Staffing Crisis at Imperial Hotel: A Management Analysis Report

This report examines the staffing challenges faced by the Imperial Hotel, focusing on issues within the housekeeping department. The analysis identifies key problems such as high staff turnover, lack of employee motivation, and conflicts between different staff groups, leading to poor service quality ...Read More

INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Review of management theory to one specific problem.................................................................3
An analysis of one specific problem with an understanding of process and procedure for effective
management.....................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference List..................................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
Every organisation carries out their business operation under the control of management in order
to make a systematic procedure of work (Schermerhorn, 2011). The study aims in analysing the
issue related with staffing the housekeeping department at Imperial hotel. The hotel faced
difficulty to recruit room attendants and facing high staff turnover rate. Therefore, they decided
to take the help of ABC (International) to fill the gap of room attendant’s jobs. The candidates
are selected by ABC prior by assessing their English and considering the practical experience of
working in a housekeeping department.
However, there were other issues with the Spanish staffs where they are incorporative with non-
Spanish department. It has been found that their qualities of services are also dropping. The
performance of in-house staffs is getting progressively worse and they are employed on full-time
contract which is pressuring housekeeping budget. Besides, the hotel is also receiving number of
complaints that is related with cleanliness in the hotel bedroom. The complaints are also made of
abrupt and rude behaviour from the room attendants. Therefore, after the investigation the real
cause of all the problems were caused due to lack of motivation on full-time staffs.
Review of management theory to one specific problem
The housekeeping staffs of Imperial hotel are having competition between the Spanish and no-
Spanish staffs. It states that Spanish staffs are comfortable to work in team with other Spanish
staffs and enjoys their work by giving quality service. However, the in-house staffs associated
with the organisation are depleting their performance and thereby the standard of services are
also minimising. The case study states that Spanish staffs are scoring 75% high that the in-house
staffs who are ranking between 60-65% which is again causing bitterness.
The customers are making complaints regarding the low room quality, improper cleanliness done
in the rooms, inappropriate behaviour of staffs and unhygienic bathroom. The complaint also
states that the guests are treated rudely and abruptly. Hence, such carelessness made the guests
unhappy due to which they guests do not feel like taking further services.
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Viewing into the issues the centre problem that comes across is with the type of motivation that
is carried out with the management system. The main causes of complaints are highlighted due to
lack of motivation and improper monitoring of the staffs. Along with motivating the staffs the
management need to make sure that proper leadership style is carried out while handling the
staffs. Besides, applying management model such as the rational goal model is an effective
approach which focuses organisation ability in achieving the goals. The management of the hotel
should take the responsibility in establishing goal and finding the objectives which will become
easier for the staffs to carry out their activities with the aim of achieving the target. Therefore,
when there is no goal and objectives the staffs will not get any aim to carry their respective roles
and responsibilities (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
In addition, motivation is missing among the staffs due to which they are getting irritated with
their work and fulfilling the responsibility of working in full time. When the management does
not focus on motivating the staffs with proper ambiance and pay structure they burst out with
anger and gets irritated while handling guests. This type of behaviour is inappropriate for
organisation performance as they are losing their position in the market place and among their
competitors. Hence, application of Herzberg two factor theories works best in motivating the
staffs with the contribution of improving their working skills. The theory looks after two factors
such as hygiene and motivators. The staffs get satisfied when they receive suitable working
condition such as proper accommodation for them, safe, clean and hygienic workplace.
Similarly, the staffs can be motivated when they are provided with proper pay structure
according to their work. This type of motivation theory works best to make employees motivated
and improve their working skills as well (Frederickson and Ghere, 2013).
When it comes to less cooperative with other staffs and improper team work then undertaking a
leadership approach is essential. In such case Fayol’s principle of management is appropriate to
handle the staffs. The organisation should make sure that proper staffing is done according to the
skills and experience which is another source of motivating staffs. For example, due to improper
staffing in housekeeping department the organisation is facing high staff turnover rate. The
organisation can take steps by implementing staff incentives schemes. Giving incentives to the
staffs acts best in motivating them and encourage with their respective staffs. Incentive schemes
meet excellent standards of work and enable in enhancing productivity. For example, employee
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who will be working for a month will receive £200 and employee who will sustain in each
department for a month will receive £50. Other than that, vouchers should be given to staffs who
are consistently meeting their work target in three consecutive months by staying in one star
hotel.
Hence, it is important for finding out the problem that is associated with staffs and organisation
culture. The management should take initiative in taking effective steps which can reduce
organisation problem. Therefore, application of proper motivation theory gives a way to motivate
the staffs so that they enjoy while giving services to the guests. Motivation also improves the
quality of work which automatically increases services. Adopting management principles and
theories allows controlling the function of the hotel as well as the employees. The employees are
controlled from taking inappropriate decisions which may hamper workplace culture. Therefore,
the superiors should always take the first approach in organising, controlling and staffing. Hence,
effective monitoring automatically impacts the operation in all departments resulting in high
production.
The leadership and motivation approach reduces employee turnover rate and poor operation and
control procedure. Giacalone and Rosenfeld (2013) added that proper operation allows in
controlling stock and using resources effectively. The customers are also satisfied on time by
fulfilling their requirement and needs. Additionally, they fulfil in meeting basic Standard
Operating Procedures (SOPS). This reduces operating costs. Moreover, better managerial
functions increases employee retention that affects organisation goodwill in the market place.
Not only that, effective human resource management allows the organisation to get quality
candidates who are efficient enough in carrying their concerned responsibilities.
