Power to the People Final

8/4/2019 Power to the People Final

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Title Power to the People; The study of the factors concerningMotivation at The Goa Marriott Resort & Spa

Authors

Shashibhushan B N (2011233)Goa Institute of Management (GIM),E mail- [email protected]

Shawn Menezes (2011234)Goa Institute of Management (GIM),E mail- [email protected]

Shreya Goel (2011235)Goa Institute of Management (GIM),E mail- [email protected]

Shruti Vashist (2011236)

Goa Institute of Management (GIM),E mail- [email protected]

Siddharth Goyal (2011237)Goa Institute of Management (GIM),E mail- [email protected]

Sumeet Raina (2011238)Goa Institute of Management (GIM),E mail- [email protected]

Sushant Gupta (2011239)

Goa Institute of Management (GIM),E mail- [email protected]

Abstract:-

At the beginning of the year 2011, the world came out of the shadows of deeprecession, the economy was steadily picking up and those thoughts of, Lets gosomewhere for some R & R were just beginning to enter the minds of thepeople. People were beginning to travel & visit places and apart from benefitingthe transport industry, it also benefited the hospitality industry. The Hotels inGoa were also gearing up for this new influx of travelers. The Goa MarriottResort & Spa opened the doors of opportunity with the renovation of their

property. The employees and the staff were the key to convert this opportunityinto a success. The Hotel realized that they need their entire team to be at theirbest in order to provide the best service to the guest and that can be onlyaccomplished if their employees are enthusiastic & excited about what they do& about doing it for the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa.

This case gives an insight into the policies and programs implemented by GoaMarriott Resort & Spa to enhance the motivational level of the employees,
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through the eyes of one of their housekeepers, Mr. David Lobo*. The case alsodescribes the initiatives by the hotel taken to ensure that the staff provides thehighest quality service to the customers which is synonymous with what thebrand Marriott stands for.(*Mr. David Lobo is a purely fictional character)

The Venue: The Goa Marriott Resort & Spa

Its Monday morning, the 2nd of May 2011, and David was back at his routineafter a restful Sunday. He was happy to come to work & thought to himself howgreat it was to work in The Goa Marriott Resort & Spa. He mused to himself,This hotel is among the premier 5-star hotels in Goa. They have recentlyrevamped their lobby with modern amenities, functional seating and food &beverage options that will inspire any guest to engage, relax, work and play.The hotel has 180 newly renovated rooms with picturesque views of theexpansive bay (Exhibit 1) and well-maintained gardens which are designed tomeet every need of the leisure or business traveler. The dining facilities includea revolutionary transition lounge, outdoor dining at their specialty barbequerestaurant and 24-hour in-room dining. With 9,149 sq ft of fully refurbishedbanqueting and conferencing spaces, celebrating weddings or organizing animportant event is an attractive proposition. What a place to work in. It is awell-accepted fact that this hotel has set the standard in Goa for impeccableservice and it continues to endeavor to be at the forefront of the hospitalityservice. He smiled to himself & said, This May is going to be awesome._______________________________________________________________________________

As always, our associates are the key to our success. You exemplify Marriottsenduring spirit to serve culture. Thank you for your loyalty, your dedication, and for all

you do to make our guests feel welcome wherever their journey may take them!!

- J.W. Marriott Jr.Chairman of the Board & CEO

Essence of Motivation

Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes us to act. It involves thebiological, emotional, social and cognitive forces that activate behavior.

There are three major components to motivation: activation, persistence andintensity. Activation involves the decision to initiate a behavior. Persistence isthe continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist. Finally,intensity can be seen in the concentration and vigor that goes into pursuing agoal.

Different types of motivation are frequently described as being either extrinsicor intrinsic. Extrinsic motivations are those that arise from outside of theindividual and often involve rewards such as trophies, money, social recognitionor praise. Intrinsic motivations are those that arise from within the individual,such as doing a complicated cross-word puzzle purely for the personalgratification of solving a problem.


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Workers in any organization need something to keep them working. Most timesthe salary of the employee is enough to keep him or her working for anorganization. However, sometimes just working for salary is not enough foremployees to stay at an organization. An employee must be motivated to workfor a company or organization. If no motivation is present in an employee, thenthat employees quality of work or all work in general will deteriorate.When motivating an audience, you can use general motivational strategies orspecific motivational appeals. General motivational strategies include soft sellversus hard sell and personality type. Soft sell strategies have logical appeals,emotional appeals, advice and praise. Hard sell strategies have barter,outnumbering, pressure and rank. Also, you can consider basing your strategyon your audience personality. Specific motivational appeals focus on provablefacts, feelings, right and wrong, audience rewards and audience threats.

