Background of the study Nairobi city is Kenya’s capital and the best evidence of modernity in East Africa
Background of the study
Nairobi city is Kenya’s capital and the best evidence of modernity in East Africa. Nairobi remains the first stop for travellers ready to explore East Africa’s many wildlife parks. Even with the relatively new influence of Western culture and businesses, the city still retains much of its charm. Best time to visit and explore Kenya is during the dry season that is from late June to October this is when wildlife viewing takes place. The wildebeest migrations starts from the Masai Mara to the Serengeti in Tanzania which is normally from July until October, moreover the wildlife viewing is good all year round but can differ with parks around the country (Hastings, 2018). Karen Blixen Museum being a big hit with fans of Out of Africa book plus the film, come to see where Meryl Streep work extremely hard on her coffee farm that is in the Ngong hills. The Great Rift Valley is known as Africa’s very classic landscape with its sprawling and over stretching savannah and the unique geology that includes flora and fauna. Another name that is given to the Rift valley is “the cradle of human life” because you can find the most dramatic landscapes in the country as well as other African countries that the Rift Valley covers (Journeys by Design, 2018). Nairobi has a lot to offer including the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the enchanting Giraffe center that you can embark on a tour on your way to the Nairobi National park. I chose to carry out this research out of the interest of the vast growth in the tourism and hospitality industry in Kenya and mainly chose to investigate on the study that has not been discussed or given so much interest. The tourism sector has grown rapidly representing a 16.7% increase between 2015 – 2017 (Tourism.go.ke, 2018), with this growth it has helped boost and grow the economy of Kenya. Nairobi was specifically the city i choose rather than any of the other cities in Kenya because it is the governmental and principal industrial centre of the country making it the largest centre of business and trade in East Africa (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018).Choosing Kenya as a whole country would have made the research study work to broad and Nairobi just brings and blends people from all cultures and walk of life.
Statement of the problem.
In the hospitality industry, attracting and finding highly appropriate trained, qualified and motivated employees, is difficult as it involves measures of establishing the recruitment processes taken by both the local hotel market and the international hotel market. Identifying the
knowledge behind hiring of employees, the criteria followed by the recruitment department to identify the skilled and motivated personnel, also get to know who are current type of employees
working in the local and international hotel market to know if they are skilled or not. In the hotel market in Kenya there has been a crisis overtime on who are the skilled and unskilled personnel. No study has been carried out yet to try tackle the issue so more investigation and
research is needed (Jthmnet.com, 2018), (allAfrica.com, 2018). The educational background in Kenya is very basic and considered not enough in the hospitality institutions or facilities provided in the country (Globalpartnership.org, 2018). More students are forced to study abroad to get further educational learning due to the low based education that is offered. The government has not really had set considerations on the hospitality and tourism industry leading to less adequate learning facilities later for what is offered to be rated or considered not broad and enough to the international and local market around Kenya and the world (Universityworldnews.com, 2018).
Purpose and significance of the study.
The upcoming trend in the capital of Nairobi are the hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and other eateries that continue to thrive. In and out of the city of Nairobi new investments are coming up and are being established by the local and international investors. The Kenyan tourism and hospitality industry in 2015 and some parts of 2016 had become handicapped by the huge amount of terror attacks that resulted in high insecurity risks in the whole of East Africa and the Eastern Africa region. Some cities like Mombasa faced the major blow as it is where most of the tourism activities take place, having had 40 and more hotels shut permanently or temporarily, more than 28,000 workers got laid off from their different jobs (hydrant.co.uk, 2018). However later by the end of 2016 the tourism and hospitality industry had already started picking itself back with a small amount of new strategies coming up and establishing some projects into place that helped bring back the glory of the industry. Things started to come back to normal as tourists start visiting the country once more as stability was assured once again after the big blow of insecurity was catered and looked upon. The number of visitors increased from within and outside the country which created and gave the country a lot more opportunities and discoveries which brought more investments to these sectors. International branded hotels opened in different areas of the country not only in Mombasa alone but a lot more in Nairobi too. This has brought a high competitive market around the industry and many of who play part have a risk in losing business if they do not up Their market according to the different demands of the market segments (Gitau, 1983). Kenya being a developing country in the world still faces and battles problems in different sectors and a lot of these problems play a key role to the international
