Marriott Corporation’s Human Resource Management Research Paper

Introduction

The success of any business is a function of the quality of its management. There are different roles and functions of management. Generally, there are four functions of management they are; Planning- this is ensuring that activities are well thought and coordinated. Strategic decisions of various functions of an organization are considered when planning; it involves reflective thinking that considers an organization’s goals and deriving methods to attain them.

This is the initial function of management; Organizing- this is structuring of function in an organization to ensure that goals in the organization have been attained effectively. Functions must be planned in a way that there are high returns in production. The function also involves ensuring that experienced human resource is deployed in various sections; Leading- to get things done, a manager must provide good leadership in the organization. He must understand various functions at his level and lead by example.

People are more likely influenced through set examples by managers instead of given directions. A good manager should ensure that he offers good leadership to the business and; Controlling -this is overseeing functions in the organization and ensuring that they are well conducted. It involves the monitoring of activities in an organization.

One managerial role/function, which cuts across the above functions of management, is human resource management. To have effective management managers should lead by example (leading function), they must plan the level of expertise, and the number of employees in an organization. Human resources fetched should be organized and controlled for efficiency in the company. Marriot International Corporation is a company in the hospitality industry whose management has undertaken its functions keenly. This paper using the case study of Marriott Corporation discusses the functions of management in precise human resource management.

Marriott International Corporation

Marriott International was established in 1927 by Willard Marriot and his bride, Alice. The two started by putting a beer stand in Washington D.C. The beer stand could only accommodate nine people at the start of its operations. It was named “Hot Shoppe” where they prepared hot food substances like tacos, tamales, and chilli. These food items were mainly served to clients during winter months. In 1929, Marriott International was officially incorporated as Hot Shoppes, Inc.

It experienced fast growth. In 1953, the company was listed as a public company (Marriott International, Inc. Official website). It laid its competitive advantage in world markets on product diversification. The company opened Twin Bridges Marriott located in Arlington, Virginia; this was the first hotel opened by the company. With its fast-growing pace, Twin Bridges Marriott went international in 1966; this happened after the company took over the running of an airline catering kitchen in Venezuela.

It later changed the name to Marriott Corporation in 1967. The company later engaged in series of takeovers which enabled it to grow into a billion dollar corporation. In the year 1998, Marriott International was listed in the stock market as an independent public company after which it started to focus its attention on business and leisure lodging.

To ensure success in such a new venture, the company sold its superior living facilities in 2002. Marriott International continues to diversify its operations. Nonetheless, leadership of Marriott International started with the two founders, Marriot and Alice. Today, the company’s top management entails six executives operating at a senior level; it also has thirty-six corporate officers.

Vision and Mission of Marriott International Company

The vision of the Marriott International Company is to be the leader in the global lodging industry; it aspires to be the world leader in providing excellent services in the hospitality industry. To achieve this vision, the company strives to provide the best services in the world within the hotel and lodging industry.

The mission statement of the company affirms the company’s commitment to being the best and provider of excellent lodging and food services. It achieves this by treating its workers in the best way ever so that they can offer extra-ordinary services to the company’s customers.

Human resources management at Marriott International

A company requires both physical and human resources for its operations. The human resource is the greatest asset that an organization can have; without it no business transaction can take place.

It ensures that the business is run in the right way, and thus determines the current as well as the future state of the business. Great leaders or managers are the ones that can combine available strengths and weaknesses for the good of the organization. How well the human resource is sourced, developed, and retained in the organization is the work of management.

Selection and recruitment

The recruitment and selection of appropriate staff are the foundation of any quality-conscious firm. In the past, professionals were recruited based on technical criteria such as qualification, experience, and membership of the appropriate association. Although these criteria are still important, technical skills are only a part of the overall service delivery, which also includes functional criteria such as marketing and business skill and the ability to foster client relationship.

Marriott International is a customer-centered firm; it takes into account all these criteria and considers recruitment as the first stage of retaining loyal, well-motivated, and happy employees. Technological changes call for competent and skilled employees; thus, organizations should plan for recruitment and selection to ensure that their employees match the current technology. During the interview, the panel should ensure that they learn the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate. This will assist them in making the final decision.

Training and Development

Marriott International understands that a professional employee, like any other member of staff, has a limited set of skills which require continual upgrading in the phase of changing market demands and technology. Only by updating these skills using well-developed programs can professional firms ensure that they equip their staffs with the skills needed to respond to future business expectation. Marriott International management ensures that employees are well motivated; highly motivated employees are more productive.

The employee must be appraised appropriately to enable the human resources department to establish the areas that need to be improved. Those who have attained the expectations of the management should be rewarded accordingly. For example, to remain competitive and maintain efficiency in today’s hospitality industry, Marriott International focuses on the kind of employees that they deploy. They should vet new entrants.

Marriott International human resource manager ensures that he should understand sales person capabilities and how to utilize them for the benefit of the company. After entry the story does not end there, training follows. To have an effective sales team, they must be enthusiastic and hold a positive attitude at all time.

This will only be attained if the sales manager develops measures to assist his team to be enthusiastic and positive minded. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson “nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm”. As much as possible staffs that can influence or persuade effectively should be deployed. Since making a good sales person involves in-born traits and nurturing, training and development should be done continuously.

Retaining

As the employees meet Marriott International goals and expectations, it becomes crucial for the organization to realize that the employees also have their targets that they want met. This is the stage that many employees think of looking for another job if the current job is not satisfactory. The human resource department must come up with measures that are aimed at retaining the employees.

One of these ways is to make the working environment as comfortable as possible. Remuneration and reward of employees are other ways that can be used. By reward, we mean that the efforts of the employee are recognized. Marriott International retains its employees to tap their talents and experience. They make better quality food stuff to give their customer a better experience (Smith 21).

Conclusion

Decisions are the driving force in an organization. The quality of the decision that managers make give their organization direction and focus. The growth and competitiveness of an organization are influenced by the quality as well as acceptability of decisions made by managers at all levels. Generally, the functions of management are planning, leading controlling/monitoring, and organizing. Marriott International was established in 1927 by Willard Marriot and his bride, Alice.

The two started by putting a beer stand in Washington, D.C. The success of an organization is dependent on how well the human resources are developed and retained. An organization has to ensure that it has, at all times, the right number and quality of personnel necessary to attain its objectives.

To have a winning team, organizations should put in place elaborate programs for hiring, training, retaining, and redeployment of its staffs. Human resource development can only succeed if it receives support from top management. (Check appendixes for Sample Questionnaire used to collect data from the company’s management)

Works Cited

Company’s Official website. Marriott International, Inc. 2010. Web.

Smith, Williams. Making better business decisions: understanding and improving critical thinking and problem-solving skills. London: Sage, 2001.

Appendixes

Sample interviewing questionnaire for company (this is not a questionnaire to be given to my sample group but it will be guiding questions)

1. For how long have you been with the company?
2. Which year do you regard as your best?
3. Why?
4. How do you convince your potential customers?
5. Do you follow up your customers after a successful purchase?
6. If yes which is their response?
7. Is your sales strategy changing with time? If yes which are the methods you?
8. Adopting?
9. Do you think other companies approach to marketing has changed? If yes how?
10. Do you think the hotel is giving you enough support in your efforts to your sale?
11. What do you think your company should do to ensure that your work is more effective?