Motivation in the Hospitality Industry

The characteristic of employees in hospitality industry is a pleasing personalityand good communication skills. People are the center of this type of businessand it is pleasing and satisfying a variety of their needs that is the utmostconcern. But since human beings are complex, this industry must employknowledgeable service crews who understand and know about the differenttypes of personalities of clients and their different needs. The main concernthen of the managers of hospitality industry is not only to improve service, butalso how to motivate employees to make them flexible, pleasant all the timeand able to manage the stresses of the service industry capably.

Let us now get back to David & learn more about the methods employed by theGoa Marriott Resort & Spa

The Models & their Catwalk: The Houses & their Events

David was a proud member of the Titans. In the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa, theemployees are divided into 4 house; Kings, Vikings, Warriors and Titans. Wehave a good thing going here. Every month is dedicated to one of the houses.The House has to organize cultural events, sports events and host one speciallunch for the other houses. For this special lunch, all of us house-members haveto organize the lunch right from assisting with preparing the dishes to servingthe same, setting the Dcor & cleaning the premises. David has a specialaffection for the group of Titans. Not only are his best friends Marcus & Trevor init, but also Remember the Titans is one of his favorite movies. That was by far

one of the best movies & I cant help but get charged up after watching it.

The competitions usually organized by each of the houses include, FootyFever (Football), Minute to Win it, Best out of Waste & Dodgeball. Thewinners of these events are given points for their efforts & at the end of theyear; the house with the maximum number of points wins the rollingtrophy.We are currently sitting second but Im quietly confident that well getthere.


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David is talking about the Associate Appreciation Week (AAW). This time itsfrom the 18th to the 24th May & I am really looking forward to it. The events thathappen over a week are simply amazing. In fact, I better head to the noticeboard to check if its already put up.(Exhibit 3)

The euphoria around AAW is built by starting the event Countdown to AAWwhich typically includes HR team wearing COUNT DOWN TO AAW T-shirts,posters are displayed in all departments and corridors and the Heart of House(auditorium) is decorated 2 days before. David wished, I hope I can helpdecorate the place. Its like decorating your home for Christmas!

The Theme: Spirit to Serve

In this hotel, all of us are drilled with the Spirit to Serve. Its a philosophy thatMr. J.W Marriott wanted us to work & is practiced around the world. Its uniqueto this hotel & I havent seen a philosophy being taken up so passionately inany of my previous jobs than I have in this one, recalled David .The philosophyof Spirit to Serve, that is of putting employees first, is particularly important inthe hospitality industry because the Marriott is in the people business, not justthe service business. Customers are not just affected by the tangible parts ofthe business but by the intangibles as well. Employees provide the human touchcomponent of the services offered by any hospitality industry. If the people whoare responsible for supplying that human touch are unhappy, tired, stressed,poorly trained, or otherwise distracted, they're probably not going to do a good

job. On the flip side, if employees are content, confident, and generally happywith themselves and the job, their positive attitude will be felt in everythingthey do and they are likely to perform at their best as well. We can see thedifference for ourselves and the hotel takes great pain to see that we are notonly well trained but that we are well motivated as well.

The Goa Marriott Resort & Spa are proud to organize the AAW and noted beloware their goals & objectives for this program:

Building on Marriott's enduring culture of recognition and pride, thisspecial celebration pays tribute to all associates for their dedication,commitment and outstanding service.

It also allows the hotel to be better members of the many globalcommunities we touch, whether we are addressing the issues ofeducation, inclusion, employment, poverty, the wellbeing of children,creating a healthier planet or basic human rights.

Giving associates the opportunity to serve their local community withtheir time and talents.

Existing efforts at our hotels and business units to promote and celebratediversity and inclusion


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This is a very special week for the people here at the Marriott. It's theirAssociate Appreciation Week when they thank their associates for alltheir hard work throughout the year

Marriott feels that they have a special responsibility and role to play inhelping their communities thrive. They want every Marriott community to

be a better place to live and work because they are there.

David was also very proud of the fact that The Goa Marriott Resort & Spaactively ties-up with Caritas-Goa, Tivim, which deals with caring for children withHIV. The hotel takes care of the food rations up to a value of INR 10,000. Itfeels good to give back to society.This clearly shows that the Spirit to Serve isnot only restricted to the Marriotts properties but to society as well.

