CAN YOU GIVE ME THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THIS RESEARCH PAPER ? INTRODUCTION

Sofitel Hotels and Resorts is a 5-star luxury accommodation with more than 120 properties located in over 40 countries and more over 300,000 employees worldwide. One of its hotels is built in Sydney, which is known as Sofitel Sydney Wentworth. The Sofitel Sydney Wentworth hotel is situated in the heart of Sydney's central business district and shopping district at Phillip Street, Sydney New South Wales 2000 Australia. The Lend Lease Corporation, an Australian property development, built the company in the early 1960s. The hotel opened in 1966 as the largest hotel in the southern hemisphere. In 1999, the hotel was acquired by the French hotel group AccorHotels (formerly known as Accor) founded by Paul Dubrule and Grard Plisson, and rebranded it as the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth. (Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, n.d.).

The hotel offers a diverse range of employment opportunities for individuals interested in a career in the hospitality industry across various departments, including management, maintenance and engineering, sales and marketing, front desk staff,

housekeeping, as well as restaurant and bar personnel (Accor, 2023). Furthermore, Sofitel hotels offer competitive compensation packages, including health and wellness benefits, retirement plans, and discounts on hotel stays and other

services for its permanent employees. Third-party recruitment agencies on the other hand handles and employs casual employees.

1. DISCUSSION OF PROBLEM
   1. Low levels of motivation

The luxury accommodation is mainly criticised for its job allocation decisions regarding the unpredictable and abrupt work schedule, imbalance shift rosters, stay back, and weekend night time workday. In addition, the pressure to perform task in a timely and pristine manner are often not met due to the high expectations the leaders impose and demands. Staffs concerns and complains are held back due to the fear of being unheard or unnoticed, embarrassment, and retaliation which can result to fewer shifts to be given and/or lack of consideration with shift plotting. As a result, job dissatisfaction among employees are observed with the reoccurring misunderstandings, disputes, and lack of confidence in job performance. This affects the employee morale, customer satisfaction, and company performance to suffer.

This problem is identified as a result of inefficient and ineffective communication and leadership. Communication problems in the workplacesignificantly impact the performance of the organisation's performance. The hotel's communication problems manifest in several observable or measurable symptoms that affects the organisation's bottom line and reputation (Eid and Agag, 2020). Sofitel faces the consequences enumerated below.

One symptom of communication problems is low levels of motivation among employees. When employees feel that their managers do not communicate with them openly and honestly, it can lead to a lack of trust and engagement (Silvana, 2022). Employees may feel disconnected from the organisation and need to see the value in their work, resulting in lower motivation and productivity levels.

1. High employee turnover

This symptom of communication problem is high employee turnover. When employees do not feel that their concerns are being heard or are not being kept informed about important decisions and changes, they may become frustrated and seek opportunities elsewhere (Blagoev et al., 2019). High turnover rates can be costly for Sofitel's management, resulting in the loss of skilled workers, decreased productivity, and increased recruitment and training costs.

1. Deterioration of service quality

Misunderstandings and disagreements between managers and employees can limit collaboration and teamwork (Mete and Skmen, 2019). This can lead to a decrease in the quality of service provided to customers, resulting in increased customer complaints and negatively impacting the Sofitel's management reputation.

1. Dysfunctional groups

Communication can lead to a lack of teamwork and collaboration among employees, resulting in dysfunctional groups that struggle to work together effectively (Camelia et al., 2019). This can lead Sofitel's management to decreased productivity, increased conflict, and a negative impact on employee morale.

1. Hostile organisational culture

An observed symptom of a culture of secrecy, mistrust, and silos built, hurts employee morale and productivity (Soliman and Hasanein, 2020). A toxic organisational culture also impacts the hotel's reputation which impacts the recruitment ability and employee retention rate.

1. INTERVENTIONS

To address the challenges of the luxury accommodation, different models are explored and discussed. In Sofitel, communication is critical for effective organisational behaviour, while leadership is essential for setting the tone for the organisation's culture through proper dissemination of information and collaboration.

