Impact of HRM on work life balance : hotel industry scenarios

Abstract

In a diverse and rapid altering economic ambiance, both companies and workers require flexibility. Working time arrangements can have a momentous demeanor on the competence, yield and competitiveness of companies, without forgetting the health, well-being and motivation of their employees. Personnel are the most essential resources of service industries and represent a large cost for all hospitality operators. People management should not be concerned just with the practical errands of ensuring that jobs are executed, but rather with contemplation of all the aspects which directly or indirectly affect individual employees at work. Work Life Balance is a person's control over the conditions and interactions of the workplace family, friends/community and self. It is accomplished when an individual feels duly satisfied about the key areas of his or her personal life and their paid occupation. A successful Work Life Balance strategy will reduce stress levels and increase the employee's job satisfaction. Throughout this report the focus is on HRM's focal point which is not solely on employment and workplace issues, but also on it giving adequate attention to management, unions and government policies, while recognising the humanness of labour. This research takes four hotels and studies their informal and formal policies regarding work and life balance and how they affect the employees' lives. It gives also recommendations for employers to formulate and implement other work-life balance policies and strategies for their employees. In return these policies give the employers more motivated staff and increase productivity. All the employees of these hotels are entitled to receive all types of leave investigated in this research, i.e. carer leave, compassionate leave and domestic leave, career break, maternity leave, adoption leave, paternal leave and parental leave. Oddly, childcare support facilities are not present in neither of the hotels. Moreover, the majority of the participants find it very or quite easy to combine work with family and personal life. With the promotion of life long education, the balance between working arrangements and possibly of improving one's knowledge or the place of work is irregular. If companies want their employees to grow whilst giving service to the same company better arrangements need to be established. An increase in flexible working time, through more part-time job opportunities, could result in a significant female labour participation boost.