An analysis of one specific problem with an understanding of process and procedure for
effective management
It has always been a challenging task for Imperial hotel to staff the housekeeping department
according to their ability. Stevenson and Hojati (2012) stated that the task of staffing has
significant role to play in increasing organisation production and improving the quality of
services. The Imperial hotels are concerned about giving quality services to the guests who are
taking services from them. The concern is due to high competition in the market place. The hotel
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is having 400-500 rooms which the staffs need to give services in a day. However, according to
the number of staffs, the hotel is having less number of housekeeping staffs to give services in a
day. The hotel is having improper staffing system where the concern in minimal in this aspect.
The management system is not focusing on the staffing of employees due to which they are
losing number of loyal customers. The activity of staffing is important for the employees as they
need to feel confident and comfortable with the role they are carrying out (Schein, 2017). The
executive housekeeper is looking after the tasks that are carried out every day by the house
keeping staffs in order to make sure that work is done appropriately.
In addition to that, the case study of Imperial hotel shows that they are facing problem with staff
turnover. Staffs turnover rate is seen mostly in the house-keeping department. The staff turnover
is rating to 60% a year. The employees stated that they are not comfortable in working for the
hotel and the human resource department is facing difficulty to recruit staffs especially room
attendants. Moreover, staffing was made with Spanish and non-Spanish staff where they are
showing less cooperativeness to work in team. Thus, Fayol’s principle of management is
effective to bring solution to the problem as the factor of division of work is stated here. Barrows
and Powers (2013) added that when people are specialised according to their skills and
experience it improves their skills and accuracy. Even it is important for the managers to take
decisions in order to avoid chaos and abrupt behaviour of employees. Similarly, the unity of
command should be in the hand of superiors and it should be received by the employees.
Following such principle is effective in avoiding conflicting instruction which results to a state of
confusion. Therefore, the failure of low performance by in-house staffs is resulted due to
appropriate management system in the Imperial hotel.
Understanding the problem the suggestion of Peter Farnsworth can be implemented where he
stated that by using other contacted staff through specialised agencies can help the organisation
in attracting high skilled labour. Employee turnover rate can be reduced by motivating staffs
with an offer of incentive and bonus schemes which will able them to perform high. The problem
of staffing can be reduced when the organisation can encourage learning approach which make
inactive employee to work accordingly with the responsibilities given. The staffs should be given
proper training to handle their daily activities. It is the responsibility of human resource
department and administrative department to look after the staffing and training employees.
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Anderson et al. (2015) stated that if staffing is done then the HR management should trained to
make them learn about the importance of communication and corporation. Corporation and
communication is essential to carry out team work.
Hence, O'Leary (2016) added that well trained staffs are able to improve quality of work,
cooperate among one another to perform good, give better team work and results in better
customer services. Moreover, presenting a good team work will lower staff turnover rate and
increase work efficiency. This results in enhancing the satisfaction level of staffs as well as
guess. A happy candidate with suitable job role always performs best. The introduction of Total
Quality Management (TQM) is another way to ensure effective performance management. The
model determines the need and expectations towards continuous improvement. Quality
improvement increases organisation performance as the staffs become conscious to work by
maintain quality standards. For example, Imperial hotel uses Texlon system, which is hand-held
tracker system used by the organisation supervisor. The system undertakes a sample check of
every room looking at the quality standard of the rooms. Later, the room are scored according to
the standards of a serviced room. Hence, the result derived from the checking is visualised into
hotel computer according to the rank and scores (Hayes, 2014).
Motivation of staffs is a powerful element that improves work performance. Hence, effective
management can be encountered by taking and asking feedback from the employees. It will
enable the management to know their experience while serving the customers. In the training
procedure, the staffs will also be taught about handling the complaints. When the complaint
comes from the customers, a particular person should take the responsibility in handling it as it
will reduce chaos. A change is management style is equally important to bring effectiveness and
positive impact in working condition. For example, being always autocratic sometimes fails in
stimulating best results. Hence, adopting transformational leadership can work out best where the
employees get chance to express their view point (Burke, 2017).
Conclusion
The case study shows that Imperial hotel faces several issues due to which the company is
experience high employee turnover rate and low motivation among the employees. The issues
have been identified by applying management theories like rational goal model and Herzberg
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theory. With the help of this model suggestive recommendations are also given to the
organisation. Besides, to bring an effective management system within the organisation proper
staffing should be done. Apart from staffing, motivation should be done to improve their quality
performance. Implementing TQM gives an adequate result which will improve the performance
of hotel.
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Reference List
Anderson, D.R., Sweeney, D.J., Williams, T.A., Camm, J.D. and Cochran, J.J., 2015. An
introduction to management science: quantitative approaches to decision making. Cengage
learning.
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Barrows, C.W. and Powers, T., 2013. Introduction to Management in the Hospitality Industry,
Study Guide. John Wiley & Sons.
Burke, W.W., 2017. Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.
Frederickson, H.G. and Ghere, R.K., 2013. Ethics in public management. ME Sharpe.
Giacalone, R.A. and Rosenfeld, P. eds., 2013. Impression management in the organization.
Psychology Press.
Hayes, J., 2014. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan.
O'Leary, D.E., 2016. Guest Editor's Introduction: Knowledge-Management Systems-Converting
and Connecting. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 13(3), pp.30-33.
Schein, E.H., 2017. Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader. John Wiley & Sons.
Schermerhorn, J.R., 2011. Introduction to management. John Wiley & Sons.
Stevenson, W.J. and Hojati, M., 2012. Operations management (Vol. 8). Boston:
McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
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