Poor Personnel Practice In the Hotel and Catering Industry: Does It Matter?

Liz Price, who is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management in the School of Hotel and Catering Management at Oxford Brookes University, reviews the evidence suggesting that personnel practice in the commercial sector of the UK hotel and catering industry tends to be poor. In particular, she presents the findings of her own recent surveys which demonstrate that few hospitality employers meet all of the basic requirements set by employment legislation and that managers/proprietors are poorly advised/trained about ‘good practice’. She argues that poor personnel practice is of concern because, ultimately, it threatens UK success in tourism and hospitality markets as well as providing only low quality employment for many people.