Essay Example on UK Tourism: Booming Hospitality Industry Generates 100 Billion Euros

Introduction

The United Kingdom is a significant tourist destination, and the country's hospitality industry has significantly grown over the years. In 2018 alone, the revenue generated from hospitality alone was more than 100 billion Euros, and the industry continues to expand to accommodate the future influx of visitors from different parts of the world (Walker, 2012). With the increasing number of hotels in the state, many job opportunities have been created, and worker growth is approximately 10% in the United Kingdom annually (Walker, 2012). The London Imperial Hotel is a London-based amenity with a 500-bedroom capacity, and it is located in the London West End. The hotel's target market is business people and international tourists visiting the United Kingdom throughout the year. The hotel is preferred by high-end people who require top-notch services and high-efficiency standards. Regarding the human resource department, The London Imperial Hotel has approximately 450 staff who are led by six heads of departments (Walker, 2012). Some of the employees work full time and others part-time, but some outside contractors perform cleaning and laundry activities. However, various cases of employee dissatisfaction have been reported over the years leading to massive turnover and poor working culture (Hannagan & Bennett, 2007). London Imperial Hotel records high cases of negative work culture, which leads to poor employee attendance and an increased number of sick leaves from employees due to factors like stress and poor organizational leadership.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Causes of Negative Working Culture

Three significant factors lead to negative working culture, and the stress leads to physical and emotional responses when work requirements do not match the capabilities and resources give to employees. Job stress significantly impacts the health of workers, and the increased concentration of stress hormones in the blood leads to adverse outcomes (Boddy, 2008). Work-related stress can be influenced by a variety of factors like poor management, work design, lack of leadership support, and unsatisfactory working conditions. In the London Imperial Hotel's case study, Walker (2012) explains that job stress was caused by unfavorable working conditions whereby employees were not prioritized and worked for long hours.

Family-work conflict is also a significant factor that leads to a negative working culture in an organization, especially regarding job satisfaction. Many employees have pressure from their jobs and families and must balance both elements every day, especially in the hospitality industry (Walker, 2012). Family-work conflict significantly increases the number of sick leaves and absenteeism of employees, especially with the high numbers of single parents in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world (Boddy, 2008). In the case study, London Imperial Hotel recorded high absenteeism levels and many sick leaves, especially from ladies who do part-time jobs at the facility.

The other factor that significantly leads to a negative working culture is toxic and poor leadership. According to the case study, London Imperial Hotel had an authoritarian leadership style where employees were not consulted and had no say in the decisions made in the firm. Poor leaders are motivated by personal interest, and they control their subordinates instead of formulating teamwork in the organization (Hannagan & Bennett, 2007). Toxic leadership ignores the needs of workers, thus creating a negative culture.

The primary cause of a negative working culture in the London Imperial Hotel is poor leadership. Managers play a significant role in the building of a positive organizational culture. An employer's perspective can entirely change the performance and behavior of employees and cause them to act in a specific manner. It is the responsibility of the management process to improve the coordination of activities in any organization and ensure that employees' welfare is well catered for (Boddy, 2008). The leadership models and strategies employed by organizations determine the final outcome and the success of the corporate culture. A positive organizational culture leads to the improvement of employee morale, teamwork, job satisfaction, and reduces turnover. Moreover, a positive organizational culture increases customer satisfaction, and as a result, sales significantly increase.

According to the London Imperial Hotel's case study, customer satisfaction is significantly low due to several factors. The first contribution of the inadequate provision of services is attributed to past management since the mode of leadership was authoritarian and dictatorial. The authoritarian leadership mode makes it challenging for problems within the organization to be sufficiently solved. Moreover, there is ineffective communication between the management and staff (Walker, 2012). Some of the essential elements that influence a positive working culture like interpersonal skills, training and development, and IT advancement, among others, are unavailable, thus increasing the high turnover levels, poor attendance, and sick leave (Boddy, 2008). The hotel does not consider the welfare of employees who work for long hours, leading to low morale, motivation, and an unfavorable working environment makes it impossible to provide the best customer service to its clients.

