Michelle Williams recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management and has been hired as the front desk manager in a medium-sized hotel located in New York City. The hotel’s clientele is truly international and so is its staff, which originates from more than twenty different nations. Many of the employees speak more than one language, often at work. Michelle is from the midwestern United States and has had little experience in managing and motivating a multicultural work group. Indeed, she knows little or nothing about many of the cultures she is surrounded by. One challenge put to Michelle when she was hired was to give a “lift” to the staff and try to create more of a team atmosphere. Currently, the employees at the front desk operate as a bunch of individuals, with little sense of teamwork. It seems as though the differences in culture are preventing the group from getting closer. As a result, the atmosphere at the front desk is cool and functional, rather than warm and friendly. In addition, Michelle must contend with a number of employee problems if the department is going to function properly. For example, Maria, who originally comes from Spain, is excellent with customers but often comes to work late. Even when confronted by past supervisors about her lateness, Maria failed to see this as a real problem. Bjorn is a Norwegian hospitality student working part time is the hotel. Although Bjorn is always on time and works very efficiently, his demeanour with the customers is lacking. Oftentimes, guests and co-workers perceive him as being aloof or standoffish. Bjorn rarely smiles at guests. Finally, Peng from Hong Kong is very diligent about his work and gives 100 percent to any task he is given. Unfortunately, Peng has some difficulty speaking English and has little confidence in his speaking ability. As a result, he tends to rush through interactions with guests and limits his conversations, saying only what he must to complete the task. Questions: If you were in Michelle’s place as the new front desk manager, what methods would you use to answer the following? How will you address each of the work-related problems and motivate Maria, Bjorn, and Peng? How will you facilitate a greater understanding of differences in national culture among the team members at the front desk? Decide on how to build a sense of teamwork with multicultural group.
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- Michelle Williams recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management and has been hired as the front desk manager in a medium-sized hotel located in New York City. The hotel’s clientele is truly international and so is its staff, which originates from more than twenty different nations.
Many of the employees speak more than one language, often at work. Michelle is from the midwestern United States and has had little experience in managing and motivating a multicultural work group. Indeed, she knows little or nothing about many of the cultures she is surrounded by.
One challenge put to Michelle when she was hired was to give a “lift” to the staff and try to create more of a team atmosphere. Currently, the employees at the front desk operate as a bunch of individuals, with little sense of teamwork. It seems as though the differences in culture are preventing the group from getting closer. As a result, the atmosphere at the front desk is cool and functional, rather than warm and friendly.
In addition, Michelle must contend with a number of employee problems if the department is going to function properly. For example, Maria, who originally comes from Spain, is excellent with customers but often comes to work late. Even when confronted by past supervisors about her lateness, Maria failed to see this as a real problem. Bjorn is a Norwegian hospitality student working part time is the hotel. Although Bjorn is always on time and works very efficiently, his demeanour with the customers is lacking. Oftentimes, guests and co-workers perceive him as being aloof or standoffish. Bjorn rarely smiles at guests. Finally, Peng from Hong Kong is very diligent about his work and gives 100 percent to any task he is given. Unfortunately, Peng has some difficulty speaking English and has little confidence in his speaking ability. As a result, he tends to rush through interactions with guests and limits his conversations, saying only what he must to complete the task.
Questions:
If you were in Michelle’s place as the new front desk manager, what methods would you use to answer the following?
- How will you address each of the work-related problems and motivate Maria, Bjorn, and Peng?
- How will you facilitate a greater understanding of differences in national culture among the team members at the front desk?
- Decide on how to build a sense of teamwork with multicultural group.
- Ritz-Carlton is an outstanding hotel in providing luxury service to its guests. In contrast with the standard goals of ordinary business hotels – to provide a home away from home – the Ritz Carlton Hotel company decided to take it a step further and provide luxury accommodation to industry executives, meeting and corporate travel planners, and other affluent travellers. The chain is Atlanta based and runs twenty-five luxury hotels that pursue excellence in each market.
Recently the hotel company was awarded the U.S. government’s Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award. The award praised Ritz-Carlton for its participatory leadership, thorough information gathering, coordinated planning and execution, and trained workforce that was ready to “to move heaven and earth” to satisfy their customers. Thinking about control, what types of control mechanisms did Ritz-Carlton need to achieve excellence?
The corporate motto is “Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.” All employees are expected to practice the company’s “Gold Standard.” These standards are made up of a service credo and the basics of premium service, including processes for solving any problem guests may have.
The difference between this luxury chain and other hotel companies is that their employees are “certified” after the common basic orientation followed by an on-the-job training. This certification to work for Ritz-Carlton is reinforced daily by frequent recognition for achievement, performance appraisal, and daily “lineups”. Annual surveys are given to make sure the employees know the quality standards the hotel company expects of them as well as to determine their level of satisfaction with the company. One-year 96 percent of the employees surveyed ranked excellence in guest services as their primary duty. Workers are empowered by the company to do whatever it takes to solve any sort of problem a customer might encounter. Employees are required to assist their co-workers in dealing with a guest satisfaction issue leaving no room for any excuse as to why a customer problem was not solved on the spot. In this way, the guest is truly treated as a king; guest satisfaction comes first – always.
Questions
- In what ways does Ritz-Carlton utilize control to ensure high-quality service?
- How does the company maintain and foster its employees’ high level of commitment?
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