Imperial Hotel, London: Addressing Absenteeism and Culture

This report analyzes the issue of high absenteeism and negative working culture at the Imperial Hotel, London. The study identifies causes such as workplace problems, lack of appreciation, and stressful working conditions, leading to decreased service quality and employee morale. The report explores the effects of absenteeism on the organization, including increased workloads, reduced guest satisfaction, and high staff turnover. To address these issues, the report suggests implementing the Human Relations Theory, emphasizing employee recognition, fair working hours, and improved relationships between management and staff. Additionally, the Administrative Theory, with its 14 principles, is proposed to improve organizational structure, communication, and employee motivation. The report concludes that a combined approach of these management theories can help the Imperial Hotel create a positive work environment, reduce absenteeism, and enhance overall performance.

THE IMPERIAL HOTEL

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
An overview of the problem.......................................................................................................1
Effect of the problem..................................................................................................................2
Management theory to fix the problem.......................................................................................3
Summary.....................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The Imperial Hotel, London is a part of Imperial Hotel group (The Imperial Hotel,
London, 2019). The group have 25 hotels across the UK. The hotel consists of 500 bedrooms, 3
bars and 4 restaurants and It is located in the heart of London's West End and the main patronage
that the hotel serves are the tourists that have high expectations in terms of service standards.
Beside this the hotel carrying out its operation from more than 100 years. It is one of the famous
hotel but suffering from high level of absenteeism and negative working culture in the
organisation. The study will evaluate the cause and effect of the problem and how management
theories will help the manager of Imperial hotel effectively to manage the issue. The study will
provide a viable solution that may be used by the new general manager.
MAIN BODY
An overview of the problem
The culture, success and growth of The Imperial Hotel is based on the effective
performance of their employees (Brunsson, 2017). From the past some years the performance of
the Imperial Hotel, London is consistently going worse than the other hotels, the internal culture
is becoming worse. In totality, there are 450 employees working in the hotel in which 300
employees are full-time members and others are part-time staff. Consumer speak about the issues
1
Illustration 1: The Imperial Hotel, London
(Source: The Imperial Hotel, London, 2019)

that, they are overly expensive and offer poor value for money service that is because of poor
performance causing by lack of employees to attend the guest. The hotel provide service to the
guests 24*7 that means employees have to often work in long working hours. Employees are
taking sick leaves at a high level from the past some years and percentage of absenteeism in
increasing in the hotel that have direct affects the performance of overall organisation and the
productivity of company in market (Gillen and et. al., 2017). Although, it can be said that taking
sick leave by the staff is general in case of any health issue but otherwise high level of absence
may consist other reasons.
Following are some cause of high level of sick leave and poor attendance;
 Problems in the workplace
 Lack of understanding of sick leave policy
 Low job satisfaction and disengagement with the organisation
 Lack of appreciation
 Lack of sense of belonging
 Personal needs are not fulfilling
 Employees don't get time for their family and for themselves
 Bullied or harassed by co-workers
 Not committing to their job
High rate of absenteeism means staff are deliberately avoiding coming into work. It can be also
because of low motivation but the major problem that is witnessed by the manager of the
organisation is that in the hotel aggressive management style is followed that creates negative
working culture in the industry (Kocakulah and et. al., 2016). Heavy workloads, stressfulness in
the workplace and feeling of being unappreciated can cause employees to avoid going into work
Effect of the problem
The issue has effect on the organisation as well as for the individuals and consumers too.
 When employees does not report for a scheduled off and sudden they take sick leave by
saying they are ill, that can cause a variety of issue for the new manager.
 It also makes impact on the co-workers as it can raise the workload on the other's
shoulder and it creates stress for other workers that enhance the negativity in the working
culture and presentees will experience a decreased morale if they see that management is
2