organizations to be strict and precise when recruiting as the level of skill and professionalism is needed to be able to work in their organizations. This contributes to limitations of employees around the pool market who are seeking employment as it leaves most of them stranded or unemployed that adds to more economical issues for the country. When coming to employee pool market we see that most of the job seekers are either semi skilled or not skilled at all which may mean that they can get on job training or have out of job training which gives challenges to the organizations because of training costs and look for means and ways to train the employees (Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2018). I chose to work and critically analyze two different hotels in the market as to see if they have any similarities, if they have any type of recruitment selection and processes that they follow based on the brand of the hotel or if they just follow what the competitive hotels in the market are doing. I chose to discuss my research on both the international hotel and local hotel based in Nairobi where the international hotel market acts as the strong competitor for the local hotel brands pulling more people to have a great interest to working with the different organizations coming up hence leaving the local brands to improve on their standards and up their game so as to compete. There is no actual study done on the issue of high demand in skilled personnel in the hospitality industry in Kenya and as it is now an issue that is faced all around the world not only in Kenya (Adeola and Ezenwafor, 2016). There are a lot of opportunities in Kenya as more organizations are choosing to establish and have their companies which adds as a great deal when coming to growth that is my main. The star rating of the hotel brands i wish to use for my study are classified as five star for both the local and international hotel.
Contextual Boundaries
Nairobi is Kenya’s capital and a remarkable place to visit and explore the delights of Africa and this is why I chose it to be the city and area of study.(Kenya-information-guide.com,2018). Choosing Nairobi as my area of work is because Nairobi stands as the most competitive area as new investments and businesses are growing as more international and local visitors increasingly see Nairobi as a business hub. Nairobi has more international hotel brands than any other areas/city in Kenya which gives me more advantage of why I chose it (Mulupi, 2018).With having chose two different hotels for my study is basically one to compare if the recruitment processes are the same, if they do experience the same type of challenges of the unskilled personnel and also focusing on the type of employees they have in their organizations.
I selected both hotels to be under the five star rating whether it is the local or international hotel brand, this is so that we can see if they have any similarities or see the local hotel has a
different way of recruiting it’s candidates. Main reasons why I decided to pick out the two hotels is because they are the two main dominant competitors in the hotel market in Kenya at the moment and they both play a huge role in the hospitality industry. Why five star hotel brands this is because that is the highest hotel ranking in Kenya and the competition and high demand of skills and professionalism comes from the five star rated hotel brands (Nafula, 2018).
AIM
To analyze the recruitment strategies used in the hotel market in Nairobi for both international and local brands.
OBJECTIVES
Investigate why there is the high demand for skilled personnel and why this problem is still there moreover what are the few steps to take to help with the problem using past research done.
Using questionnaires in order to get to know how the recruitment department feels about the recruitment and selection processes used in the different hotel organisation they work for.
Analyze and give recommendations of the recruitment and selection processes or strategies that could help subsidize the high demand that is found in the hotel market.
CHAPTER TWO- LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
In the previous chapter we see that in the hospitality industry not only in Kenya that there is the issue of high demand of skilled and professional personnel identified. So in this chapter,i will critical review on literature related to recruitment processes and other strategies that would be used to help in the interpretation of the variables. The literature review purpose is to help understand the existing studies and to check the scope of the research and the finding the gap, using the theoretical framework for the primary research which starts with the definition of key terms used in the research. Moreover in the literature review it will highlight the significant and important strategies of recruitment and selection which will be paired with the findings and theories that will be used in the primary research.A summary will finish off the chapter of Literature review demonstrating both sides of the problem giving a clear identification of the research gaps and problem in context of an employee.
DEFINING KEY TERMS
Skilled personnel
Skilled workers are people who have special skills in terms of knowledge which is mainly acquired through going to school or on job and also have the ability and training to perform a task/duty required. Most skilled workers may have attended school which can be college,university or a technical school where they learn the skills.
Non- skilled personnel
These are workers who have no training, experience or skill to partake a job or duty,they often need training to help develop their skills.
Semi skilled personnel
Are workers who do not require much training for the job however they require a lot more skills and knowledge than what they have. Most of the semi skilled personnel are normally diploma graduates from colleges.
