Imperial Hotel Case Study: Addressing Operational and HR Challenges

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the problems.................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference list.................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
During the course of operations of a business, there are diverse types of situations that can be
arriving and there are various problems, which can arise within it. According to Badhwar et al.
(2019), the main problems that a hospitality organisation faces in general include high employee
turnover, poor customer satisfaction, ineffectual back house or front house employees and a
negative work culture. There are various hospitality organisations operating in the UK and one of
the main hospitality organisations operating in it is the Imperial Hotel. Within 500 bedrooms,
conference facilities for about 1000 people, bars and restaurants, conferences rooms and such
other facilities, the Imperial Hotel is located at the West End of London that caters for mostly
international tourists and guests having high expectations of the service standards provided by it
(Imperial Hotels, 2019). In the current scenario, however, the Imperial Hotel is facing diverse
problems. The common problems faced by it include poor satisfaction of guests, high employee
turnover, negative work culture between employees, poor teamwork and utilization of IT systems
in the front of house employees along with poor control and operating procedures in the back of
house employees and poor standards with high operational costs.
In this report, a detailed discussion will be made regarding the problems of the Imperial Hotel,
followed by evaluation of the possible reasons for the arousal of these problems within the
organisation. Along with evaluating the possible reasons for which these problems have occurred
within the organisation, it will also be discussing the methods or the strategies that can be used
for dealing and resolving these issues arising in the Imperial Hotel.
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Analysis of the problems
There are different kinds of problems that can occur in a hospitality business in relation to the
business, its operations as well as its management. However, it is necessary for the businesses to
plan and develop strategies with which these business, operational and management related
problems could be resolved. In the context of the Imperial Hotel, it can be determined that there
are five major problems in the hotel -
 Poor satisfaction of the customers or guests making a stay at the hotel
 High turnover of employees in the organisation and almost 80% of the employees leaving
the organisation within a year
 A negative culture of work prevailing between the staff of the organisation with rising
levels of both poor attendance and sick leave
 Poor teamwork as well as ineffectual utilization of the IT systems, for example, the
property and reservation management systems among the front of house staff in the
organisation
 Poor control and operating procedures within the organisation’s back of house staff due
to stock being regularly pilfered along with having the evidence of employees not being
able to meet the basic SOPS (Standard Operating Procedures) leading to unusually high
cost of operations
According to Grobelna and Marciszewska (2016), the human resources play the most significant
role within a hospitality organisation. This is because hospitality organisations operate within the
service industry and it is because of the human resources of a hospitality business that is ensures
its success, operating efficiency and its sustainability. However, in the context of the Imperial
Hotel, it can be seen that the main issues that the organisation is facing is related to its human
resources. All the problems that are occurring within the organisation are because of its human
resources only. As a result, it is necessary for the Imperial Hotel to find out the causes behind
these problems being faced by the organisation.
Poor satisfaction of guests is one of the major factors, which lead to the reducing revenue and
the falling reputation of a hospitality organisation (Yang et al., 2018). Due to the lack of proper
satisfaction of guests, a hospitality business often ends up losing its existent customers and end
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up ensuring that its potential customers do not avail its services. According to Luo and Qu
(2016), the basic reasons due to which poor guest satisfaction arises within a hospitality business
include ineffectual problem solving in the organisation, the absence or the lack of employee
empowerment, lack of proper training provided to employees for satisfying the needs and
requirements of guests. The lack of coordination and cooperation among employees to meet the
services that they are expecting and lack of knowledge or experience in the field of customer
service can be yet other reasons for the arousal of this problem.
