1. 1
1.2.1 COMPANY BACKGROUND
1.2.2 THE STEENBERG HOTEL
Steenberg Hotel and Vineyards is one of the branches of the Graham Beck Enterprises, the hotel is
one of the farms that have occupied the Cape Peninsula; the hotel is located at the cape Constantia
Valley. The company trades under the name Steenberg Estate and Vineyards; however it is frequently
referred to as the Steenberg Hotel the company employs over 300 of staff members, these employees
are employed in 4 different departments of the organisation for operational requirements, these 4
departments are the
• Bistro Sixteen 82
• Catharina’s Restaurantbnbgfr5
• Winery and
• The hotel
The hotel renders hospitality services to guest local and international guest for designated season of
the year. Its primary objective is to render hospitality services worldwide; it possesses 2 restaurant
and winery. The Bistro Sixteen 82 and Catharina’s restaurant, where guest can go for indigenous
activities to wine tasting and mountain biking. The company renders their services with major
commitment to their guest. There are over 200 families residing on the estate and require daily
catering to, and the staff makes it a point that these services are delivered at ease. It is in this spectrum
that the student was assigned the authority of assisting in looking after the wellbeing of the company’s
employees for 3 months.
1.2.3 MISSION STATEMENT
The Steenberg hotel strives to excel in the hospitality industry; this is clear stated on the company’s
mission statement. The mission statement of the company is fused with its vision and this is clarified
below by the quote of the company’s mission statement.
“Our excellence is embodied by warm, creative and dynamic hospitality in tranquil surroundings. We
strive to deliver excellent standards, responsible staff enrichment and social aware enabling
sustainable profitability. Steenberg desires to provide a personalised lifestyle experience, and to be
rated as such as one of the world’s leading hotel

2. 2
2.1 LEARNING AREAS
2.1.1 ADMINISTRATION AND FILING
With every action that one takes as an HR practitioner it is very important that they document it; this
was one of the learning curve for the student in the initial stages of the In Serve training, 80% of the
work that was performed revolved around filing and documenting employees’ action in connection
with their jobs. Filling in leave application, processing these was a core priority in administration as
well as completing the Injury On Duty forms (IOD) as part of the Workman’s compensation
procedures and policy.
Processing employee contracts, personal information as well as their beneficiary form was a task that
needed full attention and concentration from the student, the aim of the task was to do the filing of the
documents in a correct format and chronological order. Herein the students were to place these in a
correct order into to each and every employee’s file. Company policies were to be explained to staff
and made it a point that they were all signed for and approved before continuation of the filing.
Thereafter the student had to separate the old terminated employee files from the recently terminated
with the former going for box storage and the latter stored electronically for efficient retrieval in cases
that they were or shall be needed for in future.
As part of this task, the student was issued with an audit checklist (attached as addendum) which
contained employees’ names and what documentation that needed to be filed still. The student then
had to conduct the filing according to the checklist in order to measure deadlines and stated
objectives. Office Data Processing skills were fully applied by the student in order to make it a point
that deadlines were met timeously.
Another task that was part of the administration that the student was assigned was to conduct a Staff
Morale Survey and report this to management, the employees were very cooperative in this
assignment and the student had the chance to work directly with the employees and evaluate the
morale in their respective job descriptions. The survey was handed out as questionnaires in order to
present unbiased opinion and input from the employees. The findings of the survey were submitted to
management and kept as HR documents. The findings were presented in graphical formats as well as
in the form of a feedback report which the student had learned during first year in Business
Communications.

