Strategic Contributions of HR of Merlin Entertainments - Case Study Example

Strategic Contributions of HR of the Merlin Entertainments Contents Introduction 3 Human Resource Issues: 4 Motivation & Team Working 4 Employee & Commitment 5 Negative Behaviour 6 Recommendations 7 Reference 9 Introduction Merlin Entertainments Group PLC. is an English Entertainment Company operating with 105 attractions, 3 holiday villages and 11 hotels in 23 countries. It was founded by Nick Varney in 1998. It is listed in the London Stock Exchange and is listed on FTSE 100 index (Clark, 2003). Any organisation cannot construct a good unit of professionals without a marvellous set of Human Resources (HR). The main aim of the HR is to maximise employee’s outcome which fulfils employers’ business demands. Hence, proper functioning of HR is of utmost importance for a company (Merlin Entertainments, 2015b). However, there are some issues faced by the company when it comes to proper HR management. Some of them will be discussed here. The list includes: Motivation & Team Working, Employee and Committee and Negative Behaviour. Motivation & Team Working: Motivation is defined as the desire to do a work whole heartedly and team work literally means collaboration between few individuals with the sole aim of achieving a common goal. A team needs motivation to progress towards success (Merlin Entertainments, 2015b). Employee & Commitment: The fundamental composition of a company constitutes of its employees. They need proper guidance and training from a regulatory body. Commitment of the employee is an essential feature of a good employee. Negative Behaviour: Behaviour of a person is the most important thing. Even if an employee is an excellent worker, if he badly behaves in his office, he will be forced to leave. It not only affects his work but also adversely affects his surroundings. Human Resource Issues: Motivation & Team Working Motivation is the driving force of any work done by an individual. It successfully transforms theoretical goals into actual results. Companies sometimes invest in outside firms only for providing motivational seminars to encourage workers and to eliminate boredom in their working conditions. Though Merlin Entertainment claims to include fun in their working style, but still the company lacks proper motivational programmes (Jiony M., et al., 2015. There are different types of motivation: Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. The motivation that comes from within is termed as the intrinsic motivation. It is not influenced by the external materialistic accolades such as money or gifts. It adds value to one’s work & it is not always about the money. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, comes from outside, i.e., influenced by foreign factors. These external factors bring the satisfaction which the task can’t arrange. It has been noted by Riley (1996) that proper incentives at proper time can also increase motivations in employees. Incentives show that the company appreciates the labour put in by the worker. Happy workers are also ready to work overtime. Merlin Entertainment does not pay much attention towards paying incentives. According to Latham and Pinder (2005), the company in this case misuses the balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Both the motivations are essentials to boost the energy of the workers. The motivations give satisfaction to the workers but in a different manner. However, the HR has failed to understand the needs of its workers. It literally destroyed the workers’ motivation by adopting poor managerial practices. First, they failed to address the performance related problem. They turn blind eye when it comes to guiding their employees. Inconsistent goal can also hamper motivation. Without proper definition of a task, employees don’t feel committed towards their project. They always fear that they might have to diverge from their target in the mid way. Too many unnecessary policies and regulations can also reduce the level of motivation. HR fails to check these issues (Yeager and Nafukho, 2012). Jiony, et al., (2015) believes that good team work can always bring success to a company. Team work can be defined as the collection of individuals who work together with a common objective. So, the definition itself suggests that proper cooperation is essential for a successful team. Hence, a proper management is required to assure that there’s unity in the team. HR has to ensure that the team is satisfied with each other, proper role has been allotted to the employees, the members of a team are helpful towards each other, etc. However, HR of Merlin Entertainments cannot properly manage the teams. Failure of a team is a huge loss to a company. Sometimes, employees fail to understand that the task given to their team needs their effort as well. They are not supposed to think only about their personal benefits. The HR fails to instil in their employees the benefit of working in a team. It also needs to solve employee’s issues that they face while working together. Proper communication plays an important role (Bernard and Rachael, 2007) in structuring a team. Employee & Commitment Employee is the functional unit of a company. Without employees a company remains non functional. They transform an idea into a successful outcome. A company should intelligently recruit good employees. This segment comes directly under HR of a company. This is one of the tasks of utmost importance to the HR. Merlin Entertainment have experienced how bad employees can make a company incur unwanted costs due to negligence or lack of interests. Still, they have not