The Impact of COVID19 and Rebuilding

the Workforce in Hotel Trinity

Student no: 2012445 Module BMIH5005

Name: Sibell Andrei Personnel Resourcing & Development

Lecturer: Emily Williams

Although all sectors were severely affected by the Covid19 pandemic, the hospitality
and travel industry collapsed within days with the first lockdowns being introduced in
most countries in spring of 2020. The impact on the hospitality sector was so
substantial that according to PwC (2021) By the end of 2022, the forecast is that
revenue per available room (RevPAR) in London will return to between 43% and
86% of pre-pandemic levels. London, of all cities around UK, has been affected more
by the fall in business and it is expected to recover over a longer period of time
compared to other areas in the UK. Samantha Ward, PwC UK Hotel Leader
explains: “The reason why London is so strong normally is that it’s heavily reliant on
international travel and the corporate market. Unfortunately for London, it’s those two
markets that have been hit hardest and will have the longest recovery.”

Hotel Trinity has been faced with difficult decisions regarding its employees over the
last eighteen months as a consequence of both the Covid19 pandemic and Brexit.
As the first lockdown was put in place in March 2020 and all hotels had to close
cease trading, Hotel Trinity decided to have a part of the employees made
redundant, others were added onto the Coronavirus Retention Scheme, also known
as furlough scheme, and a small part of the employees working from home attending
a small number of administrative tasks. As the restrictions eased at the end of July
2021, Hotel Trinity is faced with the challenge of bringing the staff level back to a
fully operational business.

In order to return to business as usual, Hotel Trinity needs to adapt its employee
lifecycle to the post pandemic and post Brexit market conditions. According to a
research conducted by Cateter.com over 90,000 EU workers have left the hospitality
sector, London being the most affected as it is estimated that pre Covid19 pandemic
around 75% of its workers were from EU states. Kathy Dyball of Cateter.com said
“Talented EU workers remain an essential part of the sector’s success and we join
the industry in calling for the Government to urgently make it easier for hospitality
talent to return to the UK. In the longer term there is work to be done to change
perceptions of the industry. Its reputation has suffered due to lockdowns, with job
uncertainty added to the list of misconceptions such as low pay and lack of
flexibility.”

The first phase of the employee life cycle Hotel Trinity needs to adapt to the new
environment is employee attraction. The employee attraction starts before the
vacancies are available within the hotel and it is connected to Hotel Trinity brand
awareness, the values promoted and business culture but also their offer of benefits
and compensations. Flexible working hours and a higher level of attention towards
the employee mental health and wellbeing are two of the main approaches that will
help Hotel Trinity with this phase of the employee lifecycle.

Recruiting staff is the second step within the employee lifecycle. The HR department
at Hotel Trinity uses employee referral system to attract best candidates to fill in the
vacancies. Employee referral system rewards the employees that take an active part
in the recruitment process by advertising the vacancies to friends and family. Hotel
Trinity uses multiple recruitment platforms like Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com to
attract applicants. Alongside employee referral and recruitment platforms, the HR
department organises Open Days on a regular basis as to be able to offer people
interested into joining the hospitality business a better understanding of the working
environment. The HR department at Hotel Trinity also offers the candidates the
opportunity to attend online interviews through free platforms like Zoom as post
Covid19 pandemic the reticence towards commuting is still at a high level.

The Onboarding stage of the employee lifecycle refers to helping the new staff adjust
into their roles. A smooth adjustment translates into a 100% productive employee in
a shorter period of time therefore Hotel Trinity offers its new employees a full paid
induction day. During the induction day the company’s core values and culture are
shared with the new staff whilst being encouraged to share their own expectations
with the line managers and HR staff attending induction.
The fourth stage of the employee lifecycle is the development stage. Hotel Trinity
encourages its employees to think outside the box as like Chris Gamm, chief
executive of hospitality careers specialist at Springboard explains that a hotel goes
beyond housekeeping or food and beverage department. “Very often, when thinking
about roles in hospitality, we think of chefs or front of house roles – and whilst these
are key roles there’s a wide range of jobs available. The industry is fast moving and
entrepreneurial; it needs not only chefs and service expertise, but experts in
technology, finance, IT, HR and marketing too. Retraining is a great opportunity for
people to develop new skills, explore new career opportunities and realise their full
potential. It’s become a genuine option for people who have faced redundancy or
been placed on furlough because of the pandemic, to prepare for new ventures in
other industries.” Hotel Trinity advertises all job vacancies on the hotel intranet
platform before being released to the open public making sure all employees are
given the opportunity of career progression. All employees are given biannually
specific refreshment training while upskilling and cross skilling trainings are offered
every quarter.

