Connaught Hotel’s Service Management Report

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Log Entries
Conclusion
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report
Absence of Digital Newspapers
Poor Corporate Governance
Energy/Water Waste
Reference List

Introduction

Working in the hospitality industry is both exciting and strenuous since it provides a plethora of opportunities for personal and professional development, simultaneously creating an impressive workload. As an intern at the Connaught Hotel, I managed to develop a range of communication and teamwork skills, the ability to organize and self-manage my tasks, and the tendency to educate myself by learning from workplace experiences. By focusing on time management and communication, I created the environment in which I could succeed continuously due to the active learning process and the promotion of self-directed learning.

According to the contract, I had to work 40 hours a week, with five working days and two days off. Since there were three shifts at the reception desk (early: 07:00-15:30, late: 14:30-23:00 and night: 22:30-07:00.), I kept rotating from morning tonight. While it was rather difficult to adjust to the specified schedule at first, it provided opportunities for managing my time more effectively.

Log Entries

Date:Place: The Connaught hotel

What happened? My first week at Connaught turned out to be quite stressful since I had a star rating inspector arriving at Connaught as a mystery guest. Since his room was booked at the last minute, there was a significant delay with the check-in process. To manage the problem, I offered the inspector complimentary drinks and collaborated with the rest of the hotel staff to prepare the room, the keys, and the registration card.

Reflections on experience. Although the situation was overall quite stressful, it provided a crucial opportunity for me to train communication skills that are necessary for a hotel receptionist (Nickson 2007; Mullins 2001; Mullins 2010). While there was a significant challenge to the immediate management of the issues concerning the guest’s check-in, the described experience taught me how to manage similar scenarios in the future.

Learning from the experience Coordinating the situation with the mysterious guest has taught me the essentials of problem-solving ad orientation (particularly, I have understood how to manage several tasks under very limited time) (Foot & Hook 2011; Carmichael, Collins, Emsell & Haydon 2011). I have also realized the importance of teamwork since the described experience required fast coordination of the staff’s actions (DuBrin 2013).

Action plans To improve my current abilities, I plan to focus on exploring various time management techniques. Also, I will need to develop negotiation skills as an important part of collaborating in complicated situations (Gilmore & Williams 2013).

Date:Place: The Connaught hotel

What happened? Due to the lack of collaboration between staff members, I accidentally checked a visitor into the room that had not been cleaned after previous guests had stayed there. After apologizing to the guest, I asked whether they would like to transfer to another room, or whether they wanted to keep their room, in which case they could wait while enjoying our complimentary services. The guest chose the latter, after which he revealed himself to be the inspector.

Reflections on experience. The fact that the room had not been cleaned properly before the arrival of the guest could be attributed to miscommunication in the hotel. Although I did my best to maintain collaboration with colleagues consistent, the lack of tools for communication and control was slightly noticeable at Connaught.

Learning from the experience The situation described above helped me to train several important skills. First and foremost, I have realized once again how important collaboration and teamwork in the hotel setting is (Nickson 2007). Unless I had used cooperation skills, the test would have been failed. Moreover, I managed to acquire the skills associated with the expeditious organization and problem-solving (Legge 2005).

Action plans To improve my professional skills, I will need to develop the ability to respond to unexpected situations adequately. The skills such as multitasking, self-management, and the committee will need to be trained further so that I could meet high-quality standards.

Date:Place: The Connaught hotel

What happened? Another incident involving inconsistencies in thebooking service occurred when one of the guests tried checking in the room that had already been booked.The client proved that he was the first to have booked the room by showing the receipt, which meant that I had to make a decision very fast to retain the customer. I apologized profusely and suggested the visitor staying in the showroom used for the introduction day, with the following transfer of the client to a new room with extra services, including a bottle of the “Veuve Cliquot” champagne. The guest was satisfied with the provided solution and expressed his gratitude.

Reflections on experience. What seemed to be a drastic situation that could have ended up in a disastrous conflict and the loss of a client was managed successfully, which made me very happy. This experience exemplifies the importance of applying problem-solving skills and focusing on customer satisfaction as the ultimate goal (Carmichael et al. 2011). Therefore, the decision to use extra services to accommodate the client and offer him the freedom of choice was critical for maintaining service quality (Nickson 2007).

Learning from the experience The problem described above has served as an important lesson in maintaining customer satisfaction levels high and being able to negotiate. Furthermore, the specified occurrence required a significant amount of self-control from me since I was terrified of the mistake at first (Legge 2005). Thus, the experience has taught me that self-management is a critical aspect of working as a receptionist and meeting customers’ needs (Mullins 2010).

