Being a Part of the Hospitality Industry - Paper Example

Introduction

Being a part of the hospitality industry which deals directly with customers is a tedious venture. It is because employee job quality must be given a high priority to enable them to deliver substantive and high-quality customer satisfaction through their service.The Imperial Hotel in West London is a 500 bedroom hotel that caters for tourists guests and international business guests who have high expectation in terms of service standards. However in the recent past the hotel was graded the lowest star in the whole star chain in terms of overall guest satisfaction. The problem could be attributed to the negative work culture which is the unethical practises and behaviour that cause a variety of problems.The goal of this report is to discuss the staffing problem at the Imperial Hotel and provide useful suggestions. In particular, this report will address problem 3: A negative work culture amongst staff with high levels of poor attendance and sick leave.

Existing Problem

Constant absenteeism and frequent nonattendance at the workplace are prone to create the problems by increasing the costs of production and the overall running of the hotel. The problem of absenteeism from work at The Imperial Hotel is greatly attributed to issues such as competitive salaries, lack of proper training of the employees, aggressive supervision and management styles, poor organizational culture among the staff, unsociable hours of working, and small bonus proportions. Poor organizational culture, aggressive management styles, poor hygiene, use of outdated technology and frequent absenteeism of workers are among the problems facing Major Hotels in the United Kingdom. Aggressive styles of management lower the morale of the workforce as they begin feeling demoralized.

Lack of proper employee training leads to low product quality due to the lack of proper skills and a reduced provision of required services. It also leaves the intermediate supervisors and managers frustrated as they cannot account for a particular group of employees (Prasad, Wirtz, and Yu 2014, pg. 455). Evidently with fewer workforces to attend to the need of the consumers the result is that unsatisfied guests at the Imperial Hotel will create an adverse public perception and reduced confidence in the hotel. The overall lack of employees during work hours increases the cost of running operations in the hotel as there is need to replace them by hiring more part-time workers, and this infringes on a budget of the hotel.

Peters Suggestions

The incoming General Manager had the initial suggestions to manage the problem by improving the standard and levels of supervision within all the departments. He also sort to improve a culture of collaboration and respect amongst collegues. He also suggested that staff regularly be involved in planning and problem-solving operational challenges as well as rewarding good customer service and attendance. Better training of staff of company- wide standards and values will also prove useful. The theory of Model of Change process coordinates with the above suggestions as discussed below.

The model for change process should be relevant in approaching on how best to change the Imperial Hotel by;

Firstly, identifying the performance gap- In initiating change, the first gap found was the gap between actual specification of experience of the customers and the perception of the management. In this gap, it is crucial to for the manager to ensure they provide the level of service that is required as defined by the organization. There needs to be planning to input structures and specific skill set to diagnose the resistance in the development of the organization. To change the management model the manager should make use of the Lewin three-step process. The process necessarily requires that for successful change to occur the status quo needs to be unfrozen. Afterwards, there is the actual changing of the new state followed by refreezing the new change to make it permanent. (Mok,Sparks and Kadampully 2013, pg.68) A better way to approach this is by increasing the driving forces that direct behaviour away from the status quo. This will be done through the introduction bonuses to the employees who spend more time at work.

Eradication of the negative culture of the employees by improving the organizational performance in the workforce at Imperial Hotel. The strategic plan includes methods that will allow the management to respond to the values and needs of the employees by assessing and listening effectively to employees grievances. It is best to advise the Manager to change an aspect by empowering the workers to provide full service to the guests by introducing added wages to those who perform best. Since change cannot be avoided, it is wise if the Manager has a strategic plan in anticipation of the changes to occur in the workforce organization (Al-Refaie 2015,pg.297).

To understand the issue of adverse workforce and absence behaviour, there is need for creating a model of attendance like finger print in/out clock system and absence behaviour to formulate the moderating factors and the causative agents. It was discovered that due to the increased work hours the employees were prone to deceive and create sick days just to get away from the workplace and avoid the imposed overtime. Other workers face external responsibilities of young children and families, and as such experience higher rates of absenteeism. It was also that the workers are poorly motivated and show lack of eagerness in the accomplishing their duties. Apart from the illness and disease, there is also the factor of work stress and absence of work culture among the employees (Hemdi and Nasurdin 2014, pg. 20). The social aspects also play a role in absenteeism, and this is multiplied by the lack of organizational absence rules to guide employee turn out.

