Alec Levine had been the general manager of the Purvis Hotel for…

Question Answered step-by-step Alec Levine had been the general manager of the Purvis Hotel for…  Alec Levine had been the general manager of the Purvis Hotel for about six weeks, long enough to know that the hotel’s managers were not going to enjoy today’s department head meeting, or as he had begun to call it, the management team meeting. He wasn’t looking forward to discussing the letter he had received from a disgruntled guest but reminded himself that the letter might provide the perfect opportunity to open the staff’s eyes to some important ideas about working together as a team.The expressions on the managers’ faces looked, in turn, concerned, angry, and defensive as they perused the copy of the letter Alec handed out as they entered the meeting room. Alec looked around the table. Food and beverage manager Edgar Hamilton, sales manager Keisha Washington, rooms manager Luis Gallardo, revenue manager Stuart Miller, human resources manager Li Fong, and engineering manager Ray Dorsett finished reading and turned expectantly to Alec.”I’d like to make this letter from Cecilia Worthington the subject of today’s meeting,” the general manager began. “I’ll read it first, then we’ll discuss what happened.” He cleared his throat and began to read:Dear Mr. Levine: On Saturday, June 18, my daughter, Angela, was married. We had the reception, including a sit-down dinner, at your hotel. Many of our family members and friends also stayed at the hotel. I had high expectations for a flawless experience, given your property’s reputation and all the cooperation we received during the wedding’s planning and preparation. Instead, what should have been the happiest day of my daughter’s life was filled with frustrations and disappointments. Here’s what happened to us:1.   When we met with your sales manager, Keisha Washington, she assured us that we would be able to have the reception in the Starglow Room. We especially wanted that room because of its beautiful ocean view and the balcony where our guests could enjoy the sea breeze. We were so pleased when Ms. Washington checked and told us that room was available. She was very helpful. However, the room we got had an ocean view, but no balcony. While I was chagrined by that problem, I was appalled that my complaints were answered with the comment, ‘Why are you complaining? You got an ocean view.’ Is this what you call customer service?2.   The person who helped us reserve a room block for the wedding party and our families was most helpful, as well as friendly and courteous. She helped us work within our budget and assured us that we would all have rooms on the same floor, including several suites with ocean views. We received all the confirmation numbers and a rooming list and I thought we were all set. However, when our guests began arriving the day before the wedding, your hotel had changed its tune. Not only were we scattered all over the hotel, we had only two ocean view rooms. My cousin Will and his family have never visited the ocean before and were looking forward to experiencing that view—not a view of the parking lot. Angela’s grandmother and grandfather, who were supposed to be in a no-smoking king room, ended up in a smoking room with two double beds. But that was still better than what my sister Elizabeth got. She was told that there were no more rooms available and was sent to a hotel two blocks away. Doesn’t a confirmation number mean anything to you people?3.   When I met with your food and beverage manager (I believe his name is Edgar), his assistance was invaluable as we selected food, flowers, and entertainment for the dinner and reception. He assured us that the kitchen would have no problem accommodating our request for vegetarian entrees (we needed 22). I was also pleased when he told us there would be no charge for the banquet room because our liquor bill was so large.Alec stopped reading as both Keisha and Stuart voiced their indignation over this bit of information. “May I go on?” he asked. They nodded sullenly, and he continued:4.   Most of the food for the reception was excellent—just what I had come to expect from the Purvis. The salads, however, must have sat on the tables for quite a long time; they were warm and wilted. And no vegetarian entrees had been prepared. It was quite distressing for our guests—including three of the bridesmaids—to have to sit and munch on a roll while they waited and waited for something they could eat. We had to delay the cutting of the wedding cake so they could eat their meals, after everyone else was practically done. That said, the rest of the reception went well: the band was terrific, the flowers beautiful, and the service satisfactory.5.   Finally, we had requested late checkouts on Sunday morning, and were told this was no problem. To our amazement, our request was not honored. The calls from the front desk asking us when we were checking out were more than a little annoying. I did not appreciate feeling that we were being shoved out of our rooms. If people were waiting for rooms, that is a problem of poor planning on your part, not mine.When my husband and I were presented with the bill for the reception and the rooms for the wedding party, we refused to pay until we could speak to a manager. We were told that the manager would not be back on the property until Monday morning and that there was no one we could speak to. We expressed our dismay, but fully expected a phone call from you on Monday morning. Since we have not heard from anyone, we are putting our complaints in writing. I have no intention of paying this bill until we can discuss matters and receive an adjustment to the bill. I expect to hear from you within the week.Sincerely,Cecilia WorthingtonAlec looked around the table at the assembled managers. “What happened here? Mrs. Worthington and her family certainly didn’t have the experience they planned for and expected. But obviously she thought everything was going well. During the planning stages everyone was—let’s see what she says—’helpful, courteous, invaluable, friendly.’ But the execution left something to be desired. Let’s go around the table and find out where things went wrong. You first, Keisha.””I thought everything was under control with the Worthington wedding,” said Keisha. “I worked with her on the initial details and set up appointments for her with everyone she needed to see. Everyone got a function sheet relevant to their part in the wedding. I did my part. And I did check the system for availability of the Starglow Room. It was available. I wouldn’t book a room that was already booked.”Edgar broke in. “But I had that room booked. You should have known.””But you didn’t tell me,” said Keisha.”I did so,” replied Edgar. “I called and left a voicemail that I had booked that room. It’s not my fault you didn’t get it.””Well, that’s one mystery solved,” said Alec. “Luis, what about the rooms situation?”The rooms manager glared at Stuart, the revenue manager. “The Worthington’s reservations were probably handled by Julie. She does a lot of our room blocks. I remember approving a group rate for them—they wanted a lot of rooms, so we gave them a good rate. They were thrilled.””I bounced them out of those rooms,” Stuart declared. “A hotel is a money-making operation and I saw the opportunity to substantially increase RevPAR for the month. We had some corporate clients who were going to pay full rates for those oceanside rooms. I have the power to override any room block I want. Besides, we only had to walk one person in their party, and she was still nearby. What’s the big deal?””The Worthington’s are good customers,” said Keisha.”You only get married once,” Stuart replied. “Corporate clients mean repeat business.”Keisha shook her head. “The Worthington’s have three daughters. Do you think the other two are going to want their wedding receptions here after what happened to their sister? Besides, Mrs. Worthington’s sister—the one you walked—is CEO of a company that was considering this hotel for its next conference. And the emphasis is on the ‘was.’ I think we can kiss that business goodbye.””I do my job as I see fit,” said Stuart. “I had business in hand that was going to bring in more money than your wedding. Same goes for the late check-outs. We can’t afford to let some guests linger on when we’ve got paying customers waiting for rooms.”Alec shook his head. “Edgar, how about the F&B problems? The salad? The vegetarian plates?””I remember talking about the vegetarian entrees with Mrs. Worthington, but I guess they never showed up on the function sheet that the chef got,” said Edgar. “He didn’t even believe her at first until she showed him the contract that definitely stated 22 vegetarian entrees. Even though he apologized and did his best to deliver, we didn’t have enough ingredients on hand. The chef really had to improvise.”As for the salads, we had several functions that evening and were short-staffed to boot,” he recalled. “We had to set the salads early while we had the staff, or else they might not have gotten set at all.”Next at the table was Ray Dorsett, the engineering manager. “I guess I’m the only one who got off scot-free in this mess,” he grinned. “At least nothing broke down during the reception.””I came out pretty good, too,” said Li Fong, the human resources manager.”I wouldn’t say that,” Edgar said. “If we had enough people working in banquet services, we wouldn’t have had to ruin those salads by setting them out so early. I can’t be expected to make every function perfect when I don’t have enough staff.””Well, if you would keep me informed about your staffing needs, I might be able to bring in some temporary help—or help you with better scheduling,” Li replied. “I can’t take care of things you don’t tell me about.”Alec held up his hand for silence.”I get the picture,” he said. “I think I may have been overly optimistic when I called this group the management team. You’re not really a team at all.””What do you mean?” asked Keisha. “We work together—kind of. We get our jobs done. That’s what matters, right?””Why don’t you ask Mrs. Worthington?” said Alec. “She seems to be the victim of a serious lack of teamwork at this property. We need to come to a decision about how to respond to her complaints, and then come up with a plan so that this doesn’t happen again. I think we can do that, but it’s going to take a lot of work to become a high-performing team that will bring operations up to the standards people expect at our hotel. Let’s meet again in three days to lay the groundwork for creating a team that really is a team, and not just a working group.”Discussion Questions  1.   What breakdowns in teamwork affected the way the staff of the Purvis Hotel handled the Worthington wedding?  2.   If you were the general manager, how would you use a problem-solving team to prevent this situation from occurring in the future?  3.   What can supervisors do to foster teamwork, even when the management level doesn’t model this behavior?        Social Science Sociology SOCI 2300 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)