3co04 Essentials of People Practice Guide – Task one

Looking at 3CO04 Essentials of People Practice Guide – Task One, you might feel slightly unsure where to begin. That’s quite common. Many learners, including ourselves when we first looked at it, find the structure a little much at first glance. The task expects a balance between theory and workplace context, and sometimes that line blurs. We’ve built this guide to break it down, one bit at a time, not as a perfect walkthrough, but as a steadying hand while you find your pace.

What we’ve shared isn’t just interpretation, it’s been shaped by how real students struggle, pause, reflect, or rethink their first approach. Expect plain explanations, imperfect but workable tips, and ideas that just help you get moving. That’s really all most of us need sometimes.

Case study

Inter Luxe Hotel Group is a multi-national hotel chain with 800 properties in 25 countries. The hotels are based in coastal resorts and cities. In coastal resorts, customers are mainly those on holiday. In cities, the customer base is more diverse and includes sightseers and business customers. Both groups of customers have high expectations. You work as a People Advisor in the People Function of a cluster of eight hotels. Inter Luxe Hotel Group employs graduate trainees who spend time in different functions to enable them to develop knowledge and understanding of the whole business. A graduate trainee will soon be starting their placement in your function, and you are responsible for their learning during this placement.

In my current role as a People Advisor supporting a cluster of eight hotels within the Inter Luxe Hotel Group, I regularly contribute to creating job documentation as part of the recruitment and talent process. One of the first key documents in this process is the job description, which clearly outlines the core responsibilities and expectations of a particular role. The main purpose of a job description is to ensure clarity, for both the organisation and the employee. It acts as a reference point that defines what needs to be done, by whom, and under what conditions.

For instance, when preparing to recruit a Front Office Manager for one of our city-based hotels (say, the Inter Luxe Birmingham location), the job description would include key information such as:

• Job title and department
• Location of the role
• Line of reporting (e.g., reports to the Hotel Manager)
• Summary of main responsibilities (such as managing front-desk operations, supervising reception staff, handling escalated guest concerns)
• Hours of work and any specific conditions, such as shift rotation or weekend cover
• Grade or pay band, where appropriate

This document not only helps the hiring manager and candidates understand what the role involves, but also supports other internal HR functions, like performance appraisal, training needs analysis, and internal progression planning.

Next is the person specification, which outlines the ideal attributes of the person we’re looking to recruit. While the job description focuses on the role, the person specification focuses on the person. It describes the skills, experience, qualifications, and personal qualities we believe are necessary to carry out the job successfully.

Taking the same Front Office Manager role, the person specification might include:

• Minimum qualifications, such as a degree or diploma in hospitality or business
• Experience requirements, like at least 3 years in a similar role within a hotel setting
• Skills such as conflict resolution, leadership, and familiarity with hotel booking systems like Opera
• Attributes such as attention to detail, calmness under pressure, and confidence when speaking with guests from diverse backgrounds

In our context at Inter Luxe, where guest expectations tend to be high and staff often need to manage multiple issues at once, these details help ensure we bring in candidates who are prepared for the demands of the job.

The content for both of these documents doesn’t come out of thin air, it should be based on a structured process called job analysis. This is how we understand the actual tasks involved in a job and the skills needed to do it well.

For example, if we’re recruiting for a new Front Office Manager in a hotel that’s just opened, we might not have someone currently doing the job there. So, we might observe someone in that role at a similar property, perhaps in Manchester, to see what their day looks like. We could also interview current Front Office Managers across our cluster to learn what tasks they carry out, how often, and what challenges they face.

Other sources might include historical job descriptions, past performance objectives, guest feedback, and even talking to line managers about team dynamics and operational goals. We might find, for example, that in coastal properties, the Front Office Manager deals more with leisure guests and large family bookings, while in city hotels, they may need to prioritise efficiency for business travellers with tighter schedules.

This kind of real-world job analysis helps ensure that the job description reflects the practical tasks and responsibilities, and that the person specification highlights the characteristics that will actually support success in that specific context. Without it, we risk hiring based on guesswork, or relying too heavily on outdated assumptions about what the role involves.

To sum up (without really tying a bow on it), writing a job description and person specification might look like a simple admin task, but it has major implications for recruitment quality, fairness, and employee performance. Job analysis is what grounds these documents in reality. Without it, we might miss its important or end up with job specs that sound fine on paper but don’t actually match the work we’re asking people to do.