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As part of the administration the student had access to the following documents
• IRP 5
• Employment Contract
• HR policies
• Employment Equity Declaration
• Beneficiary form
• Job description templates
Filing and administration was and always will be an ongoing project which is hardly ever completed,
this was the learning curve for the student. Paper trail and documentation is also a crucial aspect in the
HR industry in order to keep up with your paperwork, not only does this serves as confirmation of
received documents but is also brings clarity about decisions taken and the reason why would such
decision be taken.
2.1.2 RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION.
Of all the learning areas that the student was exposed to Recruitment and Selection was one of the
frequent learning areas that student dealt with, the reason behind this is the fact that the hospitality
industry is a fast paced industry with people frequently coming and leaving and therefore resulting in
more labour turnover, this in turn requires the company to recruit more people in order to meet
operational requirements. Numerous times the student had sat and observed job interviews and the
recruitment process as per request by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
The student directly took part in reference checking of potential candidates, this task involved the
student speaking directly to outside manager who had previous supervised the recruits, herein the
student would check the employment background, ask relevant questions telephonically and reported
this back to the immediate supervisor. The company has a designated reference page which the
student had to use, (this is attached as Addendum), and the basic questioning included asking the
candidates strengths and weaknesses to name a few. The reference checks were a compulsory
procedure for every employee to check reference the validity of their previous employment
information.

4. 4
However the interviews and induction were carried out by the supervisor and the student were never
directly involved however were participating or present when throughout the planning of the
induction and were also responsible for filing employees’ Induction form and checklist. Herein
student learned that recruitment had to be in line with labour legislation in order to avoid unfair labour
practices, with minimum participation in the recruitment processes the student relied on fusing and
combining the theory part of the process with the general observation. Generally observing how
things were done was enough to teach the student and provide them with the necessary knowledge
required to carry out recruitment and selection in a very professional and effective manner.
2.2.1 SALARY AND BENEFIT ADMINISTRATION
As for salary and benefit admin the student could not have access to staff salary and company payroll
due to the confidentiality of this matter, however student was provided with the authority to distribute
these to the each and every staff member and providing assistance and clarity on queries that pertain
to salary and benefits. Not much in this field was covered. A copy of a confidential payslip is attached
as an addendum to provide credibility to student sighting at least this document.
2.2.2 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
The Steenberg Hotel serves as a hotel in a very fast paced industry; this means that they train their
employees externally. It’s a selected number of training that were conducted in the premises during
the Experiential Learning period, one that the student directly took part was the arrangement for
senior Chefs to be trained in chuckatarie and fish mongering. Herein the student was to do a research
and also make phone calls to obtain the financial quotes for both these trainings. This included
enquiring from a number of company about the charges that pertain to each course, these quotes
would then be set in line in accordance to the company training budget. The student managed to
obtained information telephonically as well as hard copies from the suppliers and training companies.
Another training that took place was on Credit Card Cloning and Automatic Teller Machine (ATM)
awareness. The aim of this training was to bring awareness to management and Front of House
managers about card scheming, what to look out for, how to recognise an invalid card and what
procedure to follow.

5. 5
The training emphasised on how credit card schemers operated, the short course lasted for 2 days with
each session lasting for 45 – 60 minutes. The student was directly involved in the planning and
organising of the training, this included communicating with the trainer in terms of the venue, time
and training material that was needed to carry out the training which pro was a success.
 A skill audit assignment that required the student to conduct a skills analysis in all four levels
namely, National and Sectorial
 Organisational
 Task Analysis
 Personal
The National skills analysis was conducted as based on CATHSETHA to which the organisation fell
under in terms of the Skills Development Act. The Organisational was also conducted at the
Steenberg Hotel as well as with the Task and Personal Analysis. The research was however not the
requisite of the company however was conducted therein.
The Training and Development structure of the company is not fully based at the Steenberg Hotel,
because Steenberg Hotel is part of the Graham Beck Enterprises the company Training and
Development is based in Franschoek hence the little exposure to this learning area. However the
students managed to sight and evaluate the Workplace Skills Plan of the company. What I’ve learnt is
that the skills development plan forms as a basis sectorial plans and is very assisting in national
strategy formulation. The organisational skills development contributes to sector plans which in turn
uplift the national sector plans.
The intervention of government and other sectorial bodies in skills shortages may mean a very skilful
labour force for the republic. Managers need be weary of such and bring these shortages to their
attention. Workplace Skill Plan contains a proactive mentality for one to gain insight in, because the
plan assesses skills that may be short currently and in future.
This research assignment has made it evident and insightful to me that skills development plans of an
organisation however the operational component in respect of skills development. It is a plan when
implemented provides a great effect to national strategies.

