I agree with the author’s concerns about the problems experienced by most managers. According to the survey carried out by Cathy et al (2008), managers are faced with several issues pertaining to attraction, retention, training as well as development of the work force in the industry. Indeed, most managers are not in a position to train their human resources personnel. These challenges are worsened by other problems such as economic uncertainty, increased cost of operation as well as comprehending customer needs and preferences. These issues make the work of managers hard especially in a situation where the company is faced with economic and environmental concerns. Moreover, the issue of strategic positioning of the company in order to compete effectively has been a major barrier to the success of most managers.
Economic and environmental uncertainty has been affecting the lodging industry for long. Notably, world economy has been changing leading to uncertainty of the cost of essential commodities as well as rising costs of operation. Global warming has been a phenomenon that has affected the performance of various industries in the world. This has been coupled with lack of appropriate measures to protect and sustain natural resources. Other issues related to the economy include taxation and inflation. These issues directly influence human resources in any given industry. As a manager, one is always concerned with the health of the customers as well as that of the local economies. In addition, the rise in oil prices and gasoline has also played a big role in influencing the success of lodging industries. Notably, there are instances when the key markets are characterized by uncertainty. This makes it hard for managers to understand the trend in consumer behavior. Thus, it has not been easy to strategically plan for the ways to increase sales opportunities. Responding to customers’ concerns has also been effected by the development of social networks and blogs. Therefore, maintaining hotels reputation is not easily controlled. A third party booking site has been developed contrary to the company policies that does not effectively understand and address customer’s concerns.
The study of the key issues facing managers can apply to Las Vegas lodging industry. Las Vegas lodging has been faced by several problems especially pertaining to human resources issues. These problems have been aggravated by the recent recession in the lodging industry in United States as well as in other parts of the world. It is evident that as employment opportunities increases, more staff is hired. This paves way for training the newly enrolled staff. However, this has not been the case, training and equipping the staff with the required skills has not been achieved. Another challenge is the use of new technologies. Generally, there are innovations of new technologies every now and then. In this case, the staff has to undergo regular training in order to provide up-to date services. Las Vegas lodging industry has also been affected by other issues such as revenue management and creation of value for the benefit of customers. Moreover, the industry has been affected by labor shortages due to limitation on the managers to play his roles effectively in handling human personnel.
As the hotel GM, there are several measures that can be taken to provide remedy to the problems facing lodging industry especially concerning human capital. Firstly, there should well established polities regarding hiring and retention of staff. This may involve providing some incentives to the workers in order to ensure that they are satisfied in their working environment. Secondly, human capital can be addressed by providing training to the staff. This concerns the new enrolled staff as well as the already working staff. This is important as it ensures that workers have adequate skill to compete effectively in the increasingly competitive economy. As a general manager I will ensure that the working environment is health in terms of fair competition and ensuring that there are mechanisms that make it easy for the staff to understand consumer’s behavior. Thus, in order to minimize labor shortages, I will ensure that the industry is in a position to play its role effectively in terms of attraction, retention, training as well as motivating the staff.