1. Communication Models: Shannon-Weaver, and Johari Window

One of the primary communication models that can be applied to Sofitel's management is the Shannon-Weaver model. This model proposes that communication involves the transmission of a message from a sender to a receiver, through a channel, with the potential for noise or interference (Silvana, 2022). The Shannon-Weaver model highlights the importance of clear and concise communication to reduce the potential for noise and interference. It is imperative to ensure that communication channels are clear, and messages are conveyed accurately to the intended recipients. This can involve establishing formal communication channels, such as regular meetings and email communication, and informal media, such as watercooler conversations and feedback mechanisms (Soliman and Hasanein, 2020).

Second communication model that can be applied is the Johari Window. The Johari Window is a tool used to help people to better understand their relationships with others. The model consists of four quadrants: the open area, the blind spot, the hidden room, and the unknown place. Individuals can improve their communication and relationships with others by increasing the available space and reducing the remote and unexplored regions (Basnyat and Clarence Lao, 2020). This tool can be applied to improve communication between employees and managers. Upon increasing the open area, employees can share their thoughts and ideas with their managers, reducing misunderstandings and conflicts (Basnyat and Clarence Lao, 2020). Similarly, managers can reduce the hidden and unknown areas by sharing more information with their employees, promoting transparency and trust within the organization.

1. Leadership Models: Transformation, and Situational

Moving forward to leadership, one leadership model is transformational. Transformational leaders inspire and motivate followers to reach their most significant potential and achieve a common objective. Leaders can foster teamwork and transparency by encouraging and motivating employees (Camelia, et al., 2019). Transformational leaders empower people through distributing equal duties and offering professional growth in order to boosts job satisfaction and motivation.

Furthermore, situational leadership concept can be adapted as the best leadership style depends on the situation. Leaders must adapt to their followers' demands and the situation. Managers may need to be more directive with new hires to set expectations, and managers may delegate duties to experienced, self-motivated workers (Camelia, et al., 2019).

1. RECOMMENDATION

The well-known hotel is recommended to utilise the communication and leadership models discussed. In the course of Shannon-Weaver model, accurate, punctual, and professional dialogue between the employers and employees are needed to avoid abrupt attendance requirements, under or over work, and disorganised staff schedules. It is the right of the employees to be aware of important decisions such as job schedules and demands. A number of platforms can be opted to convey and rely communication such as centralised messaging application, network calls and message, emails, video conference, as well as regular and scheduled physical meetings and interactions. Utilising the Johari-window opens the channel for understanding, and gaining information among the involved parties.

Meanwhile, exercising leadership models transform the culture and work practices in Sofitel as managers, supervisors, and team leaders including the third-party agency representatives need to learn about their employees' concerns, feedback, or to provide positive criticism in improving work performance (Soliman and J Kamel, 2021). Transformation model promotes team work and collaboration to foster morale, motivation and trust among the Sofitel's managers and leaders, and employees. While situation leadership adapts to the skills, competencies, weaknesses and strengths, current circumstances of the hotel's staffs to set appropriate and attainable standards. These two models accommodate a pleasant and productive relationship in the Sofitel workplace environment.

Additional research is recommended to understand, explain, predict and influence the hospitality industry of Sofitel.

1. CONCLUSION

The hospitality sector is commonly regarded as having unfavourable working conditions acquainted with low wages and unsatisfactory relationship culture among its members and teams. Hospitality and management researchers are becoming more interested in studying these components of employee job satisfaction as contented workers have reduced rates of absenteeism, volatility, and illness to enable them to provide higher levels of customer service.

These observations led to the following conclusions: effective communication and leadership is strongly correlated with employee satisfaction and behaviour. As a result, a sustainable workplace environment and company as a whole depend on proper people's management and their ability to properly transmit messages. When it fails to provide secured and safe working environment, or lacks support in psychological well-being, demands and needs of its employees, the hospitality business risks inadequate skilled and motivated people resources especially the industry is heavily reliant in customer services.

On top of that, the main factors influencing job satisfaction is the security of the employment, management and employee relationship, contract kinds, shifts and working hours, and proper compensation and recognition. Meeting these criteria overall reflects the reputation and credibility of the organisation to its stakeholders, and improves service performance it provides to its customers, also the ethical and professional liability it holds towards its members and staff.