learned from this and ignored proper recruitment processes. They have pointed out that they lack time and judgement on this issue and it was just an accident. A good and experienced group of trainers are also required for nurturing the newly recruited employees (Bal, et al., 2013.). Drake, Blake and Swallow (2009) advised that a good HR manager should try to construct a healthy relationship with the employees. HR can undertake different recreational activities to instil energy and zeal into employees. However, the Merlin Company fails to take initiative to strengthen the bond between the company and the employee. Employees also need the support of the professionals both in their professional as well as personal lives. This helps in gaining the trust of the employees. This aspect is forgotten by most of the companies and Merlin is not an exception. Issues like harmful company culture, lack of resilience, atrocious managers can drive good employees away. It has been observed by Riley (1996) that, employees in Merlin feel stuck. They feel they lack of opportunity to progress. With growing competition and globalisation, job security has become a scanty commodity. There is a constant fear in the minds of the workers of Merlin Entertainment that they can get fired at any point of time. This along with favouritism negatively affects their productivity. Along with motivation, the employee must have commitment towards the organisation he is working in. Commitment is the driving force of any individual towards the work he is doing. Without commitment, he can’t progress. The HR has not shown any interest in making his employees believe in what they do (Clark, 2003). A good indication that employees suffer from lack of commitment is when they make excuses for not completing their tasks. Commitment is contagious. One dedicated employee can positively influence others. Alfes, et al., (2013) stresses that the sense of commitment comes from work interest. HR is supposed to take steps to increase the interest level of the employees. Employee commitment also boosts their loyalty towards the company. Lack of commitment makes it difficult for the company to execute its goals. The HR doesn’t take any initiative to develop commitment in workers. Employees give their labour, loyalty, skills and in return they expect the company to satisfy their wants. Commitment and performance are positively related. Without commitment, a company fails to execute its goal (Alfes, et al., 2013). Negative Behaviour Good behaviour is important both on the part of employee and employer. Workplace behaviour and ethics are two most important ingredients of achieving profit. Unlike other companies, Merlin Entertainments pay less attention in specifying and summarising the expected employee behaviour at the time of interview. Honesty and integrity tops the list of good behaviour (Jordan, Ashkanasy and Hartel, 2002). Honest and integrated workers are also expected to participate less in gossips and sneakiness in the workplace. According to Human Rights Code, employees are expected to maintain decorum and peace with other co- workers. Without peace, an office is unable to operate. Discrimination in terms of caste, race, sex, age, etc. is strictly prohibited. This implies that equal opportunities should be provided to the workers. Workers’ as well as authority’s behaviour are supposed to meet the authorized social standards (Merlin Entertainments, 2015a). Bullying or any other ill treatment of co-workers can jeopardise the healthy environment of the workplace. Violence is restricted in order to maintain the safety of the office. Disrespecting Co workers and management can violate the peaceful working of the office Bernard and Rachael (2007) think that it is the responsibility of the HR to check that all the code of conducts is being properly followed. However, the HR doesn’t make any contribution towards the maintenance of essential office civility. Anger Management is also an important feature that needs to be checked regularly both for employee and employer. So, anger needs to be managed constructively. This can act as a hindrance in the path of progress. Employees and employer are supposed to understand each other so that they can work together peacefully. Being rude, redundant, aggressive, abusive create too much negativity in the surroundings, which need to be avoided. Merlin Entertainment however has not taken any steps to eliminate such issues from their offices. There are other challenges that an HR needs to handle. Programs that create relaxation and amusement are to be encouraged. Programs like announcement of personal glories, stealing success and credits for other’s task, breaking trust of the team, etc. Late arrival creates a bad impact. Latham and Pinder (2005) believe that all these need to be addressed by the HR. Interpersonal conflict has to be sorted out with the help of the HR. Inability on part of the HR can destroy the productivity of the workers. Other things that need to be highlighted include real or anticipated cases of emotional abuse and sexual harassments. To endure such critical challenges, HR needs proper managerial facility as well as resources. The dirty game of politics can only add to the distress level of employees. The HR of Merlin Entertainment has not been able to eliminate this dirty game. Competition is healthy but too much competition can cause discomfort in the office (Zaccharo, Rittman and Marks, 2001). The concept of team work will lose its importance. Merlin Entertainment has high level of competition but then management has to control it. Another negative behaviour is greediness. Too much hunger for