Reference no: EM132871352

Raising the Performance Bar

Just thirty days ago, Laverne Wilson was excited when she started her new position as executive housekeeper at the spectacular Melrose Hotel. The Melrose had enticed her away from a competing property with the promise of higher pay, greater prestige, and more responsibility. With her eye for detail, however, Laverne immediately noticed major housekeeping oversights at the hotel. In fact, on her first day at the Melrose, she was greeted by an overflowing trash can near the main entrance and cigarette butts on the lobby floor.

As Laverne reviewed guest comment cards and results from guest satisfaction surveys, the problems seemed to multiply. Guest complaints ranged from stained linens to crumpled and soiled stationery in the guestrooms. Worst of all, the guest property had been reported missing from rooms on several separate occasions-without resolution. To top it off, guest satisfaction reports over the last six months showed consistently low ratings for the housekeeping department.

The real challenge emerged as Laverne read through the past year's performance appraisals of the housekeeping staff. Performance ratings were based on a scale of 1 to 5 (5-outstanding, 4-exceeds expectations, 3-meets expectations, 2-needs improvement, and 1-unsatisfactory). Laverne was surprised to find that virtually every housekeeping employee had received the highest performance rating. "How on earth," she wondered, "could the staff in this department receive such high ratings when the performance of each unit is absolutely substandard?"

Since she was a newcomer to the management team at the Melrose, Laverne decided to tread lightly. She first met with the general manager and asked for advice. He had been aware of the performance problems for some time and was anxious to work with Laverne to correct them. He knew the hotel would suffer financially in the long term if things didn't change, so he gave Laverne the go-ahead to shake things up. While speaking with the GM, Laverne also learned of important incentive changes. To complicate her task, salary increases and bonuses would now be based on the performance not only of individual employees but of entire units. In fact, each department's share of bonus pool funds would now be based on its overall performance. As their meeting ended, the GM added that guest satisfaction ratings would play a bigger role than ever in determining salary increases.

Laverne felt overwhelmed. How could she convince the various units in her department to improve their performance-particularly when they had been following the same routine for years? She was new to the operation and no one in her department would be very pleased with her for upsetting the way things were. Later in the day, she sat down with the human resources director, Rodney Ramirez, to express her concerns.

"Rod," Laverne began, "I have a problem. Certain units in my department are underperforming, yet the employees have been getting very high ratings on their annual performance evaluations. I need to meet with the unit supervisors, but before I do I thought I would get your input. How can I encourage supervisors to evaluate their staff more realistically and get them to make the necessary improvements in their units? I don't expect them to be happy with this news, but if things don't change, my department will be in big trouble."

Rod thought about the situation for a moment and then responded. "Yes, you're in a tough spot-especially when you're trying to upset the status quo. It's going to be difficult and you can expect resistance, but we hired you because we knew you could handle the situation. Let's work together on this. I could prepare some refresher training programs for your units, but the bottom line is that different departments in this hotel have been using performance reviews in different ways and for different purposes. To make performance reviews work in the future, you need to recalibrate them. Competencies and evaluation factors should be consistent throughout your department. To some degree, you're being tougher on your employees, but you're also being fairer. Keep in mind that the changes you make will benefit our guests."

Laverne thanked Rod for his time and helpful advice and thought about what to do next. She scheduled a meeting with the supervisors from the three most troublesome units in her department: Melika Chinoy, a room inspector; Susan Duvall, the laundry supervisor; and Clarence Patterson, the public space supervisor. After a few days of preparation, she was ready to face the fire.

When they all met the following week, Laverne got right to the point. "Thank you for meeting with me today. I think you all must be aware of some problems facing our department. I called you here today because many of the problems seem to point to your units. Let me ask you-what do you think are trademarks of quality housekeeping?" Laverne sat back in her chair with her arms crossed and glared at each supervisor as she waited for their responses.

Melika was the first to speak up, "It's obvious. Clean rooms and linen, and attention to details."

Clarence added, "A nice-looking lobby and clean bathrooms."

"Right," Laverne affirmed. "So tell me why all of these guest comment cards say only bad things about the hotel? Look at this one. A guest says that the room she stayed in was filthy. Here's another complaint about stained sheets. Here's someone else who complained of a foul odor in the lobby. What are we going to do about this?"

Laverne paused. Susan's back straightened in the chair and her face seemed to harden. Melika and Clarence looked at each other. No one offered to speak.

"I want to see improvement in these areas," continued Laverne, "but, oddly enough, when I look at the performance evaluations of your staff, everyone has received a resounding ovation. How can every individual in your units receive a top rating and yet housekeeping underperforms as a department? We are only here to serve the guests of this hotel. If customers aren't satisfied-and judging from the number of complaints we've received they aren't-then we aren't doing our jobs."

Laverne paused again to observe their reactions. Melika and Clarence were visibly agitated, while Susan appeared unmoved.

Laverne decided to continue. "Each of you must reconsider your methods of appraising employees before the upcoming annual performance reviews. We need consistent evaluation guidelines, and they must be closely followed without exception. In other words, it's your responsibility to re-evaluate your employees and I want to see concrete improvements in their performance within the next two months. We can no longer gloss over the staff and hope for the best. You should also be aware that next year's bonuses and salary increases will be based on overall departmental performance. We get nothing if this situation doesn't improve. Now I'll listen to your comments."

Susan Duvall, the laundry supervisor, was the first to respond. "With all due respect, Ms. Wilson, you haven't been here very long. I have been here twelve years and although I agree with some of the problems you've mentioned, previous department heads never approached us in this way. We have always aimed for a cooperative work environment, and I think it is totally unfair that you point the finger at us. This employee re-evaluation stuff may be an opportunity for improvements and changes, but what about the other units in the department? Aren't they part of the problem too?"

Melika chimed in. "I think re-evaluating our employees is stupid. Like it or not, I need to keep my workers. It's a tight job market. People aren't lined up trying to get a job here. My unit will suffer if I lose people. It's easier to give them a high rating and then encourage them to do their best. I'm not going to change the way I've always done things. I've got to think about my people."

Clarence, who had never been one to let his opinions go unspoken, was the most outraged. "I've been at this hotel for ten years and things have been going great-up to now. What do you expect me to do? We've got lousy equipment, and this hotel isn't up to the most modern standards, you know. The employees I work with are my friends. Why I've known old Frank since I started here. Now I'm his supervisor and you want me to tell him his work isn't any good? Forget it. Then you tell us we won't get a raise if we don't work harder? We don't get paid enough as it is!"

Discussion Questions

1. How could Laverne have approached the supervisors differently?

2. What steps should Laverne now take with each supervisor to ensure they improve employee performance in their units?