Impact of current challenges on the human resource department relating to recruitment and retention

Introduction - Marriott’s Recruitment Struggles and Employee Retention Crisis

Marriott International Inc. is a multinational company based in the US hospitality industry. The company was founded by Alice Mariott and J. Willard in 1927 to connect people and provide high lodging experience to the targeted audience (Marriott, 2023). Apart from having different franchises and hotel or lodging services, the company also has residential properties with extraordinary design or space to satisfy the audience's diverse needs within the particular industry. The company currently has around 8700 properties dealing with all kinds of services renting or staying throughout 139 different locations worldwide (Marriott, 2023). Marriott is one of the leading hospitality companies around the globe that has recruited around 140,000 people who are highly skilled and can address the challenges or changing requirements of the customers as per the reports of 2022 (Statistia, 2023). Some of the competitors are Marriott or Hilton Worldwide, Wyndham Hotel, Hyatt Hotels Corporations, and AccorHotels. However, the main reason behind the company's sustainability includes the strategic business goals that relate to maintaining the customers' well-being and promoting a customer–centric approach. In association with this, the company has also adopted cultural diversity in the workplace through the help of "UNITY and Family" (Marriott, 2023). This particular aspect shows that the human resources managers or the company's employers are responsible for promoting an inclusive workplace by recruiting, attracting, and retaining the workforce of all cultures to ensure proper growth or development.

After the pandemic, the company struggled to find new staff members to meet the growing needs of the customers within the industry. In this case, the chief executive of Marriott quoted "Fight for talent" as there was a labour shortage in the hospitality sector (Hancock, 2021). Some of the significant factors that led to this shortage include the poor layoffs of the employees working in the companies, an increase in the demand for tourism or travel that has further increased the workload of the employees and the changes in the labour or job market. Thus, various skilled workers have also left the company to find new opportunities in the marketing environment created a shortage of around 10,000 employees or service providers within the company (Borzillo, 2023). In this case, the study provides a brief explanation of the issues faced by the human resource managers of Marriott International to boost the retention or satisfaction of the employees.

Discussion

External factors leading to labour shortage

Political factors like the change in immigration policies have reduced the availability of the skilled workforce across different companies within the hospitality industry. Apart from this, the political stability provided by the government over the industry also reduces the operations of companies like Marriott International Inc. further increasing the workload of the existing employees working in various departments of Marriott (Mahru, 2023). This leads to poor retention as the complex workplace destroys the appropriate balance between the work and personal life of the workers. Apart from this, the geo-political conflicts between countries, such as the Brexit Law, restrict the operation of hospitality companies in the UK in the economy or social region of Europe. In this case, the branches or brands of Marriott expanded in the UK cannot recruit skilled or efficient from the labour market of Europe, which further reduces the flow of operations or high-quality services within the company.

On the other hand, social factors like an increase in the inflation rate can increase the operational cost of the companies within the hospitality industry, which can further lead to poor wages of the employees. A decrease in the wage rate of the workers, in this case, reduces the satisfaction and commitment of the employees, resulting to employee burnout or reducing workplace retention. For instance, the CEO of Marriott, Arne Sorenson, faced difficulty in retaining employees and to reduce the burden on the company during the COVID-19 era he offered to suppress the entire for a year (Gibbons, 2020).

In association with this, socio-cultural factors like the change in the demographics are directly related to employee burnout in the workplace. Aspects like the ageing of the workforce affect the availability of skilled labourers in the economy, which can further reduce the sustainability or profitability of hospitality companies over the long run. For example, the experienced workers cannot be replaced by the young youths with the help of aggressive hiring, as the young workers will be unable to meet the company's expectations or resolve the issues and needs of the potential audience effectively (Hancock, 2021).

Lastly, the pandemic era of COVID-19 has also affected the availability of labourers in the economy negatively. In this case, it was noted from the study of Peralta (2021) that around 58% of the employees based in the hospitality sector have planned to leave their respective jobs during the pandemic period because of the seamless opportunities in the marketing environment. The main reason for an increase in the turnover was the stressors caused by the pandemic period that further destroyed the flexibility of the employees and even reduced their working situations like poor satisfaction, high demands, extra workload, and an increase in the health risks. In association with this, the technological advancements in the workplace have also created a lack of skilled labourers for the companies operating within the hospitality sectors as it changes the job requirements in a particular workplace. Furthermore, the existing employees can also be unable to meet the demand of the continuous innovation in the industry, that leads to the challenges relating to the new staff management in companies like Marriott International Inc (Borzillo, 2023).

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Internal factors affecting employee availability

The weaknesses of the companies within the hospitality industry, like poor management of the employees and irregular working hours, have been the main reasons for the significant reduction in employee retention. Apart from this, as the performance of the employees has a positive impact on maintaining high-quality customer services, the employers of the hospitality companies were also unable to meet the expectations of the companies, further leading to employee shortage (Innerhofer et al., 2022). In this case, the post-period COVID-19 pandemic has also reduced the work-life balance of the employees associated with the hospitality industry due to the increase in working hours. This has also increased the mental health issues of the employees, due to which they are expecting to leave their jobs in the hospitality company and join different sectors to maintain workplace flexibility.

