The Practice of HRM and SHRM in the Barbados Hotel Sector

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the relationship between the number of human resource management (HRM) practices adopted and organizational demographics among hotels in Barbados, as well as determining the extent to which strategic human management (SHRM) is practiced. A quantitative survey was administered to 46 hotels out of a population of 75 hotels. The findings revealed that more than half the sampled hotels adopted more than 14 HRM practices; that hotel size (by employee level), hotel room prices and age of hotel were significantly related to the number of HRM practices adopted. All hotels engaged in strategic planning and the majority had a HR strategy formally endorsed and actively supported by the hotel's top management and that HRM strategies are integrated with business strategies and HR strategies are deliberately integrated with each other. These findings suggest that there is widespread adoption and a growing level of interest in HRM, as well as considerable importance being attached to strategic HR issues.

KEYWORDS:

• HRM
• Strategic human resource management
• hotels
• Barbados

Notes

∗p < 0.05;

∗∗p < 0.01

These job positions were selected based on Hoque's (2000) study.