ARISE: A Destination-for-a-Day Spa Case Study- Alignment & Exhibit Sections

Assignment is to read the case study attached for ARISE: A Destination-for-a-Day Spa. Create 3-4 pages single spaced 12 point font with 1 inch margins on the alignment & exhibit sections focused around the case study. The specifics on the section guidelines are below.

B. Alignment (1.5-2.5 pages single spaced): First, describe the HR strategy in terms of the critical roles, rewards, and people practices that support high performance and/or the business strategy of the firm discussed in the case (or those that are intended to support high-performance and how they should work). Next, thoroughly discuss how these components of the firm’s HR strategy (do or theoretically should) support the firm’s business strategy.

B1. Exhibit/Table Section of Report: (1-2 pages single spaced)
i. Roles: Identify/list the most important roles (not jobs or positions or people) that span the firm; then discuss how the various jobs/positions/teams support each role.
ii. Rewards: Identify/list the most important aspects of the incentives used that support high performance in the firm.
iii. People: Identify/list the most important aspects of competencies people need and how people are selected and developed to have these competencies in the firm.

ANSWER

ARISE: A Destination-for-a-Day Spa Case Study- Alignment & Exhibit Sections

1. Alignment

The HR strategy in terms of the critical roles, rewards, and people practices

ARISE installed a Human Resource system that sought to attract the best talent in the industry. The human resource strategy seeks to increase employee ownership of the organization’s endeavors rather than appearing as detached outsiders. Chambers instituted an integrated Human Resource Management system aimed at hiring the best employees while keeping the cost of hiring them low. The organization needed top performers who were committed to the goals of ARISE while still ensuring that the cost of acquiring the workforce was low and manageable. While most of the industry utilized independent contractors who were paid by the hour under temporary agreements ARISE installed a system that would treat employees as professionals and give them full-time employment. The organization envisioned its employees seeking education to increase their specialties since they are professionals. The organization believes that treating employees like professionals will enable them to treat their duties with the utmost seriousness it deserves (Wisnom & Gallagher, 2018). Therefore, the organization’s clients will be served by some of the best professionals in the industry.

The compensation level for the employees is set at a modest level because ARISE believes that if the employees serve the customers effectively, they will receive rewards of bigger tips. The management at the beginning had expectations that the tipping threshold would see clients earn more than the industry average. The organization believed that full-time job security would increase comfort at the workplace and increase productivity as opposed to uncertain temporary contracts (Nootayasakul & Sungrugsa, 2019). The organization implemented a new teamwork program that grouped employees in teams to increase competitiveness among them and deliver services to consumers. This was in response to growing turnover and negative cash flow.

Mutual Commitment Contracts

The organization depends on mutual commitment contracts that provide the employees a chance to enter a mutual agreement with the employer on how both will benefit from the engagement. The contract emphasizes empowerment and trust in the employment relationship. The input of the employees is valued under the mutual commitment contract. Should the employee have any suggestions that can drive the performance of the business forward, they are free to share them with the management. The management seeks employee opinions proactively because employees are always reluctant to speak out. This makes it easier for employees to share observations, successes, and points of correction that are needed to return the organization on track should it falter (Somkeatkun & Wongsurawat, 2017).

Employees at the organization are referred to as Personal Wellness Coaches (PWC). Booking of clients is left to the PWCs who operate with a level of autonomy to make a professional judgment. The autonomy enables employees to expand their knowledge base and learn other concepts that can help the organization in saving in terms of employment costs. Employees are enabled to use personal discretion on how and when to contact clients. The employees have definite job designations involving treating, coaching cleaning facilities, and restocking supplies.

Compensation and Rewards

ARISE handsomely rewards employees with a median wage and other benefits like health insurance. The organization intended that tips would be a substantial portion of employee benefits. However, tips did not pick up as expected leading to discouragement and turnover. Employees receive a modest wage 8% higher than the industry median. Employees are entitled to health insurance, a factor that many job seekers in the United States consider thanks to the high cost of health care. Employees are rewarded with passes for a free spa treatment, a discount in spa café, training opportunities within the organization, and financial assistance for training. Employees are ranked monthly and yearly and winners are rewarded with $250 and $1,500 respectively. Employees are entitled to commissions should clients purchase recommended products from ARISE.

