Addressing Management Issues at Imperial Hotel, London: A Report

This report examines the critical management challenges faced by the Imperial Hotel in London, a well-established four-star hotel. The report, focusing on issues related to front-of-house staff, analyzes problems such as employee disputes, inefficient team management, and declining employee motivation. It highlights the interconnectedness of these issues and proposes a three-point plan to improve the hotel's financial sustainability. The plan includes updated technological practices to integrate departments, a revised rewards and incentives program, and extensive employee training. The report also applies management theories like Tuckman's stages of group development and McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y to address the conflicts and motivate employees. The conclusion emphasizes the urgency for the new General Manager, Peter Farnsworth, to implement these strategies to restore efficiency, improve employee morale, and regain the hotel's reputation.

INTRODUCTION TO
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
PROBLEM 4....................................................................................................................................3
Management and operational perspective on causes and relationship with other problems.. 3
3 point plan for resolving the problem making hotel sustainable financially........................4
Management and operations theory applicable......................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
The Imperial Hotel, London is a well known and international branded four star hotel based in
UK and having a chain of hotels in other countries as well. It has been operating for past 100
years giving excellent experience to its visitors. It is managed by Star Hotels which has 25 hotels
in UK itself. In London, this hotel is located in the heart of the city at West End and is a major
attraction point for tourists and international business meetings. There are altogether 500
bedrooms in the hotel, 4 restaurants, 12 conference rooms and 3 bars. The staff employed by
them is also extensive having 6 separate departments employing altogether 450 people. In this
report, the major problems that the newly appointed General Manager of the Hotel, Peter
Farnsworth, has been facing have been discussed. This report takes into consideration the
problem number 4 i.e. the problems related to front of house staff and how the implementation of
correct management theories will improve their performance along with the implementation of
proper technology. His report highlights the interconnectedness of all the problems that the hotel
management is facing and a 3 point plan has been discussed whose implementation will help the
hotel management in solving their problems (Nieves and Segarra-Ciprés, 2015). This report also
shows that how application of particular theories will help in improving the management
practices and policy formulation so that the employees can be motivated and their retention ratio
can be increased which will ultimately affect the productivity of the hotel.
MAIN BODY
PROBLEM 4
Management and operational perspective on causes and relationship with other problems.
The Imperial Hotel of London is a 5 star hotel giving its services to the customers since
past 100 years. There is a wide customer base of the Hotel especially the older generation who
are exceedingly loyal towards the hotel and have been visiting it regularly. However, there has
been a rising amount of problems that the employees and the management are facing and this has
created a negative impact on the visitors. The new General Manager of the hotel needs to analyse
and formulate proper strategies and policies which will help him in resolving these problems.
At present, the Imperial Hotel is facing a major problem of disputes within the employees and
inefficient team management. There is lack of any coordination within the various departments
because of communication barriers and preference of personal comfort over the Hotel’s
reputation (Lashley, 2015). The employees seem to be de-motivated and the various incentives
3

