Georges Hotel Employee and Labor Relations Case Study Discussion Please review the case study under the link below and provide an overview of the case and

Georges Hotel Employee and Labor Relations Case Study Discussion Please review the case study under the link below and provide an overview of the case and the HR issues that might arise based on the scenario. You will also need to answer the questions that are listed at the end of the case study under the “undergraduate” section. You DO NOT have to answer the “graduate” level questions. Your document should be approximately 3 – 4 pages in length, single spaced, and in 12 point font. Please do not forget to have a heading on your paper that includes: your name, course name, date, and title of your document. This document should be uploaded/submitted to this assignment for your instructor to review. employee and labor relations
Student Workbook
The Georges Hotel
Scenario D: Supervisors and Equal
Employment Opportunity
By Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR
Project Team
Author:
Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR
SHRM project contributor:
Bill Schaefer, SPHR, CEBS
External contributor:
Sharon H. Leonard
Copy editing:
Katya Scanlan, copy editor
Design:
Terry Biddle, senior design specialist
© 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR
Please note: All company and individual names in this case are fictional.
For more information, please contact:
SHRM Academic Initiatives
1800 Duke Street Alexandria, VA 22314 USA
+1-800-283-7476 (US only)
+1-703-535-6432 Fax
12-0843D
The Georges Hotel
The Hotel
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163 guest rooms, 65-70 employees.
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Front desk: 10 employees.
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Valet parking services: 8 employees.
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Housekeeping: 28 employees.
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Engineering and facilities maintenance: 4 employees.
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Management and administrative: 15-20 additional staff members assigned to
departments throughout the hotel, including management, office support and
sales.
The Garden Terrace Restaurant
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Approximately 35 employees.
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The restaurant is open daily from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
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In addition to restaurant dining, the restaurant provides 24-hour room service and
full catering services for meetings, conventions and other hotel events.
© 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR 1
The Georges Hotel
The Mitchell Family
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Jeff Mitchell: Chief executive officer, owner and brother of Chad.
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Chad Mitchell: Vice president of community relations, owner and brother of Jeff.
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Cindy Mitchell: Director of human resources and Chad’s wife.
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Michael Mitchell: Sales and operations associate, Chad and Cindy’s son and recent
MBA graduate.
Brandon Mitchell: Chad and Cindy’s son who is studying for a degree in culinary
arts and anticipates a career as an executive chef. Not currently on staff.
Julie Mitchell: Jeff’s daughter who is about to complete an MBA program at a
prestigious university. Not currently on staff but expects to work at the hotel after
graduation.
Dale Elsner: Catering service manager in the Garden Terrace Restaurant and
Cindy’s brother.
Numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends of the family are employed
throughout the hotel.
2 © 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR
The Georges Hotel
Organizational Chart
Chad Mitchell
VP, community
relations
Jeff Mitchell
CEO
Cindy Mitchell
director, human
resources
General manager
Assistant general
manager
Controller
Director, sales and
marketing
Front office
manager
Housekeeping
manager
Chief engineer
Front desk agents
Reservationists
Concierges
Room attendants
Room inspectors
Laundry employees
Maintenance
employees
Sales managers
Sales associates
Valet supervisor
Valet employees
The Garden Terrace Restaurant
Organizational Chart
Chad Mitchell
VP, community
relations
Jeff Mitchell
CEO
Cindy Mitchell
director, human
resources
David Chang
general manager
Executive chef
Shift supervisors
Cooks and
kitchen staff
Service staff
Food servers
Hostess
Bussers
Dale Elsner
manager, catering
Catering associates
© 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR 3
The Georges Hotel
The Case
The Georges Hotel is a small European-style boutique hotel located along the
Magnificent Mile in Chicago. It is co-owned by two brothers, Jeff and Chad
Mitchell. The brothers grew up in the hospitality business; they were raised at the
roadside motel their parents owned in the 1960s. Even as a child, Jeff loved the
hospitality business. As soon as he was old enough, he worked side by side with his
father and was happiest when greeting guests at the front desk and showing them to
their rooms. He even enjoyed the less glamorous work and did not mind being asked
to sweep the parking lot or to clean a room when housekeeping was short-staffed. It
didn’t matter what he did as long as it was motel work. He never tired of the guests,
no matter how cranky they were on arrival. Jeff always greeted them warmly and
was there again in the early morning to wish them bon voyage when they packed up
their cars and drove away. Today Jeff is chief executive officer of the Georges Hotel.
