Case Study:
BlueBird hotel is a small 4-star hotel situated in the Lake District in the UK. The hotel was
established in 1999 and has remained under family ownership ever since. The hotel has 62
rooms. It employs 96 full-time and part-time employees and is open 365 days a year. The hotel
caters towards families with young children and, thus, has been able to distinguish itself well
from the competition in the area. The hotel offers two categories of rooms: The Rambler rooms
are the standard rooms, with either twin beds or a double bed as well as bunk beds for children
while the Summit rooms also have a separate living room with one sofa bed. All rooms have flat
screen TVs, tea and coffee making facilities as well as a fridge. Games consoles are available
upon request. In order to cater well to its target market, the hotel also has a swimming pool, a
cinema, two games rooms as well as childcare facilities six days a week. While the hotel
remains profitable, the recent economic downturn in the local economy has resulted in 14%
fewer bookings compared to the same time last year. Furthermore, while the majority of the
guests are British, the hotel has recently established strong connections with tourism offices in
Limoux, Southern France and there is concern that the uncertainty surrounding Brexit will drive
these customers away.
The current General Manager is due to retire in three months and although he is still involved in
the business, he has handed down much of the responsibility for the day-to-day running of the
hotel to his daughter, the Assistant Manager. While the General Manager is much loved among
his staff for his caring attitude and willingness to listen to the concerns of his employees, the
Assistant Manager prefers to make her own decisions and to tell staff what to do. She has told
both the Front Office Manager and the F&B Manager that discussions with employees are far
too time consuming and often unnecessary and that the place would run more smoothly if
everyone just got on with their jobs. She also prefers to take a hands-on approach and is keen
to take a leading role in meetings and negotiations with vendors.
Although there is one full-time Human Resources Manager in the hotel, the Assistant Manager
also likes to be involved in the HR business, particularly recruitment and selection. In recent
months, the HR Manager has recommended the use of personality tests in the selection
process, but the Assistant Manager has categorically rejected the proposal, commenting that
she can tell a good candidate a mile off and doesn’t need any of that “pseudo-science” to tell
her otherwise. As far as she is concerned, her gut instinct has never let her down.
Given the reduction in bookings in recent months, the Assistant Manager has initiated several
cost-cutting programmes, recently announcing that there would be no pay rises this year and
that the training budget would be reduced to 1.2% of payroll. Coaching sessions which had
been scheduled for several of the junior managers have now been postponed indefinitely. The
Assistant Manager has also begun to replace more expensive, experienced bar and waiting
staff with cheaper employees, who have little or no experience. Other than induction sessions,
and other mandatory training such as health and safety, there is no formal training for these
employees as the Assistant Manager believes that “learning by doing” is the way to succeed at
the job.
The hotel has always prided itself on an outstanding customer service and many of the hotel’s
guests return year after year. Recent feedback from guests on TripAdvisor, however, gives
cause for concern:
“There was only one staff member on duty when we arrived and he was busy helping the bar
tender sort out a restaurant reservation. We had to wait more than 15 minutes before being
checked in.”
“Very large and comfortable room, but staff seemed disinterested.”
“Great amenities and the food was good, but why can’t the waitresses smile?”
To make matters worse, in the last three months the absence rate has increased and three of
the best employees have resigned. The General Manager has been told that many employees
have become anxious about their future and that several other high performers are looking for
jobs elsewhere.
Your task is to write a report as per the guidelines provided in the project outline, highlighting
three key issues facing the hotel in terms of its workforce and to make specific
recommendations on how to overcome the issues in order to regain employee trust, retain high
performers and improve profitability.