Background to the research
The Four Seasons Hotel Limited is a chain of luxury hotels that has establishments throughout the world. There are more than 100 hotels within the chain of hotels. Headquarter of the chain is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Fourseasons.com, 2019). The Australian headquarter lies in New South Wales (Fourseasons.com, 2019). The hotel chain has received success throughout the globe for the standards of services it has provided to the community.
Problem Statement
However, problems have been arising in the food and beverages department of the organisation regarding the attrition rates of the employees. The aim of the report is to analyse the internal conditions within the food of beverages department of the Four Seasons Hotel, New South Wales branch.
Research objectives
This report will help in determining the key aspects within the organisation that contribute to such problem. This inferences and findings will help in mitigating the prevalent issues. The paper will enumerate the problems that are associated with the food and beverages department of the hotel. Key indicators would be used to identify the changes that are required for mitigation of the problem that have been discovered.
Significance of the research
The report will be based on a face to face interview with an individual who is employed in the food and beverages department of the Four Seasons Hotel. It is assumed that the individual will share legible information regarding the problems within the organisation. Name of the respondent is Ekkachai Junlawons who has been employed in the organisation for several years. The response of the employee will help in determining and developing an understanding regarding the problems that are associated with the proper functioning of the food and beverages department of the organisation.
Scope
The literature review section of the report will help develop understanding of the topics that have contributed to the problem. Methods employed to formulate the research, the recommendation and implementation of the same would be included in the report. This will be done to identify and mitigate the issues that persist.
Organisation culture
There are various constraints that determine the atmosphere of an organisation (Fink, G., & Yolles, 2015). Organisational success can be a by-product of a successful organisational culture (Cadden, Marshall & Ca, 2013). A well-defined organisational culture determines the wellbeing of the employees of the organisation and helps in achievement of goals of the organisation. Well established organisational culture ensure that the company is perfectly aligned towards the goals of the organisation (Ulldemolins & Arostegui, 2013). Furthermore, good organisational culture leads to motivation among the employees of the organisation. Motivation leads to employee engagement (Bedarkar & Pandita, 2014). It is said that engaged employees contribute to the achievement of goals of the organisation. It leads to satisfaction of the employees and considerably reduces the attrition rates within organisations. The importance of the organisation can be further enumerated as follows.
Leadership
Leadership can be termed as the ability to lead various people of an organisation (Bolman & Deal, 2017). Leadership is crucial for an organisation as it ensures that the employees of the organisation are perfectly aligned to the short term, medium term and long term goals of the company (Aziz et al., 2015). It is the role of a leader to ensure that the employees of their organisation are performing effectively and up to the required level of standards (Murphy & Curtis, 2013). The leaders within organisations are responsible for establishment of cultures of the organisation (Senarathna et al., 2014). It is also the role of leaders of organisations to help in establishing motivation and engagement within the employees of the organisation. It can be said that in every field the role of a leader is massive. Presidents of nations, the captains of sports teams, chairpersons of companies are the leaders in their respective fields. Without the leaders the functioning department in each and every field will seize to exist. Leadership is required at every level of the organisation (West et al., 2014). It is essential for the smooth functioning of each and every functional department within an organisation. The leaders are the representatives of the organisation. They stand for the core values and ethics of the company (Jondle, Ardichvili & Mitchell, 2014). It is the role of the leaders to establish a link between personal goal achievement of the employees through motivation and the strategic goals of an organisation. Depending on the style of the leaders of the company, the communication structure and hierarchy in the organisation is determined. Following are the qualities of a good leader;
Thus, it has been justified that the importance of the role of a leader in the proper function of an organisation cannot be undermined (Peters, 2014). However, it can be opined that the style employed in leadership contributes to the performance that takes place from the part of the employees of the organisation. The level of motivation or demotivation is determined by the style that is employed by the leader in treatment (Biemann, Kearney & Marggraf, 2015). There exists various styles of leadership that is responsible for the nature of behaviour of the subordinates. Following are the leadership styles based on the nature and personality of the leaders while dealing with situation;
Autocratic leadership: In this style of leadership, the leader has full control over all the operations of the company or a said functional department (Hoogh, Greer & Hartog, 2014). Not only does the leader have control over all the operations, they are the only decision makers. The subordinates are not presented with the opportunity to present their opinions. The leader is not concerned about the wellbeing or the support of the subordinates. This style of leadership generally leads improper functioning of operations.