and rewards offered by the management do not have any influence over the productivity of
employees. The head of department need to review the training and selection process and also
evaluate the rewards and incentives gain ensuring that they are regularly updated. The most
important aspect is the strong technological backup that the employees should have to support
their duties. Since the present systems applicable have not been operating efficiently, there is a
chain of delayed events which has created frustration within employees and hence within
departments. These are giving rise to series of problems which is affecting the productivity and
profit of the Hotel having serious implications on its reputation (Crossley and et.al., 2018).
The various other problems like high turnover rate, negative work culture etc. is giving rise
to this animosity within employees as they are getting replaced very quickly and by the time
employees form bonds with each other; they find that a new employee has already taken their
place. The lack o any informal bond has led to lack of trust which has promoted the negative
culture in the Hotel. Also, the selection process of the employees needs to be re-evaluated so that
the inefficient candidates can be rooted out of the system at the beginning. Amidst all these
problems, there has been a rising scale of dissatisfaction levels of the visitors and guests which
can be seen from the lowest grade that the Imperial Hotel received amongst the entire chain of 5
star hotels.
Altogether, the new manager, Peter Farnsworth needs to critically reform the practices
and patterns that have emerged at the workplace so that the lost reputation can be regained
(Zaitseva and et.al., 2016). Since there is refurnishing process is going on, the Hotel is already
loosing the opportunity cost of 60 rooms that would have generated a lot of revenue. The
management cannot afford to lose any more resources due to the inefficiency of the staff and
they need to make their employees clearly understand the importance of keeping their guests
satisfied and happy at any cost. Also, the policies need to be formulated in such a way that it
motivates an employee rather than burdening him which would increase the productivity.
3 point plan for resolving the problem making hotel sustainable financially.
The problem of rising conflicts within the employees at The Imperial Hotel needs to be
addressed immediately. Peter Farnsworth can adopt and implement a 3 point plan addressing all
the aspects of the current problem.
Implementing Updated Technological Practices:- The management of Imperial Hotel can
implement proper software in their systems so that they can integrate various departments
4

(Ortmeier, 2017). The Micros Fidelio Reservation Systems and Property Management system
used by them has although increased the efficiency of the system as all the departments can
obtain information regarding the visitors through a central system but the frequent breakdowns in
the system has led to increasing dependability on the reception department to provide correct
information. The new manager can upgrade and improve the present system so that this task gets
automated and all the different departments can obtain all the relevant information regarding
guests directly from the system. This will reduce the duties of already burdened front office
department and help in utilizing that time on other important duties so that the quality of the
services provided can be improved.
Rewards and Incentives:- At present, the management of the Hotel has many incentives planned
for the workers like £200 for employee of the month, £50 for each department’s best employee
and vouchers worth £200 for employees meeting the targets for 3 months regularly, parties etc.
But these are not proving to be exciting enough so that employees can be motivated to work hard
to achieve them. The new manager needs to formulate more incentives at each step like
developing a rating scale where customers rate the employees who give them service, holding
competitions etc. (Popescu and Popescu, 2016). All such competitions should b just so that
employees understand the value of becoming a good employee and can inspire form the peers
who are winning these incentives and rewards. This will inculcate a positive culture at workplace
increasing morale of employees.
Extensive Training Procedure: - The employees working in the Hotel lack any sense of
responsibility or duty towards the management. When the HRM department of the Hotel coupled
with management’s efforts will give adequate training to their employees and formulate those
policies that are implemented with the motive of uplifting an employee’s morale and improving
their performance, then this will improve the retention ratio. The employees will understand their
job role in a better way and this will help them in segregating the different duties that everyone is
required to perform. Satisfied employee base will automatically reduce the labour turnover rate
as employees will understand that they are important to the organisation. This will lead to
formation of bonds with each other and subsequently the conflicts and disputes existing in the
workplace will also minimize (Pereira, 2016). Ultimately this will create a healthier environment
and when the employees are happy they will be able to serve the visitors in a more productive
manner and hence there will be overall growth in the satisfied customers at Imperial Hotel.
5

