Imperial Hotel's High Staff Turnover: Analysis and Recommendations

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Introduction to Management
Problem 2: High staff turnover with 80% of the staff leaving within the year
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the individual problem..................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
A series of principles or regulations, which helps in planning, directing, organising, along with
controlling the different aspects of an organisation, for instance, production, workforce, finance,
and many others in a proficient manner for accomplishing the organisational aims and objectives
can be referred to as management. Therefore, it can be stated that effective management is
necessary for overall seamless operations of an establishment. Effective management is one of
the pillars to success for every establishment. In this study, the different aspects resulting high
employee turnover in the Imperial Hotel will be identified and analysed in order to come up with
effective solutions. The suggestions provided by the existing manager of the hotel will be
considered as well. Viable recommendations will be provided to the concerned organisation so
that it can overcome its current challenges within a year.
The Imperial Hotel was established during the year of 1873 and is situated in the heart of the
western part of London city. The service organisation is comprised of five hundred
accommodations, three bars, four restaurants, twelve conference room possessing the holding
capacity of one thousand people, and a leisure centre, which has a swimming pool. It is a four-
start hotel, which is owned by the well-known global chain of hotels known as Star Hotels
(Imperialhotels.co.uk, 2019). At present, the hotel has a workforce strength of over than four
hundred employees, with six different department heads, four hundred and fifty full time as well
as part time general employees, and external contractors.
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Analysis of the individual problem
A review of management theory to one specific problem in the case with appropriate use of
essential texts and academic reading
Management theories can be referred to as a set of concepts that has set forth fundamental
regulations regarding managerial styles (Berry et al., 2016). The theories of management suggest
the manners in which the leaders and managers of an organisation must guide the workforce,
along with apply effective means in order to accomplish the predetermined goals of the business.
In addition to that, these theories also provide guidance regarding motivation techniques, which
can be used for enhancing the performance of the employees. The high rate of employee turnover
at Imperial Hotel can be resolved with the assistance of the theories suggested below.
 The Situational Leadership Theory
As suggested by the theory of situational leadership, one single style of leadership cannot be
implemented in every kind of circumstances (McCleskey, 2014). Therefore, the management and
leaders of an organisation must adopt divergent styles of leadership according the prevailing
conditions within the company. In addition to that, this theory also states that effective leadership
must change depending not only on the employees who require being influenced, but also on the
nature of the tasks or goals that requires being accomplished. Imperial Hotel on implementation
of the situational theory of leadership will be able to identify the requirement for flexibility,
which is necessary for retaining the staffs. In addition to that, it will help the organisation to
develop such a work culture, in which the employees will be comfortable working. Apart from
that, it will increase the awareness of the management, which is crucial for identifying the
requirements of the workers of the concerned hotel. Other benefits that will be received from the
implementation of this theory are promotion of training routines, along with taking into account
the various kinds of developmental phases. This will assist in providing the new recruits with
training, as well as addressing the skill gaps.
 The Democratic Management theory
As per this theory, which is also known as shared leadership, or participative manage net theory,
the employees of an organisation must take active participation in the process of making
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organisational decisions (Waring, 2016). On the incorporation of this theory within the Imperial
Hotel, the valuable insights of its current employees can be collected, as it provides opportunities
to each staff for exchanging concepts and ideas, which in turn will be useful for improving the
current situation prevailing in the organisation. Through this theory, the management of the
concerned hotel will be able to resolve the existing complex issues. In addition to that, it will
assist the management to delegate the tasks and responsibilities according to the efficiency of the
workers, as well as provide them with empowerment. These are crucial for retaining employees.
Moreover, democratic theory will allow the management to foster a positive workplace
environment.
 Fielder’s Contingency Theory
This theory can also be applied for resolving the issues of high degree of employee turnover at
the Imperial hotel. It will assist the management of the organisation to maintain a style, which is
flexible, instead of being aggressive (Ellyson et al., 2012). In addition to that, it will allow the
company to value the opinions of the workers, which in turn will motivate them. Motivation will
act as a factor that will retain the current employees of the company.
An analysis of one specific problem within the case demonstrating an understanding of the
processes and procedures for effective management
The degree of staff turnover became extremely high in the Imperial Hotel, which was estimated
to be near about 80 percent on a yearly basis. Reasons, for example, negative connection with
hotel management, taxation, were found to cause this issue; however, it was discovered that poor
staff morale was the key aspect, which gave rise to the problem mentioned above. It has been
observed that, in general the rate of employee turnover in the industry of hospitality, especially
in hotel businesses is high. This happens due to factors, for instance, provisional nature of the
service, low wage paid to the frontline and backline staffs, and many others. In addition to that, it
can be mentioned that most of the employees who work in the hospitality sector, particularly
hotels, are generally students from different colleges seeking for part-time jobs, and foreigners
who have come from the nations belonging to European Union.
Nevertheless, in the case of the Imperial Hotel, has been observed that the rate of resignation is
high among the employees who have been working in the frontline. This in turn has affected the
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business in a negative manner. Lack of employees has resulted in poor guest satisfaction, which
another issues encountered by the hotel. This resulted in the organisation receiving the lowest
rank among all of the companies sustained by the hotel chain named Star Hotels. The former
employees of the concerned organisation on being interviewed for acknowledging the reasons
behind them leaving have revealed several causes. These reasons are explained as follows:
 The work culture that prevailed within the concerned business was described to be poor by
its ex-employees because of factors such as hostile and aggressive nature of the management.
Therefore, this can be considered the factor behind the third issue faced by the hotel, which is
a negative work culture in the midst of the staffs.
