Introduction to Management (QAB020C414A) - Imperial Hotel Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of management issues at the Imperial Hotel, addressing problems related to back-of-house staff, including housekeeping, kitchen, and maintenance. The report examines the impact of non-compliance with standard operating procedures, staff turnover, and stock pilferage on operational costs. It reviews relevant management theories such as human relations theory and Theory X and Theory Y, offering insights into employee motivation and behavior. The analysis delves into the causes and effects of these problems from both management and operational perspectives, including lack of communication, training, and poor performance control. The report proposes several solutions, including implementing incentive schemes, seeking expert assistance to improve operational efficiency, and enhancing security measures to prevent stock theft. Furthermore, the report suggests providing staff with training and promoting cultural understanding to improve service quality and resolve internal conflicts.

Imperial Hotel Management.
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Review of the management Theory.............................................................................................3
Analysis of the Problem. ............................................................................................................5
Some proposals for resolution of the problem are suggested......................................................6
CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
Operating procedures are the guidelines and steps which are to be taken to enable a
business for its functioning. It determined the future course of action and the procedures which
are to be followed. Standard operating procedures are the basic steps by step description of the
routine work which are to be performed by the workers of the hotel. The objective of
establishing standard operating procedures is to carry out the routine work in a uniform manner
and also increasing the efficiency of the output (YONICA, 2020). The aim is also to reduce the
miscommunication that takes place among different workers. Poor operating and control
procedure adds on to the cost of the business. Operating and control procedures helps the
business in maintaining the standardized activities and also improves the quality because of
specialization. As per the case the problem is faced related to back staff which is not directly
seen by the customers but impact the functioning of the hotel. Due to non-compliance of
standard operating procedures by the staff and other issues the and because of that increasing
operating costs are a reason for concern. The diminishing motivation level of in-house staff was
also a concern for the hotel. The employee turnover is also a concern for the hotel and
management. In the further report management theory or model which is relative to the problem
will be discussed and analysis of that problem will be done. Lastly a solution or resolution of the
problems are being determined and suggested.
MAIN BODY
Review of the management Theory
The management theory relative to the problem of back of house staff is human relation
theory and theory X and theory Y.
Human relation theory says that if the employees and staff are happy then the give high
performance. Development and growth are the objective of every employee and staff and if they
get proper attention and encouragement then they tend to be satisfied and also not leave the
organization. To carry out human relation theory in case of hotel the mangers must have certain
skill sets such as:
Communication – The managers of the hotel should promote effective communication among
the staff members so that their concerns are addressed, and they get a feeling of belongingness.
Conflict resolution – Managers of The Imperial Hotel should be good at resolving the conflicts
of the staff that come from different cultures and background and should make the staff feel that
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they are being heard and understood (Zahroh. and Fachrunnisa, 2017). As the Spanish workers
do not cooperate with the non-Spanish workers and the housekeeping staff is rude to customers
therefore these conflicts must be resolves by the hotel. Conflict between customer and staff
regarding rude behaviour must also be resolved by the managers of hotel.
Multitasking – The hotel mangers has to perform various tasks simultaneously and a good
manager and leader is someone who is able to manage multiple tasks at the same time. They
have to address the concern stealing of the stocks. Also they have to find out the reason behind
employee turnover and dealing with the non-compliance of SOP's by the staff.
Negotiation – Negotiating skills are necessary for ensuring peace at the workplace as the
managers have to negotiate in various aspects (Michael, 2019). The managers of The Imperial
hotel has to negotiate about the non-cooperation among Spanish and non-Spanish workers.
Organization – The most important skill for The Imperial Hotel managers is organizing skills as
there is poor operating and control procedures therefore the managers need to ensure proper
maintenance of records.
So the workplace culture and relationships among the staff members and the satisfaction
level of them determined the level of their productivity and performance.
Theory X and Theory Y says there are two types of workers in organization. One that are
typical workers that avoid responsibilities and have little ambitions and the other who are self-
motivated and are more responsible (Mungi, 2020).
In case of The Imperial Hotel also there are two types of workers who are long termed in-house
employees and the ones who stay no longer than 6months. The Spanish workers are good in
quality, but they tend to remain for the period of 1 year. Therefore, the managers of the hotel
needs to bifurcate the staff into two categories such as workers coming in Theory X and workers
coming in Theory Y. The mangers should keep the workers who generally dislike taking
responsibility, resist change and needs direction and should be controlled and threatened to do
work in Theory X category. The workers who solve problem creatively, not require threat and
control for doing work, committed to the work and hotel and uses self-direction should be put
under category of Theory Y.
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Analysis of the Problem.
The main problem of the hotel is in context of ares related to housekeeping, kitchen and
maintenance. The challenge was staffing the housekeeping department and room attendants and
if they are recruited they stay for a shorter period which means the turnover of the staff was at a
high rate. There was also the problem of poor operating and control procedures and the stock
were also getting pilfered. The staff of the hotel was not meeting the standard operating
procedures. There was also an issue of non-cooperation in which the Spanish workers wee not
cooperating with the non-Spanish workers. The hotel also faced a problem related to the
complaints done by the guests regrading cleanliness and the rude and abrupt behaviour of the
staff. The efforts putin by the in-house staff wa also diminishing.
Causes of problem was basically from two different perspective which are from management
perspective and operational perspective.
