The Strategic and Operational Roles of Human Resources: An Emerging Model

[Excerpt] Effective human-resources management is one of the most important considerations in creating and maintaining a competitive advantage for a hotel (or, for that matter, any hospitality organization). Indeed, human-capital considerations top the list of current managerial concerns in the hospitality industry. Despite the industry’s concern with human resources, however, the HR function is oddly disconnected from the line function. That disconnect is evident on two primary levels. First, we argue that many business leaders fail to fully consider HR influences when making long-term plans. While most executives acknowledge the importance of HR for implementing strategic plans—“making it happen”—we have seen few who formally incorporate HR concerns when developing a strategic direction. While the predominant framework requires consideration of HR strengths and weaknesses during the strategy-formulation process, HR is primarily viewed as an “enabling” function, responsible for implementing “the plan,” and thus largely ignored during the initial planning stages