Lowering Employee Turnover and Improving Customer Service at Green Park Hotel - Case Study Example

Memo 130 Farmstead Ln, Apt 201 College, PA, 16803 June 29th, Ms. Julie Rachel Knepp Room 114 224 S. Allen Street College, PA, 16801Dear Ms. Knepp, Enclosed is the report seeking your approval entitled “Lowering Employee Turnover and Improving Customer Service at Green Park Hotel”, you will find that this report contains an introduction to the problem, analysis for the criteria for a satisfactory solution, a proposal of several alternative solutions, an argument for the solution that will satisfy the criteria best and finally the conclusion and recommendations. Questionnaires and interviews have been used in the report for the employees and customers to give information concerning the current status of the business. In addition, the report has proposed a plan that will be followed to carry out the research plus the schedules on how the research will be carried out. I hope you find this report helpful in regards to lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at green park hotel. If you have any questions or comments regarding my recommendation feel free to contact me at (814) 862-7480. I hope you are going to approve this report to enable me and my teams research this problem concerning Green Park Hotel which will bring back its glorious image. Sincerely, Xu Pang- Operational Manager of Green Park hotel Xu Pang- Operational Manager of Green Park hotel Lowering Employee Turnover and Improving Customer Service at Green Park Hotel     Prepared for: Ms. Julie Rachel Knepp President of Green Park Hotel Room 114 224 S. Allen Street State College, PA, 16801   Prepared by: Xu Pang, Operational Manager of Green Park hotel 130 Farmstead Ln, Apt 201 State College, PA, 16803 June 29th, 2014 Executive Summary Green Park Hotel, in the past, used to run its services smoothly and there were no major problems within the business. Currently, Green Park faces a big problem of high employee turnover and many complaints from customers concerning service quality. Customers for the entity used to leave good comments at the end of most services they received from the hotel. However, things have changed in the recent past with the most notable transformation being high employee turnover. In fact, the hotel replaces employees almost on a weekly basis. Moreover, the hotel has lost a huge stake in its market capitalization. Competitors are drowning a huge part of the once large market. Customers have hurled several complaints at our employees, and some have even gone ahead to publicize how some of our services have deteriorated. The report has defined the problem at hand, which is lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at Green Park Hotel. Thereafter various alternative solutions have been given, then there is an argument for the solution which satisfies the criteria best and finally a conclusion and recommendation follow respectively. In general, the report contains the following components; A letter or memo of transmittal A cover/title page An executive summary A table of contents Introduction Body of the report Conclusion Recommendations References Questionnaires have been used as visual aids that will used by respondent to give information regarding the current status of the business. Table of Contents Conclusion 12 To: Ms. Julie Rachel Knepp (The President, Green Park Hotel) From: Xu Pang, operational manager of Green Park hotel Date: June 29, 2014 Subject: Lowering Employee Turnover and Improving Customer Service at Green Park Hotel Introduction I am writing to seek your approval to come up with a report for lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at Green Park hotel after an intensive research. On completion of the research, the operational management team for the hotel will receive the report and possibly implement its recommendations. In the proposal, the existing problem will be addressed, a research plan and schedule will be stipulated, and an overview of my qualifications and experience to solving the problem will be presented. Problem Green Park Hotel, in the past, used to run its services smoothly and there were no major problems within the business. Currently, Green Park faces a big problem of high employee turnover and many complaints from customers concerning service quality. Customers for the entity used to leave good comments at the end of most services they received from the hotel. It was hard to come by new employees because most employees had specialized in their areas of expertise and made it difficult for the human resource management team to look for a substitute or a subordinate. The good customer service, specialization in various departments, and strong links among various staff members gave Green Park Hotel an indomitable reputation (Testa, 2008). The above combination placed Green Park much ahead of its competitors. However, things have changed in the recent past with the most notable transformation being high employee turnover. In fact, the hotel replaces employees almost on a weekly basis. Moreover, the hotel has lost a huge stake in its market capitalization. Competitors are drowning a huge part of the once large market. Customers have hurled several complaints at our employees, and some have even gone ahead to publicize how some of our services have deteriorated. It is true from my assessment that interpersonal attachment among various staff members has reduced. Employees seem to have lost morale and are in the wake of looking for other hotels or ventures that can best satisfy their needs. Customers have started complaining about the disregard by some employees, slow rate of service, rude waiters/waitresses, unpalatable dishes, and long queues at the reception. This has led customers opting for competing firms that have bettered their service delivery and made their dishes delicious, and prioritized customer needs. The high employee turnover could be due to very few or declined sources of employee motivation, low salaries that do not match the current rate of inflation, and lack of good coordination within the organization (Skabelund, 2008). As a team, we want to investigate deeper and find out among possible reasons, which one or which ones are applying to our case. This will be done through a thorough, well planned layout discussed below. We have done everything possible to ensure that we do not leave anything for chance and that by the end of the research, we get a viable solution to our problem. Research plan Having identified this problem, the root cause, and possibly a solution to it can be found: Form a team of operational management experts, which will discuss the problem accordingly Come up with various hypotheses before