小企业的招聘与培训人力资源外文文献及翻译大学论文Word文档下载推荐.docx
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Recruitment;
Training;
Smallfirms;
Hospitality;
Tourism.
Background
Smallfirmsandtraining
Althoughdefinitionsofsmallfirmshavebeenextensivelydebated,thereisnodisagreementthatthemostcommonlyfoundtourismorhospitalityenterpriseissmall(Thomas,1998).Todate,verylittleresearchhasbeenconductedintheseorganisations.ThisisnosurpriseandasMatlayargues:
TheissueoftraininginthesmallbusinesssectoroftheBritisheconomyhaslargelybeenneglectedbyacademicresearchersandhumanresourceplanning,developmentandmanagementspecialistswho,untilrecently,werecontenttosuggestsolutionswhichweremorerelevanttothebusinessesstrategiesoflargerfirms(Matlay,1996,p.648).
ThisissupportedbyJohnsonandGubbins(1992,pp.28-9)whosuggestthat:
relativelylittleisknownabouttheextent,natureanddeterminantsoftraininginsmallandmedium-sizedbusinesses,eitheronanationaloronalocalbasis.
Itisarguedthatwiththegrowthoftourismandhospitalityandtheimportanceofhumanresourceswithinthemthisneglectshouldnotcontinue.
Researchconductedinhospitalityandtourismfirmsofallsizeshasdiscoveredthatinformalityandarelativelyunsophisticatedmanagementstylecharacterisetheapproachtakentowardsrecruitmentandtraining(Goldsmithetal.,1997;
Price,1994;
Lucas,1995;
Baum,1995).Researchonrecruitmentandtraininginsmallfirmsingeneral(Jameson,1998)hasalsoindicatedthataninformalapproachtowardsthemanagementofhumanresourcesisthenorminthesefirms.Oneofthemajorthemesinsmallbusinessliteraturehasbeentheexaminationoftheinformalityofrelationsbetweenemployersandemployees.Acorrelationhasbeenfoundtoexistbetweenthesizeoffirmandlevelofformalityinvarioussectorsoftheeconomy(see,forexample,Scottetal.(1989);
Curranetal.(1993)).Researchconductedspecificallyinhospitalityfirms(Price,1994,p.49)foundthat:
oneofthemainfindingsfromthesurveywastheimportanceoftherelationshipbetweenestablishmentsizeandemploymentpractices…therewasastrongcorrelationbetweensizeandtheextenttowhichestablishmentshadintroducedpersonnelpolicies,proceduresorotherarrangementswhichmettherequirementsofemploymentlaw.
Thesignificanceofthisrelationshipcannotbeunderestimatedandmustbeborneinmindwheninterpretingtheresultsonrecruitmentandtraininginthesmallfirmsinthesample.
Anymeaningfulanalysisofrecruitmentandtrainingcannotbeundertakenwithoutsomeunderstandingofthelabourmarketwithinwhichsmalltourismandhospitalityfirmsoperate.Muchefforthasbeenexpendeddevelopingtheoreticalmodelsofthelabourmarket.Asfarasthetourismandhospitalityindustriesareconcernedoneofthemostusefultheoriesisduallabourmarkettheory.Goldsmithetal.(1997)summarizethissuccinctly.Duallabourmarkettheoryproposesthatthetotallabourmarketcanbesegmented.Onesectionistheprimarylabourmarket,wherejobstendtobesuppliedbylarge,highlyprofitablefirmswithahighcapitaltolabourratioandhighproductivity.Here,productionisusuallylargescalewithhighinvestmentintechnology.Employmentinthesefirmsisnormallystablewithrelativelyhighskillandwagelevels.Inthiscontext,therearenormallyopportunitiesfortraining.Thesecondarylabourmarketisnormallycharacterisedbysmallfirmswithlowcapitaltolabourratio,lowproductivityandsmallscaleproduction.Inthesefirms,wageandskilllevelstendtobelow,employmentisunstableandtrainingopportunitiesareusuallylimited.Smalltourismandhospitalityfirmsnormallytendtooperatewithinthesecondarylabourmarket.
Thereareobviousrelationshipsbetweenrecruitmentandtraining.Onerelationshipiswheretrainingcanprovidesolutionstoproblemsinthelabourmarket.CampbellandBaldwin(1993)suggestthatinmanyindustrialisedcountriesthereisaconcernthatskillsshortagesandmismatchesareappearinginthelabourmarketandthatpolicymakersareawarethatrecruitmentdifficultiesandskillshortagesmayreducethecompetitivenessofsmallandlargefirms.BradleyandTaylor(1996)suggestthatthereisagrowingawarenessthateducationandtrainingsystemscaninfluencetheskillandoccupationalmixofalocalityandlocaleconomicwellbeing.Anothertypeofrelationshipisonewherethelevelofrecruitmentaffectstheleveloftraining.Intourismandhospitality,withtheirrelianceonthesecondarylabourmarketandhighratesoflabourturnover,thereisastrongtendencytohavehighlevelsofrecruitmentandlowlevelsoftraining.Theargumentsbeingthateitheritisnotworthinvestingintrainingortheresimplyisnottime.