The hospitality industry in Kenya is expansive with five-star hotels being some of the best ranked in the world when it comes to tourism, conference and event hosting safari expeditions for local and international tourists. These developments have ensured that the hospitality sector has engaged with various stakeholders either in public and the private sector in continuing the upward trend of ensuring that the tourism and the hotel industry continues to grow. In this context of growth, the other important factor that has emerged is the need of the hospitality industry to have professional and skilled employees (Ng’ang’a Anne, 2013). These employees have been in high demand to ensure that they are able to be accorded the same status as the hospitality industry which they serve. The quest of having professional employees who have the skills and the competencies that are required in the hospitality industries is based on the way that the country education system is set. The requirements to join the hospitality industry as a professional is based on college, technical and university educational backgrounds. These conditions are met and fulfilled by most of the graduates who are set to join the hospitality industry either as long term or short term employees. However, there are employees who also work in the hospitality sector as unskilled or semi-skilled laborers who undertake various duties and responsibilities to ensure that the operations of the hotels are running.
Intercontinental hotel Nairobi is amongst the best establishments which have a 5-star rating due to the services and the experiences they offer to their guests and the way under which they have been able to integrate operational and administration roles. These achievements are enhanced by having a strong and an extensive human resource department which incorporates local and foreign employees. The recruitment process that is involved to ensure that InterContinental hotel is able to acquire the right employees has been credited for its success in the hospitality sector and it continues to be a dominant entity internationally. Local employees have a different recruitment process than the professionals who are sent by the main company headquarters to serve in the country. The demand for professional and skilled personnel is uncontrolled in Nairobi because there are various educational institutions that are offering courses related to the hospitality sector (Iravo, et al, 2013). Under these circumstances, the country is able to produce a vast number of graduates and there are also a good number of semi-skilled laborers that they can be able to employ. Therefore, the Intercontinental hotel uses its insight and expertise to ensure that it is able to balance its operational and administrative duties by getting the right employees to fill in any vacant positions. However, the availability of professionals who have undergone through formal education is not enough to assure them employment, they should be able to fit the expectations and requirements that are set for the jobs which are available.
In determining how the demand for professional and skilled personnel will be essential throughout this research project, there are few hypothetical theories that are supposed to be included to determine how the overall process can be successful. Efficient-Structure-Hypothesis (ESH) is used as a contrast to the other theories which define the market structures in any setting (Nzioka ; Njuguna, 2017). The ESH theory will be essential in explaining the way that the hospitality industry is able to maintain and maximize profits and continue to operate even when the sector is experiencing the low season. It is during the off-peak seasons that the hospitality industry in Kenya is able to operate according to the brand name that it has established over the years and how the employees are either retained or laid off. The stakeholder theory in this research will also be vital in ensuring that managers in the hospitality industries have a network of relationships to serve this include the suppliers, employees and business partners. These stakeholders ensure that the hotels like InterContinental can be able to maintain themselves irrespective of the challenges which they may be facing. As seen, the hotel industry in Kenya has been able to oversee new entrants, substitute services, the power of buyouts, power of supplier and rivalry amongst the hospitality sector. These are some of the issues that have impacted the recruitment and employment factors as per the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) where hotels, lodges, restaurants, membership clubs and camps are registered (Nzioka ; Njuguna, 2017).
The Kenyan tourism sector has been in existence since the colonial days, but there were no infrastructures that were laid out to ensure that the country would be able to benefit from the income that was being generated (Wadawi, et al, 2009). Most of the Europeans who visited the country even after independence had done it on friendly means with their friends who owned property in the country. However, the post-colonial structures that were made ensured that the tourists who visited the country would be booked and reserved to the first major international hotels like the Fairmont, Intercontinental, Serena and later the Hilton. The emergence of these hotels assured the international tourists that the country was ready to embrace change and evolution into the tourism sector which had been ignored for a long time. However, the lack of human resource meant that the country was not in the clear on how it would be able to integrate the tourism sector as part of a new source of foreign exchange. Therefore, the first batch of professional employees who operated in the hotels were outsiders while the unskilled personnel who were Kenyans were tasked to handle the other poor roles. Since that time, the government set the first institution, Kenya Utalii College so that it could ensure that there were people who could be able to perform the skills that were needed to streamline the hospitality and tourism sector.
