UK Boutique Hotel Chain Expands to France & Germany - Essay Sample

Introduction

Reardon Hotels, a UK based chain of boutique hotels, has for the past years, attained notable growth due to the quality of its products and services. As a measure of growth, the hotel is considering an expansion into other countries so that it can attract more customers and further its growth. As the human resource manager of the hotel, the recommended countries where the hotel can expand into is France and Germany. Even though expanding into these countries may be the right direction for the operation of the company, several considerations have to be given attention. The main factor that should be considered when expanding into the two countries is the HR Policy and Practices as it plays an important role in how the hotel will conduct itself while in these nations. With that in mind, this report will focus on the main reason as to why and How the HR policy may vary in both France and Germany. In my capacity as the HR manager, I present this report to the senior management board as we consider opening up hotels overseas.

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Why HR Policy and Practice may vary?

The HR policy and practices may vary in both France and Germany may vary due to different aspects. One of the reasons that may result in a varied HR policy and practice is the culture of the two countries. The culture of France and Germany is way too different from each other. The culture between the two countries may vary because of the language spoken while at work (Jiang, HYPERLINK "https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Az6qWIoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra" Lepak, Han, Hong and Kim, 2012). For example, in France, it is acceptable to use French in the workplace, while in Germany, the German language is allowed. Therefore, as Reardon Hotel is expanding into these countries, it will accommodate these languages for its operations to proceed well.

The second reason why the HR policy and practice may vary between France and Germany is the political ideologies. Both France and Germany have different political ideologies which play an important part in shaping various areas. These political ideologies may influence the HR policies and practices in both countries. The political ideologies between the two countries may vary in the sense that in either of the country, politics may define who should be employed to a certain position (Wright and McMahan, 2011). For example, the politics of either France or Germany may require certain procedures to be followed. In this case, some aspects may be allowed in Francs while rejected in Germany. Therefore, as Reardon Hotel is expanding into these countries, it is essential to follow these political ideologies to understand the activities that they have to undertake to as to operate well.

The economic conditions between the two countries is the third reason as to why the HR policies and practices may vary. Even though France and Germany are stable nations, certain economic factors may influence HR policies and practices. The economic conditions of France may allow certain practices to be done within the HR policies and practices (Lengnick-Hall and Beck, 2011). On the contrary, the economic conditions in Germany may be allowed the same practices to be carried out. Therefore, as the hotel expands into these countries, it is important to learn the economic conditions to understand the activities that will be carried out to help the company move in the right direction.

The fourth reason as to why the HR policies and practices may vary between the two countries is the demographics. Various demographic factors may influence HR practices and policies. One of the demographic factors that play an important role in HR policies and practices is age. For instance, in France, there is a lot of focus that is placed on the age of the workers, whereby most organizations and institutions are recruiting younger individuals compared to Germany, where the workplace is largely made of up of older people (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang, 2014). As the hotel is expanding overseas and specifically France, there will be a need to change the HR policies and practices so that it can accommodate the hiring of young employees. However, in Germany, there is less focus on age as long as an applicant meets the criteria required for employment.

As much as there many factors which suggest there could be some variance between the two countries, there are some aspects that may be similar. One of the reasons why HR practices and policies may be the same between the two countries is the primary industries or sectors. In every country, there is usually a primary industry that defines its economic hence a lot of effort is put in those sectors. For example, in France, one of the main industries that play an important role in its economy is the tourism and hospitality industry (Kramar, 2014). The Reardon hotel falls under the tourism and hospitality industry. Therefore, most of the activities that are required within the HR practices and policies may be accepted in these countries. This case is the same in Germany since the Tourism industry is one of the primary sectors. Therefore, most of the activities that the Hotel plans to carry out within the HR practices should be aligned to the requirements of the tourism sector.

Another factor as to why the HR policies and practices may not vary between the two countries is the religious practices. In both France and Germany, the same types of religion are present with Christianity being the largest religion. Since Christianity is the largest religion, there is a high chance that it will influence how a lot of activities are being done in different places. In this case, the HR policies and practices between the two countries will be determined by the Christian values (Mello, 2011). Therefore, as Reardon hotel is expanding into these countries, the HR policies and practices will have to change to match the common religious practices.