Action plans While the scene described above showed that I had the potential for engaging in complex problem solving and was learning to manage my emotions, the instant rush of panic that I felt when discovering the error shows that I need to work on my self-management abilities further. Specifically, I will need to introduce more rigid control tools for objective thinking and decision-making (Nickson 2007). The learning results will enable me to work even under the conditions that can be deemed as stressful.

Date:Place: The Connaught hotel

What happened? A guest complained about the construction noise coming from his window, which should not have been the case since he had specifically booked the quietest room in the hotel. Relocation to a quiet upper-floor room with a courtyard view was offered to the customer, to which he agreed gladly. It was noted that a room with a courtyard view should be offered to the customer next time when he visits the hotel.

Reflections on experience. Compared to previous cases, where clients voiced their discontent rather expressively, the guest in the specified instance was very upset. Therefore, it was critical to offer him emotional comfort along with improved services (Nickson 2007; Mullins 2001).

Learning from the experience Similarly to the scenarios mentioned above, the case in question indicates the lack of consistency in the communication between the reception department and the rest of the hotel staff causes significant troubles in delivering the services of proper quality to customers. The experience has taught me that cross-disciplinary communication coupled with an effective communication framework helps to address service-related inconsistencies and retain customers’ loyalty (Legge 2005).

Action plans To advance further in my professional development, I will need to pay closer attention to the promotion of the consistent dialogue between staff members at the hotel. Otherwise, issues involving mismanagement of customers’ needs will continue to occur (Carmichael et al. 2011; DuBrin 2013). Furthermore, I will need to acquire leadership skills that will help me to establish control over the provision of check-in- and check-out-related services for visitors.

Date:Place: The Connaught hotel

WHAT HAPPENED? Two guestswith the same name-checked in Connaught roughly at the same time, which led to minor confusion. My colleague nearly provided the wrong keys, which may have led to customers’ irritation and dissatisfaction. However, I managed to give her a sign to show that she made a mistake and the [problem was successfully avoided.

Reflections on experience. The described problem shows how important collaboration between staff members in a hotel is. Moreover, the communication process has to occur on both verbal and nonverbal levels, as the case is exemplified.

Learning from the experience The situation mentioned above taught me about the significance of nonverbal communication and the ability to perform the role of a leader when working in a team (Nickson 2007).

Action plans To enhance my leadership skills, I will need to familiarise myself with specific types thereof, such as the transformational, transactional, laissez-faire, and other approaches toward leading others (Legge 2005).

Conclusion

By introducing the principles of self-management and aligning my priorities, I have succeeded in becoming not only a proficient receptionist but also an active learner during my current internship at the Connaught hotel. The focus on developing teamwork-related skills has proven to be particularly important since it allowed me to enhance the process of knowledge-sharing and time my performance. Thus, overall, the experience at Connaught was priceless due to the important lessons that I inferred from my work at the hotel.

Evidence Portfolio

Employability skills evidence sheet
Employability Skill: Communication (ensuring that all information about what is happening at the hotel is available to all staff members)	Reference:
Evidence: The performance appraisal document attached below is indicative of my ability to communicate essential information to all team members and utilize all available data management tools.
Reflection and Evaluation: During my first week of internship at the Connaught hotel, I was provided with extensive instructions concerning information management within the company. I participated in a presentation for new staff members, during which critical recommendations concerning data management were introduced, including guidelines for conversing with customers and consulting them, as well as maintaining the regular dialogue with fellow staff members (Patriani et al. 2018). Effective use of nonverbal communication techniques was demonstrated during the presentation, thus providing me with crucial pieces of advice. Moreover, tips concerning the proper use of leadership skills were offered, which helped me to expand my knowledge of how to become an effective team leader. The new information turned out to be very useful since several days later I managed to avoid a large problem by keeping all team members informed about the changes in the hotel (Yilmaz 2018). Specifically, I succeeded in averting a situation that was very similar to the case with the guest who complained about the noise. Also, I checked the requirements for the room several times and ensured that it contained the items that the customer requested specifically.
Action Plan for future development: To improve my skills, I will need to train communication skills in tandem with leadership abilities to understand how one affects the other (Corbridge & Pilbeam 2010). For instance, it will be crucial for my professional development to focus on acquiring cross-cultural communication skills since, as a receptionist, I often have to converse with people of the ethnic and cultural backgrounds other than mine. Thus, building cross-cultural communication skills will help to avoid misunderstandings. Additionally, even though I have learned to differentiate between verbal and nonverbal communication tools, I still need to train my skills in applying it to different contexts and situations (Beardwell & Claydon 2010). Thus, I will be able to handle the conflicts of any complexity, prevent them from taking place, and, which is more important, to learn from misunderstandings and misconceptions (Lucas, Mathieson & Lupton 2006). While preventing mistakes is critical, it is also important to derive valuable lessons from the ones that are out of one’s control.