The college which was strictly tasked with the enrollment and training of skilled professionals in the hospitality sector was able to ensure that the upcoming hospitality industry had the right employees for the job. Due to the high demand for the new employees, the college ensured that the learners would be inducted and taken through on the job training in the various hotels that had developed. This ensured that they were able to acquire the skills and competencies that were required for their induction in the hospitality sector. However, the continuous growth and development of the country has ensured that the hospitality training and learning has evolved to involve more institutions of higher learning that are able to provide the employees in the sector (Mutua, et al, 2012). Currently, the hospitality industry gets its employees from local and international universities based in Kenya through joint collaboration and partnerships with the colleges and universities on how they will train and absorb the graduates to the respective hotels. Advertisements, job posting on institutions websites, professional networking groups and employment agents also assist in ensuring that the hospitality sector is able to get the employees that they require.
The concept of understanding the reason for partnerships in the hospitality learning and teaching institutions is based on the relationships and experiences some of the hotels have with those institutions. The hospitality sector is considered as one of the best and money making employers in Kenya and due to that reason, both the institutions and the management of the hotels like to continue that tradition by getting the best graduates who are on course of becoming professionals. The on job training experience that the various graduates had gained when they were on internship programs at various hotels help them to be graded and absorbed according to the skills and competencies which they had shown. Therefore, the competence and abilities of the graduates when they are on job training and internship programs determine whether they will be able to get employment on the hotels that they were attached or they will have to try their chances somewhere else (King ; Grace, 2006). In understanding how this process goes, most international and local companies have been using this standard to ensure that they are able to get the best graduates in various fields. The moment the organizations are able to get the best graduates, they are able to have an upper hand on their competitors because they know that they will be able to achieve the strategies and the goals that they have set. The same criteria is the one that the hospitality industry has adapted to ensure that they are able to have a competitive edge over their rivals.
The hospitality industry is very competitive of where it is based, and that is the reason why the best hotels are able to maintain and attract customers due to the services and the rates which they offer. Through the government and other stakeholder’s involvement, the hospitality industry has been able to create a platform where the hotels have got their own association so that they can be able to benchmark and create an avenue for evaluation. These evaluation platforms ensure that the hotels can be graded and awarded according to their services and the way in which their employees have been able to perform (Nzioka & Njuguna, 2017). The Intercontinental hotel in Nairobi has been exceptional in maintaining its reputation and status as a hotel that is able to apply its international rating to the local community. These issues are supposed to be in accordance to its global rating where it has been involved in the division of its brand name to different regions across the world. Therefore, the employment practices that it applies to one region are supposed to be applicable to all its other branches as long as they are within the labor laws of that country. In Kenya, the laws are not complicated when it comes to employment and that is the reason why the country has been able to be a hub of various international entities that have set the business because of the ease of doing business.
The recruitment process of any company is supposed to go in line with its objectives and human resource policies that are supposed to ensure that they are not meant to disrupt the operations of the organization. The management is supposed to have the oversight role to determine whether they should engage an outsider or they will undertake the process internally or through their human resource department (Nzioka & Njuguna, 2017). The Intercontinental hotel has been considered as a trusted organization when it comes to the recruitment procedure because it can announce the vacant positions for the skilled professionals on their official website. The next procedure involves the screening process where the candidates who had applied for the vacant positions must avail themselves at their main branch in Nairobi. The dates are set depending on the number of positions that are available and on which departments are supposed to be filled. Hospitality industries have various departments that revolve across the hotel from the semi-skilled laborers to the skilled laborers who all serve the hotel like Intercontinental in different capacities.
There are challenges and limitations that face the hospitality sector in actualizing the recruitment process and to ensure that they are able to maintain the national requirement of having the right balance between the men and women. However, the hospitality profession in Kenya had earlier been a strength for women and the cultural beliefs also continue to interfere the advancement because some people are still tied to that belief. Therefore, it is the duty of the recruitment agencies or the human resource departments in the hospitality sectors to ensure that they are able to maneuver around those requirements while striking a balance (Wadongo, et al, 2010). The semi-skilled laborers are recruited depending on the duties that they have to play or according to the season when there is an flood of tourists so that they can be able to assist the permanent employees. Effectiveness and efficiency is a requirement in the five star rated hotels and on these matters the intercontinental hotel ensures that the semi-skilled employees get the required training before they are tasked to handle in sensitive areas in the hotel. However, if they are not going to interact with the tourists or guests, then they are casually trained on the sector which they have come to assist like in groundskeeping, dishwashing, or cleaning of the guest rooms.
