Versatility – a key need for HR
October 24, 2008
I was having a swift drink in my local last night, and chatting to a girl I went to school with who works behind the bar. She was telling me about all the training she’s had to attend recently, and it got me thinking about the huge range of skills and knowledge that HR professionals require to be able to work in different working environments. I’ve always worked in an office environment, so if I were to move to a pub or restaurant chain there would be different challenges facing me as a provider of HR support.
Firstly, there are a wealth of regulations to understand and implement, from the recent smoking legislation, to health and safety issues that are more in depth than the needs of an office worker, such as personal safety, food hygiene and long hours/shift work. Employees working with alcohol and food need to gain certain qualifications, so employers in the hospitality industry need to provide training such as NCPLH courses, which is the National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders, and is required for anyone working in a job role that requires them to authorise retail sales of alcohol, such as managers or assistant managers.
Another difference from the organisations I have previously worked in would be the recruitment and retention aspect. I have mainly recruited for permanent positions, and the idea is generally to keep workers for as long as possible. However in the hospitality industry work is often seasonal, with students working only in term time or holiday time, and extra staffing needed for busy seasons such as Christmas. This kind of work also involves managing shift patterns and working time issues, another difference from the majority of office based working environments.
Whilst I’ll probably never work in a HR capacity within the hospitality industry, it just goes to show that there are so many different needs from HR in different organisations and industries. This shows how versatile and able to adapt to different needs and challenges HR professionals need to be.
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