He makes most of the decisions and manages the hotel’s day-to-day operations from
his corner office on the top floor.
Chad is the younger Mitchell brother. He had no interest in working at the motel as
a child, and he remains the same as an adult. Chad is vice president of community
relations at the hotel, and he too has a top floor corner office. He still has little
interest in the hotel business, though. He spends most of his time playing golf.
When Chicago’s weather precludes golfing, he jets off to his favorite courses in
Florida and Arizona or to his second home in Palm Springs, leaving his wife, Cindy,
to monitor his interests in the partnership. Cindy has no interest in golf, hates the
hot climate of Palm Springs and greatly prefers her work at the hotel.
Cindy is the director of human resources. She has been a working member of the
management team since the brothers bought the run-down hotel and renovated it to
create the Georges. Although Cindy had no management or HR experience before
her work at the Georges, she is a natural leader. She is personable, well respected by
the staff and is an asset to Jeff in the day-to-day management of the hotel. In many
ways, it’s the perfect situation for all three Mitchells. Cindy loves her work, and
her management role enables Chad to shun the office and remain nearly guilt-free
while jetting from one golf course to another, and Jeff is not burdened by Chad’s
disinterest in the hotel. Instead, he has an excellent partner in Cindy, with whom he
often consults on difficult decisions.
The next generation of Mitchells is already being groomed to take over when the
time comes. Jeff’s daughter, Julie, is nearly finished with an MBA program. She will
start in sales and marketing after graduation and then move on to gain experience in
operations and general management. Jeff wants her to have a solid background in all
aspects of managing the hotel so she is fully prepared to assume the responsibilities
of CEO when he retires.
Chad and Cindy have two sons, Michael and Brandon. Michael graduated with
honors in his MBA program and is now a sales and operations associate at the hotel.
Brandon is currently enrolled in a culinary arts program. He loves the creativity
4 © 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR
and hands-on aspect of cooking, and Cindy doesn’t expect they will get him out of
the kitchen and into management. She and Chad anticipate that Michael will be the
future CEO of the Georges Hotel.
Family relationships at the hotel include more than just the immediate family.
Although Jeff has been divorced since his daughter, Julie, was five years old, Julie’s
mother came from a large family. There is an extensive network of nieces and
nephews—all of whom are Julie’s cousins—employed throughout the hotel. The
same is true for Chad and Cindy’s family. Cindy’s brother, Dale, is the catering
services manager, and a number of Cindy’s cousins and children of friends are
employed at the hotel.
These family connections at the hotel occurred spontaneously because Cindy always
preferred to hire by referral. As a result, many employees brought in family members
as new hires. Cindy and Jeff believe that family connections among employees
benefit the hotel. When jobs are available, Cindy continues to hire by referral,
reminding employees that family connections are valued and not frowned on. Family
and employees are so important that when Jeff, Chad and Cindy wrote the hotel’s
mission statement, they agreed to equally emphasize hotel guests and employees.
The hotel’s mission promises guests exemplary service and a memorable hotel
experience. For employees, it promises a superior work environment and continued
support for a satisfying career.
To foster the family atmosphere, staff members are encouraged to invite family
members to lunch. Families are always included in summer picnics and holiday
parties that are hosted by the hotel. Employees post their children’s pictures
and announcements of new babies, graduations, weddings and other family
accomplishments on the bulletin board in the break room. Cindy and Jeff try to
remember the names and relationships of staff members so they can personally
congratulate parents on their children’s accomplishments.
