The Portman Hotel CompanyA Study in Motivation Performance

Group Members:Paul Bennett

Mohammad BorougerdiNaushad Hariyani

Tarannum KanjiyaniKaian 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 Hotel’s 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 PV’s job description at the Portman Hotel be

compared to a typical American luxury hotel?

Typical American Hotel Vs. Portman Hotel

Narrow Job Description

Broad 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 Function Culture value Goal Outcome

Policy and practiceWork culture

Associate contractContracts of employment

Organizationfunctions

Labor Relation

Staffing

Key features Function Culture value Goal Outcome

Policy and practiceWork culture

1. Treat each other better2. Show trust and pride in staff3. Meet employee needs as guest needs4. People are the product

1. Treat employees as guests2. Best employer in San Francisco

Unparalleled service

1. Dissatisfaction

among PV

2. Grievances

with management

Associate contractContracts of employment

Organizationfunctions

Labor Relation

Staffing

Key features Function Culture value Goal OutcomePolicy and practiceWork culture

Associate contractContracts of employment

1. Mentioned associate rights and responsibilities2. Bill of rights3. Three written warnings b4 being fired4. 30 day probation to improve

1. Giving each 1 equal rights

To bring out the best of the employee

PVs’ rights were not implemented by management

Organizationfunctions

Labor Relation

Staffing

Key features Function Culture value Goal OutcomePolicy and practiceWork culture

Associate contractContracts of employment

Organizationfunctions

1. Putting more employees in front of guest rather than management2. Avoided status costs3. Reward ppl to stay where they are4. Portman jobs were broad

1. No deep hierarchy2. Guest service important

1. Maximize service and minimize management overhead2. Low turnover of employees

Lot of chaos, additional level of supervision.

Labor Relation

Staffing

Key features Function Culture value Goal OutcomePolicy and practiceWork culture

Associate contractContracts of employment

Organizationfunctions

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 inclusiveness2. Minimize overtime expenses.3. Avoid hire more ppl

1. Bargain between unions and Mene2. Lack of organization due to the bargain3. PVs not satisfied

Staffing

Key features Function Culture value Goal OutcomePolicy and practiceWork culture

Associate contractContracts of employment

Organizationfunctions

Labor Relation

Staffing 1. Hire friendly people2. Hire talent, not experience3. SRI4. Life themes5. Contract of 1 year

Having talented and initiativeemployees

To understand guest needs and make their stay an experience

Unstable staffing procedures

Key features Function Culture value Goal OutcomePolicy and practiceWork culture

1. Treat each other better2. Show trust and pride in staff3. Meet employee needs as guest needs4. People are the product

1. Treat employees as guests2. Best employer in san Francisco

Unparalleled service 1. Dissatisfaction

among PV

2. Grievances

with management

Associate contractContracts of employment

1. Mentioned associate rights and responsibilities2. Bill of rights3. Three written warnings b4 being fired4. 30 day probation to improve

1. Giving each 1 equal rights

To bring out the best of the employee

PVs’ rights were not implemented by management

Organizationfunctions

1. Putting more employees in front of guest rather than management2. Avoided status costs3. Reward people to stay where they are4. Portman jobs were broad

1. No deep hierarchy2. Guest service important

1. Maximize service and minimize management overhead2. Low turnover of employees

Lot of chaos, additional level of supervision.

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 inclusiveness2. Minimize overtime expenses.3. Avoid hire more ppl

1. Bargain between unions and Mene2. Lack of organization due to the bargain3. PVs not satisfied

Staffing 1. Hire friendly people2. Hire talent, not experience3. SRI4. Life themes5. Contract of 1 year

Having talented and initiativeemployees

To understand guest needs and make their stay an experience

Unstable staffing procedures

Why wasn’t 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 workersLack 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

• Scott’s laid back attitude• Lack of supervision• Fear of unions among management

Low Occupancy

Implementation of floaters

Disrupt team system

PVs had to cover other’s work

More errors occurred

Increase inguest complaints

No tips No satisfaction Low Motivation

Summary of the System Problem

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.

Herzberg’s two-factor theory: Hygiene Factors and Motivators

Although Herzberb’s 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, high-quality 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. Skill variety – different job activities involving several skills and talents

2. Task identity – the completion of a whole, identifiable piece of work

3. Task significance – an important, positive impact on the lives of others

4. Autonomy – independence and discretion in making decisions

5. Feedback – information about job performance

How’s the PV job in Portman Hotel compared to the Hackman

and Oldham Model?

5 core job dimension PV at Portman

Skill variety

Task identity

Task significance

Autonomy

Feedback

Hackman and Oldham Model

5 core job dimension PV at Portman

Skill variety • Fulfill guests request• Maintenance and daily duties • Bar-tending• Organizing events

Task identity • PVs are organized in groups • Responsible for major and minor thing happened on the floor

Task significance • PVs were the largest group• Most contact with guests• Unique in American luxury hotel• Key to success for the hotel

Autonomy • Organizing tasks and managing time is key to perform well • How they can facilitate the guests’ stay at the hotel

Feedback • Tips• Customer feedback • Internet review.

Hackman and Oldham Model

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, Hotel’s 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

Marriott’s 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!