Employability skills evidence sheet
Employability Skill: Teamwork	Reference:
Evidence: The performance appraisal given to me by the Connaught Hotel proves that I have succeeded in managing tasks within a team and collaborate with experts from different fields of hotel management to ensure high satisfaction rates among customers.
Reflection and Evaluation: Being able to collaborate within an interdisciplinary team of experts is a crucial skill that a number of the hospitality industry has to learn to meet the needs of clients. The Connaught Hotel has provided me with extensive opportunities for enhancing my collaboration skills due to its environment, quality standards, and vision. I managed to learn how to improve communication between staff members to prevent the case in which service quality drops as a result of miscommunication. Specifically, after a training process that involved simulations of scenarios in which active communication was required, I realized that I became much more confident in cooperating with staff members under rather stressful circumstances. Also, the training that I received showed that I had to focus on managing my emotions and focusing on task management. In the rare instances of miscommunication, such as the cases involving messy rooms or room mix-ups, I trained myself to stifle my irritation with the mistakes of my co-workers and, instead, geared my energy toward reducing customers’ dissatisfaction. Thus, working at Connaught helped me to prioritize my actions in situations involving conflicts or confusion by focusing on the needs of clients rather than the source of my discontent. As a result, the number of conflicts within a team reduced significantly during my work at Connaught, which also had a positive effect on meeting visitors’ needs.
Action Plan for future development: Presently, I will have to address the issue of emotion control during teamwork issues and ensure that I am capable of working under significant emotional pressure, at the same time providing well-thought-out, appropriate responses. Although the practice at Connaught has proven that I can ignore the feeling of anger, irritation, being hurt by a careless remark, and any other factors that may shape my responses. Furthermore, difficult cases that I faced during teamwork at Connaught have indicated that I can handle a team-related dilemma objectively and effectively despite my negative emotions. However, it will also be necessary for me to learn to channel my negative emotions into more productive activities, such as a more detailed analysis of a situation (Price 2004; Boella & Pannett 2003). Presently, I have troubles focusing on cooperation whenever feeling distressed, which means that self-control skills as a crucial part of teamwork will be required.

Employability skills evidence sheet
Employability Skill: Time management	Reference:
Evidence: It is mentioned in the performance appraisal provided by the Connaught Hotel that I have advanced significantly in my time management abilities.
Reflection and Evaluation: The Connaught Hotel has provided me with strategies for addressing the issue of providing the needed services in a timely fashion. Moreover, the training included considering the situations in which immediate decisions had to be made under significant time pressure. In retrospect, handling the problem of effective time management was one of my greatest concerns since I could not prioritize tasks when arriving at my place of work. The pieces of advice provided by the manager were quite helpful in shaping my approach to meeting my schedule. Furthermore, the fact that I was not oblivious to my problem with managing time was also an important strength. However, adjusting to the environment of Connaught and shaping my time management skills required a concentrated effort. For instance, I recognized the significance of arranging the process of check-in so that it could take no more than 5 minutes according to the company’s standards. Moreover, a couple of accidents involving a messy room that had not been cleaned before a guest’s arrival have shown that I needed to include factors such as communication and collaboration into my time management.
Action Plan for future development: Improving my existing time management skills will require gaining a better understanding of the technology used for the specified process. Although I am briefly familiar with digital tools for checking customers in and out, I still could use some training to learn to estimate time reasonably. For example, it will be necessary for me to learn how to reduce the time that customers spend in the queue. Furthermore, tracking activities with the help of a time log may also help me to understand why I spend so much time on the tasks that should take place at least twice as faster. The proposed changes in my training process will allow me to improve the current time management strategy.

