The Portman Hotel Company

A Study in Motivation Performance

Group Members: Paul Bennett Mohammad Borougerdi Naushad Hariyani Tarannum Kanjiyani Kaian Tam Josephine Yuan

Background Information
The Portman Hotel - brainchild of John C. Portman, Jr.

Portman was well known for creativity and innovation Success in atrium style hotels
Bonaventure Hotel of Los Angeles Renaissance Center of Detroit

The Portman Hotel

The Hotels format would draw from foreign hotels
348 rooms 21 floors Described as contemporary with Asian accents

The revolutionary guest services were common in Asia Portman - breakthrough in hotels Personal Valets - heart of this unique hotel

Implementation Difficulties
Too much confidence placed on the individual managerial skills of PVs Overwhelming latitude of duties for the PVs Management not prepared for American response to such elaborate guest services
What is one thing that makes you want to return to a hotel?

Labor Force in Two Cultures: American vs. Asian

Three main topics: Cost Training Labor Regulation

Cost
American More Expensive Asian Less Expensive

Training and Recruitment

American SRI (hiring firm) Asian Embedded in the culture

Labor Regulations
American Unions Asian No Control

How can the PVs job description at the Portman Hotel be compared to a typical American luxury hotel?

Typical American Hotel Vs. Portman Hotel

Broad Job Description

Narrow Job Description

Typical American Hotel vs. Portman Hotel

Typical: organized by job specialty (Narrow)
Maids
Bar boy Houseman Cleaners Maintenance Staff

PV job: have many specialties (Broad)

- PV
- PV - PV - PV - PV

What is the Portman Hotel business model and what was the personal valet arrangement trying to accomplish?

Portman Business Model

To bring Asian standards of hospitality to the US Revolution in guest service in the American luxury market Personal valets High quality service at affordable rates. No rules for the guests Experience Home away from Home Office away from Office.

Portman HR System
How were the key features of the HR system supposed to function? What culture values were emphasized? What was the expected outcome and the result of each of the HR features?

Key features Policy and practice Work culture Associate contract Contracts of employment Organization functions

Function

Culture value

Goal

Outcome

Labor Relation

Staffing

Key features Policy and practice Work culture

Function 1. Treat each other better 2. Show trust and pride in staff 3. Meet employee needs as guest needs 4. People are the product

Culture value

Goal

Outcome 1. Dissatisfaction among PV 2. Grievances with management

1. Treat Unparalleled employees as service guests 2. Best employer in San Francisco

Associate contract Contracts of employment Organization functions

Labor Relation

Staffing

Key features
Policy and practice Work culture

Function

Culture value

Goal

Outcome

Associate contract Contracts of employment

1. Mentioned associate rights and responsibilities 2. Bill of rights 3. Three written warnings b4 being fired 4. 30 day probation to improve

1. Giving each 1 To bring out the equal rights best of the employee

PVs rights were not implemented by management

Organization functions

Labor Relation

Staffing

Key features
Policy and practice Work culture Associate contract Contracts of employment

Function

Culture value

Goal

Outcome

Organization functions

1. Putting more employees in front of guest rather than management 2. Avoided status costs 3. Reward ppl to stay where they are 4. Portman jobs were broad

1. No deep hierarchy 2. Guest service important

1. Maximize service and minimize management overhead 2. Low turnover of employees

Lot of chaos, additional level of supervision.

Labor Relation

Staffing

Key features
Policy and practice Work culture Associate contract Contracts of employment Organization functions

Function

Culture value

Goal

Outcome

Labor Relation

Against union formation

Employees have written contract to get the rights.

1. Having unions delimit the jobs, undermine the strategy of broadly defining jobs and promoting inclusiveness 2. Minimize overtime expenses. 3. Avoid hire more ppl

1. Bargain between unions and Mene 2. Lack of organization due to the bargain 3. PVs not satisfied

Staffing

Key features
Policy and practice Work culture

Function

Culture value

Goal

Outcome

Associate contract Contracts of employment

Organization functions

Labor Relation

Staffing

1. Hire friendly people 2. Hire talent, not experience 3. SRI 4. Life themes 5. Contract of 1 year

Having talented and initiative employees

To understand guest needs and make their stay an experience

Unstable staffing procedures

Key features
Policy and practice Work culture

Function
1. Treat each other better 2. Show trust and pride in staff 3. Meet employee needs as guest needs 4. People are the product 1. Mentioned associate rights and responsibilities 2. Bill of rights 3. Three written warnings b4 being fired 4. 30 day probation to improve 1. Putting more employees in front of guest rather than management 2. Avoided status costs 3. Reward people to stay where they are 4. Portman jobs were broad Against union formation

Culture value
1. Treat employees as guests 2. Best employer in san Francisco

Goal
Unparalleled service

Outcome
1. Dissatisfaction among PV 2. Grievances with management

Associate contract Contracts of employment

1. Giving each 1 equal rights

To bring out the best of the employee

PVs rights were not implemented by management

Organization functions

1. No deep hierarchy 2. Guest service important

1. Maximize service and minimize management overhead 2. Low turnover of employees

Lot of chaos, additional level of supervision.

