The Portman Hotel Company
Case No. 4: The Portman Hotel Company
1. What is the Portman business model and what was the personal
valet arrangement trying to accomplish?
2. Why isn’t the system working and, what are the problems?
3. How did the 5-Star system deal with the problems? Did it work,
or were improvements experienced following implementation of
5-Star?
4. Develop three alternative solutions to address the problems
discussed above.
5. Select the best solution and describe how you would implement
it
Solution
Question #1
The Portman business model was a 5-star team plan in which the recognized group, the
personal valets (PVs) had been organized into groups of five with one team per floor. This had
been adopted after the PVs had complained over disorganization they had faced in the course of
opening the hotel. This demoralized the valets and began raising their grievances.
The disorganization led to poor performance of this group due to underperformance by
some colleagues. Other would miss job deliberately. With this behavior prevailing, the enterprise
would not achieve its goal of being among the American luxury hotels regarding services.
The model had no provisions on disciplining the members who would be unaccountable
to their responsibilities. This implied that the model was inadequate. The improper allocation and
monitoring of the duties by the Scott led to decrease in the quality of the services provided by
this crucial group. Then inefficiency in the performance of this cluster had an adverse impact on
the image of the hotel. Guests began seeing mistakes and poor sanitation in the hotel premises
due to the improper planning of the management of the hotel. The number of visitors decreased
substantially, and this meant that a better approach had to be initiated to recover this.
The Personal valet group was trying to attain a strong teamwork in their groups because
the smaller groups would help them in understanding one another and thus supporting each other
in the execution of responsibilities. The valets also had a mission of achieving a strong support
from all the other members of the staff from the other departments and thus improving the
production and services delivery of the hotel, which would render the hotel to be among the
luxurious institutions in the state.
Case study: The Portman Hotel Company 3
Question #2
The system adopted initially in the hotel was not functional because there was no leader
to oversee the work. The employees lacked someone they could deliver their grievances. Due to
this majority of the workers did not turn up for the job and this led them being fired from the
hotel. The remaining PVs were being mistreated, and thus, life was not easy for them implying
that they would not commit themselves to work as it was expected. The decentralization of the
management that left valets with no leader caused them not to understand their job
responsibilities well.
Low payments that were being done to the employees were not motivating the PVs even.
The poor allocation of duties also contributed to the disruption of the system. In the beginning,
the valets were to work half-half in the cleaning and serving guests. However, this did not
happen in practice. Instead, the cooking, which had not been mentioned as part of their
responsibilities, took a greater percentage of their endeavors. The majority could not accept such
responsibilities and hence some work would be left unattended.
The indulgence in the various duties made the valets inefficient in the execution of
functions especially on attending the guests due to tiredness. Others would try as much as
possible to answer the guests, but due to the pungent smell, they would produce resulting from
sweat, left guests uncomfortable with the accommodation in the hotel.
Whenever the PVs raised an issue concerning their welfare, there was none to respond
and those who responded took a lot of time and addressed the issues harshly. This demoralized
the valets and led to disorganized among the workers of various departments. They felt despised
by their fellow workers in other departments as if they were foreigners.
Case study: The Portman Hotel Company 4
Their leader would be inconsistent in the delegation of duties, and this became technical
to the PVs since they would work in a different environment every day with different people.
Due to lack of enduring relationship between the workers, their production capacity went down
every day.
Question #3
The 5-star approach addressed the problem in accordance to some of the wishes the PVs
had like not to be shifted from working are to another daily but instead have a different floor to
attend. This helped the PVs create relationships and understand one another better. This led to
the formation of a strong teamwork and the working conditions improved to some extent. This
had a drawback because the number of the valets available would not allow for constant working
in the same area otherwise some floors would be left unclean. This caused some fellows to be
floaters. This brought back the root of the problem that was supposed to be cut off. Due to
shifting from an area to another at different working times, the floater and the permanent
colleagues would not relate strongly due to short times allowed for interaction. Besides, the
floaters were not in a position to form solid relationships with the guests as the permanent valets.
The resultant of the strategy was a complete misunderstanding between the two groups.
The approach of being in groups was aimed at providing coordination between the PVs
but the disorganization widened. Poor supervision and accountability in the workforce
commenced many issues among the PVs. They had no guidelines to guide them in the course of
their work. The PVs delegated the responsibility of supervising the grouped became proud and
arrogant and hence the PVs were not comfortable with them. In a group, there were different
particulars some of which would not perform their duties as required and there was no provision
Case study: The Portman Hotel Company 5
for disciplining such cases. This could be termed as poor management. The 5-star strategy
resulted in little improvement since more had to be done for this PVs to be satisfied in their
capacity.
Question #4
The issue addressed in the Portman Hotel Company should be addressed strategically to
have an enduring solution resulting to job satisfaction by all the members and more so the valets.
