Week 4 EOC: Physical Attractiveness Based Hiring

Physical attractiveness is a huge factor when it comes to landing a hospitality job especially living here in Las Vegas we see a lot of hospitality positions that tend to be almost solely based off of physical attractiveness.  This can be very risky in my opinion for the Human Resource department. It all comes down to wording and advertising the wrong way for a position can get them in a lot of trouble.  Here in Las Vegas hospitality positions on the strip often aren’t called what you would normally find in a small town.  Here we have a thing called “model waitress” and “model bartenders”.  This is how the casinos and hotel’s get around having to hire not so attractive people.  Also instead of job interviews they are referred to here as a “casting call” and treated as such. 

Employing based on physical attractiveness has its pros and cons according to the textbook, “In the hospitality industry, successful managers focus on two very different, but related tasks. These are:

• 1.Securing and keeping an adequate customer base

• 2.Securing and keeping an adequate number of qualified employees to serve the customer base”(P.103)

• If having attractive employees helps them accomplish such goals then of course that’ll be what is sought after in an employee.  Again using such tactics when hiring employees is risky and all comes down to how said position is advertised.  The textbook stated, “Experienced managers directly address industry-related constraints when publicizing their jobs by clearly stating the attractive features of the jobs they are offering. The goal is not to promise falsely, but rather to better educate those who do not fully understand the advantages of a career in the hospitality and tourism industries.” (p.104) Physical attractiveness however should not be the only quality one is looking for upon hiring.  Hiring solely based on appearance can lead to inadequate workers who are not properly trained to perform such tasks as the job demands.  The textbook gives a great list of things to consider upon recruiting the perfect candidate which includes, 

“▪Stability of employment

▪Variety of work

▪Ability to utilize personal creativity

▪Team environment

▪Rewards of serving others

▪Pleasant work atmosphere” (p.105)

Week 3 EOC: Workplace Fairness

The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) sponsors the site for one main reason, it educates employees of their rights as workers and informs them of options and steps to take if they are being treated unfairly.  As described on their website, “Workplace Fairness is a non-profit organization working to preserve and promote employee rights. This site provides comprehensive information about job rights and employment issues nationally and in all 50 states. It is for workers, employers, advocates, policymakers, journalists, and anyone else who wants to understand, protect, and strengthen workers’ rights.” Lawyers need clients and having educated clients that have know they have a case against their employer is key. 

The workplace fairness website has many different resources employees can use to their advantage such as, websites for employment lawyers, a news-letter, attorney databases, and as well as an employee rights and employment policy journal. 

An example of why one would need to refer to this website is if an employee is working overtime hours and not being paid adequately for said overtime.  Another example of why someone would need to refer to this site is to understand the unemployment laws before filing against an employer.  Every employer has a set employee handbook detailing their company policies HR can avoid having such issues be keeping an updated employee handbook that clearly states the companies policies. Another way HR can avoid issues is by giving their employees an adequate orientation.  As stated from the textbook, “Even experienced employees who need little or virtually no skill training will still need to learn much about their new employer. Information about items such as organizational rules, regulations, and goals of the organization, department, and work unit will need to be communicated. Procedurally, questions of who will do the orientation, when it will occur, and what specific topics will be addressed are all HR policy and/or procedure issues.”(p.68) However in my opinion and as well as the textbook’s, the most full proof way HR can minimize issues is by, “Ensuring an adequate pool of qualified applicants to maximize the operation's chances to hire an outstanding candidate.”(p.69)

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

My name is Jessica Johnson I am a 22 years old.  I did not always want to be in fashion but my love for it found me there. I am currently a college student attending The Art institute of Las Vegas Nevada.  I originally moved to La Vegas two years ago to study law at UNLV but after starting my own Rave Apparel line here I got sucked into the fashion world and have loved every second of it! I quickly switched schools and became a fashion design major at the art institute in 2014.  Starting my own costume line is where my love for fashion started to really bloom.  I love creating intricate pieces by hand I have truly fell in love with the world of fashion and I try to surround myself with it as much as possible my hobbies all seem to be work related and aren’t seen as work to me.  I am content editor for a local online magazine here; Parlay.  Where as my job describes I edit content.  Meaning I help plan the issue every month deciding which articles to be featured as well as designer look books.  i can't wait learn more working fr this new growing company! Fashion is obviously where my heart is and where my journey is headed.

Week 2 EOC: Case Study: Human Resources Management in Action page 58

If I were the hotel’s general manager I would support the actions of my housekeeping supervisor.  Protocol on calling in with an unacceptable excuse. Her supervisor obviously knew she wasn’t really sick and if that were the case then a doctors note should have been shown upon returning to work the next day. 

            Their employee handbook clearly states the grounds of dismissal, “Employees shall be considered to have voluntarily quit or abandoned their employment upon any of the following occurrences;

• 1. Absence from work for one (1) or more consecutive days without excuse acceptable to the company
• 2. Habitual tardiness
• 3. Failure to report to work within 24 hours of a request to report”(pg.58)

Donna’s excuse was not acceptable bottom line.  Everyone has a life outside of work and Tara, Donna’s supervisor was not happy when she got the phone call, “Tara, who was angry at what she saw as willful disregard for supervisory authority, and recalling the earlier conversation with Donna, recorded the employee's call-in as an “unacceptable excuse” and completed a form stating that Donna had, in fact, quit her job voluntarily by refusing to work her assigned shift.” (p. 58) Her supervisor felt like Donna was trying to work the system.  Even if Donna had a great prior record it doesn’t excuse what she tried to pull off.  She was not sick, she was denied that day off and tried to work around it.  Why would Donna get special treatment when Tara had previously stated, “that she was very sorry, but all employee requests for that weekend off had been denied, and Donna was to report to work as scheduled.” (p. 58) It wasn’t fair what Donna did to her fellow co-workers and was rightfully terminated in my eyes.