Apart from this, the threats of Marriott International show that an increase in the competition with the new entrants in the market by companies like Airbnb has created a lot of work pressure on the employees (Mahru, 2023). In this case, the existing employee base cannot cope with the new or digital technological systems to meet the needs of the customers, further reducing the interest or commitment of the available workers. Thus, employees are looking to find more stable jobs in the marketplace so that they are able to achieve their career goals efficiently (Hancock, 2021). In addition to this, the companies like Marriott International also follow the ineffective retention practices that lead to the loss of new talents or an increase in the labour shortages for an extended period.

Retention rates in the hospitality industry

It was found from the study of Gupta, (2023), that the turnover rate in the hospitality industry was 75% at the end of 2018 that has been constantly increasing since that period due to the poor presence of the workplace culture. However, one of the main factors contributing to a decrease in the retention rates include the decline in the opportunities of the employees in association to the poor wage rates and improper behaviour from the angry customers.

The main reasons for the poor retention rates include the seasonal shifts in the demand of the customers that might increase or decrease the workload of the employees. For example, during the peak seasons the companies might ask the employees to work for extra hours within the same wage structure that reduces the commitment and retention of the employees at the same time (Ghani, et al., 2022). In association with this, the companies are unable to provide career development opportunities to the employees, and the managers are unable to maintain appraisal systems in the workplace that reduce workplace retention or increase employee burnout issues simultaneously.

Potential solutions for the retention issues

The companies like Marriott are establishing a new capital alliance and forming Marriott Docklands in Melbourne. The formation of the new branch can help the company to hire 78% of the skilled labourers from the labour markets and reduce the shortage of the workers (Schlesinger, 2022). In this case, the company is also fulfilling the basic training of the young youths so that they are able to meet the expectations of the company as well as its potential audience. Apart from this, the managers and the CEO of Marriott have not reduced the pay rates of the employees to enhance their motivation during and after the pandemic period so that they are able to stay committed to the main goals of the company. In addition to this, the managers of Marriott have also maintained a strong relationship with the employees to streamline the tasks or the strategic performance goals. For example, undertaking constant feedback from the employees and including the employee’s ideas while planning the particular decisions as per the requirement of the company are some of the main aspects maintained by the managers to encourage their loyalty or trust (Gibbons, 2020).

Conclusion and recommendations

It can also be concluded from the study that maintaining the needs of the employees is the key to achieving the desired outcomes in hospitality companies like Marriott International. However, Marriott is facing the issues of labour shortage due to the pandemic period and various other factors like poor workplace structure that can further damage its image among the competitors in the marketing environment. The managers of Marriott are able to resolve the issues by constantly focusing on efficient recruitment with clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the employees. The company is also adopting training policies to ensure that both existing and the new workforce are able to stay coordinated with the common goals of the company without damaging their personal well-being. Lastly, the managers are determined to boost their relationship with the diverse employees so that they are able to expand in the global economy efficiently.

Some of the additional measures, in this case, that can help Marriott to increase workplace retention are mentioned below:

Building a positive culture- The managers of Marriott shall invest in time in enhancing the engagement with the employees so that they are able to stay connected with the values of the company and further generate a shared vision of improving the profitability of the company even in a diverse workplace. In association to this, the managers shall also support high equality in the workplace and mitigate all the biased or negative behaviour so that the morale of the employees can be increased leading to high rates of retention.

Constant communication and feedback- The managers of Marriott shall implement digital communication channels to promote timely interaction with the employees. In this case, the managers can also make sure that the employees are able to provide constant feedback that can further lead to an open workplace culture. The feedback, on the other hand, shall be taken seriously by the leaders or the managers that can foster growth and development in the company by resolving the workplace issues or conflicts immediately.

Celebrating the success- The managers can also boost employee recognition in the workplace that can reduce the thought of quitting and can encourage smooth flow of operations in the internal structure of the company. Increasing the pay rates of the employees or providing better opportunities to the staff members can help the company to ensure high workplace motivation so that the issues or challenges of labour shortage can be cured easily.

References

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• Ghani, B. et al. (2022) Challenges and strategies for employee retention in the Hospitality Industry: A Review, MDPI. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/5/2885 (Accessed: 10 November 2023).
• Gibbons, S. (2022) 3 things you can learn from Marriott about taking care of employees, Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/serenitygibbons/2020/04/30/3-things-you-can-learn-from-marriott-about-taking-care-of-employees/?sh=68e989052bca (Accessed: 10 November 2023).
• Gupta, M. (2023) (PDF) the effect of employee uniform on job satisfaction: A case of the ... Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363700259_THE_EFFECT_OF_EMPLOYEE_UNIFORM_ON_JOB_SATISFACTION_A_CASE_OF_THE_HOUSEKEEPING_DEPARTMENT_IN_A_LUXURY_FIVE-STAR_HOTEL_IN_HONG_KONG_CHINA (Accessed: 10 November 2023).
• Hancock, A. (2021) Marriott warns of ‘fight for talent’ as hotels struggle to find staff, Financial Times. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/8acbe8d0-f1d0-4cb9-a15b-518a817455a4 (Accessed: 10 November 2023).
• Innerhofer, J., Nasta, L. and Zehrer, A. (2022), "Antecedents of labor shortage in the rural hospitality industry: a comparative study of employees and employers", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTI-04-2022-0125
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• Peralta, P. (2021) The pandemic is going to push over 50% of hospitality workers out the Door, Employee Benefit News. Available at: https://www.benefitnews.com/news/hospitality-industry-is-set-to-face-a-massive-labor-shortage-by-the-end-of-2021 (Accessed: 10 November 2023).
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