To ensure that the hospitality industry stays competitive, the hotels have to ensure that they offer quality customer service, unique and attractive product features based on different bouquets, safety and security for the employees and the customers. These features are supposed to be in accordance to international standards of 5-star hotels and that is what intercontinental hotel has adapted to ensure order. These strategies have been helpful in ensuring that the stiff competitive market of the hospitality industry in Kenya has been at the center of acquiring and retaining the best talent that is stirred by the colleges and universities. Within the topmost hotels in Kenya, there is aggressive competition of acquiring the best graduates amongst the institutions that are associated to the hospitality industry. To ensure that the best hotels have a competitive advantage, they beat their rivals to the graduates who have been able to perform excellently on their end of course exams. The continuous cycle has seen the highly rated hotels continue to do better at the expense of the lower rated ones and that continues to affect their businesses and operations (Machuki & Aosa, 2011). Therefore, the Intercontinental hotel has been able to ensure that they engage with integrity to ensure that they are not going the work and organizational ethics.
The hospitality industry operates like any other organization, and that is the reason why matters of organizational structure, size, and formalization within the hotels where the employees are located (Mose & Kibera, 2015). Some hotels like Intercontinental have centralized their operations and administration roles to ensure that they are able to control and coordinate any issues that arise in their Kenyan Nairobi branch. The structure formalization is supposed to ensure that the departmental meetings, operational activities that deal with matters of policies and procedures are undertaken without complications. The centralization of operations and activities at the Intercontinental hotel is supposed to ensure that there are few levels of hierarchy, so that decision making complications are reduced. The employees who have completed their training and induction and they are members of staff at the Intercontinental are assigned their duties and roles according to the positions which they were recruited. Specialized employees who operate in the centralized form of administration are usually able to perform better than in any other systems. Therefore, the Intercontinental can also be credited to be successful because they have mastered the right, effective and efficient managerial and administrative setting.
SUMMARY
Throughout the literature review the reader is given the opportunity to familiarize with the issues of dealing with the recruitment and selection process and everything under it. We can see that not all candidates are fit for the job positions even if most of them can be semi skilled or skilled workers. Moreover the education systems are game changers on helping reduce the high rate of unskilled candidates out in the candidate pool market, hence producing semi skilled personnel who most qualify for certain jobs as they have got some skills. As highlighted in the review we see how they are no set laws given out by the government that would act as barriers to the hotels. The researcher takes you through hotels advertisements and announcements of vacant jobs for a particular pool of candidates targeted through various channels.
The next chapter looks at the methodology used to help gather data for this research project.
CHAPTER THREE – METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter we discuss methodology and we see it is “to collect information and data for the purpose of making business decisions. May include publication research, interviews, surveys and other research techniques and could include both present and historical information” (business dictionary,2018). With the methodology research it is basically explaining the why and how of the research being done which describe the methods of investigation that is based within the literature review and help achieve the aims and objectives.
With Methodology we follow the onion research design which guides the researcher through all research processes (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2012).The layers of the onion begin with the philosophical point which is basically how the researcher understands the knowledge which helps shape the second layer which is the approach where its based on what is the research type and how the results will turnout. Next we have the research strategy and choice of methodology research which gives out a more step by step action plan of the research. Moreover time horizons which is the fifth layer of the onion and the data collection finishes off the every step that illustrates the way sampling methods will be explained. At last the chapter summary will highlight all the key points of the methodology research done.
Why the need of methodology?
The researcher intends to use pragmatism of the philosophical point which allows the researcher to look at the topic from two different points for example the social or influence actors. “This is normally used to find solutions to problems as it links the choice of approach directly to the purpose of and the nature of the research questions”(source). The pragmatism gives off permission for one to study areas they are interested in which embrace methods with findings together with a value system that the researcher holds. Some of the advantages of pragmatism is that one can be able to merge more than one research approaches and strategies that are within the same research study. The researcher can use any multiple research methods choice that fits in with the study and in this case i chose Qualitative since its a research based on developing ideas.
