The Portman Hotel Essay Example

in order to provide the required level of service to guests. Although they have faced difficulties in the past, the remaining PVs at the hotel still believe in and are dedicated to the hotel's mission. The Portman must utilize this commitment to engage new recruits and create a performance management system that can maintain engaged PVs at the Portman.

In order to effectively engage employees, the Portman must commit to a consistent and dependable performance management system. This means avoiding a "system of the month" approach that generates temporary excitement but ultimately loses momentum, as was the case with the 5-Star system. Instead, the hotel should establish clear goals, regularly track and evaluate progress towards those goals, offer constructive feedback, and implement a comprehensive reward and recognition program. With the implementation of the 5-Star Program, the Portman expected PVs to contribute to problem-solving within the hotel.

The Portman hotel should once again trust its employees when implementing a performance management system. This can be achieved by adopting a Management by Objectives approach, which involves employees in decision making, goal setting, and receiving feedback on their objectives. The program should commence with the hotel's strategic plan, and then establish employee goals that align with the hotel's overall objectives. These goals should be set using the SMART method (Kreitner, 248).

Once the goals are established, management needs to secure the commitment of the staff. It is important for the staff to believe in the attainability of these goals and understand the reasons behind pursuing them. If the Portman involves the staff in setting these goals, obtaining commitment will be easier compared to simply dictating them from the top. Additionally, the

hotel must offer feedback based on the measurement of these goals. To ensure effectiveness, this feedback should encompass both rewards and accountability. To establish a clear direction, Scott should introduce the team captain concept. By implementing this concept, personal valets would have direct access to a supervisor who possesses the necessary training and understanding of job requirements. This supervisor can provide appropriate answers that will continue to motivate employees and maintain customer satisfaction (i.e. keep customers happy).

e., keep the tips to the employees flowing). Despite the potential increase in costs and another hierarchical level, providing effective communication to the personal valets is extremely valuable. This increased communication will help reduce turnover and improve the overall experience for customers. Consequently, this will lead to more stays, word of mouth referrals, and increased occupancy rates in the service industry. Introducing a new hierarchical level is essential for developing a training plan that ensures Portman’s commitment to maintaining high-quality standards is met.

Portman Hotel Company should focus on the customers' takeaway from their hotel stay. The personal valet job structure should prioritize the customer experience. As happier customers lead to larger tips and potential return business and referrals, Portman should consider changes in the personal valet job tasks. The company's organizational vision revolves around superior customer service, which the personal valets aim to provide through any means necessary.

However, the PVs also have cleaning duties. According to the case, in addition to butler-like tasks, the PVs are required to clean the rooms, perform minor maintenance, restock the rooms' mint-bars, paint, clean the hallway, and move out the room service tray. These tasks are time-consuming and do not contribute to guest

service. They hinder the achievement of an organization's SMART goals.

Contrary to the current circumstance, an option would be to outsource the tasks of housekeeping, cleaning, and laundry to an external company. This approach offers several advantages. Firstly, involving an independent firm in managing the cleaning responsibilities would allow PVs to allocate more time towards their primary objective of customer service. Secondly, the expenses associated with hiring a contract firm could be balanced out by reducing the number of required PVs, thus enabling increased salaries for the remaining individuals. Additionally, apart from saving money on PV salaries, Portman would also experience cost savings on the extra benefits granted to associates, such as long-term disability coverage, retirement plans, reimbursements for external courses, parties, and access to the cafeteria.

A potential issue with this plan may arise as the cleaning and maintenance tasks may experience a decline in quality. To address this, Portman management must closely monitor the quality of service provided by the contracted firm. Furthermore, a reduction in the size of the PVstaff could also occur.