This section provides three alternative approaches that may be employed to address the problem.
Alternative one: Effective workforce management solutions
Workforce management in the hospitality sector is something that requires a proper and
strategic approach to recognizing the benefits of the production. This is because the industry is
characterized by long working hours working tradition, which requires multi-skilled, transient
and part-time labor, and much reliance on staff to ensure high standards of customer service.
SMART's solution for this industry provides the visibility and the processes that the respective
managers of the various departments in the hotel need to incorporate to ensure accurate
scheduling of the most efficient shift work patterns (Rudge, 2010). It is not only designed to
make sure that good workers are at the right station at the right time but also ensuring that there
are flexibility and choice needed to fit the jobs available. This result into a happier and more
motivated workforce, which is majorly attributed to the services, provided to the customers.
The SMART solution ensures that there is standardization of job practices, the provision
on future labor costs and reduction of manual processes like timesheets. It also provides for
better labor management, recognition, and appreciation of the real number of hours worked by an
Case study: The Portman Hotel Company 6
individual laborer and hence enabling accurate allocation of resources as per the needs of the
company.
This approach has benefits such as improved work-life balance and hence job satisfaction
leading to higher standards of customer service. Besides, it provides an avenue for reduction of
unnecessary labor costs and thus realization of more productive work time (Evans, & Lindsay,
2009).
Alternative two
The Portman Hotel Company can also opt to dissolve the permanent groups and
improvise a system in which every valet will be working in a certain group consistently for a
given period, say like a week, and then reshuffle to work as a floater for another equivalent
period. This will ensure that all the PVs feel equal due to the similar treatment recognition and
thus, reduce the problem of disorganization among them (Mooney, 2015).
Alternative three: Engagement of the employees
Workforce engagement in their work tends to make them more productive and focused
on the customers, hence high chances of gaining job fulfillment. Engaged employees are more
enthusiastic about their duties and feel part of the company hence enjoy their participation in the
company endeavors. This approach has a direct impact on the productivity of the enterprise
(Ray, 2015).
When the employees are happy, they feel free to communicate to their top management.
They are also confident in their supervisors, and thus, they feel their management is competent
and holds their interests at heart. They tend to enjoy the spirit of teamwork and feel motivated to
Case study: The Portman Hotel Company 7
the high performance realized by the organization. On the other hand, disengaged workforce
tends to behave as the PVs in the Portman Company, whereby, the valets would miss more
workdays to reasons, which are not genuine at all as compared to their engaged counterparts.
Question #5
Alternative three: Engagement of the employees
Know the employees: The employer should take the time to listen to the interests of the valets.
This will lead to the development of a relationship between the employees and the top office and
hence a substantial influence motivation and engagement of this group.
Offering of training: Provisions of proper training will help them excel in their career. When
employees can complete their tasks as required helps, them achieve goals and motivate them
hence improving their level of engagement. Employees are more engaged when they understand
their roles and responsibilities within their occupation than when they do not comprehend.
Develop the people: Developing the personnel is vital to the success of the management.
Opportunities for growth and development form the basis for employee engagement as well as
the success of the company. Persons with developed skills have high chances of staying in a
business and even recommending it to others.
Recognize the employees: Recognition by the management motivates the workers. It also
promotes positive behavior and thus long-term performance.
Case study: The Portman Hotel Company 8
Encourage teamwork: This develops out of the culture of transparency and trust between the
different workers. When one feels that is part of the team within a company tends to invest more
time and energy into their duties.
Coach the employees: The role of a leader is to support, inspire, and coach the workers to their
highest level of performance. This helps them understand their responsibilities and expectations.
Act on employee feedback: After conducting an employee survey, the employees are very much
interested in seeing their views addressed.
The steps can occur in any order that is most appropriate for the company.
Case study: The Portman Hotel Company 9
References
Evans, J. R., & Lindsay, W. M. (2009). Managing for Quality and Performance Excellence –
James R. Evans, William M. Lindsay – Google Books. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com/books?id=xcgbBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA298&lpg=PA298&dq=hot
el+workforce+management+approaches&source=bl&ots=1JQaXTIvAu&sig=coLhMpuf
6jcXqaBswRav6L2L7ks&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=hotel%20workforc
e%20management%20approaches&f=false
Mooney, L. (2015). How to Allocate Duties to Subordinates | Business & Entrepreneurship –
azcentral.com. Retrieved from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/allocate-duties-
subordinates-14398.html
Ray, L. (2015). How Does Employee Engagement Improve the Bottom Line? | Business &
Entrepreneurship – azcentral.com. Retrieved from
http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/employee-engagement-improve-bottom-line-1987.html
Rudge, K. (2010). Hospitality Industry Workforce Management Solutions | SMART Workforce
Management time and attendance solutions. Retrieved from http://www.smart-
workforce.com/solutions/hospitality-leisure/
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