Also, the infrastructure of a country is a reason as to why the HR policies and practices may be the same. Both France and Germany have out in a lot of consideration on their infrastructure and this has enabled the developed of quality roads, airports and even modern buildings (CHUANG & Liao, 2010). It is well known that infrastructure is vital to any hotel as it enables the transportation of the clients. Since the infrastructure of the two countries is well developed, it is required that HR policies and practices should be changed to allow for the transportation of its clients from one place to another so that they can get adequate services.

How HR Policy and Practice may vary?

In the two countries, there are different ways that the HR Policy and Practice may vary and this may be concerning the balance of power between managers, employees, state, and trade unions. Concerning the balance of power between managers, the HR policies and practices vary in both France and Germany. For instance, in France, power in managers heading various departments within organizations and institutions is distributed. Therefore, each of the managers had the power to command some activities to be done (De Cieri and Dowling, 2012). On the contrary, in Germany, the top manager in an organization or an institution has more power over the other managers and can be used to give the orders. Therefore, as the hotel is expanding into these countries, it should focus on how the power will be balanced among the managers heading different units to ensure that operations are carried out effectively.

The second way that the HR policy and Practice may vary is in the employees. The relationship between the employees plays an important role in the success of the hotel. There has to be good employee relations especially with the managers of the hotel so that the goals and objectives can be attained (Briscoe, HYPERLINK "https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Qifz-6sAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra" Tarique and Schuler, 2012). In France for example, it is known that most workplaces have developed a culture of ensuring that the employees learn to relate with each other well. Good relationship between the employees helps them to create a good atmosphere that will enable them to carry their tasks effectively. In the end, this approach will help the hotel to success. Therefore, while the hotel is expanding overseas, more emphasis should be placed on the development of sound employee relationships.

The third method that the HR policy and practices may vary is related to the trade unions. However, in the case of Germany and France, trade unions is present in both countries. Trade unions are important elements as they help to fight for the rights of the employees and ensures that they are treated correctly. Therefore, as the hotel is expanding into the two countries, efforts should be made to ensure that the employees are registered with the trade unions. These trade unions will play an important as they will help in fighting for their rights and ensure that they are having ample time while working with the company.

The state is the fourth stakeholder on how the HR policy and Practice may differ between the two countries. The state plays an important role in how various activities are conducted, including how various companies and organizations may plan their activities (Monks, Kelly, Conway , and Flood 2013). For example, in France, the state plays an important role in how the various companies are rub by developing rules that have to be followed. Therefore, as the hotel is expanding into France, it has to make sure that it abides by the rules which have been developed by the state. Following these rules will help the HR policies and practices to be correct and acceptable; hence the organization will be able to conduct its activities properly.

As much as these stakeholders may influence the HR policies and practices in these two countries, the balance of power between all of them plays an important role. For instance, in the two countries, the state is responsible for managing the trade unions that the employees are working in different sectors including the employees that will be working for the hotel after it has established new branches in these countries. Also, in both countries, the managers overseeing the activities of various companies and institutions such as hotels have power over their employees. As a result, these managers can command them to do anything. Furthermore, in France, compared to Germany, the trade unions have more power on the managers of the various company as they instruct them on what they need to do to ensures that the rights of the workers are protected at all costs.

Conclusion

Concluding, it is evident that for Reardon hotel to expand into a new country, several factors have to be brought into consideration to ensure that the intended success is achieved. Reardon Hotel has managed to hit high numbers in terms of revenue due to the quality of services provided to the customers. The hotel is growing and hence it is seeking to expand its services to other countries. The recommended countries where the hotel can expand its activities into is France and Germany. Expanding into new countries may not be an easy step for the hotel as several challenges may be encountered in the process. One of the major elements of the company that may be affected by expanding into a new country is the HR practices and policies. Thee HR policies and practice may vary as several variables may interfere with it. These reports identified that some of the variables that may cause the HR policies and practices to vary between the two countries included culture, political ideologies, economic conditions, and demographics. However, other factors may not cause the HR policies and practices to vary since they have the same conditions...