Free reign leadership: Free reign leadership is also known as Laissez Faire Leadership style. This type of leadership is characterised by participation of all the subordinates and employees associated with the organisation (Ogbah, 2013). A leader who employs this style of leadership appreciates participation form all the employees as they recognise the importance of brainstorming and personal need recognition (Tomlinson, 2014). This style of leadership is best suited for the welfare of the organisation.
Participative leadership: Leadership of participative style takes into consideration the participation of all the subordinates (Miao et al., 2013) All the subordinates are given the equal amount exposure to share their ideas. Furthermore, the leader caters to the individual requirements of all their subordinates and directs the subordinates towards the achievement of the ultimate goals of the organisation.
Bureaucratic leadership: Leaders in this style of leadership is characterised by a situation in which the leader makes the subordinates abide by the rules and regulations of the organisation at all cost (Voet, 2014). The leader does not care about the wellbeing of the subordinates and is just concerned about the productivity. This style of leadership leads to demotivation of the employees and can trigger attrition.
Employee engagement
It has been realised that employee engagement plays a crucial role in achievement of the organisational goals. Employees who are motivated are able to contribute effectively to the strategic goals and functions of the company (Wheelen et al., 2017). It is role of the leaders and mangers or the organisation to ensure that the employees of the company are engaged to their job. It has been opined that employee engagement can be attained through motivation and need recognition of the employees of the organisation. The needs of the employees should be recognised using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the hygiene needs put forward by Herzberg. Engagement of the employees is the key to success of the functional divisions in achieving the strategic goals. Engagement of the employees ensure that the attrition rates are low and the employees are perfectly aligned to achieve the desired workplace goals (Xanthopoulou, Bakker & Fischbach, 2013). It helps in achieving corporate governance as engaged employees result in effective functioning of every department within the company. Furthermore, satisfaction and employee engagement are directly proportional. Achievement of the latter leads to achievement of the former.
Methodology
Methodology of the research has been based on Saunders Research Onion. The style of research is enumerated using layers of onions. Each layer of the onion describes a more detailed source research process (Sahay, 2016). The name of the research process is based on the nature and design of the layout that is similar to that of an onion. Various research philosophies such as positivism and deductive approach have been used to find the implication of the problems as opined by the individual. The data that has been obtained has been sourced form a long term employee of the organisation. It is expected that the information that will be provided by the employee will be true and justified as the individual was communicated about the purpose of the research and the rationale behind the same.
Figure: Saunders’ Research Onion
(Source: Sahay, 2016)
The data was acquired from the individual by means of an interview. Interview is considered as a primary source of data (Marshall, 2013). The sample size for obtaining the primary was one. Only one respondent was selected as the respondent was associated with the company for a long period and because it would turn out to be tricky to get inputs form considerably more number of employees of the busy Four Seasons Hotel. Secondary information was obtained from the reviews of the customers and literature relevant to the problems that were detected in the current scenario. The use of deductive approach helps in determining the casual relationship between the elements of the research in a logical manner (Marshall, et al., 2013). Positivism is an approach through which the cause and effect relationship of the interacting elements of the problem are determined (Kraft, 2015). Furthermore, it can be said that the research that has been undertaken is of causal research design as there is a purpose behind the research that has been carried out. The questions that were asked in the interview were open ended questions. The open ended questions can help derive information that would not possibly be shared if the interviews involved the use of questionnaire only. The methodology of the research is highly qualitative and is based on assumptions. Information from the secondary sources of data were obtained from literary articles describing the same. The use of questionnaires were not totally eliminated and were used to gather information about trends and similar statistical information.