All the three plans will help the new manager Peter Farnsworth in solving the issues present in
the workplace and address the problem effectively increasing the profits and making Hotel
financially sustainable in such tough times.
Management and operations theory applicable.
The problem of rising conflicts and disputes can be solved by applying certain management
theories at the workplace like Tuckman’s Theory and McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
Model.
Tuckman’s Theory: - This theory involves integration of employees in the workplace and
encouraging team formation. This theory is most effective in meeting the challenges that are
faced while building teams and successfully overcoming them. The new manager at Imperial
Hotel can implement this theory where 4 major stages are involved (Tuckman stages of group
development, 2017).
Forming is the first stage at which the team members are gathered and they hesitate in trusting
each other, refusing to take orders from anyone except their team leader. Then comes the second
stage of Storming where the team mates acknowledge each other and the team mates either form
bonds or break them at this stage. Team has to be managed effectively as every member has their
own ideas and no consensus is there. Third stage is the Norming stage where all the members
begin trusting each other and they form bonds determining the values of the team and the rules
are set h all the members follow. The last stage is the Performing stage where all the members
know each other, trust each other and now their focus is on achieving the task assigned to them
with utmost efficiency. This theory will help in creating bonds amongst the employees of Hotel
and make them understand the importance of team work.
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y:- This theory was formed with the aim of generating
motivation amongst individuals at the work place. The 2 theories are used to express the extreme
ends of motivation where Theory X gives importance to the regular rewards, incentives as well
as penalties, punishments and the supervision is more under this theory. Theory Y on the other
hand is the soft approach under which the management gives more power to their employees and
they trust that employees will take those decisions which are beneficial for the entire
organization (Bowie and et.al., 2016). Theory X helps in increasing productivity and Theory Y
on the other hand motivates creativity. Peter Farnsworth can use a mix of both the aspects of the
two theories where he can implement some parts of theory X especially on those tasks where
6

manual work is more so that quality is not compromised with and Theory Y can be implemented
where an individual’s personal touch is more important in making the task successful. This will
help the new manager in motivating employees and also making them realise the importance of
fulfilling their duties and responsibilities towards the Imperial Hotel (Davis and et.al., 2018).
CONCLUSION
After going through this report it can be concluded that at present, the condition of Imperial
Hotel is very critical and the newly appointed General Manager Peter Farnsworth needs to take
important steps so that they can ensure that the ratings of the hotel do not fall lower than they
already have. The 3 point plan covers many aspects of the problem such as conflicts between
various departments, lack of employee motivation and dedication, poor technological
implementation etc. By implementing this plan, the managers will be able to restore the
efficiency and improved IT implementation will help in sharing of the burdens so that front staff
alone is not responsible for passing on all the data. Also, when the employees are properly
trained and the work culture is improved it will create a positive environment where they will be
motivated to work and will place organizational aims before their individual aims. Lastly, in this
report two theories namely Tuckman’s Theory and McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y have
been discussed. By implementing these theories the management will be able to form bonds
within employees at the workplace making them trust and cooperate with each other and hence
support other when they are in some problem. It will also inculcate responsibility in the
employees making them understand the importance of the affect their actions have. All these will
integrate the employees from various departments in the hotel and they will be able to serve their
visitors and guests in a better way hence improving the ratings of The Imperial Hotel.
7

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Nieves, J. and Segarra-Ciprés, M., 2015. Management innovation in the hotel industry. Tourism
Management. 46. pp.51-58.
Lashley, C., 2015. Hospitality experience: An introduction to hospitality management.
Crossley, J.C., and et.al., 2018. Introduction to commercial recreation and tourism: an
entrepreneurial approach (No. Ed. 7). Sagamore Publishing LLC.
Zaitseva, N.A., and et.al., 2016. Assessment of the Impact of Globalization on the Introduction
of Innovative Technology Companies in the Hospitality Industry. International Journal
of Environmental and Science Education. 11(14). pp.7176-7185.
Ortmeier, P.J., 2017. Introduction to security. Pearson.
Popescu, A. and Popescu, D., 2016. Hashtag Progress: The Digital Fingerprint of Web 2.0 on
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Management—A Case Study for Romania.
In Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics-Vol. 1 (pp. 555-564). Springer, Cham.
Pereira, L.N., 2016. An introduction to helpful forecasting methods for hotel revenue
management. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 58. pp.13-23.
Bowie, D., and et.al., 2016. Hospitality marketing. Routledge.
Davis, B., and et.al., 2018. Food and beverage management. Routledge.
Online
Tuckman stages of group development. 2017. [ONLINE] Available through :<
https://www.toolshero.com/management/tuckman-stages-of-group-development/>
8

9

10

11