HR to pose Games’ sternest challenge
AUSTRALIA’S attention will turn to the Gold Coast in 2018 to listen, watch and attend the Commonwealth Games.
The community will be faced with a multitude of challenges not least of which will be making the most of the economic and social benefits brought about by an event of this scale.
Business will be tested on many fronts, none possibly more so than in human resource management.
The types of human resource (HR) issues will vary, depending on the organisation.
Hospitality, for example, will have labour force scarcity. They are going to need to recruit short-term staff to service fully-accommodated hotels.
Bars, nightclubs and pubs will face increased need for security personnel and bar staff. Restaurants will need quality, well-trained waiting staff.
Councils and associated auxiliary organisations will be tested, with workers from bus and train services, to cleaning and waste removal stretched. CBD office-based organisations will experience HR issues in regards to increased leave requests from staff to attend events, road congestion and flow leading to working hour issues, and potential for increases in sick leave due to the social aspects of the event.
If we take the hospitality industry, more specifically the restaurant sector as an example, many HR processes will need to be in place to maximise competitive advantage.
Firstly, an appropriate cache of staff will need to be employed to meet the demand of the community and tourists.
Effective training designed to align staff performance and approach with the business objectives and ideologies will need to be put in place.
Motivating performance strategies such as the keeping of tips or a percentage thereof needs formulating. Also, a contingency labour component to cater for illness, commuting issues resulting in no-shows and increased unavailability due to the Games.
The rise in popularity of ‘working travel’ means managers and HR managers alike must cater to the interests of prospective staff based on what their needs are as well as being able to rapidly employ and train a labour force.
BUSINESS WILL BE TESTED ON MANY FRONTS, NONE POSSIBLY MORE SO THAN IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.
A transient workforce will be drawn to a business which intelligently promotes itself as a flexible, enticing destination.
The complexities involved will test the skills of the single owner more than the larger chain restaurants. The businesses which have the best HR policies and best-fit style strategies will achieve competitive advantage.
The opportunity to learn and prosper leading up to and post the 2018 Games will certainly test the ability of business to manage its most important resource – people.