not taking any action against the absenteeisms (Magee and et. al., 2017). It will break
down their morale.
 Poor attendance reduced the quality of service of The Imperial Hotel, London that they
aim to serve to their potential guests that make negative impact on the image of the hotel
in consumer's mind.
 Absenteeism without through punishment can lead other employees to question the intent
and power of the management team that is the reason of spreading negative culture in the
working environment.
 The issue also encourage and develop other issues in the company for example; negative
working culture affect the performance of other staff members that affect the quality of
service and that result in poor guest satisfaction (Neesham and Wolfram Cox, 2017).
Poor guest satisfaction drive the sales of the hotel and lower down the switching cost of
the consumer towards other four star hotels in London. It will cause organisation to suffer
from poor performance and productivity among the staff.
 The work of absenteeisms have to done by other present members that increase the
physical and mental stress that affect the team work and lead the organisation towards
poor team working and the situation forced the frustrated employee to leave the job that
result in high staff turnover.
 High level of sick leave and poor attendance of the employees cause management
frustration and they have to be strict with others in the organisation and affect it
undermines the effort to create a team spirit among employees (Nunes and et. al., 2017).
Management theory to fix the problem
Peter Farnsworth, the new manager of the Imperial Hotel, London should start by
improving the situation and structure of the workplace and apply some management theories that
will help in overcoming the issue.
Human relation theory
The human relation approach should use by the management in the hotel that argues that
manager should analyse how individuals interact at workplace. The theory based on the idea that
employees in Imperial Hotel not only should motivated by financial reward but also by a range
of social factors (Peaucelle and Guthrie, 2015). For example; manager should praise the staff for
3

their work and make them feel valuable by interacting them in personal. When the focus of
manager is on human beings and relation, the morale of the staff goes up.
For absenteeism, manager should aware them with their value and importance and sense
of belonging in the organisation and treat them with respect and value that motivate and engaged
them with their work. Peter Farnsworth should manage the working hours in the hotel that help
in to reduce the stress level and provide them time for their families (Brunsson, 2017).
The non-absenteeism, manager should praise and reward for extra work they did in the
absence of any worker and teach them the value of team work that will understand them not to
bully other worker and work as a team.
By generating interest amongst the employee towards their work and eliminating job
dissatisfaction by ensuring wages and bonus are competitive and manager should create
satisfaction by creating work that can be rewarding can foster positive work climate.
Administration theory of management
This theory state that more emphasise should be laid on organisational management and
the human and behavioural factors in the management (14 Principles of Management, 2019).
The focus of the theory is on the structure of Imperial hotel and how well manager organised
individuals therein. The theory state 14 principles that improve the management in the
organisation and that should be followed by the company.
4

Division Of Work- The manager should distribute the work as per the different skill of
the employees. Different level of expertise promotes efficiency of the workforce and make them
understand the value of their position (Gillen and et. al., 2017). It will not put burden on others
and if in case of absenteeism, HR of the hotel can hire someone better on that position.
Authority And Responsibility- In order to handling the employee morale, it is essential
for the manager to give authority and responsibility to the employee in their field. The authority
and responsibility is an effective way of motivating to the people in the company.
Discipline- Manager need to conduct a respectful interaction of the core values and
mission of the hotel with the people in the Hotel that enhance the interest of the staff. The
discipline program help individuals to well behave and do their role with full responsibility.
Scalar Chain- This principle allow manager to implement a proper hierarchy that
facilitates the proper flow of communication and authority (Kocakulah and et. al., 2016). It is
beneficial for Peter Farnsworth to understand the issue from which an individual suffer and
resolve them effectively. It helps the employee know that who is their immediate senior in
conflicts and crisis.
5
Illustration 2: Principle of management
(Source: 14 Principles of Management, 2019)

Unity Of Direction- This principle is beneficial in the issue as it incorporates the thought
of manager to make a workforce that is working for a similar goal. Binding employees in a team
help the manager to enhance the interaction and coordination of the staff.
Centralization- Manager should maintain the balance of the decisions taken in the
organisation regarding the sick leave polices and the decisions should be deliberate and
appropriate to the operating need of the hotel (Magee and et. al., 2017).
Remuneration- It state that manager of the hotel should appreciate employees for their
efforts and performance that motivates them. The manager should ensures the satisfaction of the
staff in terms of both financial and non-financial compensation.
Unity Of Command- For reducing the stress level and pressure on the staff, manager
need to ensure that there is one and only manager and there should be no extra lines of
command.
Stability Of Tenure- This is also an effective principle that need to consider resolving
the issue. Under this principle, manager of imperial need to provide job security to the staff. It
also helps in minimizing employee turn over.
Equity- Manager should treat the employees equally and with respect that motivate them
and enhance the engagement (Nunes and et. al., 2017).
Subordination Of Individual Interest To General Interest- It states that interest of any
one employee should never be given more importance than other's that maintain the balance.
Initiatives- Manager should provide necessary level of freedom that encourages staff and
give them sense of job satisfaction.
Order- For maintaining the health, workplace should be clean and safe for the staff and
type of work should be treated equally. It helps the manager to create positive working
environment that will boost productivity.
Esprit De Corps- The manager should ensure that the team and individuals remain
constantly motivated and cooperative with each other. It helps them to developing trust and leads
to positive work culture.
Summary
The Imperial Hotel, London should implement the human relations that is also called as
behavioural theory of management that solve the problem of the absenteeisms and high level of
sick leave in the hotel (Peaucelle and Guthrie, 2015). The theory state that the engagement and
6