How these components of the firm’s HR strategy (do or theoretically should) support the firm’s business strategy

ARISE’s human resources strategies are geared towards reciting the best people in the industry and having to reduce the cost of hiring them. The organization boasts of the most qualified personnel that can recruit, serve and retain clients. The organization does not have to spend very high to maintain the employees since the expenditure is just above the industry median. Therefore, clients can acquire the best services while the ARISE minimizes its expenditure. The organization believes that when employees are employed on a full-time basis, they will increase their level of performance because of the comfort generated from longevity. Also, the human resource strategy allows the organization to make amends such as introducing teams when the existing style does not function like intended. Making changes result in positive movement in performance (Milićević & Petrović, 2019).

Compensation and Rewards

Giving employees a wage 8% more than the median wage will attract many employees to the organization. Employees will see the organization as an above-average employer that can compensate them fairly for the roles they deliver. Employees can also benefit from tips that will increase their wages hence making ARISE attractive to top talent. The inclusion of health insurance in the package of compensation attracted many employees to the organization. Health care is very expensive in the United States. The U.S. has the most expensive healthcare in the entire developed world. Many people cannot afford health care if not booted by insurance. The inclusion of health insurance in the reward package motivates many employees to consider ARISE. Employees are also encouraged more to deliver because they have confidence that they will be catered for if they feel sick. Employees need to be motivated for top performance in their roles. Employees tend to value the little privileges they get from their employers. ARISE incorporates free spa treatment, discounts in spa café, training opportunities within the organization, and financial assistance for training. This enables employees to deliver their mandate comfortably and increase the output of the organization.  ARISE rewards top performers every month and year with $250 and $1,500 respectively. This encourages employees to work harder to achieve the benefits associated with leading their peers (Koo et al., 2020).

Mutual Commitment Contracts

The mutual commitment contracts form the main Human Resource strategy at ARISE. The organization benefits more when employees enjoy some degree of autonomy. For professionals who are employed in full-time job commitments, autonomy can be tolerated because it allows employees to think beyond the box and establish real-time solutions beneficial to the organization. The organization seeks to allow employees to seek improvement in their skills by pursuing training and development course in concepts that may be required to serve customers perfectly. The organization envisioned its employees seeking education to increase their specialties since they are professionals. This enables customers to get the best services from highly informed employees. Also, the organization does not need to hire fresh employees to perform new tasks since existing employees are equipped.

B1. Exhibit/Table Section of Report

1. Roles: Identify/list the most important roles (not jobs or positions or people) that span the firm; then discuss how the various jobs/positions/teams support each role

Massage

ARISE offers massage services to clients at the premises. This is the major service at the firm since it is the one that requires the highest level of discretion and confidence of secrecy from the clients.

Skin Care

The firm also offers various skin care services. skin care services are closely connected to massage services hence professionals can coordinate between themselves to effectively discharge these services.

Hair Care

Hair care is a wide area that provides a variety of services at ARISE. People come for various hair procedures including salon services and barber services.

Nail Care

ARISE provides both manicure and pedicure services for clients. Nail care, skin care, and hair care services are closely related. Employees in these fields can coordinate to improve the quality of services offered to the clients.

Coaching

Coaching services are offered to clients based on their demands. Clients can develop personal relations with coaches to seek advice from them periodically. The coaching services are meant to keep the clients connected to ARISE and always informed of the services offered at the firm. Coaching services span all the other roles at the firm. Coaching is required for massage, skin care, hair care, and nail care

Cleaning and Restocking Supplies

The work environment must be clean and try at all times to make customers comfortable. Therefore, the organization has roles that span cleaning and maintenance of hygiene. Also, since the roles require supplies to be completed, employees are needed to participate in restocking to ensure that clients are effectively served without fail. Cleaning and restocking services support all the other roles of the organization including hair care, massage, skin care, nail care, and coaching.

1. Rewards: Identify/list the most important aspects of the incentives used that support high performance in the firm

Health Insurance

Health insurance is the most expensive benefit offered by ARISE to employees. Many job applicants consider health insurance a major motivation for applying for a job in the organization. Health care is very expensive in the United States. ARISE assists employees by providing them health insurance hence motivating most experienced employees and ensuring employees that get engaged with the organization do not leave to seek organizations that offer health insurance. Therefore, high performance and retention of the best talent in the industry is guaranteed at ARISE.

Salary Raise

Employees saw an increase in their salaries in 2010 after the first year of service. For instance, the monthly salary of massage employees from May 2009 to April 2010 was $3,604.80 while from May 2010 to April 2011 they received $3,761.60. This was a 4% increment which is a notable motivation for the employees. Employees who are provided with an opportunity to advance their earnings from the previous years are highly encouraged to deliver well to the organization (Craig, 2018). Other benefits also increased as a percentage of the previous years. For instance, the tips that were earned in the second year of the contracts increased significantly hence motivating more employees to deliver more.