On the other hand, the problem related to poor teamwork as well as ineffectual utilization of the
IT systems, for example, the property and reservation management systems among the front of
house staff in the organisation might be arising due to the reasons such as the absence of
effective and capable leaders within it. According to Bell et al. (2017), factors such as absence of
effectual training provided to employees can be yet another reason for problems arising in a
hospitality organisation. The absence of effectual training that the Imperial Hotel provides to its
employees, especially to the front of the house staff might have led to the occurrence of this
particular problem within the organisation. At the same time, Wong and Lee (2017) opined that
the absence of proper training might also be leading the failure of employees in an organisation
to meet the required standards. This can be a possible reason in the case of the problem of the
Imperial Hotel employees not being able to meet the basic SOPS (Standard Operating
Procedures), which in turn has lead to unusually high cost of operations of the organisation.
Another reason that might have led to the occurrence of the problem of poor operating and
control procedures along with stock being pilfered regularly is that there might be the lack of
an effectual leader or supervisor who will be responsible for the organisation and the
management of the back of house employees working in it. However, these problems are not of
much importance, as they can be managed and tackled easily through taking corrective measures
by the Imperial Hotel. The problems, which are of major concern for the Imperial Hotel, include
the high turnover of employees with almost 80% of the employees leaving the organisation
within a year and the creation of a negative culture of work between employees with increasingly
high levels of poor attendance and sick leave. According to Kuranchie-Mensah and Amponsah-
Tawiah (2016), one of the major reasons due to which the employee turnover of a company is
high is the lack of motivation. In case of poor motivation among staff and the satisfaction of all
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the needs of an employee, there are chances of having an increase in the employee turnover of
the organisation.
On the other hand, Lam et al. (2015) stated that the lack of commitment is yet another reason due
to which employee turnover can be high in an organisation along with the lack of having job
security. In the context of the Imperial Hotel, it can be seen that majority of the staff, are part
time employees. Due to this reason, the lack of job security leads to the increasing turnover in
the Imperial Hotel and the number of employees leaving the organisation within a year is
increasing with time. The lack of the adoption of effectual styles of leadership and management
can be another reason for the arousal of high employee turnover in the Imperial Hotel. According
to Yahaya and Ebrahim (2016), leadership and management styles such as the autocratic
leadership style often leads to the arousal of problems such as high turnover of employees due to
the lack of employee participation and excess pressure on them because of the styles adopted for
leading and managing them.
At the same time, the lack of a proper system of incentives and rewards might also be the reason
for which the turnover of employees at the Imperial Hotel is increasing. According to Shaw and
Gupta (2015), having an effectual incentives and rewards system is essential in a hospitality
organisation in order motivate its staff, enhance their job performance, increase their levels of
productivity as well as ensuring their commitment towards their job. However, due to the
absence of an effective incentives and rewards system, the employees of the organisation
Imperial Hotel often do not find out reasons for being committed towards their jobs and the
organisation they work in, which in turn leads to the increasing turnover of employees within it.
According to Sarkar and Fletcher (2017), the absence of proper training and development
opportunities to the employees working in an organisation can yet again be a reason for increase
in the level of employee turnover. This is because due to the lack of proper opportunities of
training and development, employees are not able to grow and develop themselves, thereby
leading to increasing number of employees leaving the organisation.
On the other hand, there are various reasons due to which a negative work culture can be
developing in an organisation. According to Arcury et al. (2015), poor internal communication
and lack of responsible and experienced leaders can be causing a poor internal communication
within a business. The lack of effectual performance management can be yet another reason due
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to which a negative work culture can be developing in an organisation. In the context of the
Imperial Hotel, both these reasons might have led to the occurrence of a negative work culture,
thereby leading to an increase in the poor attendance and sick leaves in the organisation. Excess
workload can also be a reason for the development of a negative work culture while the lack of
proper incentives and rewards acts as one of the major reasons for the development and
prevalence of negative work culture in the Imperial Hotel.
However, through the medium of effectual measures and strategies, all the problems faced in the
Imperial Hotel, especially the two major problems that have been discussed above can be
resolved easily. For example, in order to resolve the issue of poor teamwork as well as
ineffectual utilization of the IT systems, for example, the property and reservation management
systems among the front of house staff in the organisation, hiring of effective and capable
leaders and providing effective training to the staff employed in the front of the house can be
helpful. The enhancement of the incentives and rewards system can also be helpful in this case.
