Case Study

The issue is the Motivation :

1) Theoretical Justification ( mini littérature review) 400 word.
This section should refer to both theories and research studies that are relevant to the issues identified.

issues identified, there should be a minimum of three subsections. Consider the following questions to help you structure the justification:
• Can the research/theory help to explain the current situation the organisation is facing?
• Can the research/theory help to explain how the issue may be impacting organizational performance?
• Can the research/theory help to explain how the issue may be resolved?
• Can the research/theory help to explain how addressing the issue may improve organizational performance?
Research should include, but is NOT limited to, studies in the last 5 years.

2) Recommendations for Improvement (approx 200 word)
In this section you should make specific recommendation to the organisation on how to resolve the issues you identified earlier. The recommendations must be logically and clearly related to your previous analysis of the case and the research/theories identified.
You should highlight the rationale for your recommendations and include resources or data (or reference to resources/ data) you consider to be appropriate. All resources must be referenced appropriately.
Example of resources or reference to resources could be any the following: statistics on employee turnover, average training budgets, employee satisfaction, salaries etc. as well as links to specific industry reports, assessment tools and/or training providers.

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Case Study:

BlueBird hotel is a small 4-star hotel situated in the Lake District in the UK. The hotel was established in 2001 and has remained under family ownership ever since. The hotel has 63 rooms. It employs 96 full-time and part-time employees and is open 365 days a year. The hotel caters towards families with young children and, thus, has been able to distinguish itself well from the competition in the area. The hotel offers two categories of rooms: The Rambler rooms are the standard rooms, with either twin beds or a double bed as well as bunk beds for children while the Summit rooms also have a separate living room with one sofa bed. All rooms have flat screen TVs, tea and coffee making facilities as well as a fridge. Games consoles are available upon request. In order to cater well to its target market, the hotel also has a swimming pool, a cinema, two games rooms as well as childcare facilities six days a week. In the last three years, the hotel has also been a particularly popular choice with families during the annual Lake District Spring Festival.

While the hotel remains profitable, the recent economic downturn in the local economy has resulted in 18% fewer bookings compared to the same time last year. Furthermore, while the majority of the guests are British, the hotel has recently established strong connections with tourism offices in Limoux, Southern France and there is concern that post-Brexit policies may have a detrimental impact on this partnership.

The current General Manager is due to retire in two months and although she is still involved in the business, she has handed down much of the responsibility for the day-to-day running of the hotel to her son, the Assistant Manager. While the General Manager is much loved among her staff for her caring attitude and willingness to listen to the concerns of his employees, the Assistant Manager prefers to make his own decisions and to tell staff what to do. He has told both the Front Office Manager and the F&B Manager that discussions with employees are far too time consuming and often unnecessary and that the place would run more smoothly if everyone just got on with their jobs. He also prefers to take a hands-on approach and is keen to take a leading role in meetings and negotiations with vendors.

Although there is one part-time Human Resources Business Partner in the hotel, the Assistant Manager also likes to be involved in the HR business, particularly recruitment and selection. In recent months, the HR Manager has recommended the use of personality tests such as the OPQ in the selection process, but the Assistant Manager has categorically rejected the proposal, commenting that he can tell a good candidate a mile off and doesn’t need any of that “pseudo-science” to tell him otherwise. As far as he is concerned, his gut instinct has never let him down.

Given the reduction in bookings in recent months, the Assistant Manager has initiated several cost-cutting programmes, recently announcing that there would be no pay rises this year and that the training budget would be reduced to 1.4% of payroll. Coaching sessions which incorporated a 360-degree feedback process, had been scheduled for several of the junior managers, but these have now been postponed indefinitely. Other than induction sessions, and other mandatory training such as health and safety, there is no formal training for these employees as the Assistant Manager believes that “learning by doing” is the way to succeed at the job. The Assistant Manager has also begun to replace more expensive, experienced bar and waiting staff with cheaper employees, who have little or no experience in hospitality. The recruitment now focuses on “walk-in” candidates and small job advertisements in the local paper stating the hotel is looking for “waiting staff, both for short-term and long-term positions, all shifts, hourly rate GBP 8.21”.

In the past, the hotel has prided itself on an outstanding customer service and many of the hotel’s guests return year after year. Recent feedback from guests on TripAdvisor, however, gives cause for concern:

“There was only one staff member on duty when we arrived and he was busy helping the bar tender sort out a restaurant reservation. We had to wait more than 15 minutes before being checked in.”

“Very large and comfortable room, but staff seemed disinterested.”

“Great amenities and the food was good, but why can’t the waitresses smile?”

“I come here a lot in the festival season, but standards seem to have slipped recently. Not at all what I was expecting. Still OK as value for money, but may start looking elsewhere.”

To make matters worse, employees are complaining about all the extra hours they have to put in to teach the new employees or correct their mistakes. In the last three months, the absence rate has increased and three of the best employees have resigned. The General Manager has been told that many employees have become anxious about their future and that several other high performers are looking for jobs elsewhere. The HR manager would like to gather feedback from employees to understand more about their concerns, but the Assistant Manager thinks that such an initiative is not a priority at the current time.

Your task is to write a report as per the guidelines provided in the project outline, highlighting three key issues facing the hotel in terms of its workforce and to make specific recommendations on how to overcome the issues in order to regain employee trust, retain high performers and improve profitability.

*This is the hourly minimum wage for those aged 25 and over. It is set by the UK government.