Performance Motivation Bonuses

Rewarding top performers with motivation bonuses encourage employees to strive to get such benefits. At ARISE, employees are ranked monthly and yearly and winners are rewarded with $250 and $1,500 respectively. These are significant earnings that each employee would struggle to achieve. The organization ensures that there are clear parameters that are used to gauge who the top performers are. Making the earnings monthly ensures that each month each employee has a chance to deliver accordingly to get to the high ranking. Increased competition for the rewards increases productivity at the firm.

Free Spa Treatment and Discounts at The Spa Café

ARISE also provides free spa treatment to employees. Spa treatment services are very expensive and not everyone can acquire them. For most Americans, spa services are just luxury services that they cannot afford frequently. ARISE motivates its employees with this luxury treatment making them committed to staying at the organization. Some employees are committed to the organization because of such services that they cannot get anywhere else. This enables the organization to get turnover rates below the industry average. The organization also offers additional benefits like discounts at the spa café which saves funds for the employees hence motivating them to stay. ARISE offers sponsorship of up to $300 needed to support the maintenance of license courses. This enables employees to update their skills and bring more expertise to the organization and move it forward.

• People: Identify/list the most important aspects of competencies people need and how people are selected and developed to have these competencies in the firm

Experience in The Industry

At ARISE, the most important competency needed to serve is an experience in the spa industry. The HRM design was crafted to seek some of the most experienced people in the spa industry. With experience came a list of clients who trusted in these professionals. The company had most of its clients as referrals from the new staff at the beginning of the business. the company required proof of experience in other spas before one could be accepted to serve. Since ARISE was installing a slightly different model from ordinary spas, employees needed to undergo training on how they could become personal wellness coaches with experience. On-the-job training is also a source of experience that employees need to acquire to effectively serve in the organization (Delery & Roumpi, 2017).

Professionals Registered with Authorities

ARISE selects employees based on their state of registration by state authorities. Hospitality and spa workers have theory professional organizations that register them and provides them licenses to practice in the state. Professionals must display their skills and prove their training to earn licenses from professional organizations. ARISE asks for professional registration by state authorities before any employee is provided with a chance to serve in the organization. Since professional organizations need members to periodically renew their licenses after further training, ARISE is committed to supporting employees with a percentage of funds to assist in the license renewal. Employees who seek to increase theory expertise by further training are provided with an opportunity to pursue such endeavors because it adds value to the organization (Strohmeier, 2020).

Professional Judgment

The mutual commitment contracts that guide the recruitment process at ARISE prioritize employees who are committed to making professional judgments and employing personal discretion in serving clients. The organization needs independent-minded professionals who will discharge their duties without necessary supervision or constant instruction. Employees are trained on how to discharge professional judgment and personal discretion. Those who have a history of working under this model are prioritized at recruitment.

References

Craig, V. (2018). The impacts of high-volume massage on spa therapists’ physical and mental                  wellness. International Journal of Spa and Wellness, 1(3), 218-227.

Delery, J. E., & Roumpi, D. (2017). Strategic human resource management, human capital and    competitive advantage: is the field going in circles?. Human Resource Management      Journal, 27(1), 1-21.

Koo, B., Yu, J., Chua, B. L., Lee, S., & Han, H. (2020). Relationships among emotional and        material rewards, job satisfaction, burnout, affective commitment, job performance, and     turnover intention in the hotel industry. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality &          Tourism, 21(4), 371-401.

Milićević, S., & Petrović, J. (2019, June). Human resource management as a factor of                               competitiveness in tourism and hospitality. In TISC-Tourism International Scientific         Conference Vrnjačka Banja (Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 237-253).

Nootayasakul, C., & Sungrugsa, N. (2019). Model of Human Resource Development in the Spa   Business to Promote Wellness Tourism for Senior Tourists. Dusit Thani College           Journal, 13(3), 16-29.

Somkeatkun, W., & Wongsurawat, W. (2017). Perceptions of the spa industry: An importance                 performance analysis. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 18(4),        416-436.

Strohmeier, S. (2020). Digital human resource management: A conceptual clarification. German Journal of Human Resource Management, 34(3), 345-365.

Wisnom, M., & Gallagher, K. (2018). Quality of work life in the resort spa                                                industry. International Journal of Spa and Wellness, 1(3), 159-177.