The Fillers: Other monthly events & initiatives

David woke up on Friday the 6th. Its Fun Friday and todays my turn to

represent the Titans!!Every Friday, the house of the month organizes small games along the lines ofthe Minute to win it series. These events are conducted during tea-time & thewinners get cakes, pastries, etc as prizes.When 4 pm came, David stepped up to play the game. This month is dedicatedto the Vikings and they organized a game of throwing pencils into glasses as theMinute to Win it event for Fun Friday. David did his best but only managesecond place. Aw well.. As long as we have gained points on the Kings, none ofthe others has a realistic chance of catching us. Weve got our eyes on the big

picture & we are much closer to winning the trophyDavid trie to consolehimself. He felt let down by the fact that they could not get the treats that theWarriors had won that day.

Over Lunch the next day, David & his pals planned on the teams approachtoward the big week. They also reminisced about last years OctoberAppreciation. Every October, the housekeeping division of the Goa MarriottResort & Spa are given special appreciation for their role in the organization.

The members of this division are responsible for cleaning the rooms, restrooms,etc. and these jobs are routine & considered mundane. However, they are veryimportant for the smooth functioning of the Hotel. Hence the hotel makes thismonth extra special for this workforce.I bet this week will trump that month forsure, David thought aloud.

This month, the Vikings set the 11th of May as the Smile Day. This time David

was caught unaware that the smile day was this day but he was ready asalways. David was optimistic. I always win a badge & Im sure Ill get onetoday. Hope most of us Titans do so that we can grab more points than theothers. Every month, the house thats in charge holds a Smile Day whereinbadges are awarded to the employees and associates who are smiling &cheerful throughout the day. This day is not fixed & is one the most innovativeinitiatives by the Hotel.


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At the end of the day, David did get the badge he coveted but unfortunately,the Titans didnt gain much ground. We are a pretty close-knit team & all of uswant the big trophy. This brings us together & I enjoy working with mycolleagues on the job. Even if someone is not in my house but is part of myteam, the friendly banter we have during our rounds makes work interesting.Thats why number one is so important for us. We want those bragging rights.

On the 15th of May, David had his moment. He had been walking through one ofthe corridors when an elderly guest requested his assistance to take him to thelobby. In keeping with the Spirit to Serve, David went beyond his call of duty anassisted the gentleman. He even the assisted the gentleman in boarding thevan that was waiting outside. On hearing of what happened, Davids managerrushed to the lobby & gave David a Moment. Moments is another innovativeprogram and works along the lines of instant recognition. Here, managers areempowered to reward those employees who go that extra mile to satisfy theneeds or demands of the guests. This award is handed over at the immediatecompletion of the task & is meant to motivate the employees to go beyond thecall of duty to serve the guests. A voucher is handed to the employee thathe/she can redeem for food, pastries, etc. David was super excited. Hope thisis a sign that all will go well for us next week.

The Showstopper: Associate Appreciation Week

18th of May finally arrived and everyone including David is super excited. All ofthe staff has a smile on their face & are anticipating an awesome event.Theres a spring in everyones step. Teams have even rehearsed for some ofthe events and we are looking forward to it like we did a cultural event back inschool or college.

AAW is an annual event which is organized in the month of May to make the

employees and the staff feel empowered. Each year the Marriott hotel marksthe anniversary of its founding, May 20th, by setting aside a week to expressappreciation to their worldwide family of associates. Building on Marriott'senduring culture of recognition and pride, this special celebration pays tribute toall associates for their dedication, commitment and outstanding service.

Day 1David and the rest of the staff move into the hall. Everybody entered with asmile on their face. The HR team had done a wonderful job with the dcor & theshack theme was clearly visible. The people entered & were greeted by thebrass band that played the tune from Bridge over the River Kwai as they

walked in.

After a quick welcome, the department decoration contest commenced & allrushed to touch up their respective departments. There was a lot of team workinvolved and the departments were cleaned & decorated in the run up to the18th. Decorating our own departments gives us a sense of identity with it. This

place is after all, our second home.said David.


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After the judges walked through the departments, lunch was served andeveryone sat down & interacted with each other. Following lunch, the staffproceeded to play Just a Minute game. David represented his team & they wonfirst place.

Day 2 The next day involved a social initiative in which the associates of Marriotvisited Caritas-Goa, an NGO dedicated towards the upliftment of HIV infectedchildren and took them to the Goa Science Center.

Then it was time for a movie. An interactive show on astronomy was conductedin the mini planetarium where the night sky can be simulated in an inflatabledome to know the star patterns. David was super excited to see such anenvironment. Work would be more like fun and enjoyable in such anatmosphere.chuckled David

Later in the day associates distributed jute bags in the local residential area andmade them aware about the health hazards and pollution created by plasticbags. At the end of the day David was felt content having done somethingtowards making this planet a cleaner place.

