Harmon Hotels

1. There are different benefits in hiring French or American residents. For example, hiring French employees will become a huge benefit for the start of performance in Paris. It means that the performance will be based on French customs and traditions, which will help to understand customers’ needs and requirements better. In addition, there will be no language barriers, and there will be no need to waste money on training American employees introducing them the French culture. In case of hiring American employees, there will be more benefits in the aspect of experience working in the hotel business. Managers and other employees will be acquainted with a high quality system of Harmon Hotels. In Harmon Hotels, the quality of services they offer is the primary target. It means that as soon as Harmon Hotels put their highly qualified employees to the French hotels, they will receive a reliable team of professionals. However, there is a question regarding cultural aspects. American employees may need time to adjust to the specific environment in France with its customs, traditions, and cultural peculiarities. The final option to mix both nations and create a multicultural team is the worst option in the aspect of possible cultural conflict. Misunderstanding may become a serious issue preventing from the effective collaboration of the personnel. However, it could become an option to mix professionalism with cultural aspects. In fact, the best option for Harmon Hotels is to hire French employees and train them according to the company’s requirements. Adjusting to the business environment will be the most cost-effective option in terms of the company’s intention to grow and develop on a continuous basis (Weinstein, Vokurka & Graman, 2009).

2. As long as Harmon management decided to expand its territory, it is rational to select American employees for the project implementation with further integration of representatives of the hosting country. For example, the selection process at both sides should consider several steps. First, it is necessary to select the best employees in the American company, which managed to reach excellence points in their performance. Outstanding managers can become boosters of the performance of new hotels overseas. It can be challenging. However, it is an experience, which will not only help to cross cultural borders, but also spread the company’s activity. Secondly, the company should consider those candidates, who are able to integrate to the foreign culture and express enough loyalty and respect in order to exchange experience. The company can evaluate these aspects by means of interviews and informal meetings, as long as the company supports a free way of communication. As soon as the company selects appropriate candidates, it is necessary to integrate French employees in the business. It will help to provide the company with employees familiar with the culture and its aspects. French candidates should be the target of the company. For example, Harmon Hotels may hire previous employees of the acquired hotel chain. In the statistical data of the acquired hotel, it is necessary to evaluate the best employees and offer them conditions better than the previous owners could offer. In general, the process of selection and integration will help to achieve both goals – profitability and efficiency of new hotels.

3. One of the best options to select appropriate candidates for managerial positions in Paris is to conduct a stress interview. First, it is uncommon for Harmon Hotels to put their employees at stress in the process of teamwork. Stress interview will help to evaluate appropriate candidates, who can stand stress and possible conflicts faced at the new place of work. Second, the company will be able to evaluate new character traits helping to evaluate not only stress resistance, but also an ability to respond to conflict situations. Moreover, the company will be able to see the way employees can resolve conflicts and minimize pressure at the workplace. Scenarios for stress interviews can vary depending on the level of relations between top management and employees. For example, top manager may focus on the fake facts during interview and put a candidate at pressure because of inappropriate financial data. In general, it is possible to generate any scenario, which can put candidates to the edge of their emotions. In fact, this selection process will identify the most appropriate employees, who can stand to the myriad of emotions and perform with the same intensity regardless of the climate of both external and internal environments (Halperin, 2014). The final selection criteria will be based on the readiness of employees to get in the mode of training and develop the diversity of skills in them according to the specific peculiarities they face.

4. In order to retain employees, it is necessary to provide them with appropriate compensation. As long as the team of employees will be a primarily French mixture with a minority of Americans, it is appropriate to create a compensation system covering needs of both nations. First, in Europe, employees will be able to earn 50,000 Euros. It is lower than the level of the average compensation; however, it is fair enough to attract employees with bonuses. Bonuses, in their turn, should become the target of compensation system, which will become a competitive benefit of Harmon Hotels. At the same time, it will become one of the goals of American employees to involve in the European sector of the company’s performance. However, high standards and requirements for performance in France will make it difficult to obtain a new position abroad. At the same time, it will enhance business skills of every employee willing to earn more. Bonuses of the compensation system will include paid training, vacations, and paid sick days according to the company’s rules. Health insurance and 25% discounts on the services of Harmon Hotels for each employee will also be the part of compensation system. In addition, the company should add its extra bonus for the most outstanding employees. For example, the company may design additional vocational programs, which can transfer any employee performing over the targets of the business plan. These benefits will be covering all needs of employees and will attract new professionals to the business.

5. Trainings developed by the company should cover not only the basic course of French, but also the diversity of other business essentials. As long as the team of employees will have a multicultural aspect, it is important to create a flexible program allowing to develop appropriate skills in both teams of employees. First, Harmon Hotels should be an initiator of trainings. In order to make courses effective, it is necessary to conduct them in France. It will not only enhance the speaking abilities, but will also help Americans to adjust to the peculiarities of the local culture. On-the-job trainings should include improvement of communication skills, a course for the development of managerial skills based on the lectures and conferences conducted on the base of Harmon Hotels by the leading managers from the business sector. The trainings should take at least a week to cover all aspects of the business with its peculiarities. The frequency of trainings should be at least three times per 6 months in order to keep the team of employees up-to-date. In addition, it will be an appropriate option to develop a team of professionals and highly qualified employees. The budget of the company should be flexible enough to allow spending on the trainings at least 3% from the compensation of each employee. As long as trainings will have a group character, it will be possible to find outstanding leaders in the field of management able to share their experience.

6. An overseas expansion requires special attention from the board of managers in facing new experiences from the cultural exchange and international cooperation. It means that it is important to generate appropriate techniques, which can support the company’s ambitions to grow in a rapid pace. For example, Harmon Hotels may develop one of the most effective approaches towards management in the aspect of total quality. It is possible to apply benchmarking as the core process of the earliest performance stages in France. The company may apply its previous strategy, or may expand it according to the examples of other hotels. For example, hotels in Beijing can become an appropriate target for the development of the hotel chain in Europe (Yang, Wong & Wang, 2012). At least, it can teach how to improve the quality of service and adjust to the multicultural environment regardless of the hotel’s location.

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