CONVENTION

MANAGEMENT
MANAGING HUMAN
RESOURCES FOR
CONVENTIONS

Learning Objectives
Describe how effective human resource management
can provide competitive advantages
Understand human resource contribute to the
development and sustainability of the MICE organization
Evaluate the importance and relevance of human
resource management practices for the MICE industry
Outline the role of human resource planning for the
MICE organization
Review the process of recruitment, selection and
induction for the MICE organization
Understand the relevance of training and development
for the MICE industry

Key Human Resource Issues

The industry are forced to focus their attention on
the needs of the customer.

To delight the customer

To become more responsive
Provide added value
Achieve customer satisfaction
Gain competitive advantage

The quality relies on the front liners

Managing People is the key in the industry
To build competitive advantage is to ensure the
human resource matters of the organization are
well managed.
Training and staff development scheme is needed

Key Human Resource Issues

To be competitive managers need to
focus on people and have a people
perspective.
If the employees are well taken care off,
then the employees will take care of the
customer very well.
People management is therefore very
important for the conference organizer

The Issues
Shortages Quality Vs. Quantity
Lack of supervisory and management
training
Supervisory and management skills are generally
weak

Lack of professional in managing human

resource
Human resource management is everyone
business

Types of MICE Jobs

Conference Organizers
Associations
Full time job with the association.
Responsible of organizing membership meetings and
annual conventions, distributing meeting notices,
organizing meeting reservation and venue liaison
Handle accommodation, meeting rooms, F&B and
speaker requirement.
Welcoming members, guests and speakers
Corporations
Is an employee of a particular corporation
Responsible to plan and execute the details of
conventions or events, its management, employees
and owners.
Coordinates and manages MICE events for a single
company with a set range of products or services.

Types of MICE Jobs

Professional conference organizers
A PCO or independent conference organizer
Specializes in all aspects of conference management
Job title range from event coordinator and event manager
to account manager and conference supervisor

Venue convention services manager

Entry level
Job progress to Banquet Manager
Job range from conference secretary to convention service
manager.
Provides lots of opportunities

Roles and Responsibilities

Diversity
Venue convention services manager deals more diverse
than a corporate conference manager.
A corporate conference organizer may only be concerned
with similar types of meetings but they must be very
creative to maintain interest.
Responsibility
Venue convention services manager liaise with many
different department within the venue
Corporate conference organizer has some degree of
autonomy over how the meeting will run.
Constraints
Budgetary is very tight for venue convention services
manager
Corporate conference organizer have overall financial
budget for each meeting

Continue
Relationships
A venue convention services manager build
rapport and network with corporate
conference organizer.
It is beneficial to both parties that they work
for the same organization with the same
culture as they are familiar with each other.

EFFECTIVE HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES
As previously discussed, MICE industry is made up of a wide variety of
organization. Despite the differences of scale, it is equally important
and relevant that all organizations follow a systematic but consistent
process for their human resource operations.
Human resource planning
Job analysis
Recruitment and selection
Staff orientation
Training and development
Performance appraisal
Discipline and termination processes
Remuneration and compensation
Industrial relations issues.

Human resource PLANNING

Why is human resource planning important in the MICE industry?
The KEY purpose of human resource planning to ensure the effective
management of human resource in the long and short term.
In order to make sure that the required quantity and quality of
employees is available when and where necessary.
It is the matter of or the method used by an organization in translating
its overall objectives.
Human resource planning is important at a national, strategic and
operational level within the MICE industry.
At an operational level, the people employed by the many businesses
associated with the MICE industry are seen as being critical to the
success of each business.
It is therefore, very essential to ensure that there are sufficient suitable
qualified people not only at managerial level, but also as the front liners.

Human resource PLANNING

Cyclical and seasonal patterns of business are also a feature of the

MICE industry.
Planning is essential as it will determine the staff availability during
peak and low season.
There is a trend to employ permanent part-time staff and have a
regular bank of permanent casual staff who are employed on a per
session basis.
Human resource planning is therefore the process by which and
organization ensures that it has the right number of suitable qualified
people in the right jobs and the right time.
In order to satisfy this process, a MICE organization reviews it present
supply of staff and compares it against the projected demand for staff.
It then decides whether to add, reduce or relocate the employees
within its organization.

The FOUR STAGES

Stage one -

forecast labor demand

Stage two -

analyze labor supply

Stage three-

balance supply and demand

considerations

Stage four -

formulate staffing strategies to meet

organizational needs.

Human resource PLANNING

A key component of human resource planning is labor demand

forecasting.
Estimating in advance the number and the of employees that will be
required by a MICE organization and is linked to the overall
objectives of the business.
Establishing the number and types of jobs that may be required to be
filled enables the MICE organization to match current staff and skills
against the potential opportunities and openings.
Results from the supply analysis can assist in the long-term
recruitment, selection and development of employees.
External labor supply environment also needs to be considered.
The climate, location and general attractiveness, the social,

demographic, cultural and political environment, the educational

level of the workforce, population mobility and demands for
specific skills.

Human resource planning

model

Human resource PLANNING

In order to balance the supply of and demand for staff, MICE

managers need to review aspects such as recruitment strategies, the

design of particular jobs, remuneration packages and career
development paths.
Retrenchments within this sector of the industry are not a frequent
occurrence as many people leave through natural fallout.
Human resource planning forms the basis of a influences many human
resource activities, such as recruitment and selection, training and
development, career management and staff appraisal, retirement and
retrenchment.

The Human resource activities.

Job Analysis
Job Analysis is the process of obtaining information on

and determining the essential duties, tasks and

responsibilities of a job.
It involves a systematic investigation of the job.
It assists in the preparation of job descriptions job
specifications, human resource planning and the
redesign of jobs.
The type of information that is collected when analyzing a
job should answer the following questions:
What is performed?
Where is it performed?
How is it performed?
Why is it performed?
When is it performed?

Job Analysis
In the preparation of such a job analysis, the scope and rage of tasks
undertaken might include the following:
Establish the design and objectives of the event
Select the site and facilities (i.e the venue)
Negotiate with the venue and other suppliers
Budgeting
Handle delegate registrations
Select and organize transport
Plan the program and supporting information
Organize pre- and post- conference tours.
Set up and establish the registration desk and procedures
Arrange support services.

Job Descriptions
The analysis of the tasks and duties of a job is often a preliminary step in the

preparation of a job description. This is a written statement that explains:

Why a job exists
What the job holder does
How they do the job
The conditions under which the job is performed
A job descriptions is varied in terms of its content and appearance.
It should include information of the job title, and clearly outline the status of the
job.
It should identify the role of the job within the overall organization.

Job or person specifications

Job or person specifications reflect the skills, experience, personal

qualities and competencies needed.

Identifies the type of potential employee that should be recruited and
how they might be assessed.
It is very useful to identify the essential skills and the desirable skills.
Must have certain professional level and personal qualities, good
negotiation skills, being culturally adept, diplomatic and creative.
Having excellent communication skills, being people oriented, tactful
and polite are also necessary.