From management perspective lack of communication, lack of training,and the attitude of the
worker towards to work may be a cause for management related problems. The effective
management that the hotel can indulge into is by building positive work culture, delegate jobs to
the right person (Rao. and et.al., 2020).
Lack of performance control of back house departments and poor planning and scheduling of
different departments may be the cause of operational related problem. Not checking the stock
on a regular intervals may be a cause of stock pilferage. Lack of control is another cause of these
problems. For managing this problem effectively the hotel also uses a controlling system in
which the supervisor tracks the standard of the room and after analysing he or she ranks the
room that have been serviced.
Effects of Problem
Due to these problems the hotel faced an unusual high operating costs and the hotel used
a recruiting agency for staffing and filling room attendants. The agency owner was an
experienced person in this industry, and they followed a series of steps to recruit candidate for
suitability of the job. They assessed then candidates based on their speaking skills in English
language and also the agency demanded a reasonable level of experience in the housekeeping
department of any hotel. There was also a concern of increasing budget of housekeeping.
Relationship with other problems
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The working of the front office impacts the working of the back office such as
department related to kitchen, house keeping and maintenance therefore if there is any problem
at the front house staff then the back house will also face some. Wrong information by the front
office staff regarding the availability of the room and the status of guests check in or check out
may impact the working of the back staff and their operations. Lack of information to the back
house staff by the front office staff can also create hindrance in coordination and completion of
tasks. The work culture also impact the working of the back house staff if there is poor work
culture and the autocratic style of leadership is followed then due to this the standard of in-house
staff working also drops. Because of poor guest satisfaction also impacts the working of the back
office staff. Not addressing the guest complaints on time, making wrong bills and making them
wait before and after check-in and check-out respectively puts pressure of the back office staff.
Some proposals for resolution of the problem are suggested.
For resolving all these issues faced by the hotel related to housekeeping, kitchen and
maintenance there are three plans for resolving the issues:
The company has establishes an incentive scheme to motivate the staff and also to increase their
working efforts and productivity. The hotel has kept various awards for the employees worth
£200, £50, £200 vouchers in context to whole organization or for specific department and the
agency staff is also considered for this incentive. These award ceremony with the objective to
appraise the staff improves the morale of the staff members (Anstey, Fletcher. and
Walker,2017). The hotel also organizes end-of-year party to increase the interaction among the
employees and to break the ice between new and old employees. But these incentives are not the
only solution to the problem therefore there are some proposals for the hotel to resolve the
problem which are specific to back of the house staff:
The main problem is of poor operating and control procedures and this can be resolved
by seeking help from experienced and capable people and the hotel should not afraid to pay for
it. It is an advise for the hotel that don't be penny-wise and pound foolish. The hotel should ask
their management to organize their files in a systematic manner and the hotel should go for
business process re-engineering (Leff, Klement. and Galanos, 2017). It will increase the
operational efficiency and productivity. For pilferage of stock the first thing the hotel can do is
prevention. The hotel management should review the stock at a regular interval.
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The hotel can educate the staff regarding the hotel policy and the punishment associated with
stock theft. The hotel management should ensure that there is robust security policy system at
the place where the stock is being stored or change the staff if needed. As the guest are not
happy with cleanliness level and also with the behaviour of the staff therefore hotel should invest
into their staff and should provide them proper training regarding the same (Temchenko,
Shevchuk. and Morhun, 2019). The Spanish workers should be given training regarding cultural
differences, and they should be motivated to respect all the cultures and increase the cooperation
with other workers. This will improve the quality of service.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that the problem related to back of house staff which are
housekeeping, kitchen and maintenance such as staff not following standard operating
procedures and the stock being stolen and because of this it adds on to the cost of operation for
the hotel. From human relation theory the hotel managers should give their staff proper attention
and encouragement and healthy workplace environment so that their productivity can be
enhanced. From theory X and Theory the hotel managers can differentiate their staff into two
categories based on their characteristics. Detail analysis of the problem and causes of problem
from management and operational perspective was discussed. The effect of the problem and the
relation with other problems were also determined. Lastly three plans were proposed for
resolving the problem such as making an incentive scheme to motivate the staff and also to
increase their working efforts and productivity, seeking help from experienced and capable
people, management should ensure that there is robust security policy system at the place where
the stock is being stored or change the staff if needed.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Anstey, E., Fletcher, C. and Walker, J., 2017. Staff appraisal and development (Vol. 2). Taylor
& Francis.
Leff, V., Klement, A. and Galanos, A., 2017. A successful debrief program for house
staff. Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care, 13(2-3). pp.87-90.
Michael, A., 2019. A handbook of human resource management practice.
Mungi, A., 2020. Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y.
Rao, K. and et.al., 2020. Integrated front-of-house and back-of-house restaurant automation
system. U.S. Patent Application 16/780,797.
Temchenko, O., Shevchuk, N. and Morhun, T., 2019. Key problems of staff management at
enterprises and their solutions ways. Scientific Journal of Polonia University. 32(1).
pp.11-17.
YONICA, I.D.R., 2020. DESIGN OF FACILITY LAYOUT AND STANDARD OPERATING
PROCEDURES (Doctoral dissertation, ANDALAS UNIVERSITY).
Zahroh, L.F. and Fachrunnisa, O., 2017. OPTIMIZINg INTERNAL HUMAN RELATION OF
LEADER IN IMPROVINg ORgANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE. IJIBE
(International Journal of Islamic Business Ethics). 2(4). pp.201-209.
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