The main problem that has been detected in the following scenario is the absence of a key elements such as trust and support in the company. It has been found that most of the businesses have failed to establish proper organisational culture which has resulted in rise of attrition rates of the employee of various organisations. The growing problem associated with ethics in the organisation has resulted in impediments of the functional department of various organisations. Same has been the issue with The Four Seasons Hotel. The food and beverages department of the New South Wales of the hotel was put under the hammer of the research. It was found that the employees of the food and beverages department of the hotel was facing issues such as lack of motivation. The same was resulting in increased amount of attrition. Following were the major problems that were associated to the proper functioning of the food and beverages department of the New South Wales division of the chain of hotels.
Filtering of information results in hindrance of proper functioning of functional departments of organisations (Chui & Chen, 2017). The hindrance in functioning caused as a result of the lack of functioning of a said division can lead to dysfunction of the organisation as a whole. The food and beverages department of The Four Seasons hotel has been suffering as a result of absence of a proper organisational culture. The culture within the company was responsible for the formation of various layers within the functional departments. The interviewee informed that the service of the department was slower that general due to change of managerial responsibilities of the division. As opined by the individual it was found that once an order was placed by a guest, the order had to go through several levels of confirmation. There were instance when the mangers of the hotel would approach the guests and confirm the order that they placed. The customers were dissatisfied by the service. The waiters and servers were on the receiving end of the grievances. An incidence was mentioned when a customer was so dissatisfied with the slow service that they decided to escalate which led to catastrophic measure. It was discovered with the help of internal sources that the management of the hotel intentionally incorporated the slow service. They did this in order to increase the turnover of the drinks that were available within the restaurant of the hotel. The reputation of the hotel attracted the customers. However, it was found that the bad service from the food and beverages department changed the guests’ perception about the hotel. Furthermore, the employees engaged in the said division were not able to communicate the problems to the higher authorities as there was a clear absence of a communication channel within the organisation.
The executive chef of restaurants generally decide the menu that would be served to customers. The management generally provides their inputs to the decision of the executive chef in order to determine the menu based on appreciation for the customer community, their demands, changing trends and various other factors. However, the executive chef was unable to decide or even suggest a single item in the menu that was served to the customers. The general manager of the food and beverages department decided the menu. The latter did not let the executive chef decide anything on the menu. Thus the executive chef was not able to meet the unrealistic demands of the general manager. As an implication, the food that the guest received was below par. This resulted in lack of appreciation from the guests of the hotel. It was found form reviews that the quality of food and slow service were so bad that they would not consider to choose the hotel in the future. Room service also suffered as a result of the structural layering. The orders were received at the reception of the hotel, who further conveyed the order to the manager of the restaurant. The manger would finally convey the same to the servers, who would then note down the verbally mentioned orders and convey the same to the kitchen. The number of orders for the room service of the luxury hotel along with the presence of numerous layers resulted in slow service and misinterpretation of orders.
The organisational culture that exists in the company hinders its effective performance. The problem have been stated above showcase the lack of alignment of the management with the needs of the customers and employees employed in the company. The general manger of the food and beverages department was found to be guilty of being an authoritarian. The general manger was least concerned about the needs of the customers. The executive chef was forced to work with a menu that he was not willing to put forward. Moreover, at the times when complaints came from the guest of the restaurants, the servers had to face the angry customers. They management would blame the kitchen for delivering bad quality food. The slow service blamed on the in efficiency of the kitchen and the servers. Even though the manager was responsible for most of the issues that were existent in the dysfunction, the former would direct it towards the subordinates.
