15 Training Tool 1

XXX: A COMMUNICATION ASSESSMENT

I.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

XXX is a new addition to the community of Tempe, Arizona. As a young hotel, XXX offers a vast and competitively accommodating resort atmosphere. XXX is unlike other resorts in the area because it capitalizes on its ability to specialize in conventions and catering.

Because XXX is not as large as other hotels of its kind, XXX must ensure and maintain quality operations. It is the communication within the organization which determines the effectiveness of operations. Without necessary cohesion among management and staff, services to Clientele suffer the consequences of the dis-unity.

A communication assessment works on the basis of information gathered from both management and staff. The results from this study show that because of communication difficulties within the hotel, both management and staff are not as integrated as they would like to be or should be.

Enclosed is the following report of the study which reveals the areas of difficulty our team discovered and evaluated. In the report we present the results of extensive interviews, observations. and a questionnaire. Based on the information gathered, we drew conclusions and made suggestions.

AUTHORS’ NOTE: This needs assessment is reproduced here exactly as it was presented, with only the name of the hotel changed to XXX. Keep in mind, however, that it is intended as a learning tool for students, not as an illustrative example.

 

II.XXX: BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

“Your Garden in the Desert” is the familiar slogan for this hotel located in Tempe.

On November 15, 1985, XXX opened their doors for those individuals traveling for business or for pleasure. This contemporary style hotel cost $21.5 million for land and construction. The hotel is presently owned by Central Life Assurance which is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and is operated by Hotel and Management Services located in Atlanta, Georgia.

In mid-1987, XXX will become the XXX. Joining the XXX chain will give the hotel axis to an “800” national reservations number and joint exposure with other XXX hotels in advertising and promotional ventures. There are 303 guest rooms which reflect a Southwest ambiance.

XXX takes great pride in the hotel’s facilities, particularly the two restaurants which are located adjacent to the hotel. The XXX offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a variety of specialties. The XXX , open for dinner only, provides fine cuisine in an elegant setting. The XXX provides a relaxed atmosphere and a beautiful view of the inter courtyard. Hotel shops are also located in the hotel for shopping convenience.

Perhaps XXX’s greatest asset is its capability to accommodate business meetings and special events.

The banquet facilities, which are the largest in the East Valley, can hold up to 1200 people, depending upon the actual event. Experienced staff specialists help fulfill all patron requests.

The hotel employs 185 to 225 employees, depending upon the season. Forty percent of the employees are full-time. There are 33 salaried staff member and the remaining employees (80-85%) are hourly waged. XXX is currently general manager of the entire operations.

Both vacationers and business travelers take advantage of XXX amenities. The hotel guests are evenly divided amongst the two groups of patrons. Of the 50 percent that travel in groups, 80 percent are conventioners.

 

III.PARAMETERS OF THE ASSESSMENT

The assessment was conducted with the hope that it would benefit everyone in the organization as well as everyone outside of the organization who deals with the hotel. The assessment may be equated to a physical examination. Although nothing may be wrong, the physical examination allows one to measure his/her health and serves as prevention to future ailments. The team entered into the project expecting to examine the perceived health of XXX and to provide a background and create support for any follow-up activities the hotel may wish to incorporate.

Specifically, the team examined the communication flow within the organization, hotel training programs, efficiency of operations, and employee attitudes toward hotel operations. The primary focus of the assessment centered on housekeeping and food and beverage because they report the highest rate of turnover within the company.

An independent assessment team is beneficial for several reasons. First, bias is reduced. The team will not be influenced by prior experiences with XXX, hotel personnel, nor will we be influenced by a position within the organization that is held by a group member. Second, as an independent team, we have a greater likelihood of creating trust with employees as opposed to someone from management. This will lead to greater honesty in responses from employees, thus increasing the likelihood of an accurate assessment. Finally, each member of the team has spent four years studying communication, thus we have accumulated knowledge beneficial to the assessment.