According to the case study, the hotel was more focused on increasing client occupation and diverted most of its attention from its employees. The hotel's culture is performance-driven, and the management is often under high pressure to increase monthly sales through more client occupation (Tesone, 2012). The management is also tasked with ensuring that the average room rate increases to generate more profit. According to the case study, an assessment is conducted in the hotel every month, and bonuses and other remunerations are given to managers according to the sales and the general financial performance of the firm (Tesone, 2012). However, the primary hotels are dedicated to providing excellent customer service instead of increasing sales and profits, thus offering a positive working culture for their employees. According to the study, most London hotels have poor service delivery, yet they are costly as compared to other guest houses in states like Scotland, where guests are highly satisfied (Boddy, 2008).

Workers were forced to work for long hours and sometimes cover for those who were on short leave due to sickness. Poor attendance may be attributed to unfavorable working conditions, lack of training, decreased morale, and inefficient operations, among other factors. The unfavorable working conditions could also have contributed to the high rates of sick leaves in the past since working for long hours can significantly affect an individual's health (Hannagan & Bennett, 2007). The working environment under the authoritarian leadership in the past was unfavorable to employees since there was little or no consultation with the subordinates regarding various issues involving the hotel. The part-time employees also had a challenging time since they have various family commitments and other jobs to do, thus turning up for work late.

Effective Management of the Problem

The Rational Goal Model

The negative work culture issue in the London Imperial Hotel can be addressed through the application of various management models. One of the most effective management models that the hotel could use is the rational goal model, whose primary focus is the achievement of organizational goals (Foss & Saebi, 2018). The hotel's management must establish its primary goal and formulate objectives with various activities to accomplish them. The hotel's decision-makers assess the organization and compare the activities which have already been accomplished with those that are planned for in the future (Boddy, 2008). Resources should then be divided among the various sub-systems to facilitate all the activities.

According to Frederick Taylor, who developed the rational goal model, external managerial control is critical in any organization. For companies to perform and achieve success, they must set goals, speed their productivity, and generate more profit than their competitors through the maximization of output by using elements like financial incentives and technological advancements (Foss & Saebi, 2018). The primary strength of the rational goal model is that it accounts for the leadership providing structure and initiating change. As explained earlier, one of the fundamental issues that led to a negative work culture in the London Imperial Hotel is toxic leadership, which was authoritarian. Managers made all the decisions by themselves without engaging the employees, thus making it unfavorable for workers to work under undesirable conditions (Hannagan & Bennett, 2007). The hotel's leadership could apply the model to involve employees in the decision-making process and encourage workers to solve some issues in the effort to improve job satisfaction.

The firm could use the rational model to achieve its goals in various ways. Over the past years, the hotel was primarily focused on increasing monthly sales, thus overworking employees, leading to increased sick leaves and poor attendance. However, the primary focus should be on customer satisfaction, which can only be achieved through an excellent human resource (Foss & Saebi, 2018). For example, it is essential to consult employees before making decisions, ensuring that working hours are favorable, and provide incentives and bonuses based on their effort and success (Tesone, 2012). Employee morale can also be increased through training and development on the basic operations and technology used in the hotel (Boddy, 2008). Other measures include job rotation and proper communication within the organization.

The rational goal model can be divided into several sub-systems to achieve a company's goals. After the application of the model, the hotel should be able to assess the effect of its decisions, respond to necessary feedback regarding its external environment, maintain and coordinate daily activities, produce a specific output, and effectively coordinate the operations of the various sub-systems (Hannagan & Bennett, 2007).

The Internal Process Model

The internal process approach primarily entails the control within an organization by monitoring and coordinating roles and responsibilities. The model achieves efficiency through factors like information management, the maintenance of structural order, documentation control, and process measurement (Foss & Saebi, 2018). The internal process model concentrates on the roles of the management to ensure effective internal control. The primary management roles are planning, commanding, coordinating, controlling, and planning. The internal process models assist in ensuring that managers collect relevant information and maintain a firm's structure.

In the past, London Imperil Hotel had a dictatorial model of leadership whereby there was personal control of all the decision-making processes in the organization (Boddy, 2008). The primary focus was on the leaders alone, and employees were not involved in any process. The hotel can adopt a hierarchical leadership mode with different ranks of people to head departments and who can effectively coordinate employee activities.

Regarding the planning role, the hotel's future managers should establish detailed action plans to achieve specific organizational goals. For instance, to increase monthly sales, a team of managers or representatives must map out the necessar...