The Portman Hotel Company

The things that I fell that Michael Kay, President of the Portman Hotel, and Patrick Mene, Vice President and managing director of the Portman Hotel could have done differently was to get a more centralized plan or due a test run before putting everything into play. I think that they should have set aside at least 2-3 months testing their 5- star plan before the actual go-live date. They wanted to run a company where the employees were empowered, which was not a bad idea, but they had too many Indians and not enough Chiefs. On paper everything appeared to be well planned, as with any company, but once the hotel doors opened, the personal valets (PVs) begun to bump heads and stumble over each other because one employee actually was doing the job that a comparable hotel would have seven men set out to do. Also, the compensation was not enough to motivate and keep the workers, so they had a high turnover rate. I think that instead of giving them the nice lunch area, and parties, they would have rather had the money, because I’m sure that the majority of the staff had families. The employees expected to receive a certain amount in tips, and that is what motivated them in one area, and when they were not getting the tips that they were expecting, alone with having many assignments, and not having the right supervision, they became disgruntled and lost the love that they had for their job. The PVs argued that they were being switched around too much which played a huge part in them getting their proper tips, and I saw that as a complaint as well. All the employees were excited in the beginning because it was a new job, they met new people, and thought the pay would be good because of tips, but once they felt their tips were being stolen by floaters, and other employees that had not put in all the blood, sweat, and tears that they