IV.PROCEDURES

The following paragraphs will serve to summarize the method used to successfully assess XXX. The assessment began March 25, I9XX with a meeting with the general manager and the personnel director. The meeting was arranged to discuss their expectations and knowledge of a communication assessment. General information about hotel operations was gathered, we were informed of key areas in which to focus the assessment, and the team presented a rationale for the assessment.

On March 26, the team attended an executive staff meeting which served to familiarize us with salaried staff members and to familiarize them with us. We were introduced individually and as a group. A spokesperson discussed the goals of the assessment. The meeting served to create a comfortable situation which proved beneficial in subsequent interviews with many of these people. The team received name tags comparable to those worn by employees. This provided a feeling of belonging for the team with employees, and it also allowed us to enter areas in the hotel that are restricted to employees.

March 30 launched the true beginning of the assessment. Team members met with the personnel director to discuss the organizational chart and reconfirm the areas on which to focus our attention. We then divided the hotel into two sections: (I) food and beverage, and (2) rooms. Manager A was responsible for the food and beverage area, and Manager B was responsible for housekeeping and rooms. We, as a group, interviewed thirty-three salaried employees. An informational interview with the general manager followed by an interview with the personnel director headed off the personal interviews. Lower level employees were interviewed at random. Basic questions focused on job responsibilities, employee morale and relations, and overall hotel operations.

A proposal providing a tentative schedule of procedures was submitted to the personnel director on

April 6.

The following week marked the second major phase of the assessment with the development, distribution, and analysis of a questionnaire to 200 employees. With the information gathered from the interviews, a questionnaire was composed using a Likert-type scale of measurement (i.e., strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, strongly disagree). Prior to the distribution of the questionnaire, a memo and a copy of the questionnaire were sent to each manager. The memo asked managers for support and asked them to encourage subordinate participation in the survey. The questionnaires were distributed to employees by placing them in the employee time slots. Thirty-two questionnaires went to managers and 168 questionnaires were handed out to wage-earning employees.

Completed questionnaires were returned to a security-proof box which could be found in the security office.

The questionnaire concentrated on the following areas: the training program, the effectiveness of communication between management and employees, and attitudes concerning the relationship between management and employees. There were 14 positively worded questions (i.e., “Management values employee opinion.”), and four negatively worded questions (i.e., “Management does little to inform employees of changes in company policies.”).

The positively worded questions were scored in the following manner:

Strongly Agree= 1

Agree= 2

Neither= 3

Disagree= 4

Strongly Disagree = 5

Negatively worded questions were scored as:

Strongly Agree= 5

Agree= 4

Neither= 3

Disagree= 2

Strongly Disagree = 1

Finally, personal interviews, observations, and the results from the questionnaires were analyzed.

Comparison were made of seven areas employees work in and of the length of employment at XXX. The mean and frequency distributions were used to analyze data from the questionnaire.

 

V.RESULTS

Results of the Study. In the results of the study, three areas of behavior and attitudes were measured: 1-employee satisfaction with the present training program; 2-attitudes toward the effectiveness of communication among management; 3-attitudes toward the communication between management and employees. From the sample of the 200 employees (management and staff), 77 questionnaires were returned. The results of the questionnaires are from the following areas: 30 people from areas unspecified ; 18 people from housekeeping; 9 people from the XXX Restaurant; 8 people from food and banquets; 8 people from front desk; 3 people from sales and marketing ; and 1 person from the XXX. Sixteen of the employees responding have been employed 1-4 months; 18, 5-8 months; 12, 9-12 months; 8, 13-16 months; 15, 17 or more months; and 8 people did not report their time of employment.

On a scale from one to five, the average, or the mean, response was 3.3. What this reports is that all the people responding chose the neutral to negative response towards the question more than any other available response.

The most common response and mean score for the 18 questions are listed as follows:

 

Question 1:26 percent of the respondents agree that employee skills are respected. The total mean score for the question was 3.35.

Question 2:42 percent strongly disagree that management supports employees. The total mean score was 3.66.

Question 3: 29 percent agree that management shows little support for employees. The total mean score was 3.46.

Question 4: 29 percent are neutral about the effectiveness of the training program. The total mean score was 3.04.

