Practitioner Profile: Moira Laird, Moat House Hotels
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390580000810 |
| Published date | 01 July 2005 |
| Date | 01 July 2005 |
| Pages | 6-6 |
| Author | Moira Laird |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Moira Laird
is human resources director,UK
at Moat House Hotels. She
joined the company as a graduate 15 years ago and
currently oversees HR for the company’s 4,000
employees across the UK.
6Volume 4 Issue 5 July/August 2005
PRACTITIONER PROFILE
,
HR executives share their experience in human resources
Moira Laird,
Moat House Hotels
M
oira Laird speaks highly of
Moat House Hotels’
commitment to training and
development. In an industry where
high employee turnover comes with the
territory, it’s a key competitive
differentiator when it comes to
recruitment and retention.
“We have a great success rate on
internal progression,” she says. “Around
60 percent of our current general
managers have been progressed from
within the business, as have 50 percent
of their deputies. That’s unusual for the
hotel industry – Moat House is well-
known for its training and development
and succession planning.”
Laird is herself a product of the
company’s dedication to internal
progression. Joining the company as a
graduate in hotel management 15
years ago, she’s now its UK HR director,
overseeing HR for 4,000 employees
throughout the country. “As a graduate
I always wanted to be in HR,” she says.
“I wanted to do something where I
could help people progress, improve
their careers and really see the benefit
of what I was doing through other
people. I had a natural inclination to
help people develop and an interest in
training.”
Coming up through the HR ranks
Laird’s current role is a far cry from her
first HR position with Moat House. At
23 she was the site personnel and
training manager in a brand new UK
hotel, an experience that proved a
steep learning curve.
Now as UK HR director, Laird
oversees a team of seven with three
having specialist focus for key functions
of HR. These are: policy and benefits;
management development; and
resourcing.
“The resourcing manager is involved
in recruiting ‘right fit’ candidates and
ensuring that we’re internally
progressing people through the
business,” she explains. “We
occasionally see people leave us
because there isn’t the right
opportunity at the right time, but it’s
great to see them come back.”
Recruiting the right people
In any service industry, where front-line
employees make the difference, it’s
vital that people who are the right
cultural fit are brought into the
company. At Moat House, the culture is
embodied in the “Moat House
Personality.” Employees who
demonstrate this are passionate about
their customers, work hard to be the
best they can be and always work as
one team together.
“This philosophy underpins everyone
in every position throughout the
business,” says Laird. “Our culture makes
for great customer service but also
creates the opportunity for people to
grow, to be involved in how the work of
their department gets done and
interface directly with the customer.”
This approach has led to high
customer satisfaction levels as well as
good feedback from employees
themselves. Moat House’s team
member opinion survey shows around
77 percent overall satisfaction, ranking
well against the high-performing
industry norm.
A remote workforce
In the UK, Moat House operates 32
hotel sites plus a head office. This
presents a challenge in terms of
communication.
“We make sure we have a fairly
robust communication process,” says
Laird. “We use a structured
communication cascade starting with a
face-to-face meeting with the general
managers who then share information
with employees at their hotel in their
own way. What’s important is that we
allow our managers’ personalities to
shine through.”
Future challenges
Some of Laird’s current projects include
considering enhanced use of
technology to increase the
sophistication of Moat House’s people
management reporting. The company is
also introducing a new benefits booklet
to ensure its offering remains
competitive.
“There’s a challenge for HR in
balancing a value-adding role and
staying up to date with legislation,” she
concludes. “However, where HR adds
value is working with the business to
make it more successful, not hidden
away writing reams of policies.”
Moat House Hotels offer a range of
conference, meeting and business
facilities to the corporate traveller.It has
over 30 hotels across the UK and employs
around 4,000 people. Moat House is part
of Queens Moat Houses Limited, a
leading European hotel group.
MOAT HOUSE HOTELS
19096 SHRR run 30/6/05 3:01 pm Page 6
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