1. What strategies can the hotel implement to avoid this situation from happening in the future?
2. Provide any concluding thoughts on the case study.
WEEK 4 CASE STUDY You have been working in the human resources department as the assistant human resource director for a large convention hotel in Dallas, Texas. Ramon, one of the bell staff associates, comes into your office loudly complaining that he didn't get his annual wage increase as he was promised by his supervisor, Joe, the guest service manager. You ask him if he has discussed this with Joe the Front Office Manager and he says that he has approached Joe three times and Joe still hasn't done anything about the increase so that is why he is coming to HR. You then ask him when his raise was due, and he says it was to begin last month. You then ask him how he did on his performance appraisal for the past year, and he says he doesn't know what the rating was or if there are any areas for improvement. He assumed no improvement was required since he was promised the raise. You follow up by asking him did he actually have a performance review with Joe, and he tells you that he was called into Joe's office and was simply told to sign a form and that he would be getting a raise. He didn't know how much the raise would be. At this point, you become very concerned and tell him that you will meet with Maria, the human resource director, and get back to him before the end of the day. He agrees and goes back to the lobby area to work. After Ramon, the bellman leaves your office, you approach Maria, the human resource director, and relay the information you received from Ramon. Maria, looking very disappointed, sighs heavily and says that she has had some concerns about Joe and that this is a good opportunity for you to learn how to handle these matters. Maria called Joe on the phone immediately and scheduled a meeting. Within the hour, Joe appears, and Maria informs Joe that she has been through this with Joe once before about the importance of performance appraisals and the process for delivering the performance appraisals to associates. If Joe believes the appraisals are important or not, if the process isn't followed, Maria said that she would need to speak with Joe's supervisor, Pamela, the assistant general manager, about Joe's supervisor, Pamela, the assistant general manager, about Joe's noncompliance. Joe pleads with Maria not to take any immediate action and defends himself by saying it has been very busy and he just didn't have the time to do the performance appraisals properly. Maria reiterated that she had been more than fair with Joe in the past. If this had been the first time, Maria would have cut him some slack, but this had happened before. Maria then asked Joe if there is more than one associate who Joe oversees that has not had a proper performance review and/or wage increase. Joe stated no and that this was the only bellman that wasn't given a proper performance appraisal or wage increase. Maria proceeded to tell Joe that he was being irresponsible to his staff and to the hotel. Maria said the worst part is that Ramon was due his raise over a month ago and no paperwork was turned in for the wage increase. Joe slumped down in his seat and asked Maria what he should do now. Without hesitation, Maria told him to process the payroll change form immediately, go to the director of finance in accounting and ask for a manual check to be cut for Ramon with the amount to compensate him for the increase in his wages for the month, hand the check to Ramon, let him know what areas in his performance he is doing well and those items needing improvement and finally, apologize for the delay. Joe is alarmed because he knows he will need Pamela's permission to cut the manual check and he will be forced to tell her what happened. Maria said to him not to be so concerned that he will look bad in Pamela's eyes because he already looks bad to the associates, which is worse. Maria then offers to call Pamela herself but Joe declines as he knows that would be worse for him. Maria then told Joe that once he had done all the above, to send Ramon to the HR office so Maria could check to make sure all was handled correctly. As Joe stood up to leave, Maria said that if he didn't start complying with the rules for performance appraisals, she would come after him and while looking Joe squarely in the eyes, said, "Do you understand me?" Joe then departed with a snarl on his face. After Joe departs the HR office, Maria tells you to go see Ramon and let him know things are being taken care of by Joe After Joe departs the HR office, Maria tells you to go see Ramon and let him know things are being taken care of by Joe and for Ramon to come see Maria after he meets with Joe. You leave the office while Maria mentions to you that you must get tough with the guys sometimes and now you will know how to handle situations like this one
