalent to (Employee of the month) 2 members of selected employee will be nominate for award, winners will receive: A certificate of award. Voucher depending on month e.g. 2 nights of stays at selected partner resorts. Organizational support With talented employees Mandarin Oriental Bangkok provides them with an opportunity to experience working aboard at Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. Work environment There are locker room with toilet and shower for both male and female employee. Uniforms and suits are provided by hotel. There are laundry service for all employees’ uniform and suits. All restaurant equipment provided by the hotel. There are employees’ areas to hangout their before/after work or during break-time, which consist of café, library, computer room, sitting areas and flat screen TV with Play Station 4 in the living area. Thai customs are applied throughout the hotel, which is purpose for showing respect between employees (Anuman Rajadhon, 1963). Flexibility The hotel understands employees who have children and allows them to have adjustable work hours to meet their preferred time or have split shift if they needed to. Hotel allows employees to use their public holiday and annual vacation usually this depending on the seasonality and hotel’s occupancy. However, in some serious or important the case HR manager will decide upon the case and will inform the employee of the result. Internal and External Factors Analysis The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is a multinational organization that invests in, and manages a chain of luxury hotels, resorts as well as residences all over Europe, Asia and America. This paper analyses and evaluates both internal and external factors in relation to the Human Resource Management (HRM) practices at Mandarin Oriental Bangkok. Internal Factors The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok engages in a series of HRM practices, which ensures employee loyalty and commitment, thereby reducing turnover tendencies. In terms of remuneration, the waiters are entitled to $3,300 as wages annually, and take $550-700 as service charges, as well as $150-250 worth of tips every month (Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, 2015). The food and beverage managers, on the other hand, earn $1,100 as wages, $550-700 service charges, in addition to $150-250 tips per month (Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, 2015), which puts them slightly above the waiters in terms of direct financial benefits. The indirect financial benefits for both waiters and the food and beverage managers include discounts as well as hotel stays at employee rate at $100 per night at any Mandarin Oriental in the world except one in Bangkok. On top of that, the managers get family’s discount on hotel stays at all Mandarin Oriental property with 50% on rack rate (Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, 2015), reserved parking space as well as a 30% discount on shops in the hotel, including the bakery and souvenir shops. Besides that, Mandarin Oriental staffs also get free meals on every working day as well as discounted prices in a number of listed sports facilities. The hotel’s employees are also entitled to annual vacations (duration varies depending on the number of years worked), public holidays (15 days per year), and paid sick leaves of up to 30 days, as well as one hour break every day and 2 off days per week. On top of that, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel employees are also entitled to insurance schemes; the waiters receive full insurance (excluding the cost of dental care) at all public hospitals. The food and beverage managers, on the other hand, receive full insurance that covers both their spouses and children in private hospitals. In the event of an untimely death, both the waiters and the managers are entitled to $1,100 as compensation to their families or closest kin accordingly. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel provides a number of services to its employees, which demonstrate their worth and value to the organization. For instance, the group provides on the job training for its waiters (through their supervisors), besides organizing annual team building, and hygiene workshops by professionals in the industry for the benefit of both the waiters and the managers. Such trainings and workshops are particularly important because they cater for the professional development of the group’s employees, as well as for their psychological welfare. The Mandarin Oriental group also recognizes and rewards its best employees for their dedication and years of service through its ‘Recognition for Dedicated Service’ awards (Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, 2015). The “MoWOW”, equivalent to employee of the month award), which entails a certificate award as well as a voucher, is given to two select employees every month. Similarly, the talented employees at Mandarin Oriental Bangkok are given an opportunity to experience working aboard at Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. The hotel understands employees who have children and allows them to have adjustable work hours to meet their preferred time or have split shift if they needed to. Hotel allows employees to use their public holiday and annual vacation usually this depending on the seasonality and hotel’s occupancy. However, in some serious or important case, the HR manager will decide upon the case and will inform the employee of the result. The Mandarin Oriental Group is a multi- billion multinational business empire that has the capacity to pay its employees adequately, and to make sure they are well-compensated for rendering their services year round without fail. External Factors Numerous market/external forces affect the behaviour of organizations (Tung, Lin & Wang 2010). The global hotel labour market is characterized