Ana Chavarria, front office manager, has been with The Times Hotel for several years. She recalls her first few months as a time of great stress. There was Milo Diaz, personnel manager, who was always calling her to post her schedules on time and authorize payroll forms. Thomas Brown, executive housekeeper, seemed a great friend off the premises of the hotel, but at work, he continually badgered the front desk clerks on guest check-in and checkout problems. Yoon-Whan Li, executive engineer, also had communication issues with Ana, such as the time when a desk clerk called Yoon-Whan at home to indicate that an elevator was stuck on the fourth floor when it was only manually stopped by a group of children. Eric Jones, food and beverage manager, continued to blame Ana’s desk clerks because hotel guests were not frequenting the dining room and lounge, asking her, “When will the desk clerks ever learn to talk about those free coupons for the dining room and lounge that they so stoically hand out?” Then there was Lorraine DeSantes, director of marketing and sales, who had just about all she could take from desk clerks who misplaced phone messages, directed hotel guests to restaurants across the street, and offered information on “a good restaurant right around the corner.”
Ana has taken those comments to heart and feels she can justify her shortcomings and those of her staff. She knows the schedules are to be posted by Tuesday morning of each week, but several of her employees give her last-minute requests for days off. Her payroll forms are usually delayed because she wants to spend time with the guests who are registering or checking out. The front desk clerks have made some major errors in checking guests into room that are not ready, but she offers, “It must be that
the computer system gives them the wrong information.” The elevator issue wasn’t the front desk clerk’s fault. It was his third night on the job, and no one had thought to explain what constitutes an emergency call to the executive engineer. She wants her front desk clerks to distribute those food and beverage coupons, but they just don’t get excited about it. And Lorraine DeSantes’s messages are always given to her; “She just makes no attempt to look in her mailbox.”
She also remembered when Margaret Chu, general manager of The Times Hotel, asked her to visit in her office. She let Ana know that her six-month probationary period would be over in one month and it was time to discuss Ana’s progress before a decision would be made on whether to continue Ana in the role of front office manager. Ana was very uneasy knowing that her colleagues had reported major errors on her behalf. However, Margaret Chu took an approach that was very different from that of other general managers with whom Ana had worked. Margaret asked her to prepare a list of strategies that she could use in working toward improvement in the following areas:
• Employee motivation
• Personnel training
• Effective scheduling of employees
• Communication
• Empowerment
Q.1. Ms. Chu has asked you to assist Ana in developing strategies to use for improving her ability in the art of supervising employees. What would you suggest?
Ana has taken those comments to heart and feels she can justify her shortcomings and those of her staff. She knows the schedules are to be posted by Tuesday morning of each week, but several of her employees give her last-minute requests for days off. Her payroll forms are usually delayed because she wants to spend time with the guests who are registering or checking out. The front desk clerks have made some major errors in checking guests into room that are not ready, but she offers, “It must be that
the computer system gives them the wrong information.” The elevator issue wasn’t the front desk clerk’s fault. It was his third night on the job, and no one had thought to explain what constitutes an emergency call to the executive engineer. She wants her front desk clerks to distribute those food and beverage coupons, but they just don’t get excited about it. And Lorraine DeSantes’s messages are always given to her; “She just makes no attempt to look in her mailbox.”
She also remembered when Margaret Chu, general manager of The Times Hotel, asked her to visit in her office. She let Ana know that her six-month probationary period would be over in one month and it was time to discuss Ana’s progress before a decision would be made on whether to continue Ana in the role of front office manager. Ana was very uneasy knowing that her colleagues had reported major errors on her behalf. However, Margaret Chu took an approach that was very different from that of other general managers with whom Ana had worked. Margaret asked her to prepare a list of strategies that she could use in working toward improvement in the following areas:
• Employee motivation
• Personnel training
• Effective scheduling of employees
• Communication
• Empowerment
Q.1. Ms. Chu has asked you to assist Ana in developing strategies to use for improving her ability in the art of supervising employees. What would you suggest?
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