Question 5: 31 percent agree they are adequately trained for their position. The total mean score was 2.98.

Question 6: 36 percent agree they are informed of their job duties. The total mean score was 3.24.

Question 7: 51 percent understand what is expected of them. The total mean score was 2.41.

Question 8: 56 percent do not think management cares about employees. The total mean score was 3.62.

Question 9:35 percent strongly agree that management encourages feedback. The total mean score was 3.50.

Question 10: 56 percent do not think management encourages employee relations. The total mean score was 3.63.

Question 11:51 percent do not think management trusts employees. The total mean score was 3.52.

 

Question 12: 44 percent agree they are given a great deal of unsupervised responsibility. The total mean score was 2.35.

Question 13:33 percent strongly agree employees are given too little to say about how operations are run. The total mean score was 36.0.

Question 14: 34 percent agree management and employee goals are not aligned. The total mean score was 3.67.

Question 15: 35 percent strongly disagree that management values employee opinions. That

total mean score was 3.62

Question 16: 38 percent strongly disagree that management and employees are integrated. The total mean score was 3.71.

Question 17: 43 percent do not find it easy to approach management. The total mean score was 3.30.

Question 18: 42 percent agree that memos are frequently sent out to inform of operation changes and procedures. The total mean score was 2.72.

Table 1 provides a copy of the questionnaire with a frequency distribution for each response.

Table 1. Frequency Distribution of Sample Responses

Results of Interviews. The results of the interviews conducted by random selection of both management and staff report the following:

l. While communication among management is relatively effective, management believes it is too

restrictive due to operational guidelines.

2.The training programs are believed to be adequate.

3.Within each manager’s department there is a spirit of teamwork.

4.Employees feel comfortable approaching their immediate supervisor.

5.Communication between departmental management and employees is the most effective.

6.Interdepartmental management communication is lacking.

7.Feedback about operations is not encouraged.

8.Management is aware of low employee morale.

9.The most common reasons given for employee turnover are wage compensation, demographics, and Jack of benefits.

10. Both management and employees are neutrally satisfied with their jobs and believe there is much room for necessary and reasonable improvement.

Mean response is divided into categories of divisions in which employees work, length of employment, and the organization as a whole. Mean scores indicate employees working in sales and marketing and at the front desk hold more positive attitudes than employees working in other divisions. Employees working in catering and banquet and housekeeping have more negative attitudes than employees working in other areas.

There is a relationship between the length of employment and employee attitudes. The longer a person has been employed, the more negative the attitude. Those who did not specify their length of employment have the most negative scores.

Results of Observations. Throughout the four-week period, each member of the team spent time walking around and observing the hotel operations and employee and management interaction. As a group we mutually report the following:

1. The operations appear to run smoothly and effectively in each department.

2.All employees were courteous and helpful to customers.

3.The management within each department appeared concerned with the needs of the employees within their departments.

VI.CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The results of the questionnaire were a summation of the employees’ perspective of their job structure and relationship among themselves and management. The overall findings of the communication assessment suggest that a training program needs to be developed and implemented within XXX.

A further development of the existing training program would be aimed more at developing morale and better interaction amongst both employees and management. Although current training methods provide adequate orientation to the operations of the hotel and define adequately each hired employee’s responsibilities, the implementation of a directed communication program would greatly increase the effectiveness of the overall training program.

The most important element in the training program is employee involvement and familiarization with all of the management staff. As the results indicate, employees do not believe that management respects them nor appreciates the value of their work. Though the interviews with management indicated they do value their employees, it appears there is a lack of how respect and consideration for them is transferred and perceived. One remedy to this problem might involve a training program where management is involved more directly with the employee’s training. This would involve working alongside the employee and going through the same experiences.

Low employee morale seems to be apparent for a variety of reasons. Lack of recognition often causes employees to feel as if they were not important and thus their work output suffers. Perhaps if management were to work alongside new employees for a while, this would give the employees a chance to see that management really does care about them. This would also increase the employee’s attitude toward management and the result of this change in attitude would produce a more productive employee.

