Cornell Report Helps Managers Communicate More Effectively
The Key Is to Determine How Employees Receive Information
ITHACA, NY, October 5, 2005. Hotel managers spend much of their time and effort communicating with employees. That can be frustrating, however, because it's hard for a manager to tell exactly whether they have found ways to communicate that are meaningful to employees. A new tool from the Cornell University Center for Hospitality Research bridges the communication gap-so that managers can determine the best means for communicating with employees. The tool, Guide to Aligning Present Practices with Possibilities, or GAPPP, provides a questionnaire that identifies the ways in which different employee groups receive information. Developed by Cornell professors Judi Brownell, Ph.D., and Daphne Jameson, Ph.D., the GAPPP guides managers in creating the framework for an action plan, based on a set of seven questions that focus on how to analyze employees' responses to the questionnaire. The tool is available free of charge at: http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/chr/research/tools.html.
Brownell and Jameson demonstrate the specific application of the GAPPP tool, relaying the experience of hotel managers who used the tool to determine why their staff members were not understanding the hotel's quality service standards. Their analysis found distinctly different communication patterns among their employees, depending on such factors as gender and whether English was the employee's first language. Using the GAPPP findings, management was able to communicate the hotel's quality service standards in the ways that meant the most to employees.
"What we learned from the study is that organizations have many complex communication webs," said Brownell. "The problem for management is that often it's hard to determine exactly how information travels along those webs-if at all. That's where the GAPPP inventory comes in, to help managers identify the best way to communicate."
As an example, Brownell and Jameson explained that their study found that native English speakers benefited from oral explanations of service quality issues, but spoken instruction did not work well for non-native speakers. One solution to that challenge was that the hotel created templates for housekeepers to show them where amenities should be placed.
Jameson pointed to another key finding. "It turns out that there's truth in the idea of having managers 'walk the talk.' We found that the hotel's general manager was a closely watched and influential source of information about the meaning of quality service."
The GAPPP tool contains the entire employee communication questionnaire and the guiding questions that help managers interpret their employees' answers to those questions.
These and all CHR Reports and Tools are available from the Center's web site, http://www.thecenterforhospitalityresearch.org/. Thanks to the support of partners listed below, all CHR Reports are made available free of charge.
About The Center for Hospitality Research
A unit of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) sponsors research designed to improve practices in the hospitality industry. Under the lead of the Center's 40 corporate affiliates, experienced scholars work closely with business executives to discover new insights into strategic, managerial and operating practices. The Center also publishes the award-winning hospitality journal, the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. To learn more about CHR and its projects, visit http://www.thecenterforhospitalityresearch.org/.
CHR Partners and sponsors: AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., Cendant Corporation, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, HVS International, JohnsonDiversey, Inc., Kohinoor Group, Marsh's Hospitality Practice, Nestl'e, Smith Travel Research, Southern Wine and Spirits of America, Inc., Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, and Thayer Group of Companies.
CHR friends: ARAMARK o DK Shifflet & Associates o ehotelier.com o Gerencia de Hoteles & Restaurantes o Global Hospitality Resources o Hospitality World o hospitalitynet.org o Hotel Asia Pacific o Hotel China o Hospitality Initiatives India o Hotel Interactive o Hotel Resource o International CHRIE o International Hotel and Restaurant Association o KPMG Japan/Global Management Directions o Lodging Hospitality o Lodging Magazine o Mobile MoneySaver o National Hotel Executive Magazine o PKF Hospitality Research o Resort+Recreation o The Resort Trades o RestaurantEdge.com o Shibata Publishing Co. o The Lodging Conference o TravelCLICK o UniFocus o WageWatch, Inc. o WiredHotelier.com
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