H.E.A.R.D.

Hotel Managers "think outside the box."

   When the this new hotel first opened in the fall of 1999—well not really, the hotel was totally rebuilt while still being occupied by guests—there was much fan fare and excitement that the hotel was about to embark in a new direction.   With emphasis on service and style everything seemed peachy keen.  Guests would have their every desire met and the employees in every department were instructed not to “pass the buck” when a guest inquired about an issue not within the realm of their job function.  Employees were and are still urged to “take ownership” of guest problems and to handle them personally.  Part of the overall concept of the hotel is to “think outside of the box”.  Sounds like a great concept.

  Even the titles of employees were changed to reflect this new style.  Guest Service Agents would now be called Welcome Agents; Bell Attendants would be called Welcome Ambassadors; Housekeeping would now be Style and Room Attendants would be called Stylists.  How clever it all seems.  Of course these titles are meaningless when it comes to our Collective Bargaining Agreement since they are not recognized. 

   A closer look at this unique hotel will reveal otherwise.   While the guests see a great product on the façade, the back office is not so.  Since the beginning, the hotel has suffered from a lack of office space even after having relocated its accounting department.  A new department to handle guest packages, deliveries, room changes and even shoe shining  displaced the office space intended for the PBX operators.  Even the sales department has been reorganized at least three times with personnel being shuffled from one hotel to another.

   Over fifty rooms were added to the original hotel, yet the Front Desk terminals were reduced from five to four.    The lack of terminals at the desk was alleviated somewhat by  eliminating the need for guests to fill out registration cards upon check-in—no doubt in violation of state law that requires that guests’ names and addresses be kept on file for three years. 

   To increase office space and reduce payroll, reservations—a core hotel department—was outsourced out of state to a call center.  This lack of reservations expertise has been a major burden for the front desk with so many errors and missing reservations but, alas, that is the way the owners want it.

   All complaints fall on deaf ears. The only response is:  “Be thankful you have a job.”

   One early idea that was put to rest in less than a month was to eliminate the room attendants’ carts.  Some management guru wanted to make it seem that the rooms were being cleaned “magically”.  To achieve this illusion for the guest he thought that he could eliminate the maid carts and have the Room Attendants carry the supplies they needed via large tote bags.  Of course the Room Attendants baulked and called in the Union which quickly put an end to this “thinking outside of the box” idea.

   This seems to be the trend at this hotel;  “lets all just brainstorm for new ideas.  Forget past practice and make a new paradigm.”

  How sad that the managers don’t have the expertise necessary to see the error of their ways.