The hotel has done well financially in spite of the expense of renovating the original
structure. The hotel was generating a profit within two years of opening, and it
continues to be profitable with a high occupancy rate and a solid reputation as a
desirable convention venue. Jeff believes it is now time to build on that success and
expand to a second Georges Hotel. He has had his eye on another run-down hotel
near the riverfront section of Chicago for several years. It closed years ago and has
been abandoned and boarded up while a lengthy court battle ensued over ownership
rights and bankruptcy. The legal cloud finally lifted after years of litigation; as the
current owner, the bank is looking for a solid buyer. With the Georges’ history of
successful renovation and with current interest rates at historic lows, Jeff believes the
time is right for a second Georges Hotel in Chicago. When the second hotel is up
and running, he wants to move on to a third. And then, who knows? Jeff envisions a
chain of Georges Hotels in major cities across the United States.
As exciting as the possibilities are, Cindy believes that to ensure their success as
a multiunit organization, they need more structured management and employee
policies than they currently have. The HR department has primarily been an
© 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR 5
administrative agency, and there hasn’t been much need for things to be otherwise.
There is no employee handbook, little formal policy structure, no employee
complaint procedure and very little supervisor training. Cindy anticipates that a
larger hotel organization will require a far more strategic HR department than she
currently manages.
Nepotism has worked well for staffing the current hotel, but Cindy recognizes
the downsides to hiring friends and family and knows it will not be adequate for
staffing a multiunit organization. For example, there is an assumption among some
employees that if you are a close friend or are related to a supervisor or a manager,
you have a job at the hotel for life. Consequently, some employees do as little as
possible with no repercussions, and supervisors are reluctant to discipline employees
because they are probably someone’s family member or good friend. There are also
attendance problems, but everyone protects their friends and family, and employees
have little accountability for performance. Cindy wants to resolve these employee
issues before opening a second hotel. At the same time, she wants to ensure that
the implementation of new policies will not diminish the positive aspects of family
that are inherent in the organizational culture of the hotel—values she believes have
contributed significantly to the success of the organization.
In Cindy Mitchell’s Office
Cindy picked up her phone and punched in the number for Jeff’s administrative
assistant. She is calling to schedule a meeting with Jeff for later in the week. She
has drafted some policy changes she believes are necessary for the new larger
organization, and she wants to share them with Jeff.
“Jeff loves construction,” Cindy thought to herself while she waited for the
administrative assistant to answer. “I remember when we built the first hotel. He got
so caught up in the building process that he forgot about the management structure
needed to successfully operate the facility after it was completed. Adding a second
hotel is a huge challenge and the perfect opportunity to solidify our management
processes so we can replicate it to additional hotels as we add to the Georges. I’m
excited to get started.”
6 © 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR
The Georges Hotel
SCENARIO D
Players:
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Cindy Mitchell, director of HR
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Howard, engineering manager.
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Dale Elsner, catering services manager in the Garden Terrace Restaurant and
Cindy’s brother.
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David, catering employee.
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Marie, catering employee.
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Lindsey, catering employee.
Cindy has a number of employee issues she wants to discuss with Jeff when they
meet later in the week. She has often suspected that there is occasional inappropriate
behavior among supervisors at the Georges Hotel, but employees have not come
forward with complaints. There is not much she can do without concrete evidence.
She knows that a manager in sales is a bit of a tyrant. She has seen his behavior in
meetings, and she has heard him humiliate his staff in public and call their work
“trash” when it’s not to his liking. When she talked to him about it, he was proud of
his behavior. “I’m a tough boss,” he said. “That’s how I get results.”
An engineering employee recently resigned from the organization quite suddenly.
When Cindy met with him to deliver his final paycheck and to complete some
documentation, she asked him why he was leaving. He gave her the answer she
expected. Employees who left the hotel always cited family issues or a job offer in
another town that was closer to relatives. But this time, in addition to the standard
excuse, the employee made an offhand remark: “Everyone knows it’s impossible to
work for Howard.” Howard is the engineering manager at the hotel. When Cindy
asked for more information about his remark, he brushed it off.
“Oh, I didn’t mean anything,” he said. “My new job is with my wife’s brother. You
know, a family business. I have to be there.” Cindy said she understood, but when
she tried again for more information, he wouldn’t say anything.
