Challenges and Strategic Change Management for Barnacle Bay Country House Hotel

Impact of unplanned and emergent changes on the Hotel

Topic:-Barnacle Bay Country House Hotel

There are some particular staffing issues which Rita believes are symptomatic of the wider challenges that Barnacles faces:

There is far too much slack time. The staff, almost all of whom are employed on fulltime, permanent contracts, tend to be kept very active for a few hours each day when their departments are busy, but seem to spend the rest of their shifts chatting to one another and to the regular guests. This has not really changed during the pandemic, with non-furloughed staff still finding time to chat.

By contrast, when the hotel is busy (e.g.: in the summer months, at Christmas time, at weekends when it is hosting weddings and banquets – and more recently, take out for their famous Friday Curry) staff are run off their feet. Long social distanced queues develop in the restaurant and at reception. At these times the hotel appears understaffed and this is a major source of customer complaints.

Standards of cleanliness are not good enough, especially given the Health and Safety concerns of COVID. Too often guests are checked into rooms that have not been serviced sufficiently thoroughly and have to be moved when they complain. Attention to detail has also lacked during big banquets. Guests sometimes get served the wrong dishes or food which is cold. This is unacceptable given the amount of money they are paying.

Reports which Rita recently commissioned from two 'mystery shoppers' make painful reading. While the hotel scored highly for its friendliness, these guests felt that they were kept waiting too long for service and that employees were often unwilling to fulfil perfectly reasonable requests for items such as more lavatory paper, de-caffeinated coffee and a map of the locality. 'Charming but inflexible' was the verdict of one mystery shopper.

However, Rita stresses that she is very keen to introduce the changes that are necessary without damaging staff morale or their level of engagement. While becoming more responsive, flexible and professional in its approach, Barnacles must retain its reputation for friendliness along with its existing customers. Rita is also very keen to avoid losing her best staff to Peacock Hall when it starts recruiting.

Critically evaluate change management theory, strategies and tactical options including organisation development

Synthesise unplanned and planned change and organisation development approaches

Critically assess the key areas of organisational and individual resistance to change

Task requirements

Q1) What impact has unplanned and emergent changes had on the Hotel?

Q2) What guidance would you give Rita for undertaking a planned approach to change, with consideration to organisational development approaches?

Q3) What conflict might Rita face from implementing any changes?

Have you read and understood the assessment criteria?

Have you met the learning outcomes? You will lose marks and your work may even be failed if you have not.

Have you demonstrated you can think and write critically in the completed work?

Have you maintained an academic tone throughout your work? Is your work formal, focused, developed and clear?

Have you checked that the referencing in your assignment is in line with your programme requirements?

Have you proof-read your work and used spellcheck software to check your spelling and grammar?

Have you checked the presentation of your work is as specified by your tutor, for example, are font size, colour, style, line spacing and margins as the tutor specified?

Have you kept to the word count (or equivalent)? If you are not sure, check with your tutor.

Can you confirm that the work submitted is your own and not plagiarised?