The human resource is Hotel Trinity most valuable asset. The employees are at the
centre of the business therefore retention stage of the employee life cycle is
managed by the HR department through different strategies. The Say Thank You
scheme is being introduced where any member of staff can send a virtual Thank you
virtual card to any colleague that has been helpful, managers can send virtual Well
done cards to employees to show appreciation for employees going above and
beyond when completing every day tasks. Every month, within every department, the
employee with the most virtual cards received will be rewarded with an Employee of
the month certificate and a high street shops voucher. Alongside the Say Thank you
scheme the employees have free access to the hotel’s gym and healthy eating
seminars given by the hotel chefs, this way encouraging staff towards a fit and
healthy lifestyle. Part of the retention strategies of Hotel Trinity is the opportunity to
spend a fully paid day within any of the hotel departments for any employee
interested in career progression path within the business.

The last but not the least important stage within the employee lifecycle is separation
which happens when an employee leaves the business for various reasons:
retirement, redundancy, personal reasons, different career path or even going back
into full time education. Within Hotel Trinity losing an employee is taken very
seriously and is managed by the HR department together with managers and
supervisors from all other departments. A good management of the separation stage
can help with future employee referrals, keeping a positive morale within the
remaining staff and a higher chance of the employee returning in the future. At Hotel
Trinity all leaving employees are asked for open feedback and exit interviews are
held by the HR team and department managers. The employee’s feedback is
analysed and used to adapt and improve the hotel strategies towards a better
employee journey that has a direct impact on the business’s reputation which takes it
back to the first stage of the employee lifecycle – attraction.

Hotel Trinity is on the recovery path from Covid19 pandemic and the Brexit effect on
the market. For eighteen months the hotel was forced to stop trading leaving staff
furloughed, redundant or working from home. As the restrictions have eased the
hotel HR management needs to devise a plan to adapt the employee lifecycle to the
post Covid19 conditions. In order to do so a PESTEL analysis is needed to cover all
the factors that have an influence on the business.

The Political factors that have an influence on the Hotel Trinity employee lifecycle
are diverse and with strong impact. Brexit and the EU workers exodus from London
as a consequence is the main political factor affecting Hotel Trinity. Brexit has also
made it mandatory for the employers to check all staff right to work in the UK making
the recruitment process longer and more difficult for both employers and employees.
Hotel Trinity needs to focus on attracting staff by a strong benefits and compensation
package, a flexible approach to working arrangements and also offering training and
upskilling for candidates new to hospitality.

During the Covid19 pandemic the UK economy went into recession due to lack of
trading in most sectors, Instituteforgovernment.org.uk estimate that 69% of the
economy has been badly affected by at least one of Brexit or Covid19 pandemic.
hospitality industry has been affected of both once by closing down businesses for
over a year and the second by the immigration law post Brexit that had as a
consequence a shortage of staff. Hotel Trinity should focus on retaining staff and
attracting new talents with nonmonetary benefits as the payroll cost needs to be kept
to a minimum for the business to become profitable again.

Social and cultural norms have changed after the Covid19 pandemic. Social
distancing and wearing a face covering, though not mandatory, are still kept in place
in many environments. During onboarding, development and retaining stages Hotel
Trinity HR department needs to work closely with team managers in order to clearly
communicate updates on Covid19 rules and guidance, making sure employees feel
confident about the working environment.

Technology has been moving forward at a very fast pace during the Covid19
pandemic as a result of the high demand of the new working conditions. Hotel Trinity
has followed this trend and has developed an app that allows customers and
employees to connect and communicate instantly. Employees benefit of a internal
app where they can see they schedule, they can communicate with their managers
and peers about work related issues and can raise concerns using the
Whistleblowing tab.

The environmental issues around the world had become even more obvious during
the pandemic as wildlife started to blossom when people stayed home and not
interfered as much but had negative consequence like a increase of non-recyclable
waste from the PPE equipment (Chakraborty and Maity, 2020; Mallapaty S., 2020).
Hotel Trinity encourages its employees to reduce the carbon footprint by walking,
cycling or scooting to work - electric scooters market is expected to grow by 7% in
the next seven years – using rewards both monetary and nonmonetary.

The new post Brexit immigration law made it mandatory for all employees to prove
the right to work in UK which make the recruitment process longer and more
bureaucratic. Hotel Trinity offers candidates and current staff personalised guidance
on the right to work in the UK law adhering to a fair for all recruitment process.

Hotel Trinity has faced unprecedented circumstances that needed careful managing
in order to return to the profitable business levels of 2019. Not only the Covid19
pandemic has had an impact on the hotel employee lifecycle but also Brexit that has
brought new immigration law and shortage of staff in the hospitality industry. The HR
department needs to analyse all the above factors and update the employee life
cycle strategies to comply with the current social, economic and market environment
by rethinking the benefits and compensation package and a new approach towards
flexible working schedule.

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