In order to gain appreciation form the customer community and to achieve success in any industry it is essential for businesses to research the needs of the customers and to prioritise the needs of the customers before themselves. The food and beverages department of the Four Seasons hotel failed to do so and this resulted in the aforementioned dysfunctions. The activities within the restaurant are the complete opposite of customer welfare. To a great extent activities as such can be termed as customer exploitation. Furthermore, the absence of a network of communication disables the guests to reach the management. It has been realised the guest can take their grievance to social media and review the services of the company. However, absence of the same is also evident for the employees of the organisation. They are not being able to communicate the prevalent issues to the higher level management of the employee. Furthermore the general manger of the hotel has threatened employees on several instances to keep their grievance within themselves and has also threatened to fire them if they complain. This results in demotivation among the personnel employed in food and beverages. The general manger has failed to realise the importance of employee engagement, satisfaction and motivation. The rationale behind the aim has been identified to be the profit orientation of the GM. In order to boost the sales of beverages of the restaurant, he has created a framework that is characterised by various layers. Lack of concern for the wellbeing of the customers of the hotels and the wellbeing of the employees has resulted in formation of a negative impression of the company in the eyes of prospective employees and the guests. The manger has failed to realise the importance of motivation of the employees. Needs such as sense of belongingness and the esteem needs of the servers and the chef has been completely neglected. This has resulted in considerable amount of turnover in the company in both the job roles. Turnover rates always hinder smooth operations of a company. Threats given by the general manger instate the feeling of disrespect within the employees of food and beverages. This results in lack of coordination of the employees with the management that finally results in dysfunction such as the given case. Authoritarians are least concerned about the wellbeing of the subordinates and are only concerned about authority. Same has taken place in the case of the general manger of the company as opined by the interviewee. Furthermore the GM has been deemed to be irresponsible. Even though the GM was responsible for establishment of the hierarchical levels in the said department, he was also responsible for creation of a menu that the executive chef was not comfortable with. However, the general manger was found to be in denial. It can be understood that he thought that the problems with the food and beverages department was as a result of inefficiency of the kitchen and the servers associated to the same division. The blame would always fall upon the chefs and servers who had to work with the ineffective, superficial menus and layers within he said department. There was considerable misuse of power form the part of the general manger and that has resulted in lack of motivation within the existing employee, rise of attrition rates and dissatisfaction and threat of boycott form the customer community.
The problems that exist within the food and beverages department can pose a threat of complete boycott of the hotel. Bad room service, slow speed of service, bad quality of food along with an irresponsible manger has resulted in loss of a considerable amount of goodwill of the company. Mangers should be the individuals who are in the receiving end of appreciating that a company receives as a result of the effective culture and operations within the company. Establishment of an effective organisational culture determines the level of engagement of the employees and the productivity that can be associated with the achievement of the latter. The increased levels of productivity within a workplace that is characterised by a favourable culture results in appreciation from the part of the customers. Customer welfare determines the sustainability of the organisation in the long run. In order to sustain itself in the long run the mangers of organisations should avoid the activities that have taken place in the food and beverages department of the Four Seasons hotel. Even though there has been a considerable amount of grievances for the part of the consumers, the manager has been in complete denial. It has been found that the manger is least concerned about the customers, their needs and demands. Furthermore, even on sharing the grievance, the manager has been unmoved. There exists considerable amount of misuse of power fork the part of the GM. Not only has the GM taken advantage of the customers’ patience and director the sales of beverages, he has shown complete disregard for the needs and motivation of the employees.
The main issue with organisational culture has resulted from the functional impediment of the general manager of the food and beverages department of the Four Seasons Hotel. The issues that have been identified are associated with the improper functioning of the department as a result of high number of layers and filtering that results in slow functioning of the service in the restaurant as well as the room service that is offered by the hotel. It has been found that the employees associated with the food and beverages department are demotivated by their job roles and the treatment of their superior. The executive chef of the restaurant are selected based on their competence and expertise, yet they are not being able to use the same because of the authoritarian style of leadership that has been adopted by the general manger of the food and beverages department of the hotel. This results in formation of negative motivation form the part of those employees. They are unable to use their skill in and thus are experiencing lack of achievement of personal goals. The following should be carried out in order to mitigate the problems that exists within the said department of the hotel;
In order to ensure that the recommendations are successfully implementation of the action plan or recommendations that have been suggested in the above section, the higher level management of the company must participate and invest in mitigation of the same. Only if they participate in identifying the key source of the problem, the will be able to ensure the sustainability of the organisation for the days to come. A change initiative should be planned by the higher authorities of the organisation as failure in the aforementioned departments can have catastrophic implications of the wellbeing of the company and the stakeholders.
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