Employability skills evidence sheet
Employability Skill: Self-management	Reference:
Evidence: The Connaught Hotel has provided me with a written recognition of my success in managing all of the tasks properly and swiftly due to my ability to address key issues, arranging the priorities properly, delegating tasks, and ensuring that the quality of the services remains consistently excellent.
Reflection and Evaluation: Due to the rigid standards set by the Connaught Hotel for quality management, meeting the company’s requirements was rather challenging, yet it also helped me to explore the opportunities for professional growth. To ensure that I could manage my responsibilities even with several gaps in my time management approach, I introduced a system of prioritizing tasks and ensured that the communication between the reception department and the rest of the hotel’s teams remains uninterrupted. Also, I developed several important leadership skills while working in a team, primarily, the ability to delegate responsibilities effectively and control the performance of key tasks. Different data management tools including handoff communication devices and databases were used to keep the process of information sharing consistent (Euromonitor International 2012). Overall, I have proven to be able to use key self-management strategies successfully and, despite minor hiccups that occurred in the first few days of my work, the rest of the tasks were handled rather well. In hindsight, what helped me to meet my responsibilities and perform the key tasks properly was resourcefulness. Although I was on my learning curve and, therefore, particularly prone to a range of mistakes, most of the possible issues were avoided without major efforts. Overall, I believe that I have met the standards for self-management in the specified setting.
Action Plan for future development: Currently, I need to control the ability to meet the set deadlines and prevent instances of delays. Therefore, designing a strategy for better coordination of time and the set responsibilities will be required. Moreover, future development will have to include the focus on exceeding expectations in task performance (Rousseau & Schalk 2000; Winstanley & Woodall 2000). Specifically, it will be needed to build my emotional intelligence to respond to customers’ needs more promptly. By using empathy as the means of building customer relationships, a receptionist will make it possible to maintain customers’ impressions about the hotel and its services positive even with minor issues in its performance.

Employability skills evidence sheet
Employability Skill: willingness to learn	Reference:
Evidence: The feedback from the Connaught hotel manager includes the reference to my ability to learn new skills fast and build on the existing knowledge base, thus expanding it regularly and enriching it with new experiences.
Reflection and Evaluation: The inclination to acquiring new abilities and skills is, perhaps, one of the intrinsic aspects of any job, including the ones in the hospitality industry. However, given the need to communicate with a large number of new people every day and maintain positive relationships with current guests, the willingness to learn is especially important for a hotel receptionist. During my internship at Connaught, I recognized the necessity to learn from every new experience and build a profound knowledge system that will become the platform for my continuous learning. Thus, the development of the tendency to be a lifelong learner can be seen as one of the most valuable lessons that I have learned while working at Connaught. The opportunity to connect theory to practice by applying the newly acquired knowledge to solving work-related issues was also a priceless experience that helped me to start a new learning curve and become a lifelong learner.
Action Plan for future development: To improve my skills and acquire new knowledge with every new workplace experience, I will need to arrange and process the received information properly. Thus, I will need to learn to analyze the situations that I face in the workplace from an objective perspective and define in which areas the acquired information can be used. Moreover, it will be crucial for me to improve my abilities to translate theory into practice and vice versa to become a lifelong learner. Finally, using the principles of cross-cultural communication when conversing with clients and colleagues alike will help me to gain new skills and knowledge that a receptionist needs especially.

Employability skills evidence sheet
Employability Skill: multitasking	Reference:
Evidence: the Connaught Hotel has also provided the feedback in which the manager detailed my ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously, maintaining the quality of the services at the necessary level.
Reflection and Evaluation: I have to admit that the first day of working as a receptionist at the Connaught hotel was a shock for me. While I did my best to keep track of all processes related to my area of expertise, it seemed impossible for me to maintain every single one of them under constant supervision. As a result, during my first day, I made quite a lot of minor errors. However, as my experience kept increasing, I realized that there was a rather simple recipe for multitasking in the Connaught hotel setting. As soon as I learned the routine, I spent a significant amount of my efforts monitoring the key processes for possible issues, thus removing the hindrances that could have blocked reception-related processes. Thus, while working at Connaught, I realized how important the ability to multitask was.
Action Plan for future development: Although I did a rather good job of performing multiple tasks in the Connaught setting, there is still a lot that I can learn. For example, it will be necessary to become proficient in using the relevant software for maintaining the data flow consistent and uninterrupted. Also, it will be critical to learn to avoid distractions and develop the ability to manage tasks in blocks (Perkins & White 2008). The first proposed technique will lead to better concentration, helping me to ignore the factors that typically distract me in the workplace (Rust, Zeithaml & Lemon 2004). The second approach, in turn, will allow me to locate the links between the key tasks, thus determining the strategy for managing them simultaneously and saving as much time as possible.