When it comes to the approach type the researcher chose deductive which was appropriate with the type of research being carried out.Deductive states that with a statement,question or having your set research is set to answer it. With deductive we see that it is less time consuming unlike the inductive approach moreover it allows and gives more time for practice and then the application. “The thought process of deduction moves from theory to the research question, to data collection, findings to a rejection or confirmation of the research question”(Creswell 2003).
Under the choices I will use qualitative research design that is under the mono qualitative method (Bryman 2006). I chose Mono method because am carrying out a primary study with the use of qualitative study. Where I will investigate on who the employees out in the market are, are the personnel out in the pool market from any hospitality schools or have no background on hospitality education and also look at the level of education(diploma or certificate) to basically know where they stand if they have educational background. Doing a qualitative research really helps with developing ideas and finding insights to the problem and the type of data collection method used can vary from semi-structured to unstructured. One could carry out the research within a small sample size like in this case where the researcher choose two different hotel to investigate. Furthermore with the quantitative it is generally used in gathering numerical data or statistics but for the qualitative which i will be using is more on the understanding and developing ideas into the type of problem research. The data collected through the participants will be inform of questionnaires which will be conducted online.
With the use of strategies I will review strategies that the human resources could use when coming to recruitment selection that would help the candidates in the market, like training your interviewers on the latest interview techniques moreover nature your certain talent pool with drip emails or using niche job boards. Under the research strategies I focus on survey strategy as this is commonly used in business and management research that are later used for describing or to explain the research. To help me gather my information for my research study I choose to use questionnaires as they help standardize data that is on from a considerable population. (Saunders et al., 2010) get some more information from literature review*
Time horizons is basically choosing a particular time framework one wishes to design their research and work with (Saunders et al., 2010). I chose to focus on the cross sectional type of time horizon which consists of questionnaires that I will use to assess my study topic at a particular time. It will help me identify the relationship between the two variables and choosing online questionnaires this will help me reduce the workload of carrying out my
research in terms of costs as using the internet is more accessible and saving the use of paper. The research is being done at this particular time since it part of an academic program which has a certain limit where one has to work for then submit it. Some of the advantages are that it is quick, cheap and easy to perform unlike the longitudinal which is done over a long period of time. This is under the techniques and procedures that I will use to carry out my research. I choose to use simple random sampling and by using sampling I will look at different types of employee recruitment methods used by both local and international hotels in Nairobi to see if the problem is with the employees they get or the type of criteria methods they follow. Whereas to analyse if the problem is with the employees who are unskilled or the problem comes from
the hotel market that has set very high standards that finds most personnel unskilled and not professional hence the rise of unemployment.
Data collection
Data collection in this study will basically be the gathering of information from the primary data sources which means data that is collected first hand by the researcher for a particular point of understanding(Globalpartnership.org, 2018). The advantage of this would be that the data gathered will not be biased and specified since the researcher has direct contact of the particular object. The researcher chooses to investigate on the different recruitment and selection types of the two different hotels.
Secondary data collection
With using secondary data it helps to save money and time and in this study recruitment strategies and processes and other linkages in between have been researched moreover the theoretical framework was created based on previous done research on recruitment and selection. Some of the secondary sources are books,articles, academic journals and some reports which helped gather the literature review and can be found on UoD library,Emerald insight and google scholar.
Primary collection
“Primary data is always collected first hand by the researcher for the specific purpose of understanding” (veal 1997). Since the data collected is specific it is often unbiased and unambiguous.
Sampling methods depends on the type of data the researcher needs which could be qualitative or quantitative and with the method of evaluation that are interviews,surveys,focus groups. The aim of carrying out sampling is to be able to collect effective and puntual findings (Denscombe,2014).
The researcher will be using random sampling which means that no individual judgment will take place in this selection of sampling as everyone stands an equal chance in this selected type of sampling hence having more reliable results.
My survey will cover on the recruitment and selection department employees that are under the human resources department. The employees targeted both work at a five star ranking hotel however some will be from the international brand and others will be from the local hotel brand.
I will be using two to three employees from the two hotels to answer on the background and challenges faced when recruiting the skilled personnel they choose to targeted. I choose to not focus on any specifications like gender or age as getting general feedback from any employee under the recruiting and selection is my main priority from both organizations. I chose to use the two hotels that i have had the pleasure of being a trainee and with that opportunity i had contacts of the Human resource managers who i contacted and were able to agree to be involved in my research. To be able to achieve the objectives online questionnaires were used of which were semi structured but opened ended questions and they fall under the qualitative research. The researcher will be using emails to be able to communicate to the participants and the HR managers to able to certain responses.