Labor Relation

Employees have written contract to get the rights.

1. Having unions delimit the jobs, undermine the strategy of broadly defining jobs and promoting inclusiveness 2. Minimize overtime expenses. 3. Avoid hire more ppl To understand guest needs and make their stay an experience

1. Bargain between unions and Mene 2. Lack of organization due to the bargain 3. PVs not satisfied

Staffing

1. Hire friendly people 2. Hire talent, not experience 3. SRI 4. Life themes 5. Contract of 1 year

Having talented and initiative employees

Unstable staffing procedures

Why wasnt the original system working? What were the problems faced?

Problems
Asian service philosophy Turnover high, 16% in initial months Tips
Exp: $200 Act: $40

Dissatisfied with Job Content

Exp: 50% cleaning 50% guest service Act: 80% cleaning 20% guest service

Tensions with other group of workers

PVs looked upon as maids PVs felt porters were slow in response

Reasons
Asian service philosophy Complex & New Turnover high, 16% in initial months Some fired, most left due to disorganized work culture Tips American traveler not ready for this type of service. Low occupancy Dissatisfied with Job Content Multitasking Tensions with other group of workers Lack of supervision, decentralized work

Managerial Problem
Low Employee Motivation Definition of Motivation: It is those forces that energize, direct and sustain a persons efforts Reinforcement: Positive - tips, incentives Negative - strict action, warning

5 Star Team Plan

15 groups of 5 PVs each 1 team on each floor Guaranteed hours of work per week Increase in productivity from 5 rooms to 7

What improvements were experienced after the 5 star system was implemented? Did it work?

5 Star Plan
Initially it worked but problems started again: Introduction of floaters
Pooling tips became difficult PVs and Floaters Conflicts Team loyalty was lost Floaters were lethargic in service

Scotts laid back attitude Lack of supervision Fear of unions among management

Summary of the System Problem

Low Occupancy Implementation of floaters
Disrupt team system

Increase in guest complaints

More errors occurred

PVs had to cover others work

No tips

No satisfaction

Low Motivation

How do you motivate your employees?

How have you been motivated to perform?

Designing motivating jobs

Design your own organization around both intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivators that mattered to your people. Extrinsic rewards are those rewards given to people by a boss, a company, or some other person. Intrinsic rewards are those rewards the person derives directly from performing the job itself. Intrinsic rewards are essential to motivation underlying creativity

Three ways of designing jobs that can increase intrinsic rewards and, therefore, motivation:
1. Job rotation - move workers from one task to another. 2. Job enlargement - workers are given different tasks to do. 3. Job enrichment - jobs are restructured or redesigned by adding higher levels of responsibility.

Herzbergs two-factor theory: Hygiene Factors and Motivators

Although Herzberbs theory has been criticized by many scholars, it still contributes some important points: 1. Important distinction between extrinsic rewards and intrinsic rewards 2. Reminds managers NOT to count solely on extrinsic rewards - focus on intrinsic rewards as well

What steps (in regard to implementation) would you take to bring about improvement for Portman Hotel?

Our Suggestions
Step 1: Make communication more effective Step 2: Provide a complete training program Step 3: Establish fairness Step 4: Give employees recognition for accomplishments

Hackman and Oldham Model of Job Design

Well-designed jobs lead to high motivation, highquality performance, high satisfaction, and low absenteeism and turnover. These outcomes are the result of: Meaningful Work Responsibility Performance

Hackman and Oldham Model of Job Design

This critical psychological state is produced by five core job dimensions:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Skill variety different job activities involving several skills and talents Task identity the completion of a whole, identifiable piece of work Task significance an important, positive impact on the lives of others Autonomy independence and discretion in making decisions Feedback information about job performance

Hows the PV job in Portman Hotel compared to the Hackman and Oldham Model?

Hackman and Oldham Model

5 core job dimension Skill variety PV at Portman

Task identity

Task significance

Autonomy

Feedback

Hackman and Oldham Model

5 core job dimension Skill variety PV at Portman Fulfill guests request Maintenance and daily duties Bar-tending Organizing events PVs are organized in groups Responsible for major and minor thing happened on the floor PVs were the largest group Most contact with guests Unique in American luxury hotel Key to success for the hotel Organizing tasks and managing time is key to perform well How they can facilitate the guests stay at the hotel Tips Customer feedback Internet review.

Task identity

Task significance

Autonomy

Feedback

What Happened Next?

By the end of the case reading, the Portman Hotel was beginning to take off Occupancy went dramatically up The Team Captain success Since late 1980s, Hotels history marred by trials and tribulations

Loma Prieta Earthquake

Occurred on October 17, 1989 Caused severe damage to the San Francisco Bay area As a result, occupancy dropped significantly

Tax Laws
The Portman Hotel was affected greatly by a major change in tax laws The Portman was force to sell many of its assets in order to manage its finances Consequently, the Portman Hotel evolved into the San Francisco Pan Pacific

Marriotts Acquisition
JW Marriot purchased the hotel from Pan Pacific on April 19, 2006 JW Marriott San Francisco

A View into the JW Marriott San Francisco

Time for a Video!