Employability skills evidence sheet
Employability Skill: Commitment	Reference:
Evidence: The manager expressed his gratitude for my staying committed to the goals of the company throughout the practice at the hotel. The manager expressed his hope that I would continue working at Connaught after graduating.
Reflection and Evaluation: Staying committed to the Connaught hotel and its managers implied significant challenges since it involved meeting all of the existing standards and even exceeding expectations. However, I did not see the specified task as tiresome since I had already developed a significant degree of loyalty to the organization. From the organizational perspective, demonstrating commitment implied following the company’s values, vision, and ethics fully when making decisions in the workplace (Armstrong 2009; Boella & Gross-Turner 2005). Since meeting customers’ needs and keeping their satisfaction rates high are two primary principles of the Connaught hotel, it was crucial to keep educating myself and improving my skills, which was the best way to show my commitment to the organization. As a result, within the next week, I started realizing that my English improved to a considerable extent and that I have gained an intrinsic understanding of how to manage difficult reception-related situations, including check-ins and check-outs, ensuring that the room has been prepared and controlling the quality by integrating teamwork-related principles into the workplace.
Action Plan for future development: The experience at Connaught has been a crucial stage in my professional growth since it is the first organization that introduced me to the environment of an actual business company and allowed me to see how the process of managing customers’ needs works (Pilbeam & Corbridge 2006). Therefore, I am truly grateful to the Connaught Hotel, which has made the levels of my commitment to its rise nat5urally. However, it will be necessary for me to learn when to focus on building commitment to a company despite minor and resolvable issues and when a company is not ready for cooperation and further fostering of workplace commitment in its staff.

Employability skills evidence sheet
Employability Skill: problem-solving	Reference:
Evidence: The organization has provided me with several cases when I had to manage quite dilemmas concerning the management of workplace issues, thus training my problem-solving skills.
Reflection and Evaluation: Developing problem-solving skills is an intrinsic element of any job. At Connaught, the main issue regarding problem-solving and the further decision-making concerned primarily the time constraints that made it very difficult to take the right step and ensure that customers remain satisfied. However, due to my ability to promote cross-disciplinary communication within a team, I managed to address minor instances of mismanaging the tasks by other staff members, as well as handle the issues caused by the gaps in my professionalism. Gaining resourcefulness and flexibility was another important effect of working at the Connaught hotel. Despite the rigid quality standards and rather effective control system, unexpected issues occurred during my internship several times, making me develop a framework for addressing accidents and reducing the threat of customer dissatisfaction (Taylor 2017; Sharma & Mishra 2018). Thus, I learned a vast range of negotiation strategies and approaches toward effective time management. Furthermore, the situations that I faced at the Connaught hotel often required using different leadership strategies, encouraging me to train new leadership skills and manage a team to improve its performance and enhance the quality of services. Overall, the practice at Connaught was challenging yet exciting, with a plethora of important lessons to consider and a wide array of insights into the job of a receptionist, the concept of workplace ethics, and the future personal and professional development.
Action Plan for future development: While my current ability to resolve complex situations is quite high, I will still need to continue improving my professional skills. After having received a powerful impetus for acquiring new competencies at Connaught, I am fully geared toward exploring other strategies for problem-solving such as brainstorming and creative thinking. At present, I feel that I am quite good at utilizing active listening and nonverbal communication to establish a connection with customers, yet I could use other skills such as thinking outside the box and use emotional intelligence to cater to the needs of each visitor more effectively.

Employability skills evidence sheet
Employability Skill: language skills	Reference:
Evidence: While working at the Connaught hotel, I was provided with a chance not only to train my language skills regularly but also to test my proficiency in the English language. The recommendation provided by the hotel manager indicates that I have developed quite a prowess in speaking English.
Reflection and Evaluation: Since communication at Connaught was exclusively in English, the work at the hotel served as the practice for training the English language skills. Learning a language requires not only studying its grammatical rules and new words but also being able to use the acquired knowledge in a context. Therefore, by speaking English every day at the Connaught hotel, I managed to advance my English skills significantly and reach the levels of fluency. While I would not claim that I have mastered the language completely, I have certainly gained the experience that has allowed me to become a more confident user and acquire important listening skills.
Action Plan for future development: In addition to the current progress in listening and speaking, I will also need to search for other activities that will help me improve my newly acquired skills. Thus, weekly studies and training to enhance the language learning process will be required. Learning a language is a continuous process that is unlikely to ever stop, which means that I will have to work on my English abilities consistently. Training in four key areas, which include speaking, listening, reading, and writing should currently be the focus of my attention since each of the identified skills will be required for a hotel receptionist. I currently feel quite confident with my listening and speaking skills due to the extensive practice that I have received at the Connaught hotel, yet it is worth admitting that my writing abilities could use certain improvements. Reading does not imply significant challenges for me, either, yet writing is the area where I feel the least confident. Thus, as an ESL learner, I should focus on writing as much as possible and receive proper feedback to train new skills. The specified task includes not only English writing courses but also active communication on English-speaking forums and online communities, where I can train my writing skills actively. As a result, I will be able to progress as an ESL and acquire new skills.