commitment of the employee towards his work and towards the hotel can be build and enhance
by praising them and recognising employees as individuals with real human needs by the
manager, it will help them to fulfil their needs that give them motivation to work. One more
thing can be used by the manager i.e. reward system on good work and less leave that encourage
staff to come daily and take as less leave as possible. Peter Farnsworth should strive to ensure
that the management team of the hotel and employees has improved relationship with each other.
Currently the issue faces by Imperial hotel is negative work culture that is because of the
employees that are taking sick leaves constantly by their own issues and high level of
absenteeisms (Gillen and et. al., 2017). Those employees are taking sick leaves without any
health concern because of stress, unvalued feeling, unsatisfied with the benefits and they are not
able to find motivation at the workplace and this theory is very effective in providing motivation
in terms of word praising, rewarding, fulfilling the needs of employees.
The other theory mentioned for resolving the issue for the long term is the administrative
theory that mentioned 14 major principles that define and manage the structure of the
organisation. Manager of Imperial Hotel should implement the theory in the organisation that
allow him to divide the work into sub division and specialised unit that make employees feel
their importance in the specialised unit. The theory simplifies the tasks, reduce the burden and
stress. The distribution of authority help in to reduce the harassment and bullying of each other.
All the fourteen principles have their own benefits and overall they help the hotel to overcoming
the issue by encouraging trust, loyalty and motivate them (Magee and et. al., 2017). it enables the
manager to convert the negative culture into positive culture.
Furthermore, the new general manager, Peter Farnsworth, should also implement absence
control and work/life programs in the organisation. This program eliminates the differentiation
between type of leaves such as personal leave or holiday illness. It is essential for the manager to
implement long term solution for this issue. He can implement long-term HR policies that
effectively educate new hires about the company policies.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been evaluated that high level of sick leave and poor
attendance is one of the major issues that is faced by the Imperial Hotel. The issue created
several more complication in the operation of organisation and affect overall productivity. To
cure the issue, manager of the hotel should carried out motivational theory that help them to
7

motivate their staff and human relation theory will help in to understand the basic need of a
person. To maintain the positive culture in the working environment, the best preferred theory is
Administrative management theory. Applying management theory will help the organisation to
enhance the engagement of the employees, make them understand the sick leave policy.
8

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Brunsson, K., 2017. Management Theory. In The Teachings of Management. (pp. 27-33).
Springer, Cham.
Gillen, P. A. and et. al., 2017. Interventions for prevention of bullying in the
workplace. Cochrane database of systematic reviews. (1).
Kocakulah, M. C. and et. al., 2016. Absenteeism problems and costs: causes, effects and
cures. The International Business & Economics Research Journal (Online). 15(3). p.89.
Magee, C. and et. al., 2017. Workplace bullying and absenteeism: The mediating roles of poor
health and work engagement. Human Resource Management Journal. 27(3). pp.319-334.
Neesham, C. and Wolfram Cox, J., 2017. Employment as a Human Relation: Revisiting Human
Value and Radical Needs. In Academy of Management Proceedings. (Vol. 2017, No. 1, p.
12005). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
Nunes, A. P. and et. al., 2017. The effect of employee assistance services on reductions in
employee absenteeism. Journal of Business and Psychology. pp.1-11.
Peaucelle, J. L. and Guthrie, C., 2015. Henri Fayol. In The Oxford Handbook of Management
Theorists.
Vignoli, M. and et. al., 2016. How job demands affect absenteeism? The mediating role of
work–family conflict and exhaustion. International archives of occupational and
environmental health. 89(1). pp.23-31.
Online
14 Principles of Management. 2019. [Online]. Available
Through:<https://pestleanalysis.com/14-principles-of-management/>.
The Imperial Hotel, London. 2019. [Online]. Available
Through:<https://www.imperialhotels.co.uk/en/imperial>.
9