6. 6
2.3.1 LABOUR RELATION AND LABOUR LAW
The labour law was another frequently visited learning area; this is due to the fact that the hospitality
industry has a lot of conditions that need to be referred to labour legislation of the country. These
conditions range from employees being brought back to line in accordance to the company policies or
clarify and contractual term that both the employer and employee may perhaps have a disagreement
on.
On the 3rd
week of the Experiential Learning the student had to chance to sit and observe a
disciplinary taking place. There steps and processes were very much familiar as these were discussed
in theory and explained thoroughly to the student in Industrial Relations I and Industrial Relation II.
When the student was provided with a chance to explore and work at the Steenberg Vineyards later in
the Experiential Learning therein the student was given the authority to issue Verbal as well as
Written Warnings to staff members who had breach contractual agreements. (These are attached as
Addendum)
Another aspect was that the student was given an opportunity to take minutes in disciplinary hearing
once the supervisor saw fit for the student to do so. These minutes were to be filed for future
references if the need to do so may arise. The employees never voiced any formal grievances whilst
the student was at the Steenberg Hotel. And there were no union affairs at the hotel, the company
handled its grievance procedure through Work Place Forums which held meetings on a monthly basis
to discuss work related matters and minimize the involvement of Unions in occupational affairs. The
frequent exposure the labour legislation matters accustomed the student to the Labour Relation Act of
the South Africa.
Every labour aspect in Human Resource is set in line with the Labour Relations Act in the company;
this proves to be a very critical procedure to align the company with as it is conducive at backing up
the company in labour court matters. Failure to stick to the Labour Relations Act may cause the
company to lose a lot of money due to failure to abide by the codes and standards of the Act and its
amendments.

7. 7
2.4.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Parallel to this student were also requested to explain Annual Leave, Termination Notice and security
measures of the companies as stated in their contracts and company policies, the aim of this task was
to bring clarity to employees as well management the requirement of the employees to abide by these
standard that have been stipulated by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA).
The staff members were required to sign these memorandums to confirm recipient of these and
thereafter the documents were to be filed in the relevant staff member’s file. This task brought clarity
to members as well as the student themselves; this serves a good purpose in terms of fair labour
practices and conflict resolution between employees and management in terms of contractual
obligations.
This task in particular required a lot of staff members to provide signature to confirm that they agreed
to the standards, this meant that the student was to make liaison with senior management, middle
management as well as the employees in the operational level. The task required skilled business
communication, professional mannerism, good understanding of company policy as well as the Basic
Conditions of Employment Act as the employees had numerous queries that needed to be answered by
the student(s).
3.1 VACCINATION PROJECT
Another project that the student completed successful was the vaccination arrangement. The
requirement was that the student book for every employee that was to be vaccinated against flu in the
organisation. This meant that the student had make appointment for these employees at the
organisational clinic, the student had to communicate with the nurse the appropriate times slots that
were suitable for both parties that is the employees and the nurse. These were then communicated to
departmental supervisors and subsequently to the employees who then have to attend on the given
date and time.
Due to the fact that it was an “off – season’ for the hospitality industry from April until August, some
of the operational level employees were not reporting for work, these are categorised as Flexi
Workers, these employees then had to be contacted home and still be slot in accordingly without
interrupting operational duties. Accurate coordination had to be applied by the student to ensure the
success of the project and meeting the necessary deadline and objectives as well.

8. 8
4.1 IN CONCLUSION
Administration and filing requires accurate data entry, one single mistake can cost the company
thousand on rinds, it is in this aspect that the student has learned to focus and concentrate while doing
filing and administration with the understanding of the fact that if you fail to correctly input data can
be a dismissible offence. Filing and data entry remains an ongoing process that is never ending. It is
therefore that the Human Resource department be in top their game when it comes to filing.
Merging what one has learned in the Experiential Learning in line with what taught at school was a
challenge, however the matter relies on trying to apply the theoretical part with the practical,
recruitment and selection is manageable process if the policies are thoroughly followed, and in the
hospitality industry this is a day to day activity since individual come and go as the season to make
profit are variable. Recruitment is a very important aspect of HRM, in terms of extracting employees
and suiting them in the position they fit to ensure productivity for the company. Effective recruitment
means effective productivity for the company as well.
With salary and benefits due to the experience that the student lacked there was not much exposure in
this field other than the fact of distributing and clarifying queries from employees pertaining to their
salary and benefits. Training and development is not wildly covered at the Steenberg Hotel however
with the assistance of the Management Of Training II, the student managed to conduct a Workplace
Skills Plan and analysis based on what the student was thought at school. The survey was done at the
Steenberg Hotel although the requirement was for the subject. The lack of exposure is due to the fact
that Training and Development is managed at another branch of the Graham Beck Enterprises.
Abiding by the labour legislation Act is very imperative for the department of HR; it creates a backup
for the company in terms of labour related matters. The Labour Relation Act proves to be the anchor
of the numerous policies that the Steenbergh Hotel has, a number of these policies are created in
accordance with the requirements of the Act particularly in disciplinary matters. A thorough
application and understanding of such labour legislation can save a lot time and money as well as
maintaining labour peace in the organisation.