Day 33rd day witnessed a cultural event which included various competitions betweendifferent houses. The event commenced with a cultural dress competition. Theplace resembled mini-India when all the associates came dressed in their ethnicattire.Although we are in Goa but it feels like we are touring different states. Itfeels like I have seen Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujrat at one go. Hope I get to tourIndia someday.said DavidAfter such a colorful display of ethnic wear, another competition awaited theassociates i.e. the Rangoli competition. All the houses had a great timedisplaying their creativity on the floor. Vikings were declared winners. The dayconcluded with a group photo in Hotel lawns.

We have to do better! Come on Titans!! exclaimed David Lobo.

Day 4A mega sports event was organized on day 4 between the houses. David beinga sports enthusiast was very excited about the event. Day started with aVolleyball game between teams representing all the 4 houses. All the teamswere good but the Kings had the strongest team. The games went on for quite along time and to everybodys surprise Davids team, the Titans, won theirgames. The hard work and enthusiasm shown by the Titans paid off. David Lobowas now content with his performance and he congratulated his team for thegood performance. Then came the time for tele-games on beach. Pani Purieating competition was scheduled last. People who participated had not eaten

much to take part in the competition. Now they could eat their favorite dish asmuch as they can without even paying. Pani Puri eating competition was thebest thing to happen. We ate around 50 puris which were a record and we won

yet another competition. Things just could not be better.sighed David.

Day 5On the 5th day, families of all the Associates were personally invited to spend aday at the resort.It was a great experience to interact with the families of your


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colleagues. This way you get to understand them better. Food and Gamesstalls were set up in the resort. Apart from this, an Antakshari competition wasconducted between different houses and a fancy dress competition wasconducted for the children. When a mother or a wife sees what his son orhusband is doing or the place where he is working, the motivation and thewillingness to give more than 100% increases automatically. To see children

participate in my office was a refreshing change.smiled David.Also the local NGO was invited to put up stalls and all the money generatedthrough sale of goods went to the NGO.

Day 6The last day of the week came to soon for David & his friends. A stage night wasorganized which included the highly anticipated fashion show. Associateswalked down the ramp with lan. Then there was a group dance competitionbetween different houses. It gave an opportunity to the people who could notshowcase their talent till now. Many of them had been rehearsing for days.Everyone tried their best to make the most out of this opportunity. Theaudience cheered for David and his team while they performed the Salsa onstage. They won the competition & the Titans moved to the lead of thestandings.

Finally a prize distribution ceremony was organized for various winners ofcompetitions held during the week. David & his team of Titans won the covetedrolling trophy. We did it!! He screamed.

The Judges Ratings: What difference this made to the Customer

David strongly felt that the AAW had a huge impact on everybody at the Hotel.

There is a definite change in the atmosphere in the workplace & one can feel adifferent buzz in the cafeteria.David's feelings were supported by an associate survey which is carried outafter the month to measure the effectiveness of all the initiatives of the GoaMarriott Resort & Spa. The results pertaining to the Customer Satisfaction areshown in Table 1.

It is clear that the ratings have dipped towards the month of May but improveddrastically after the motivational program that is conducted after the end ofMay.

Going Forward

It appears that the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa is not only geared up in terms ofinfrastructure to cater to the growing influx of customers but also in terms ofhaving a motivated team to serve them. David recalled what Harry S. Trumanonce said, I found that the men & women who got to the top were those whodid their jobs they had in hand, and with everything they had of energy andenthusiasm and hard work. After witnessing the intensity with which everyone


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has competed over the past year & especially the past week, David is confidentthat the employees are fired up to give their best when they come in to workevery day. Its imperative that the employees of the Goa Marriott Resort & Spastrive to do their best in their own interest as well as that of the Hotel. Each &every employee looks forward to come to work every day as they are chargedto give their best to serve not only their Houses, but the Hotel that housesthem. The Hotel can look forward to an optimistic future knowing full well thatthey have a motivated team to deal with the challenges that lie ahead. David &his fellow house members waiting for June to begin defense of their trophy.

Table 1

April May JuneCustomer

Satisfaction: Overall76.7 75.8 89.5

Customer

Satisfaction: StaffService

70 71.9 89.5

Exhibit 1: Goa Marriott Resort & SPA with view of magnificent ocean

Exhibit 2: Lobby of GMR


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Exhibit 3: Association Appreciation Week Print Ad


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Exhibit 4: Schedules of Associate Appreciation Week

Documents

Power to the People Final