Recruitment
Researchontourismandhospitalityfirmsingeneral(i.e.notspecificallysmallfirms)referstoinformalandunsystematicrecruitmentmethods(LucasandBoella,1996).Others,whohavecarriedoutresearchintorecruitmentinsmallfirmsingeneralhavefoundarelianceoninformalmethods(see,forexample,Curranetal.,1993).Millwardetal.(1992)foundthat,whereaslargerenterprisesreliedgreatlyonformalmethodsandbureaucraticproceduresbyspecialistpersonneldepartments,thesmallbusinessowner/managerislikelytohandlerecruitingandpersonnelmatterswithoutdelegatingandisunlikelytohaveanyrelevantskills.
Training
Tourismandhospitalityhaveoneofthehighestlevelsofskillshortages(HCTC,1995;
HEFCE,1998).If,asBradleyandTaylor(1996)suggest,trainingcaninfluencetheskillofalocality,thenitisinterestingtoseehowseriouslysmalltourismandhospitalityfirmstaketraining.
AccordingtoCurranetal.(1996)smallbusinessesexperienceproblemsinprovidingtrainingforbothowner-managersandworkers.IthasalsobeendiscoveredthatthehospitalityindustrydisplaysoneofthelowestlevelsoftrainingactivityintheUKeconomy(HCTC,1995).Thesepointsshouldbeborneinmindwhentheresultsofthissurveyareinterpreted.
Twooftheindicatorsofasystematicapproachtotrainingaretheexistenceofatrainingplan/policyandaspecificbudgetfortraining.
AccordingtotheHospitalityTrainingFoundation(HtF,1996)63percentofemployersinallindustrieshadatrainingplan.Incateringandhospitality64percenthadatrainingplan.Themostrecentresearchontrainingandsmallfirmsfoundthatonly28percentofsuchfirmshadatrainingplan.
Itisappropriatetodiscusstrainingbudgetsalongsidetrainingplans.Itisalsousefultocomparethesurveyfindingswithallindustriesandwiththehospitalityindustry(nofiguresareavailablefortourism).Inallindustries55percentofemployershadtrainingbudgets;
inhospitalitythisfigurewas43percentaccordingtoIFFresearch(HtF,1996).However,researchcarriedoutbytheHtFfoundthatonly19percentofhospitalityfirmshadatrainingbudget.
IntheUK,theprovisionoftrainingtoSMEshasbecomeacentralissueofeconomicpolicy(MillerandDavenport,1987).Storey(1994)hasdescribedthisasamajorindirectsmallfirmspolicyinitiative.Overthelastdecade,theprovisionoftrainingandsupporttoSMEshasincreasedconsiderablyinvolvingnationalandlocalGovernment,theprivatesector,andfurtherandhighereducationinstitutes(Westhead,1996.Inthesurveyonsmalltourismandhospitalityfirms,theissueoftrainingprovisionwasexamined.
Thereislittlepointininvestingintrainingwithoutattemptingtomeasureitseffectiveness.Measuringtheeffectivenessoftrainingisextremelydifficultinanysizeoffirm.Thesmallfirmsliteraturesuggeststhatowner-managersofsmallfirmsassessthevalueofworkforcetraininginaninformalwayandtendtousevariouskindsofsubjectiveassessments.Thefirmsinthesurveywerequestionedonifandhowtheymeasuredtheeffectivenessoftraining.
Researchmethod
ResearchersatTheCentrefortheStudyofSmallTourismandHospitalityFirmsbasedatLeedsMetropolitanUniversity,UK,werekeentoexaminebusinesspracticesinsmallfirmsbothbybreadthanddepth.Assuch,itwasdecidedtoadministeraquestionnaireto4,331smallfirms.Intotal,1,103werereturnedcompleted,givingaresponserateof26percent.Theprojectfocusedonfourregions:
Cumbria;
HeartofEngland;
WestCountry;
andYorkshire.Eightsectorswerechosentoprovideabroadlybasedcross-sectionoftheseindustries.Thesesectorswerepublichouse/bar;
travelagent;
hotel;
visitorattraction;
B&
B/guesthouse;
fastfood/takeaway;
restaurantorcafé
;
self-catering.Thevastmajorityoffirmsinthesamplewereindependently-ownedsingleoutletbusinesses(80percent).Thedefinitionofasmallfirmadoptedforthesurveyisfewerthan50employeesandisaconflationoftheEuropeanCommission’sdefini