*Finally you need to include a section on how you will analyse the information once you have gathered it.
Ethical issues
The ethical concerns have to be some part of the fundamental design of a proposed research or any research project and this is to ensure that the researcher does not breach any published ethical principles. The researcher is taking all considerations above all the ethical responsibilities to conduct the research study. I understand the importance of this research and certainly the purpose which is to increase the people’s knowledge and contribution to the research which also give recommendations that are bias free.
How and why the ethical issues are observed ?
Ethical considerations are observed so as to help the public support the researcher by understanding the ethical norms which elaborate on the requirements and what the study entails.How are the ethical issues observed, one the researcher chose to use a consent letter to inform all the participants on the research study to be carried out and uses this letter as an agreement that highlights the requirements from each one them . Secondly i chose to keep their identifications confidential by having anonymous questionnaires, giving the participants a way of being comfortable while answering the questions enabling them to be open and honest. I will not go against my participants and publish or inform anyone/people on the results given out, however through debriefing i will inform and share with all the participants on the information and results gathered after research has been carried out.This is for any of the participants who are interested on the study done and this will be issued to them through a letter.Withdrawal from the investigation is allowed at anytime and without any charges although the participant has to write to the researcher stating why they choose to withdraw and should done at least 10 days before the due date for the questionnaires. As for the data protection i chose to keep the data collected with me for any future references/purposes and this study will be kept safe and secure. The main reason as to why i chose to use online questionnaires was in order to eliminate the use of paper so as to be more sustainable but also assist on the aspect of reliability and being time consuming.
Limitations
The research was done in switzerland however the data need was collected from Nairobi,Kenya. With this it had a great barrier was created since the primary data had to be carried online due to the geographical distance. The methods used to collect data was through online questionnaires although some of the hotels reached out had a policy where they could not be used as a case study or even provide personal information of the organization to the public however the same hotels had referrals which were used to gather the data.
Validity
Validity can be defined as the measurement of whether the objectives of the study have been fulfilled(Golafshani, N. 2003). In this case the researcher asked the specified tutor on the questionnaires to ensure validity before handing them to the participants.
Summary
The whole chapter analyzes and states the processes of the primary and secondary research based on the research onion which shows the chosen methods.
Philosophical stances
Pragmatism
Approach
Deductive
Strategy
Survey
Choice
Qualitative research
Time horizons
Cross sectional
Data collection
Online questionnaires
Sampling
Questionnaire on the human resource recruitment department
Table 3: 1 Research design summary
CHAPTER FOUR -FINDINGS.
Introduction
In this chapter, the researcher aims to give a presentation of the information gathered from the investigation which was done through semi structured online questionnaires. The whole investigation shows and highlights that there were similarities but not in all aspects since it really depends on the hotel organization. We see that the recruitment and selection methods can be used in both hotels although done with different specifics of the hotel. All the answers have been summarized up to highlight the different points of the participants who are involved on the process of recruitment and selection process. All of the participants have been working in the Human Resources department for a while and have had past experience in the industry to be able to provide adequate information for my research.
Gathering the data for this research had its difficulty as most of the hotels that the researcher had tried to reach out to had an organizational policy which was barrier as one had to respect their decision, others had the reason of the management did not want the establishment to be used as a case study of a research project as providing personal information about their recruitment methods and strategies was putting at risks in the market out there. However we did succeed with two hotels that were willing to help but to some extent of which we could only use one of the employees to answer the questionnaires as they did not feel comfortable putting three or four out for questioning. The data gathered was on the recruitment and selection process which was adequate as it highlighted on the importance of human resource department as a whole. We see that recruitment is the first stage of acquiring potential candidates who could work in the organization.
Recruitment and selection
“When you need people to fill certain jobs, you are looking for people with certain characteristics, knowledge, abilities, skills, personal qualities”(Miller et al.,(2001:171). Having to place an applicant to a position the recruiter has to undergo critical considerations so as to have an unsuitable applicant taking up the job .
