Saudi Arabia is one of the largest and richest nations in the
Middle East, with significant influence in terms of policy and
the economy. However, there are a number of challenges and
problems being experienced by the Saudi Government in
terms of their HRD programs. One challenge is the move from
being a country relying on oil exports to a country dependent
on its human resources. This change is occurring, with the
government spending billions of dollars, over the last ten
years, on higher education, internally and externally. Much of
this education includes learning about management and HRD.
Despite this focus on HRD, Saudi Arabia is still in the
early stages of developing their HRM policies and practices.
Nevertheless, the interview data reveals that the HRM
practices used in MNC hotels the Saudi Arabia are more
developed in terms of application and implementation than
other organisations and sectors. As well, they use similar
practices to those used in the international context with some
modification in number of them. Further, the interviews
confirmed that the practices implemented in Saudi hotel sector
as a service provider soft HRM practices and is
indistinguishable to those tested by [29]. However, not all
practices were similarly preferred by the managers and
employees. Instead, different hotels had different preferences,
with managers having varied beliefs about which practices
assisted their staff in better undertaking their jobs. In addition,
the interview data revealed that the common HRM practices
used in the Saudi hotel sector were: training and development;
recruitment and selection; planning job; the orientation
program; performance evaluation; job description; motivation;
salary and wages; and empowerment and communication.
However, there was no fixed list of HRM practices being used
by all the hotels. Nevertheless, there was a consensus among
the managers that the five practices assessed in the WPQ were
the most used and the best practices to improve the
performance of the Saudi employees.
The study by Fadhel [1], mentioned earlier, discussed that
some HRM practices (e.g. training and development) were
implemented, in a large number of the Saudi organisations by
different departments, such as sales or finance, and not by the
HRM department. However, it seems that this is not the case
in MNC hotels in Saudi Arabia as mentioned by most of the
interviewees, where training and development is one of the
key factors for hotel success. For example, most of the
managers believe that training, appropriate recruitment and
selection and performance evaluation are essential for their
organisation. In addition, the interviews revealed that
multinational hotels in Saudi attempt to implement HRM
practices with high levels of standards, which also contradict
with the literature.
The study revealed that Saudi hotels are allowed to modify
practices received from parent companies to fit their own
context. Thus, as mentioned by hotel managers, the practices
used by multinational hotel in the Saudi Arabia are similar to
those used internationally. Nevertheless, the number of those
practices were modified whether slightly or dramatically to fit
with the Saudi context. Furthermore, in some cases parent
companies build specific practices to be used in Saudi Arabia.
The findings from the second question suggest that there is
some confusion among managers between HRM and nonHRM
practices. For example, when the researcher enquired
whether some HRM practices were rejected by the hotel
management, they listed some general management practices
instead of specific HRM practices, such as when guests are
given Wine welcome drinks and music is played in Makkah
and Al Madinah hotels. This indicates that managers are still
not fully aware of, and have misconceptions about, which are
specific HRM practices and those that are non-HRM practices.
Importantly, the WPQ results indicated that employees
most favoured the HRM practices of: training and
development, recruitment and selection, performance
evaluation, salary and wages, and planning job. Respondents
were highly aware of the HRM practices used in their hotel,
which confirms the appropriate implementation of those
practices in the Saudi hotel sector. In addition, the employees
preferred practices that made work strict and formal, improved
their skills, and developed their knowledge. This finding is in
opposition to the perception obtained by the Saudi businessmen and women [35]. The questionnaire and
interview results also identified that the HRM practices used
in religious cities are no different to those used in industrial
and commercial cities. For instance, hotels in Makkah and Al
Maddinah have the same interest in HRM practices used in
Jeddah and Riyadh. Furthermore, there was no difference in
the HRM practice preferences between the employees working
in those cities.
To improve HRM practices utilisation in Saudi
organisation in general and hotel sector in particular; the Saudi
Government needs to set strict and obligatory HRM legislation
and laws for all corporations, either multinational or domestic.
In addition, the Government must build their own HRM
practices, with consideration of their culture and employees’
satisfaction [4]. This study has added to the knowledge of
HRM practices in the hotel sector of Saudi Arabia.
Nevertheless, the study has some limitations. Firstly, only one
sector was investigated. Secondly, the differences between
groups, such as males and females and management levels,
were not explored. These issues are highlighted as future
research areas, along with an assessment of the influence of
Saudi cultural values on employees’ perception of HRM
practices. Further, research could also utilise a larger sample
and different sectors so that multiple perspectives could be
obtained.