undertaking the real research. The team will draft a questionnaire and come up with questions for semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire will touch on almost every part of operational management and will try to get the most information out of both customers and employees. The questionnaire will be open-ended to make it more interactive so that employees and customers can even offer their thoughts concerning their problems and how best they could be solved. Team will choose non-stakeholders who will interview willing employees and customers. Make sure that employees do not have any fear when responding to various questions. Respondents will pick the questionnaire from a central point, preferably the reception, and return their responses within a fortnight. Interviews will also go on concurrently, but will take up to 40 days, so that a handsome number of interviewees are interviewed. Schedule June 20: Formation of an operational management team that will be charged with researching the problem. The team should be neutral and should assure the respondents that the information they will give will be used to improve the situation on the ground and that no information will be used against the owner. This assurance will clear up doubts and enable respondents to give genuine information that will be used to re-image our business. June 21-25: the operations management team meetings. The research team will discuss how the research will be conducted and come up with a questionnaire as well as the questions to the semi-structured interview. Partiality and bias will be discouraged at all times through application of ethical considerations like anonymity and confidentiality. July 1: Dissemination of questionnaires to both employees and customers. The questionnaires will be picked at the receptions and incase of distance they will be emailed to respective respondents. July2: The start of personal interviews by an independent team selected by the research team. All interview ethical considerations will be put in place. The interview guidelines like clarifying the information to the respondent in case he does not understand as well as not speaking on behalf of the respondent will be fully implemented (Williams, 2010). July 10-14: Receipt of questionnaire responses. We will ensure that at least all questionnaires well answered have been received by this date to prepare for data analysis. August 10: the closure of personal interviews. Follow ups through phone calls will be made for the few questionnaires which might have not been returned by this date. August 15: thereafter, our experts in data analysis will analyze the data and make a conclusion and recommendations. On the same date, the committee will meet to discuss the research results. August 22: thereafter, there will be drafting of the final report and coming up with recommendations on the way forward. August 25: on this date, there will be submission of the final analytical report to the operational management team who decide on whether they should implement the recommendations or not. Qualification I am the operational manager of Green Park hotel and I have worked in the organization for close to two years. I must say that I am one of the oldest employees of the firm and I know almost every operation that goes on within the organization. This explains why I could notice the above problem so easily before it gets off hand. I believe that, with my experience in operational management, I know how to best solve the problems of the employees to the organization as well as its customers once I identify the root cause of the problem. Moreover, I have a good team that will most likely come up with the best solution to the above problem facing the hotel. You now understand the problem being faced by Green Park hotel and why I am in a better position of solving it. I am requesting your approval to continue with the project so that I can assist the hotel regain its past glory and maintain a good workforce that will attract more employees and bring profitability to the firm. Use of Photographs My team will use photographs in the in the questionnaires and in the interviews to demonstrate to the respondents how the hotel used to be sometimes back and what it is today. The photo will portray an organized hotel with quick deliveries and dedicated employees while the later hotel will portray sluggish services with rude employees who no longer have the needs of customers at heart. Photographs will enhance the effectiveness of a bait question, which is a question in which the interviewer asks the respondent about the state of the organization. The question will be designed to elicit behavior symptoms reflecting confidence or lack of confidence from the innocent customer.  Motivating Employees Although the hotel management thought of motivating employees through monetary rewards and holiday leaves, we found out that it would not be a solution yet till we identify the root of the problem which is leading to high employee turnover and low quality services within the hotel (Hackman & Greg, 1976). We have in the past tried the method of motivating our employees’ madam president through monetary rewards, but it did not bring about any significant change. The hotel’s manager has also tried in the past to figure out ways of tapping into the motivation of our employees to accomplish work goals since he controls the key environmental factors necessary for employee motivation but it did not work out (Hackman & Greg, 1976). The manager tried his best to control his relationship with every employee and managed to motivate them by creating a work environment and organizational culture that fosters employee motivation and engagement but all was in vain (Tett & Meyer, 1993). We have tried in the past within the perimeters of our areas of responsibility and even beyond to cerate an environment to motivate our employees but our efforts seem to yielding no fruits (Hackman & Greg, 1976). This time round, we do not want to take a short cut, instead we want to dig deep and find the root of the problem before finding a solution for the problem at hand (Ruby, 2002). We can no longer sit back and watch our organization which used to shine some few years back collapse to nothing. Signing Contracts with our employees The other solution we thought of is making our employees sign contracts to serve in our organization for a certain period of time before for leaving for other organizations. Proper assessment of this solution revealed that it is not the best solution because in such a scenario, we are likely to retain unproductive employees (Schlesinger & Heskett, 1991). The employees will stay till their period expires but their output will remain low