Practice Tests For IELTS Cambridge Part 1
IMPLEMENTING THE CYCLE OF SUCCESS: A CASE STUDY
Within Australia, Australian Hotels Inc employees who would fit in with its
new (AHI) operates nine hotels and employs over policies. In its advertisements, the hotel 2000 permanent full-time staff, 300 stated a preference for people with some permanent part-time employees and 100 'service' experience in order to minimise casual staff. One of its latest ventures, the traditional work practices being introduced Sydney Airport hotel (SAH), opened in into the hotel. Over 7000 applicants filled in March 1995. The hotel is the closest to application forms for the 120 jobs initially Sydney Airport and is designed to provide offered at SAH. The balance of the positions the best available accommodation, food and at the hotel (30 management and 40 shift beverage and meeting facilities in Sydney's leader positions) were predominantly filled southern suburbs. Similar to many by transfers from other AHI properties. international hotel chains, however, AHI has A series of tests and interviews were experienced difficulties in Australia in conducted with potential employees, which providing long-term profits for hotel owners, eventually left 280 applicants competing for as a result of the country's high labour-cost the 120 advertised positions. After the final structure. In order to develop an interview, potential recruits were divided economically viable hotel organisation into three categories. Category A was for model, AHI decided to implement some new applicants exhibiting strong leadership policies and practices at SAH. qualities, Category C was for applicants The first of the initiatives was an perceived to be followers, and Category B organisational structure with only three was for applicants with both leader and levels of management - compared to the follower qualities. Department heads and traditional seven. Partly as a result of this shift leaders then composed prospective change, there are 25 per cent fewer teams using a combination of people from management positions, enabling a all three categories. Once suitable teams significant saving. This change also has were formed, offers of employment were other implications. Communication, both up made to team members. and down the organisation, has greatly Another major initiative by SAH was to improved. Decision-making has been forced adopt a totally multi-skilled workforce. down in many cases to front-line employees. Although there may be some limitations As a result, guest requests are usually met with highly technical jobs such as cooking without reference to a supervisor, improving or maintenance, wherever possible, both customer and employee satisfaction. employees at SAH are able to work in a The hotel also recognised that it would wide variety of positions. A multi-skilled need a different approach to selecting workforce provides far greater management
flexibility during peak and quiet times to transfer employees to needed positions. For example, when office staff are away on holidays during quiet periods of the year,
employees in either food or beverage or housekeeping departments can temporarily
The most crucial way, however, of improving the labour cost structure at SAH was to find better, more productive ways of providing customer service. SAH management concluded this would first require a process of 'benchmarking'. The prime objective of the benchmarking process was to compare a range of service delivery processes across a range of criteria using teams made up of employees from different departments within the hotel which interacted with each other. This process resulted in performance measures that greatly enhanced SAH's ability to improve productivity and quality. The front office team discovered through this project that a high proportion of AHI Club member reservations were incomplete. As a result, the service provided to these guests was below the standard promised to them as part of their membership agreement. Reducing the number of incomplete reservations greatly improved guest perceptions of service.
This article has been adapted and condensed from the article by R. Carter (1996), 'Implementing the cycle of success: A case study of the Sheraton Pacific Division', Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 34(3): 111-23. Names and other details have been changed and report findings may have been given a different emphasis from the original. We are grateful to the author and Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources for allowing us to use the material in this way.
In addition, a program modelled on an earlier project called 'Take Charge' was implemented. Essentially, Take Charge provides an effective feedback loop from both customers and employees. Customer comments, both positive and negative, are recorded by staff. These are collated regularly to identify opportunities for improvement. Just as importantly, employees are requested to note down their own suggestions for improvement. (AHI has set an expectation that employees will submit at least three suggestions for every one they receive from a customer.) Employee feedback is reviewed daily and suggestions are implemented within 48 hours, if possible, or a valid reason is given for non-implementation. If suggestions require analysis or data collection, the Take Charge team has 30 days in which to address the issue and come up with recommendations.
Although quantitative evidence of AHI's initiatives at SAH are limited at present, anecdotal evidence clearly suggests that these practices are working. Indeed AHI is progressively rolling out these initiatives in other hotels in Australia, whilst numerous overseas visitors have come to see how the program works.