To change the organizational culture, the Manager of the Imperial Hotel will have to address the issue of resistance. Mostly these are the internal factors of the hotel that include the habit of the workers. Not every worker will be for the change and will pose the challenge in because of the fear of the unknown (Moket al. 2013, pg. 66). The Manager will have to analyse the above problems in the content of change by calling for a board meeting as well as processing the difficulties concerning the models of evolution. One of the ways to approach this is by altering the entire structure of the management of the hotel by implementing new leadership techniques such as using dialogue as a better communication tool rather than pay cuts.

Solutions to high rates of sick leave outs and absenteeism

Careful analysis and assessment of the problem of absence at The Imperial Hotel is helpful in the provision of practical solutions. It mainly entails characterization of the problem of absence within the hotel and identifying the factors that cause absenteeism before implementing strategies that best suit the Imperial Hotel. (Lee and Oh 2014, pg.149). Solutions to improving and maintaining the attendance of staff can be based upon investigation of the workplace, theoretical principles and assessment. This will be achieved by reviewing the practical application of experience of industry and workplace strategies by conducting surveys.

The Max Weber theory of management provides a clear insight on how to best handle the situation at Imperial Hotel. The system proposes that there be a clear chain of command and a clear system for standardized procedures. The model also stressed for efficiency but also warned on emphasizing technology at the expense of human emotion. The key elements of the Max Weber include but not limited to meticulous record-keeping, a hierarchy of authority and standardized procedures. Furthermore the theory also encouraged hiring employees only if they meet the specific qualifications for a job as well as clearly defining job roles.

Deployment of simple solutions that ought to be prescriptive will help The Imperial Hotel to curb the problem of staff absenteeism such as;

Rewarding of good attendance and efficient customer service.

Operational changes, gifts, additional wages.

Improving a culture of respect and collaboration among the colleagues by motivating team work.

Adjusting the levels of supervision and standards within all the departments of the hotel by employment of competent managers in all the departments.

Providing improved training of staff company-wide values and standards.

This section will look at some of the techniques which will help in the improvement of workplace attendance or assessment.

Introducing Rewards, incentives, and penalties

These have a primary role in the management of staff absence and the facilitation of an attendance culture. Such items can have a variety of unambiguous rewards like financial gain, through to penalties such as prosecution for fraud or even dismissal. Cashing in of sick leaves at The Imperial Hotel, which mainly entails the redemption of sick leave for part full or full pay, is mostly promoted as a solver for absenteeism. It may operate as the best incentive for avoiding of leaves by staff, though it penalizes the employees who unfortunately fall sick(Karadas2014,pg. 54). The technique will prove very useful since it was also used by the Durham Marriot Hotel after it was confirmed as an efficient method of dealing with truancy.

Nonattendance is perceived to be more likely where the cost of losing a job is seen to be minimal. Application of dismal threat to the employee's will help in curbing the problem of absenteeism at the Imperial Hotel. Relative to penalties, positive incentives or sanctions may lead to adverse outcomes such as reduced productivity, morale and tensed working conditions (Lee et al 2014, pg.180), therefore the Imperial Hotel will employ counselling systems for poor performing and underperforming employees.

Employment of flexible working arrangements

These types of methods will have two-fold opportunities for success on The Imperial Hotel. Firstly, they may influence the ability to attend work by staff and secondly by affecting job satisfaction. Flexible work arrangements have a widespread appeal that is attractive. (Lee and Ok 2014, pg.197) These mechanisms allow employees to schedule work around external factors such as hotel appointments, but also by enhancing job satisfaction through stepped up control, responsibility, and autonomy. Issues such as monitoring, equity of participation, penalty and dispute resolution will need advanced consideration. Flexible work arrangements such as changing of shifts will be introduced.

Management training and supervisory in these skills is, therefore, a crucial strategy that can influence management and supervisory style.

Training can include;

Knowledge of procedures and policies

Support and recognition for the employees that are distressed

Creating and maintaining contact with workers and use of feedback

Role of managers and supervisors in the follow up of absenteeism

Creating a favourableAttendance policy

This policy provides a clear statement of the principles and objectives by which promotion of attendance will be effected within The Imperial Hotel. A policy...