This is not the first time she has had an inkling of problems. As she stepped into
the elevator with two kitchen employees this morning, she overheard a snippet of
conversation about “bear-hug Dale,” but the conversation suddenly ended when
the elevator doors closed behind her. I know what that’s all about, Cindy thought
to herself as the elevator stopped on the third floor and the doors opened. Dale is
the catering manager at the Garden Terrace Restaurant and Cindy’s brother. Cindy
knows Dale is a teaser—she was the recipient of his teasing as a child. Unfortunately,
Dale’s teasing continued into adulthood. He teases the young nieces and nephews at
family gatherings, and nieces especially are recipients of Dale’s bear hugs. “But that’s
just Dale,” Cindy thought as she stepped out of the elevator. “Everyone in the family
© 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR 7
knows it means nothing but affection. Dale should know better when he is at work,
though. I need to talk to him.”
Cindy sees Dale’s behavior as professional and appropriate in management
meetings. She would be surprised, though, if she spent an afternoon in the catering
department.
In Catering
Marie and David are the newest employees on Dale’s staff. Dale thought he was
giving a compliment when he put his arm around Marie and told her that she had
good potential. “You could make something of yourself,” he said, “if you’d lay
off those tortillas and move your rear a little faster.” He gave her a little squeeze
before she got loose and hurried away to the ladies’ room. Dale also had a habit
of accidentally bumping into female employees and then leaning on them as he
regained his balance.
As bad as it was for the women, it was not much better for the men. He called young
men on his staff “ladies.” Dale thought it was particularly funny to tease David, who
was young and blushed easily. He never called David by name but instead addressed
him with “hey sweetheart” in a singsong voice. When David complained to some of
the older employees, they said it was just Dale’s way and because he was related to
the owners, there was no higher up to complain to. Nothing could be done. A longtime employee said to David, “Just hang in there. I’ve seen this before. Eventually
he’ll find someone else to pick on and then he’ll lighten up on you.” For most
catering employees, a good day was when Dale played golf with Chad.
Although the employees were not complaining to Cindy, they were complaining.
There have been two equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaints filed against
the Georges Hotel. The most recent was filed by Lindsey, a new employee in Dale’s
department.
Dale was furious when Cindy told him about the EEO complaint. Cindy thought
she had calmed him down and had the situation under control, but the next
morning Dale fired Lindsey and then called Cindy to explain. After several minutes
of listening to his tirade about Lindsey’s poor performance and his justification for
firing her, Cindy settled him down, scheduled a meeting with him for later in the
afternoon and hung up the phone. She sighed and shook her head. Regardless of
whether this was her brother or any other employee, she needed to resolve the issue
quickly.
8 © 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR
Scenario D: Questions for Undergraduate Students
Cindy was concerned about the EEO complaints filed against the hotel. She will be
meeting with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) representatives
in a few weeks, and she wants to have the employee issues resolved as much as
possible before the meeting. She wants to establish a process that will reduce the
likelihood of future EEO complaints.
■■
What should Cindy do about Lindsey’s termination?
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How should the organization manage the current EEO complaints?
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How can they reduce the likelihood of future complaints?
© 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR 9
Scenario D: Questions for Graduate Students
Cindy has decided to address the inappropriate behavior of some supervisors. She
is not interested in a quick fix or a simple warning to Dale. She wants a policy that
can be applied consistently and that can be implemented at other locations when
the hotel becomes a multiunit organization. She recognizes that a good system
must address both sides of the issue. She wants a performance management system
that will improve the supervisors’ behavior and will provide an effective process to
manage employee complaints.
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What should be included in Cindy’s performance management plan for supervisors?
Design an employee complaint procedure that protects employee rights and is
supported by supervisors and staff.
How can the performance management system and the employee complaint
procedure be designed to enhance the organization’s strategic mission of quality
service for guests and support for employees?
10 © 2013 Society for Human Resource Management. Myrna L. Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR
If you are not a SHRM member and would like to become one, please visit
http://www.shrm.org/about/membership/pages/default.aspx.
1800 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-3499

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