9. 9
5.1 LEARNING REFLECTION
As stipulated above Experiential Learning was a very educational experience to the student in terms
of career growth and development. The field of Human Resource is very challenging one indeed with
the never ending of managing human capital and making these individuals productive and the
company profitable simultaneously. The HR department is the connection between employer and
employee; this is something that both parties fail to understand, HR department advocates as a neutral
party between these two contracting parties. The neutrality of the HR department stands on the
foundation of organisational policies to which both these parties may refer to if there may be there
perhaps a misunderstanding.
Another learning curve for the student was that being in a professional environment is different to
what the student might have perceived, Experiential Learning provided the platform for the student
understand what it means to maintain professionalism and do things by the book. Not only is this a
skill that needs to be maintain career wise however it can also be applied on personal life. The
participating in the real working environment also enable the student to rediscover his goals and self-
development lesson that are much needed while the student is still in a point lifelong learning.
Diversity is fully enhanced in the working environment, nothing did the student enjoy than working
with a diverse number of people with different perspectives as well ideas that are different to each
other but still these individuals can combine these and work together towards a similar. Teamwork is
something that is very crucial if an organisation wants to succeed, abiding by the policies means that
there shall be labour peace in the organisation with every employee working in happiness, although
some employees cannot be fully satisfied however job dissatisfaction can be minimized to a
reasonable number that can be easily managed.
Working in a an organisation enforces individuals to work well with others; other operation requires
employees to work in pairs or working in a team, it is through these interrelationships that certain
individuals may not see eye to eye, working with different individuals is certainly going to introduce
conflict in the workplace. These may be because of level of experience, different personality or just
personal issues in between individuals whatever the case may the student has learned that; if there are
conflict resolutions structures in place, working parallel to other formal structures then minor
disagreement can be solved effectively before they are blown out of proportion.
People do not necessary have to agree due to different perception but they can improve their working
relationship by maintain a similar team spirit since these individuals are working for the very same
company and working towards similar objectives.

10. 10
This may prove to be a challenged it can however be well improved if individuals communicate their
feeling about certain work processes to each other, not only does this improve productivity but it also
eliminates the increase in workplace grievances which is good for any organisation.
These were factors that the student knew little about prior to going for Experiential Learning, the past
3 months have changed altogether whatever perception one might have had about the HR field, it has
helped me to sort rediscover what I want out of life. This was without a doubt a huge learning
experience that would be a good stepping stone in the beginning of my journey to building a
successful career in the field of Human Resource. It is safe to say if one had not gone for the
Experiential Learning then one would have learned these life lessons the hard way. It was a good
initiative by the Department of Co Opt, one I was proud to be part. Human Resource is a field that a
person can choose to specialise in without having to cover all of its aspects, for instance Experiential
Learning has given me direction and showed me with speciality would I best fit in if I were to choose
to specialise in Human Resource.
By this the student means that, one does not have to cover Training and Development, Selection and
Recruitment or Labour Law and Industrial Affairs if they do not like this, they can however choose to
specialise in one of these field as they see fit in their goals and personality. For me this gave pointers
to see which field I can best fit in. This is all gratitude from the Steenberg Hotel for granting me the
opportunity to discover myself in the career I have chosen. Had it not been for the Experiential
Learning there would have not been a distinction between the theory and practical part of the Human
Resource Management.