because they are in the organization unwillingly (Lee et al., 2008). In addition, the many complaints from customers concerning service quality will remain or even increase. Hence this did not serve as the best solution to the problem. Conclusion The purpose of this report is to seek your approval madam president to come up with a report for lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at Green Park hotel after an intensive research. The below plan was developed through: Form a team of operational management experts, which will discuss the problem accordingly Come up with various hypotheses before undertaking the real research. Drafting a questionnaire and coming up with questions for semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire will touch on almost every part of operational management and will try to get the most information out of both customers and employees. Choosing non-stakeholders who will interview employees and customers while ensuring employees do not have any fear when responding to various questions. Picking the questionnaires by the respondents from a central point, preferably the reception. Compiling and analyzing data Compiling the report and handing it over to the relevant team for implementation This plan fits the outlined criteria and is the best possible solution for this problem. Proper implementation of the process will lead to a successful re-imaging of our organization which will consequently increase our services and output (Carsten & Spector, 1987). In addition, reducing employee turnover in our organization will cut on some costs like recruitment, training and other Human Resource related processes that need to be redone every time new employees come in (Costello, 2006). The plan can benefit other organizations planning regain their former images which they have lost over time. Recommendations My team has put in place a plan which will do everything possible to investigate the root cause of the problem at hand. I would like to assure you madam president that if you allow us carry out the research and come up with a report for lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at Green Park hotel after an intensive research, this organization will be totally different in the next few years. My team is already set to begin the exercise but not before your approval. After analyzing all the possible discussed solutions above, we came into a conclusion that researching the root cause of the problem will be the only solution that will bring a positive change to this business. This is the report so far for seeking your approval to commence our research and we highly hope that you are going to work with us to bring back the glory of this business. References Carsten, J. M. & Spector, P. E. (1987). Unemployment, job satisfaction, and employee turnover: A meta-analytic test of the Muchinsky model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 72(3), 374-381. Costello, D. (2006). Leveraging the Employee Life Cycle. CRM Magazine, 10(12), 47-48. Hackman, J. R. & Greg, R. O. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 16 (2): 250–279. Lee, T. H., Gerhart, B., Weller, I., & Trevor, C. O. (2008). Understanding voluntary turnover: Path-specific job satisfaction effects and the importance of unsolicited job offers. Academy of Management Journal, 51(4), 651-671. Ruby, A. M. (2002). Internal Teacher Turnover in Urban Middle School Reform. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk 7 (4): 379–406. Schlesinger, L. A., Heskett, J. L. (1991). Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services. MIT Sloan Management Review, 33 (3), 17–28. Skabelund, J. (2008). I just work here. American Fitness, 26(3), 41-42. Testa, B. (2008). Early Engagement, Long Relationship. Workforce Management, 87(15), 27-31. Tett, R. P & Meyer, J. P. (1993). Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention: path analyses based on meta-analytic findings. Personnel Psychology 46 (2): 259–293. Williams, P.H. (2010). Group Membership and Staff Turnover Affect Outcomes in Group CBT for Persistent Pain. Pain, 148 (3), 481-486. Appendix I Questionnaires for Employees State your age [ ] How long have you been working in this company? [ ] Less than a year [ ] 2 years [ ] 3-5 years [ ] Over 5 years How can you rate your loyalty to the company? [ ] Fair [ ] Good [ ] Very good [ ] Excellent Name any aspects of the company culture that lowers you loyalty to it …………………………………… Given a chance, would you leave the company for another? [ ] Yes [ ] No Suggest remedies for the company to solve employee turnover i. ……………… ii. ……………… iii. ……………… iv. ……………… Rate the quality of services your company offers to their customers [ ] Fair [ ] Good [ ] Very good [ ] Excellent Do you think your company gives customers their best? [ ] Yes [ ] No If No, what do you think makes the services poor? v. ……………… vi. ……………… vii. ……………… viii. ……………… Suggest remedies for the company to improve its services to the customers ix. ……………… x. ……………… xi. ……………… xii. ……………… xiii. Comparison photos (A photo of Green Park 2 years ago) (A tag left by a customer at the hotel one week ago) Appendix II Questionnaires for Customers How old are you? [ ] How long have you been a customer to this company? [ ] Less than a year [ ] 2 years [ ] 3-5 years [ ] Over 5 years How can you rate their services to you as a customer? [ ] Fair [ ] Good [ ] Very good [ ] Excellent Name any aspects of their services that lower your loyalty to it …………………………………… Given a chance, would you seek services from another company? [ ] Yes [ ] No Suggest remedies for the company to solve poor customer services xiv. ……………… xv. ……………… xvi. ……………… xvii. ……………… Do you think the company you their best? [ ] Yes [ ] No If No, what do you think makes their services poor to you and other customers? xviii. ……………… xix. ……………… xx. ……………… xxi. ……………… Suggest remedies for the company to improve its services to you xxii. ……………… xxiii. ……………… xxiv. ……………… xxv. ……………… Comparison photos (A photo of Green Park 2 years ago) (A tag left by a customer at the hotel one week ago) Appendix III Interview Guiding Questions i. State your age ii. How long have you been working [buying] in/from this company? iii. How can you rate your loyalty to the company? iv. Any aspect of the company culture that lowers you loyalty to it v. Given a chance, would you leave the company for another vi. Suggest remedies for the company to solve employee turnover/ customer services vii. Rate the quality of services the/your company offers to their customers viii. Do you think your company gives customers their best? ix. If No, what do you think makes the services poor? x. Suggest remedies for the company to improve its services to the customers Read More