Having to compare the recruitment and selection process within the hotel industry had no much different response as all the participants,stated that there is no difference and the processes are the same but to some extent depending on the type of hotel. The other aspect was on the internal and external recruitment where i asked the interviewee about the promotion from within and if it a good practice with policies to back it up. All the participants agreed that with the recruitment done internally it gives the employees motivation, makes them feel appreciated and feel like they advancing in their career path which boosts better results. Furthermore internal recruitment builds up the employees loyalty where they feel cared for and given a platform to build themselves hence having low employee turnover. When it is recruiting externally a number of participants suggested it is a good idea to bring in new and fresh ideas to the organization. We see that open job positions are posted on the hotel websites which is rather a cheaper and less time consuming for an applicant and the message reached get to a wide range of people since you can post your c.v directly to the page.
Job description and specifications are a way to match your suitable applicant to your vacant job position. The importance of this is well stated and a job description helps give direct details of what the job role and responsibility are and the specifications showing the qualification. This helps by making the selection easier of finding a new staff. With this format it helps the interviewee know more about the language,ability and skills, attitude, and educational level.
A C.V or resume as many may know it, is a document composed of an applicant’s background, education levels and experience they have. A c.v is the most important document when wanting to apply for a job as we see in the investigation, this is because it gives the interviewer a general information of who the person is before the can have an sit down interview and talk more.
Furthermore when coming to the application interview we see that the organizations use a semi structured form of interviews where they allow the applicant to fully express themselves as the questions are open ended which enable the interviewer to get to more about the applicant. With this kind of interview it gives a platform for one to show their communication skills, problem solving skills, attitude,awareness as one of can go in depth free to express themselves.
Lastly with the use of reference checks are normally used to identify
ANALYSIS
In the analysis review we see that there are a number of recruitment and selection methods that hotels in Nairobi use and as stated in the investigation that there is no method for the international hotel and the local one it depends on the different organisations choice to see what is more suitable and convenient with the them. Therefore the processes being used by the international hotel can be used by the local brand and vice versa the only difference is that one is an international hotel brand and the other is a kenyan local hotel brand.
In the recruitment and selection process the aim and objectives have to be identified. With the international hotels the human resource department have to know who to recruit so as to be able to match their standards and be able to carter to the target customer market. At the end of the investigation the researcher identified that every hotel needs all their employees to be in the right service mind cause the only thing that sets hotels as a different industry is hospitality. Therefore hotels require staff that have different level of knowledge and education, experience and the attitude and personality.
As highlighted in the literature review we see that the size and image of the organization are key factors for the applicants determination in terms of qualifications since the two hotels used in the case study are both five star rated and they prefer qualified employees in their organization to be able to offer the best quality of service,facilities etc.
CHAPTER FIVE – CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion
Every organisation is expected to recruit the right people to work in the organisation and there are several methods that the hotels in Nairobi used while recruiting and selecting the candidate. The human resources department in a hotel organization is the one in charge of everything as there is no specific type of hotel that has the same recruitment and selection method. Some methods were alike while some were totally not same but every hotel hotel should at least know their organization first and this regards class of hotel, type of labour market, hotel type(luxury,budget or mid class), the target market(customers) and what budget they working with for all the procedures.
All the participants from the hotels really preferred recruitment from within the organization as its advantages are not expensive,sufficient and reliable. However in order to have new ideas and different ways of doing things it is important to employee externally as the methods, of this that are used in Nairobi are through online recruiting, referrals and announcements and advertisements. The recruiter fully considers past work experience and education to go hand in hand as well as the right positive attitude to the hospitality industry. Other details like that of children status, marital status, personality are all components looked at when recruiting.
Right after the right candidates have been shortlisted they go over and use the job description/specification to the new selected candidates. Sometimes the use of reference checks is done at this stage although not every organisation follows but this is used to check the candidates backgrounds so as to have the final decision made without any form of biasness. For the selected candidate they should have qualifications that match up the job specification/description.
Recommendations
This is based on the findings and analysis taken during an investigation on the high demand of skilled and professional personnel in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Nairobi hotel market should be more lenient when coming to recruiting as suggested in the literature review where not to many candidates are fully skilled hence organizations should have more training knowledge given off to the students while working (on the job training).
They should give more options for the semi skilled personnel since they are the most critical pool of candidates in the market.