By having management work with the employee on an equal level, the employee cannot help but feel as if they were an important component in the organization. For instance, the current program, employee of the month, is one way XXX recognizes its employees. A suggestion, however, might be to expand on this program by also including a personal profile of that employee and have it printed in the monthly newsletter.

Trust is another variable that needs to be addressed. Employees sense a lack of care from upper management which in return causes them to have little faith in management. Lower level employees are afraid to make complaints or voice their opinions for fear of losing their job. Job security, in their eyes, is quite unstable. High turnover rates further support this point. Perhaps providing a more attractive benefit package would provide more security to employees than they presently have.

Feedback is another critical factor which influences both operations and personnel satisfaction. The means in which XXX encourages employee feedback is through the use of a suggestion box. Employees, however, fail to use it. This suggests that employees do not believe their feedback will be taken into consideration. To encourage more employee suggestions and provide employees with the notion that their suggestions and opinions are important, management might reward employees for outstanding suggestions.

The communication assessment also discovered that communication within XXX exists in a variety

of forms. Top-down communication is the predominate style of communication from management to staff. Mostly this hierarchical style is channeled through staff meetings and memos. While this type of communication transfer appears to be effective, employees would like to be given more input. It is important that communication is understood by all employees on all levels in order to obtain the most efficient results. In addition, this would increase satisfaction throughout the organization; particularly because the employees were included in the decision-making process.

The Foreign-speaking employees pose yet another unique concern for the communication processes within the hotel. Mostly because these employees are unable to comprehend the memos and they cannot read the instructions provided in the employee handbook.

One way to include the employees in the decision-making process would be to implement a quality

assurance program. What this would do is provide all employees a chance to participate in the decision-making process by way of various organizational circles. The circles are made up of both

employees and management. The use of a quality circles program to solve problems and to reward certain behaviors would further integrate employees in the decision-making process. The basic result is to create more communication between management and employees. The use of upward communication is the main idea these ideas focus on. Upward communication would improve employee morale and be an integrative and innovative approach to hotel operations. This style would facilitate acceptance by decisions by encouraging subordinate participation in decision-making processes. For example, any changes in the daily routine of a department could be noted, as well as any essential hotel information that all employees should be aware of.

Further results of the study indicate that employees do feel a sense of closeness and support from

their immediate supervisors. This does allow for interdepartmental success, however, a strong sense of confusion between departments is felt among both management and staff. This could be attributed to the lack of integration amongst departments as well as to a lack of integration amongst all levels of employees.

The company newsletter is a positive way to spread information. We suggest the newsletter include topics such as industry trends, employee birthdays, vacation spots, company gossip, and notes from the general manager regarding new and upcoming events.

A company party and/or banquet from time-to-time would be an innovative way to introduce new management. This may decrease the resistance to change or acceptance that occurs any time new management comes into an organization.

It is important to realize that positive interaction amongst upper level management must also exist. Perhaps an organized retreat in a setting away from the hotel would be the perfect solution. Spending at least one day away and participating in a variety of activities would only bring forth positive results. It would be essential that all upper level employees participate. A retreat package could offer seminars on communication skills, management development, team building, and training in other relevant topics.

Role playing for employees is a successful way to understand other positions in the hotel. It is an enlightening experience and provides feedback. Games and simulation exercises would also focus on the system-wide nature of the organization. Team-building amongst employees is also a positive technique.

A variety of recommendations have been made and key areas have been focused on. Management and employee goals must be aligned in order for an organization to remain healthy. It must be noted that employees always need managerial support and direction in order to do their jobs most effectively and efficiently. Many programs currently existing at XXX can provide incentive to employees but employees first need the encouragement to take part in these programs. By developing and implementing new programs, employees will receive a broader spectrum of hotel operations.

The preceding recommendations may well serve to increase the health of the organization. A healthy atmosphere will yield an increase in the amount of personal satisfaction employees receive from their jobs, and management will receive an increase in consistency of output from their employees. Teamwork is the key. It is achieved through all levels of employees.