Employability skills evidence sheet
Employability Skill: leadership	Reference:
Evidence: During my practice at the Connaught hotel, I received the confirmation from my manager concerning the successful progress as a leader of a team.
Reflection and Evaluation: One might believe that leadership is unrelated to the job of a receptionist, yet the training at Connaught showed me that a receptionist often has to make decisions, solve problems and arrange cooperation within a team, promoting effective communication. Therefore, a receptionist needs to have advanced leadership skills to keep the workflow flawless and ensure that customers feel comfortable and are satisfied. While working at the Connaught hotel, I learned how to be an effective leader and maintain communication across different departments of the hotel, thus preventing errors and misunderstandings.
Action Plan for future development: As a leader, I will need to learn to apply different types of leadership styles to different scenarios that may occur in a hotel. Thus, I will create the strategy for promoting quality and controlling key processes, but at the same time, I will provide the rest of the participants with enough autonomy to make decisions concerning other aspects of the hotel service.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Definition

The phenomenon of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was coined quite a while ago, has become an integral part of numerous corporate philosophies. At Connaught, the significance of CSR is very high, with managers focusing on integrating CSR-related principles into the process of decision-making (Kaiser 2017). Martínez, Fernández, and Fernández (2016) define CSR as the ability of an organization to be socially accountable for its choices. The specified definition signifies that CSR makes the cornerstone of modern corporate ethics and empowers a company to meet the needs of every stakeholder involved, including customers, partners, communities, and even the global community as a whole (Garrick 2015).

Why Companies Need Business Philosophy in the Workplace

The usefulness of business philosophy oriented at sustainability, corporate values, and global well-being might not be evident at first, yet after scrutinizing the effects of business philosophy, one will realize that it affects the productivity and quality of a company’s performance greatly. By promoting a particular business philosophy, an organization sets rather rigid standards for employees to follow during decision-making. As a result, the efficacy thereof rises exponentially due to the focus on promoting customer satisfaction, following corporate principles of quality and ethics, and promoting communication across the organization.

Connaught Hotel and CSR

The ideas of CSR are fully supported and actively promoted at Connaught. The organization’s values and corporate philosophy are geared toward enhancing CSR and encouraging staff members to make informed decisions with the values and philosophy of the company in mind (Dorobantu, ‎Aguilera & Luo 2018; Kotler, ‎Maon & Lindgreen 2016). According to the official statement of the organization’s representatives, the Maybourne Hotel Group, to which the Connaught hotel belongs, takes the idea of CSR very seriously and strives to promote the relevant values across its chain (Maybourne Hotel Group n.d.). Specifically, the company states that “Social responsibility and care for the environment are an integral part of the Maybourne philosophy” (Maybourne Hotel Group n.d., par. 10)

Therefore, the company does its best to position itself as the firm that upholds CSR values and maintains the associated ethical principles. Given the experience of working at the Connaught hotel as a receptionist, it would be reasonable to say that the statement provided above is quite honest and true. Although there are certain issues in the current approach for implementing corporate philosophy and ethical standards, the overall attitude toward managing organizational processes is well-meaning. Minor adjustments will have to be made to increase the efficiency of the Connaught hotel and increase customer loyalty levels.

Good Examples of CSR at Connaught

Environmental Efforts

Overall, the strategy that the Connaught hotel uses to maintain its environmental footprint at the minimum level possible is worth mentioning as its doubtless advantage. The organization demonstrates outstanding levels of responsibility regarding its use of recycling. All members of the organization are instructed to recycle used materials, which they follow precisely. Due to an elaborate system of waste classification, none of the utilized materials is wasted, which contributes to managing one of the key problems in the modern hospitality industry and especially in the setting of luxury hotels (Kang et al. 2015; Ghaderi et al. 2019).

The situation mentioned above is the exact manifestation of CSR principles thriving in the Connaught hotel setting. Due to the focus on the rational use of resources, the organization has been maintaining its status of an environmentally-friendly company and contributing to the cause of the recent environmentalism-related programs (Su et al. 2017; Mac et al. 2018). Although there are currently minor issues with the management of resources at the Connaught hotel, in general, the focus on recycling empowers the firm to affect the global community positively.

