Best Practices in Human Resources

A landmark study based at Cornell University found a substantial number of hotel companies engaged in innovative human-resources (HR) practices. Several firms developed a bundle of practices that include such elements as employee empowerment, interactive CD-based training, performance evaluations, and guest surveys. Illustrative of those efforts is Cendant's five-prong diversity initiative, which has encouraged more than 50 minority entrepreneurs to become franchisees. Many of the best practices, however, focused on one of five types of HR practice: (1) leader development, (2) training and knowledge building, (3) employee empowerment, (4) employee recognition, and (5) cost management. For instance, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Hilton decided to grant front-desk employees the power to solve any problem or grant any guest request on their own authority. Leadership-development programs are chiefly intended to permit promotion from within, while training practices and empowerment practices are gauged to improve employee skills. Controlling costs or enhancing revenues are the goals of the cost-management-practice champions. The goal for many of the practices is to improve morale, reduce turnover, increase productivity, and boost guest satisfaction.