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Within Australia, Australian Hotels Inc employees who would fit in with its
new (AHI) operates nine hotels and employs over policies. In its advertisements, the hotel 2000 permanent full-time staff, 300 stated a preference for people with some permanent part-time employees and 100 'service' experience in order to minimise casual staff. One of its latest ventures, the traditional work practices being introduced Sydney Airport hotel (SAH), opened in into the hotel. Over 7000 applicants filled in March 1995. The hotel is the closest to application forms for the 120 jobs initially Sydney Airport and is designed to provide offered at SAH. The balance of the positions the best available accommodation, food and at the hotel (30 management and 40 shift beverage and meeting facilities in Sydney's leader positions) were predominantly filled southern suburbs. Similar to many by transfers from other AHI properties. international hotel chains, however, AHI has A series of tests and interviews were experienced difficulties in Australia in conducted with potential employees, which providing long-term profits for hotel owners, eventually left 280 applicants competing for as a result of the country's high labour-cost the 120 advertised positions. After the final structure. In order to develop an interview, potential recruits were divided economically viable hotel organisation into three categories. Category A was for model, AHI decided to implement some new applicants exhibiting strong leadership policies and practices at SAH. qualities, Category C was for applicants The first of the initiatives was an perceived to be followers, and Category B organisational structure with only three was for applicants with both leader and levels of management - compared to the follower qualities. Department heads and traditional seven. Partly as a result of this shift leaders then composed prospective change, there are 25 per cent fewer teams using a combination of people from management positions, enabling a all three categories. Once suitable teams significant saving. This change also has were formed, offers of employment were other implications. Communication, both up made to team members. and down the organisation, has greatly Another major initiative by SAH was to improved. Decision-making has been forced adopt a totally multi-skilled workforce. down in many cases to front-line employees. Although there may be some limitations As a result, guest requests are usually met with highly technical jobs such as cooking without reference to a supervisor, improving or maintenance, wherever possible, both customer and employee satisfaction. employees at SAH are able to work in a The hotel also recognised that it would wide variety of positions. A multi-skilled need a different approach to selecting workforce provides far greater management
flexibility during peak and quiet times to transfer employees to needed positions. For example, when office staff are away on holidays during quiet periods of the year,
employees in either food or beverage or housekeeping departments can temporarily
The most crucial way, however, of improving the labour cost structure at SAH was to find better, more productive ways of providing customer service. SAH management concluded this would first require a process of 'benchmarking'. The prime objective of the benchmarking process was to compare a range of service delivery processes across a range of criteria using teams made up of employees from different departments within the hotel which interacted with each other. This process resulted in performance measures that greatly enhanced SAH's ability to improve productivity and quality. The front office team discovered through this project that a high proportion of AHI Club member reservations were incomplete. As a result, the service provided to these guests was below the standard promised to them as part of their membership agreement. Reducing the number of incomplete reservations greatly improved guest perceptions of service.
This article has been adapted and condensed from the article by R. Carter (1996), 'Implementing the cycle of success: A case study of the Sheraton Pacific Division', Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 34(3): 111-23. Names and other details have been changed and report findings may have been given a different emphasis from the original. We are grateful to the author and Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources for allowing us to use the material in this way.
In addition, a program modelled on an earlier project called 'Take Charge' was implemented. Essentially, Take Charge provides an effective feedback loop from both customers and employees. Customer comments, both positive and negative, are recorded by staff. These are collated regularly to identify opportunities for improvement. Just as importantly, employees are requested to note down their own suggestions for improvement. (AHI has set an expectation that employees will submit at least three suggestions for every one they receive from a customer.) Employee feedback is reviewed daily and suggestions are implemented within 48 hours, if possible, or a valid reason is given for non-implementation. If suggestions require analysis or data collection, the Take Charge team has 30 days in which to address the issue and come up with recommendations.
Although quantitative evidence of AHI's initiatives at SAH are limited at present, anecdotal evidence clearly suggests that these practices are working. Indeed AHI is progressively rolling out these initiatives in other hotels in Australia, whilst numerous overseas visitors have come to see how the program works.
