Group:9 Section:B

Manvendra P.S. Bisht

Mayank Gupta
Mohd. Mohtashim
Nishant Agrawal
Nitesh Dalal
The Hotel
John C World famous architect of luxury hotels, first
Portman hotel to bear his name.

Size
Relatively small- 348 rooms, 21 floors.

Objective
To bring Asian hospitality to the US.
HR System
Each employee was called an Associate

‘Bill of Rights’ – Legally enforceable document to assure every associate of his/her rights.

Broad category of jobs- no special employees for room cleaning, ironing etc.
HR System (contd.)
Relatively flat hierarchy – less chance of growth.

Recruiting – Very stringent process. Only the most talented people were selected

Unions were discouraged. Management hoped the ‘Bill of Rights’ was sufficient.
Personal Valets (PV)
Largest group of employees – 85 out of 400

To be on the beck and call of the customer 24*7

To fulfil every single one of their customers demands

Personal Valets
Other jobs included cleaning rooms & hallways, restocking the minibar etc.

Reported to the Director of Guest Room Services through 5 supervisors

Pay was same as a maid’s in comparable hotels, but were expected to get lucrative
tips.
 Initial Troubles with PVs
Lack of Supervisors Too much confidence was placed into the hands of inexperienced PVs
• There were only 5 supervisors for about 80 PV who were mostly young – 80% were below 35

Lack of Tips Actual amount was about $40 per week instead of the expected $200
• American customers were unfamiliar with the concept of Personal Valets and didn’t know how much to tip

Job Content Expected – 50% cleaning 50% serving. Actual – 80% cleaning 20% serving.
• This resulted in them going “sweaty and smelly” to the customers when they were buzzed while they were in the middle of cleaning

Employee Relations Tensions with other employees such as porters and concierges
• PVs felt that other employees treated them like maids
Result

The turnover among PVs was

about 16% in the first month
itself.
Solution: The 5 Star Team Plan
 Implemented by Patrick Mene, VP & MD and Spencer Scott, Director of Guest Room Services.

 PVs divided into 15 teams of 5 and each team was assigned to a floor.

 PVs were guaranteed work hours based on their seniority independent of occupancy – something
which no other hotel did.

 Working on the same floor helped them build a relationship with the customers which resulted in
better tips.
5 Star Plan – Shortcomings.
5 Star Plan – Shortcomings (contd.)
Latest Developments [Positives]
 The PV experience was a hit with customers and many of them really loved it.

 PVs & their “no rules for guests” policy had successfully helped them differentiate themselves in the
luxury hotel market.

 This all meant that occupancy was at a full 100% and Scott had to hire more people at a much faster
rate than ever before.
 Latest Developments [Negatives]
• Complaints about laundry, minibars etc. had increased due to lack of training as the PVs were already
very busy.
• Administrative costs were rising due to increasing levels of heirarchy and the hotel was still not
profitable.
• Turnover among PVs was still high 50% for the first year.
Future Outlook
 One option to increase the quality of work was to create “Team Captain” for every 5 star team who
would be responsible for the floor quality.

 He would be paid $1.10 more than other PVs and would report to the supervisor.

 However this would increase costs as well as add a level in the hierarchy which was against their
original philosophy.
Our Suggestions
 The “Team Captain” program should be implemented.

 Scott can afford to be a little more strict and should make himself more available.

 New PVs should be intensively trained and once that eases the load the existing PVs can also be trained
in small batches.

 A “Team of the month” award can be created for motivating the teams to do their best.
Thank You