by notions of spiralling work, prevalent labour turnover, inadequate training and career development opportunities, as well as unspecified terms and conditions of engagement (Hoque, 2000). All these notions inevitably impinge on HRM practices in the global hotel labour market. For instance, the variable, Just-in-time aspect of demand in the hotel business often causes hotel chains to rely on casual labour and not to take HRM practices seriously (Hoque, 2000). Equally, high employee turnover leads to workforce instability, which also undermines the establishment of workforce values and development of key competencies accordingly. Perhaps this explains why Mandarin Oriental Bangkok dedicates its HRM section to promoting employee welfare through various compensation schemes. The Asia Pacific wage rates have been rising tremendously in the past few years, unlike other global locations. The region experienced a 6% increase in wages in 2013, and 5.9% in the previous year (Global Wage Report 2014/15), which puts its minimum wage way over the global average. A comparative analysis of wages in selected countries, as of 30th June 2015, indicates that the minimum wage rates per day in Bangkok stand at about $8.86 per day and $265.68 per month (“Comparative Wages…” 2015). In view of that, Mandarin Oriental Bangkok employees are adequately compensated in comparison with the regional rates and therefore are more likely to be satisfied with their wages. Generally, Bangkok is a relatively affordable city to live in (Ngo, 2015), and it has arguably made a reputation for itself as one of the places on earth with the lowest cost of living, which makes it attractive to people from all corners of the world. However, Bangkok is still a globalized city and it therefore could potentially be expensive sometimes. At the minimum, one could spend up to $315-950 per month while to live an averagely comfortable life, one requires $980-2,215 per month (Olson 2014). These figures indicate that Mandarin Oriental Bangkok’s waiters, who earn slightly below $315 per month, are underpaid in comparison to the region’s living costs; the managers, on the other hand, are able to live comfortably on $1,100 wages per month. The idea of collective bargaining in the international hotel business industry is not quite a common phenomenon (Aslan & Wood, 1993), particularly because of the sector’s anti-unionization character. Union representation in the hotel and catering industry is still uncommon, perhaps due to management’s stance and belief in managerial efficacy, which undermines the relevance of unions. Wells (2003) argues that unionized workplaces often become more competitive than non-unionized ones; in that case, union representation at Mandarin Oriental Bangkok could potentially increase employee motivation and efficiency. Labour protection in Bangkok is slightly below international standards (Charoensuthipan 2015), and this is attributable to weaker worker protection laws; the migrant population, which is disproportionately represented in the region’s worker population, is susceptible to exploitation. This could explain the high differences in wages between waiters and managers at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok hotel; the market needs strong labour protection laws to protect the lower workers. Ultimately, the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok has a comprehensive human resource management system, which ensures that all employees are compensated through various benefit schemes for their work and loyalty to the organization. The hotel has a clearly defined compensation framework for its various employees, and this entails a vast range of direct, indirect as well as non-financial employee benefits. For instance, the direct financial benefits to its employees include wages, service charge as well as occasional tips. Overall, employee compensation at Mandarin Oriental hotel compares favourably with regional rates and global standards in the hotel industry, since the group has instituted positive HRM practices that effectively look after employee welfare. References Hoque, K. (2000). Human Resource Mangement in the Hotel Industry: Strategy, innovation and performance. London: Routledge. Global Wage Report 2014/15 (Asia and the Pacific Supplement). (December 2014). Wages in Asia and the Pacific: Dynamic but uneven progress. ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Regional Economic and Social Analysis Unit (RESA). Anuman Rajadhon, P. (1963). Thai traditional salutation, Thai Culture (Bd. 14). Bangkok: Department of Fine Arts. Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. (2015). “Benefits & Recognition”. Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Retrieved from: http://www.mandarinoriental.com/careers/benefits-and-recognition/ Wells, D. (2003, Summer). Are labour unions obsolete in the new global economy? Inroads, 46-53. Tung, G., Lin, C., & Wang, C. (2010). The market structure, conduct and performance paradigm re-applied to the international tourist hotel industry. African Journal of Business Management, 4(6), 1116-1125. Aslan, A.H. & Wood, R.C. (1993). Trade Unions in the Hotel and Catering Industry: The Views of Hotel Managers. Employee Relations, 15(2): 61 – 70. “Comparative Wages in Selected Countries As of 30 June 2015”. (2015). Department of Labour and Employment, National Wages and Productive Commission. Retrieved from: http://www.nwpc.dole.gov.ph/pages/statistics/stat_comparative.html Olson, I. (2014). Bangkok Living Costs, a City that Caters to All Your Wants and Needs. Retrieved from: http://latitudes.nu/bangkok-living-costs/ Charoensuthipan, P. (2015). Call for labour law parity. Bangkok Post. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/622628/call-for-labour-law-parity Ngo, C. (2015). How Much Does it Cost to Live in Bangkok? Charles Ngo. Retrieved from: http://charlesngo.com/bangkok/ Read More