Philanthropy

The focus on philanthropy is another characteristic of Connaught that is indicative of its high SCR rates. By encouraging employees to participate in charity-related activities, the organization fosters the corporate philosophy aimed at support and assistance to those in need, especially the community members (Xiao, Heo & Lee 2017; Melissen et al. 2018; Supanti, Butcher & Fredline 2015). As a result, the current policies concerning philanthropy increase the levels of CSR among employees and foster the development of corporate values such as empathy and compassion in them.

Ethical Labor Practices

Of all its advantages regarding the promotion of SCR, the emphasis on ethics and equality is, perhaps, the most important one used at Connaught. The managers of the hotel ensure that the needs of all stakeholders from customers to partners to employees are met completely. The described strategy is quite demanding and painstaking, which makes the endeavors made by the hotel managers all the more valuable and worth appreciating (Farrington et al. 2017; Kim et al. 2017; Cha & Bagozzi 2016; Hughes & Scheyvens 2016).

The principles of ethical treatment are closely intertwined with the idea of social and cultural diversity at the hotel. At present, Connaught employs people from a large number of ethnicities and backgrounds, each of the staff members being provided with the required rights and opportunities. It is also remarkable that the organization focuses on deploying not only the principles of equality but also the idea of equity in its context, thus addressing the problem of unequal opportunities for a certain staff member.

Employees’ Well-Being

In addition to ensuring that the rights of staff members are recognized and met, Connaught managers provide numerous options for its employees to maintain proper health and prevent the development of disorders and diseases.

Due to the physical strain under which employees may find themselves, the services of a physician and a masseur are provided weekly. The specified addition to the list of advantages and benefits that staff members can enjoy in the workplace makes the Connaught administration especially thoughtful and caring (Eichar 2017; Jamali 2016; Aluchna & Idowu 2016). The observed attitudes toward employees at the Connaught hotel can be seen as the direct influence of the CSR principles that determine the organization’s focus and its relationships with its staff.

Contribution to Personal Development

My experience at Connaught has helped me to improve the current skills of information management, interdisciplinary collaboration, and decision-making, Also, it was important to see the process of a hotel functioning from within to recognize the underlying issues and learn to address the factors that may afterward become hindrances in delivering high-quality services. Working at Connaught was a crucial stage of my professional growth and it has provided me with a valuable experience that I will use in the future.

Bad Examples of CSR at Connaught

Housekeeping

From the environmental perspective, the approach that is used at Connaught to manage room order warrants a serious discussion. Due to the automatic change of linen, the organization leaves a large environmental footprint and causes significant damage (Zientara & Bohdanowicz 2016; Palacios-Florencio, Castellanos-Verdugo & Rosa-Díaz 2016). To address the problem described above, one should consider changing linen and performing similar services upon customers’ request. Thus, the extent to which the organization affects the environment will be reduced.

Food Waste

The high standards that the Connaught hotel sets condition the inevitable overuse of the available resources, food is one of them. Since the hotel must be prepared for any number of visitors at every point in time, food and drinks are changed very frequently to maintain the quality and freshness of the product. Moreover, meals are produced in abundance so that every guest could have a plethora of food and drinks from which they could choose.

As a result, the waste levels are extraordinarily high at the Connaught Hotel, which makes its CSR strategy somewhat questionable. From the perspective of resources management, the approach that Connaught managers utilize is far from being flawless due to the current food policy. Since the produced dishes are located in the rooms and lounge most of the time, its spoilage rates are very high at present. With the amount of food that the Connaught hotel produces, the described spoilage rates have to be curbed.

To address the problem described above, one should change the hotel policies toward the storage of food. For instance, it will be necessary to provide food only in the instances when visitors require it (Farmaki & Farmakis 2018; Mak et al. 2018; Ettinger, Grabner-Kräuter & Terlutter 2018). During the rest of the day, the dishes are to be kept in refrigerators and other storage tools that provide the necessary temperature, humidity levels, and other characteristics for extending the shelf life of food. Also, the policy concerning food preparation will need to be altered. Specifically, Connaught cooks will have to avoid creating excessive amounts of food. To reduce the waiting time until dishes are cooked, hotel managers will create opportunities for entertaining visitors that a receptionist could offer while the dishes are being cooked.

