Hilton Hotels are just one part of a much larger organisation called Hilton Group Plc. The group’s largest division is the hotel division; the Ladbrokes Group acquired Hilton International in 1987 for £645 million in a move that at the time was reported the deal of the decade. Hilton Hotels are situated in key business areas, city centres and airport locations; they provide a high standard of accommodation and outstanding hospitality to their customers. The Hilton Brighton Metropole occupies a prime position on the town's seafront. This elegant Victorian hotel has 335 rooms and the largest conference/banqueting facility on the South Coast.
3.1 Introduction
For the purpose of this assignment, it was considered important to establish why there was a need for a new appointment into the Human Resources department. Not only was it a new appointment, but the role of Learning and Development Manager was a completely new position. See Appendix 1.
During an interview with Lizzy Robertson, HR Director for the Hilton Brighton hotels, she explained that Learning and Development is one of Hilton’s key corporate objectives; “Our philosophy is to provide opportunities for personal development at all levels of the organisation, and it is through the objectives of the Human Resources department that we have to develop and implement this corporate philosophy”. She went on to explain that “the new role could be dedicated to Learning and Development. Currently my team hold generalist HR positions but I wanted the new role to specialise solely on this one area.”
Figure 1 demonstrates how for each of the core group values at Hilton (e.g. Employees, Learning and Development, Health and Safety, Environment, Supply Chain), key performance criteria have been (and in some cases still are being) developed to support our corporate values and vision for the company. These criteria are reviewed, periodically, to assess their appropriateness to the ever-changing business climate.
Figure 1
This report will now give attention to the induction process and what the CIPD pronounce as best practice.
The CIPD states that “every organisation, large or small, should have a well-considered induction programme” and that “the programme has to provide all the information that new employees and others need, and are able to assimilate, without being overwhelming or diverting them from the essential integration into the team.”1
Without an effective induction process new employees get off to a bad start. Which in turn can mean that they never really get to understand the organisation or the role that they play within it? The CIPD have identified that this can also lead to:
> Poor integration into the team
> Low morale, particularly for new employees
> Loss of productivity
> Failure to work to their highest potential
In extreme cases, the new employee leaves, either through resignation or dismissal; the CIPD Labour turnover survey 2 results showed that 23% of leavers had less than six month’s service. Early leaving results in:
> Additional cost in recruiting a replacement
> Wasted time for the inductor
> Lowering of morale for the remaining staff
> Detriment to the leaver’s employment record
> Having to repeat the unproductive learning curve of the leaver
> Damage to the company’s reputation in the leaver’s community
Before this report examines each stage of Rosemary Harrison’s eight-stage process in detail, it is necessary to explain how this position has been recruited to.
Originally the position was advertised internally within HUKI (Hilton UK & Ireland) via Hilton Recruitment – See Appendix 2, and the Brighton Employment Centre. Although there was some response, and three candidates applied by way of application form, none of the candidates were invited to interview.
It is within my capacity as HR Officer to screen all applications and it was at this stage of the process that I remembered talent-banking a strong learning and development candidate back in September 2003. Having retrieved her application my manager, Lizzy Robertson and I, invited her in to attend an interview. She was invited for her first interview on 05th November 2003 with me and Lizzy Robertson – See Appendix 4.
Following a successful first interview, Emma was then invited back on the 19th November for an assessment – See Appendix 5. The assessment was designed to give Emma the opportunity to fully demonstrate her abilities as a trainer and involved the following activities:
1. Design and deliver a 30-minute training session on the topic of customer service.
This session was delivered to a member of the Human Resources Team and four front-line colleagues.
2. Design and deliver a 30-minute training session on a management development topic.
This session was delivered to a member of the Human Resources Team and four Heads of Department.
Assessment was made on Emma’s preparation, training style, creativity, ability to involve the group and the extent to which the training achieved its learning outcomes. Following the training sessions Emma was then asked to complete a McQuaig Psychometric test. This involved two papers; a test of on the ability to think quickly and accurately and a personality based questionnaire.
Following the assessment Emma Hayes was offered the position of Learning and Development Manager for Hilton Brighton Hotels.
4.1 Rosemary Harrison’s Eight-Stage Process
For the purpose of this report, the eight-stage process shown in Figure 2 will be followed.
Figure 2 Eight-stage process to facilitate planned learning events 3
4.2 Establish Needs
Job Analysis is a process to identify and determine in detail the particular job duties and requirements and the relative importance of these duties for a given job. Job Analysis is a process where judgements are made about data collected on a job.
The National Occupational Standards in Learning and Development have developed criteria for establishing what is expected within the role of Learning and Development Manager (Level 4).
Rosemary Harrison4 identifies the main tasks concerning designing, agreeing, supporting and evaluating learning and development programmes in the workplace, managing the contribution of others to the learning process, and creating a workplace climate conducive to learning and responsive to changes in learning and development. They also concern identifying organisational training and development needs, and planning the implementation of training and development objectives. Those who occupy roles at this level are likely to be responsible for the improvement of a range of programmes, and for the delivery and/or facilitation of a broader range of learning opportunities.
These key responsibilities clearly matched those written within the job description for Learning and Development Manager. For the purpose of this first stage of the process the induction needs to be clearly planned.
4.3 Agree on purpose and objectives for the learning event
Recommendations
7.1 Bibliography
Harrison, R. (Third Edition – 2002) Learning and Development, CIPD
Davis, P. (First Edition – 1995) Staff Induction, The Industrial Society
Bramley, P. (First Edition – 1996) Evaluating Training, The Cromwell Press
Boydell, T. & Leary, M. (First Edition – 1996) Identifying Training Needs, The Cromwell Press
Electronic sources
www.personneltoday.co.uk
www.trainingneedsanalysis.co.uk
www.cipd.co.uk/infosource
www.hr-guide.com
8.1 CPD Log
1 CIPD (online) (cited 10th November 2003).Available from http://www.cipd.co.uk/Infosource/Training/Induction.asp
2CIPD. Labour turnover 2002. London, CIPD, 2002. (Survey report). Available from
www.cipd.co.uk/surveys
3 Harrison, R. (Third Edition – 2002) Learning and Development, CIPD, p. 268.
4 Harrison, R. (Third Edition – 2002) Learning and Development, CIPD, p. 157.
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Created by Emily Mason