 The newly hired employees of the concerned organisation were not provided with
appropriate training and development programmes. Thus, can be linked with the fourth
problem that the company has been facing. As the staffs have not been provided proper
training, they are unable to use the IT systems used in the hotel. In addition to that, this can
also be connected to the fifth issue encountered by the organisation. Due to lack of training,
the employees are not being able to operate as well as control various procedures effectively.
 The employees are expected to work in inflexible as well as unsociable hours and the salary
that is paid to them is quite low in comparison to the other similar kinds of hotels. This in
turn affects the performance of the workforce, resulting in poor satisfaction of the guests.
 The hotel does not provide its employees, who work till late night, with any kind of
provisions or compensation for daily transportation. This has affected them negatively as
they face trouble while going back home. Moreover, transportation rates in the city of
London are high as well. As a result, there is often high absenteeism in the hotel, which in
turn affects the quality of service expected by the guests.
 Lastly, it has been observed that inexperienced employees due to lack of training has not
been able to provide services to the guests as per the standards of the Imperial Hotel. On the
other hand, the employees who are skilled and possess adequate experience have resigned
from their professional positions to work for the competitors of the concerned organisation
since better packages were offered to them. This can be considered another factor, which
developed a negative work culture within the establishment.
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A summary and justification of key proposals for the resolution of the problem in the
organisation
The issue that has been focused in this study is high rate of employee turnover at the Imperial
Hotel with eighty percent of the workers go away within the time span of a year. The different
reasons, which caused this particular problem has been assessed in this study. This in turn has
assisted to develop various strategies that will help the concerned organisation to not only retain
its staffs, but also motivate them effectively. The key suggestions that will resolve the problem
of high degree of staff turnover in the Imperial Hotel are listed as follows:
 As suggested by the existing manager of the concerned organisation, providing the staffs
with benefits, for instance, occasional bonuses, various rewards, along with an appealing
salary package following a benchmark pay scale will be assistive in retaining the skilled and
experienced employees who are leaving for better offers.
 Implementation of the theory of situational leadership will assist then management of the
Imperial Hotel to identify the requirement for flexibility, which in turn will help them to
provide the employees with a positive and quality work culture. This will assist the
organisation not only to retain its employees, but also to motivate them in an effective
manner (Thompson and Glasø, 2015).
 On the other hand, incorporation of the democratic management model will help the
concerned organisation to resolve the issues, which the organisation has been facing at
present (Kasperson et al., 2012). This model is known for assisting with developing effective
solutions for problems that are complex in nature. Therefore, it can be used to solve the
intricate problem elevated rate of employee turnover, which 80 percent of the workers
resigning within the period of twelve months.
 Application of the Contingency theory will allow the management of the Imperial Hotel to
improve engagement of the employees, in the process of making crucial decisions (Chemers,
2014). This in turn will assist the hotel to retain its employees.
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Conclusion
Form the above study, it can be deduced that the Imperial Hotel has been encountering issues
regarding retaining its workforce. On hiring an independent consultant for seeking the feedbacks
of the resigned employees reading the level degree of staff turnover, it was discovered that the
workplace culture of the concerned hotel failed to fulfil their expectations. As a result, they were
jot receiving job satisfaction. In addition to that, it also has been founded that management style,
which prevailed in the company, was aggressive that affected the employees negatively. Apart
from that, it has also been observed that the staffs were expected to work in an inflexible
workplace environment. Other than that, the staffs that were freshly hired were not provided with
proper tainting and development programmes, and as a result, they were unable to carry out their
individual professional duties in an effective manner. Lastly, it has also been revealed that the
Imperial Hotel paid unfair wages in comparison to other four-star hotels.
Recommendations have been suggest to the concerned organisation. The organisation through
implementation of theories and models, such as Situational Leadership Theory, Democratic
Management Theory, along with Contingency Theory will be capable of overcoming the above-
mentioned issue of high rate of staff turnover. In addition to that, these theories will also help the
organisation to manage its employees effectively, which in turn will assist it with accomplishing
its business aims and objectives. The suggestions provided by the current manager of the hotel
will be useful for solving the problem as well.
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Bibliography
Berry, A.J., Broadbent, J. and Otley, D.T. eds., 2016. Management control: theories, issues and
practices. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Chemers, M., 2014. An integrative theory of leadership. Psychology Press.
Ellyson, L.M., Gibson, J.H., Nichols, M. and Doerr, A., 2012, January. A study of Fiedler’s
contingency theory among military leaders. In Proceedings of the Academy of Strategic
Management (Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 7-11).
Imperialhotels.co.uk., 2019. About Us | Imperial London Hotels | Imperial Hotels. [online]
Available at: https://www.imperialhotels.co.uk/en/about-us/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2018].
Ineson, E.M., Benke, E. and Laszlo, J., 2013. Employee loyalty in Hungarian hotels.
International Journal of Hospitality Management, 32, pp.31-39.
Kasperson, R.E., Golding, D. and Kasperson, J.X., 2012. Risk, trust and democratic theory. In
Social Contours of Risk (pp. 196-216). Routledge.
Kitana, A., 2016. Overview of the managerial thoughts and theories from the history: Classical
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McCleskey, J.A., 2014. Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership
development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), p.117.
Mohsin, A., Lengler, J. and Aguzzoli, R., 2015. Staff turnover in hotels: Exploring the quadratic
and linear relationships. Tourism Management, 51, pp.35-48.
Thompson, G. and Glasø, L., 2015. Situational leadership theory: a test from three perspectives.
Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(5), pp.527-544.
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Waring, S.P., 2016. Taylorism transformed: Scientific management theory since 1945. UNC
Press Books.
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