Hospitality Leadership and Management - Habour Inn - Case Study Example

Harbor inn Name Institution Discussion and analysis Harbor inn has been experiencing a huge problem lately. For a hotel of its status in Sydney, Australia, it should have already set up mechanisms to ensure that the problems that it has are not affecting operations of the hotel. The major concern is the employee turnover. Over the recent years, the hotel has experienced a great employee turnover. According to Hana and Lucie (2011, p. 84), when the rate of employee turnover of a certain organization is abnormally high, this implies that there is a great underlying problem in the specific organization. Ongori (2007, p. 49) is in agreement with this postulation by Hana and Lucie (2011, p. 84) and he goes forth to state that the management of the organization is most of times the main cause of the high rate of employee turnover. In most cases, a certain dispute between the employees and the management that has not been dealt with in a satisfactorily manner is often the root cause of these problems (Rosenberg & Czepiel, 1984, p. 48). This is observed in this case of Harbor inn. There are a number of complains that have been lodged against this organization that have resulted into this high turnover rate as discussed in the following paragraphs. As a key player in the hospitality industry, Harbor inn is in a position where it is always in the limelight for it offers a very crucial service to the society. However, the management of the hotel seems to not have recognized this important concept and integrate it into the objectives of the organization. The two employees, David and Susan cited in here are a representative of the other employees in the company who are disgruntled with the kind of treatment that they have received from the hotel’s management. Even after being promised a parking space, Susan has not been allocated one and she is forced to walk far to access her car, most times without an escort. The other reason why the company has failed is because it does not adequately train its employees. A company or organization that does not invest in the training and retraining of bits employees encounters many challenges in the ineffectiveness of its workers (Khatri et al nd, p. 13). According to Susan, she had not been trained adequately for the job she holds. This hinders her from performing and executing her duties to her full capacity and potential. For the maximum reap of benefits according to Tan (2008, p. 3), companies must constantly and consistently train and retrain their employees so that they can be able to achieve and meet their set goals and objectives. Employees who do not have an in-depth know how of how their company is run are not good ambassadors for their businesses. The second case and complaint as observed in this case is that of the way the management of the hotel handles employee motivation and retention issues. David argues that the organization is not concerned at all about how the employees perform. The levels of employees’ motivation in the organization are very low. The management team does not recognize the efforts of the employees. In this hotel, the employees are lowly paid and overworked. This makes the employees perform poorly. According to Terpstra (1979, p. 378), employee motivation is a very important element in the production and process of attainment of the goals and objectives of a certain organization. If the employees are not well motivated, they lack the drive to work harder and thus their productivity is lowered (Manzoor, 2011, p. 30). The hotel does not have any mechanism on how to communicate with its employees of different ages. As alleged by David, the management of the hotel issues guidelines on what is to be done and then keeps quite. There is no feedback given on the issues that the employees raise to the management. This hinders the flow of ideas and ideologies either way. The management of the company is said to be conscious and only reacts when something goes wrong. Most of the time, the reaction of the management leaves much to be desired. This is because the management team is stated to be very adept in shouting at the workers when things go wrong. For any company or organization to be capable of fulfilling their objectives as well as goals, it must ensure that the employees are satisfied and they have the necessary morale to help in the accomplishment of these goals (Devadass, 2011, p. 567). It is worth noting here that the human resource is one of the most important resources that a company could have, especially in a company that depends largely upon the creation of a positive image like in the hotels and hospitality industry. Recommendations Following the critical analysis of the case and scenario that the hotel is faced with as has been described in the preceding discussion, this paper seeks to make a number of recommendations that will assist the company in the movement towards the accomplishment of the goals and the objectives. These objectives are outlined in the ensuing paragraphs. Firstly, the hotel management should device mechanisms to ensure that the hotel reduces the employee turnover is mitigated. The management should strive to ensure that the employees it has working inside this hotel are well motivated. According to Iqbal (2012, p. 692), well motivated employees are the pillars of any organization. This means that the level of motivation dictates the level of production. The more the employees are motivated, the higher the productivity and vice versa. There are a number of ways in which the management of the hotel could adopt to ensure that the employees are well motivated and they are in their tip top productivity level. One of the ways in which this could be done is through having an open line of communication (Ahmad & Buttle, 2002, p.152). If the management and the employees of the hotel have open communication channels, it becomes easy to handle issues that rise in the hotel. The complaints that the staff of the hotel have is easily handled by the organization’s management. Every party goes its way fully satisfied. An organization that supports its employees by listening to them is endeared by these employees and they feel compelled to perform their duties to satisfaction levels (Gould, 1998, p.40). As much as it is recognized that there exists a huge diversity between the two parties, that is the management and the employees of the hotel, there must be a channel through which the two parties could find common grounds. The managers of the hotel are aged while the majority of the supporting staff are young. This is what brings a sense of conflict between the two parties. For instance, in the case of Susan, the management of the hotel would have tried to even offer a reason as to why they had not been able to secure her a parking lot in the hotel’s grounds. It should then go on and assure her that her issue is being looked into and a feedback given. Employee appraisal is also another venue which the hotel management could exploit to ensure that the employees are contented and to avert the high rate of turnover in the hotel. Thus stated, it is important that the management offers constant appraisal measures and rewards performance so that the employees would feel appreciated (DeSouza, 1992, p.29). The way the hotel treats its employees is also demeaning. The hotel should be in a capacity to offer a competitive package to the hotel staff so that they would feel motivated to work better and at the same time achieve a sense of belongingness. The management should not just issue orders and expect them to be followed unconditionally. The opinions of the employees should be sought out so that a clear and comprehensive rule is issued for the benefit of the business. When an employee is caught on the wrong, it is important that the management devices ways of correcting the employees without making them feel unappreciated and demeaned (Coyles & Gokey, 2005, p. 104). In this hotel, when a mistake is found, the management goes to shout at the workers without any hitherto decency. This only serves to lower the dignity of the employees, lower their morale and raise the turnover rate. If the employees are given a chance to explain their mistakes in a way that does not take away their dignity, then the employees do not feel compelled to leave the hotel. The management should ensure that the workers are well conversant with the rules and regulations of the hotel. The employees should clearly know what is expected of them so that they do not find themselves at crossroads with the management team. The management should also appreciate the diversity of culture present in the different employees working for the hotel. The hotel has employees who have very diverse nationalities namely Australians, Vietnamese, Chinese and Indians. Since each one of these have different cultural backgrounds, it is important that the management of the hotel recognizes them and provides for assimilation for creation of a harmonious working environment. 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