On the other hand, the occurrence of the problem of poor operating and control procedures along
with stock being pilfered regularly and the employees not being able to meet the basic SOPS
(Standard Operating Procedures) can also get resolved through the means of effectual training
and leadership. While effectual training will be helping the employees in being able to meet the
basic SOPS, effective leaders and their activities will be helpful in reducing the problems
regarding stock proliferation, enhancing operating and control procedures and such other ways.
According to Radojevic et al. (2015), one of the easiest ways using which the problem related to
customer satisfaction can be resolved in an organisation is monitoring the way in which
employees are dealing with customers and the ways customers are being treated. The problem
related to poor satisfaction of guests in the Imperial Hotel can be resolved through continuously
monitoring the ways in which its staff is behaving with the guests and the ways in which their
queries, problems, and other issues are being treated. At the same time, the Imperial Hotel can
develop a customer support system through which the feedback provided by customers can be
evaluated and considered, which is going to be helpful for the organisation in understanding why
guests are unsatisfied and the areas in which improvements are required to be brought about.
However, in addition to the strategies mentioned above, there are various other measures
required being taken within Imperial Hotel to resolve its two most important problems - high
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turnover of employees and almost 80% of them leaving the organisation within a year and a
negative culture of work prevailing between the staff with rising levels of poor attendance and
sick leave. As stated by Foster (2014), one of the most efficient strategies with which employees
can be retained in a company is allowing them to participate in its decision-making and the
adoption of the democratic leadership style in which all employees are able to participate and
take part in making decisions. On the other hand, Varma (2017) mentioned that organisations
and their managers require adopting and using effective theories of motivation, which can be
helping them in reducing the employee turnover. The organisation can also be ensuring the job
security of the employees, which can yet again reduce its turnover.
At the same time, strategies and measures such as enhancing communication with employees,
enhancing the rewards and appraisals system, employee empowerment and employee
participation can be helping in ensuring the creation of a positive work culture, thereby
reducing its issues such as poor attendance and increasing number of sick leaves. Since excessive
workload can be a reason for the development of a negative work culture at the Imperial Hotel,
the hotel is recommended on focusing on the ways in which the workload of employees can be
reduced and compensations can be provided to employees in case of over time, excess work
pressure, addressing work related goals and such other ways.
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Conclusion
Therefore, from the findings of the report, it can be evaluated that there are diverse kinds of
problems, which are being faced within the hospitality business Imperial Hotel in the UK. It can
be evaluated that there are five main problems, which are being faced within the hotel among
which the one of the most important problem that the organisation must be focusing on resolving
immediately is high employee turnover in the organisation with almost 80% of the employees
leaving within one year. On the other hand, another significant problem being faced within it is
the creation of a negative work culture between the employees along with high levels of poor
attendance and sick leave.
The report helped in the evaluation of the possible reasons due to which the problems have
occurred in the context of the Imperial Hotel such as lack of effectual leaders, absence of proper
training, absence of proper reward and appraisal systems, no proper definition of goals to be
accomplished and such others. In addition to the reasons of the problems, the study has also
helped in the development of an understanding of how these problems can be dealt effectually
within Imperial Hotel through means of hiring effectual leaders, providing effectual training and
development opportunities to employees, enhancing the appraisal and the reward systems of the
organisation and such other ways. Hence, to conclude, it can be said that the discussions that
have been made in the study have been helpful for understanding how hospitality organizations
can resolve their problems.
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Reference list
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Bell, B.S., Tannenbaum, S.I., Ford, J.K., Noe, R.A. and Kraiger, K., 2017. 100 years of training
and development research: What we know and where we should go. Journal of Applied
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Foster, E.C., 2014. Human resource management. In Software Engineering (pp. 253-269).
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Radojevic, T., Stanisic, N. and Stanic, N., 2015. Ensuring positive feedback: Factors that
influence customer satisfaction in the contemporary hospitality industry. Tourism
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