Absence of Digital Newspapers

For a company of the Connaught’s size and scale, keeping in pace with the current technological trends is critical for maintaining its success. Thus, the absence of digital news media, particularly, newspapers, affects the company significantly. Customers need access to the latest information both for entertainment and as the means of receiving information about the Connaught hotel and changes in its services. Therefore, online periodicals and newspapers are an absolute necessity at Connaught. The proposed changes can be implemented by creating an online application that will allow all visitors to browse relevant newspaper publications uninhibitedly.

One might make a very slim argument that not all guests may be interested in using electronic editions of newspapers. However, the advantages of integrating digital are far too numerous to dismiss the opportunity to integrate them into the environment of the hotel. For instance, with the creation of the described services, the Connaught hotel will provide customers with access to the readings that would otherwise demand their subscription (Chen, Murphy & Knecht 2016).

As a result, customers will enjoy a wide array of information resources that they can use for both leisure and learning. Also, digital newspapers can be used to appeal to all types of customers due to a plethora of topics that these editions cover and the information that they contain. Thus, visitors will appreciate the quality of hotel services even more.

Thus, it is strongly recommended for Connaught to focus on providing its guests with access to digital newspapers. Although being a seemingly minor addition to an already plentiful range of the hotel services, the specified change will increase the potential of the organization and improve the efficacy of its services, leading to a rise in customers’ satisfaction levels. The concept of digital mass media as a part of the hotel services is not new, yet the opportunities that it encompasses are truly ample.

Poor Corporate Governance

The issues mentioned above might seem minor and easily manageable, yet I also observed the problems that could be regarded as the source of major concern. Dents in the corporate governance model applied at the Connaught Hotel was, perhaps, the least expected and the most menacing issue that I witnessed at Connaught during my practice. Specifically, the issue regarding the mismanagement of financial processes within the organization and the further creation of misleading financial statements deserve to be discussed.

The problem regarding the mismanagement of financial statements has damaged the reputation of Connaught and had a severe impact on its economic well-being nearly putting a range of its processes to a halt. Similar instances have already been observed at Connaught, which has affected the company’s performance and blemished its reputation to a great extent (Financial Reporting Council 2016). Therefore, changes to the current corporate governance approach are needed immediately, with a set of more stringent rules for financial reporting.

Therefore, the issue of corporate governance must be addressed at Connaught immediately. The described problem affects the company at its core, undermining its values and quality standards, as well as jeopardizing the safety and security of customers. With a shift in the corporate policy to a more rigid framework for financial control and monitoring activities, one will be able to avoid further complications and increase the overall efficiency of the company.

Energy/Water Waste

Another concern that is related directly to the problem of resource management mentioned above concerns the unreasonable use of water and energy. While Connaught strives to meet the existing criteria for an environmentally sustainable business, it lacks insight into the problem of resource usage that could help it become more sustainable. On the one hand, the proposed approach is fully justified by the standards that the company upholds.

Indeed, given the fact that the Connaught hotel positions itself as a luxury service, it is to be expected of the hotel to provide its guests with excessive luxury and represent a cornucopia of food and entertainment. On the other hand, the organization also has to maintain the status of an environmentally friendly company that strives to minimize the environmental footprint that it produces. Therefore, the Connaught hotel should find a framework for allocating its energy- and water-related resources in a more sustainable way.

Creating a water management plan with frequent audits allowing one to estimate the amount of water consumed and wasted will help to control the process of managing the specified resources more effectively. When considering the factors that prevent Connaught from saving energy and water, it will be necessary to direct one to the same problem of communication. Being unaware of the exact date and time of guests’ arrival, room service managers have to keep rooms fully lit and furnished with the necessary resources, which causes the waste levels to rise.

Thus, it is strongly recommended to improve the communication framework used at Connaught (Kang et al. 2015). By reinforcing the communication framework, one will be able to ensure that rooms are prepared within a relatively short time before the guests’ arrival. Thus, the waste rates will drop immediately and Connaught will be able to become more sustainable in its resource management policy.

My Contribution to CSR at Connaught

Although my experience of working at Connaught has been comparatively short, UI has managed to add to the promotion of CST within its setting. For instance, with the focus on information management and the promotion of collaboration between staff members, I have succeeded in addressing some minor issues within the organization, such as unprepared rooms or the absence of specific services. Thus, I have made it possible for customer satisfaction rates to increase and the loyalty levels among them to rise.

It would be wrong to state that I somehow revolutionized the concept of the receptionist’s role at the Connaught hotel. Instead, I was simply performing my duties and doping my best to meet the set standards. However, I hope that the idea of information sharing and collaboration that I promoted while working t the Connaught hotel has affected the overall quality of customer service and helped to prevent admittedly rare instances of service mismanagement.

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