money and position can badly affect the workplace. Unfair treatment both on terms of employee and employers can reduce the optimal working conditions. The Company lacks strict rules by which it can monitor and regulate these negative behaviours (Drake, Blake and Swallow, 2009). It has been observed that satisfied workers don’t get easily involved in a conflict. Recommendations Human Resource is a group of those individuals who build up the workforce of an organisation or company. The first task of an HR is to employ good and efficient workers who can increase the talent pool of Merlin Entertainment. He also manages all the organisational functions in the company. So basically, it is their duty to maintain a healthy environment of the enterprise. For that critical thing, they need to identify the root of the problem and cure them. In case of lack of motivation, plans have to be devised to eradicate boredom and instil some fun. Various activities like potlucks, birthday celebrations, parties, get together and some extracurricular activities can be implemented by Merlin Entertainment. Small stuffs like congratulating the best performer of the month, giving warm welcome to a new employee, etc. can create friendly office surrounding. Such recreational activities will help the company in building bond among both employees and employers. This also builds up communication among the employees and hence imbibes motivation. So, the company should be able to specify all its rules and regulations during recruitment. For a lucrative team, Merlin Enterprise will have to select a good leader who can manage the team well. The support of the team members and team leader can increase the performance of the employee. So, investments have to be made to build up a team. If the team members have differences among them then that needs to be sorted out by the HR. It is assumed that all the members of a team are not able to produce same output. So, underachievers need to be trained. Low performers have to be informed about their performance and proper coaching and development techniques have to be applied on them. Merlin can set short and long term goals to help workers from getting confused regarding their goals. The company also needs to set fewer and essential policies that are less complicated. HR must have a good communication network with the managers as well as with the employees. Seamless communication across the hierarchical ladder is imperative to proper guidance by the higher management, thereby, leading to improved personal performance of the individuals. Different motivational activities will also increase commitment among employees. It is prescribed that the problem should be attacked and not the person. If interest can be created in a person’s work, he/ she will automatically get committed to his/her work. To curb ill practices, Merlin Entertainment should make it a point to set up a committee. Employees should have the freedom of complaining against any ill practices or threat in the office. Hence, it is essential to listen to complains and act accordingly and rapidly. To avoid anger issues, anger management programmes can be conducted effectively. Proper investments have to be made in terms of incentives. Benefits and compensation packages should be set up for increasing the extrinsic motivation. Reference Alfes K., Shantz A.D., Truss C. and Soane E.C., 2013. The Link Between Perceived Human Resource Management Practices, Engagement And Employee Behaviour: A Moderated Mediation Model, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(2), pp. 330-351. Bal, P. M., Kooij, D. T. A. M. and De Jong, S., B., 2013. How do developmental and accommodative HRM enhance employee engagement and commitment? The role of psychological contract and SOC strategies. Journal of Management Studies, 50(4), pp. 545-572. Bernard, B. and Rachael, P., 2007. Negative Behaviors in the Workplace: A Study of Two Primary Care Trust in the NHS. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 20(4), pp. 285-303. Clark, R. E., 2003. Fostering the Work Motivation of Individuals and Teams. [PDF] Available at: [Accessed on 15 May 2015]. Drake, J., Blake, J. and Swallow, W., 2009. Employer Engagement: The Critical Role Of Employee Commitment, Education + Training, 51(1), pp. 54 – 65. Jiony M., Tanakinjal G., Gom D. and Siganul R., 2015. Understanding the Effect of Organizational Culture and Employee Engagement on Organizational Performance Using Organizational Communication as Mediator: A Conceptual Framework. American Journal of Economics 2015, 5(2), pp. 128-134. Jordan, P., Ashkanasy N. M. and Hartel, C., 2002. Emotional Intelligence as a Moderator of Emotional and Behavioural Reactions to Job Insecurity. The Academy of Management Review. 27 (3), pp.361-372. Latham, G. P., and Pinder, C. C., 2005. Work Motivation Theory And Research At The Dawn Of The Twenty-First Century. Annual Review of Psychology, 5(6), pp. 485-516. Merlin Entertainments, 2015a, Preliminary Results, Merlin Entertainment Inc. [Online] Available at: < http://www.merlinentertainments.biz/results-and-presentations> [Accessed on 15 May, 2015]. Merlin Entertainments, 2015b. About Us. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed on 15 May, 2015] Riley, M., 1996. Human Resource Management in the Hospitality & Tourism Industry. 2nd ed. Somerset: The Bath Press. Yeager, K. L. and Nafukho, F. M., 2012. Developing Diverse Teams To Improve Performance in the Organizational Setting, European Journal Of Training And Development, 36(4), pp. 388-408. Zaccharo S., Rittman A. and Marks M., 2001. Team Leadership. The Leadership Quarterly. 14 (4), pp. 451–483. Read More