Scenario
□ Based in central London the European Club was founded in 1900. The club is a non-profit
making charity whose good works for the last 100+ years include offering scholarships for
gifted children from poorer countries the opportunities to study in the UK. The Charity is
governed by a Board of Trustees who also form part of the Board of Directors. The CEO sits
on the Board of Directors whilst the General Manager and Club Secretary report into the
CEO. The vision and mission statement is represented as “High quality hospitality at
affordable prices.” A statement of values has been an agenda item for almost a year but has
not been actioned.
□ Revenue for the charity is derived from the operation of the central London clubhouse
(situated in a fashionable street in Mayfair London W1) containing a very ‘old fashioned’
and largely unused waiter service cocktail bar, The Fox and Hound and 50 seat restaurant,
The Dining Rooms, 4 function rooms (no in-built meeting room equipment) and a number
of bedrooms (50) which it lets to club members for a highly subsidised amount of just £75
per night. Many of these rooms have not been refurbished in quite a while.
□ The building itself has a certain faded grandeur but is in need of some much needed
planned and reactive renovation and maintenance to furniture, fixtures and fittings. Some
of the systems in the Club, including reservations and front office, are still on Excel
spreadsheet functions. A manual process is used for creating reservations for the
bedrooms, restaurant and bar and function rooms. There is however an online payment
system used but there are three separate systems, one for each department. Wifi is
available throughout the Club.
□ Many of the staff have been there for many years and the way things operate have not
changed much for a long time. Whilst familiar and comfortable with the current ways of
doing things, the staff often moan about the amount of time it takes and the inefficiency of
the systems in place. There is a very defined hierarchy and staffing structure in the
departments. The organisational chart below details the restaurant, bar and event
management departments.
□ Staff are not encouraged to make decisions without reference to the head of
department nor are they encouraged to put forward new ideas for enhancing or
improving practice. Any changes to practice are often from the top down and staff
opinions are rarely sought.
□ Morale, as measured by a small yearly staff survey, appears low, and many of the
younger staff leave after just a couple of months citing lack of opportunities and poor
training as a cause. The survey also shows that staff are not happy with their manager
and feel that they do not get praised or rewarded when they do a good job.
□ The previous CEO had been with the charity for some 30 years and very much left the
management of the club to the General Manager, who also retires later this year. The
new CEO of the charity believes that there is a lot more that might be achieved, and
good works undertaken, if the operation itself makes more money to invest into the
charitable works, and she firmly believes that the organisation is underperforming and is
inefficient.
□ Membership of the club has been falling steadily over the past five years and now stands
some 50% of its original membership. A recent member survey shows significant
complaints about the conditions of the facilities, especially the restaurant and bar which
the members use to entertain as well as the drop-in customer service as well as the
general lack of organisation.
□ The CEO has approached you and wants to employ your HR consultancy services to
address the strategic HR issues around a modernisation plan for the restaurant and bar
facilities of the club. The modernisation and renovation programme will includethe
following:
□ The refurbishment of The Fox and Hound Bar, the Dining Room and the function rooms
□ Training and development of all staff on the new processes connected to the Bar, Dining
room and function rooms.
□ The refurbishment has been given to an architectural firm that will employ
its contactors and manage all the building work. They have promised to
work to the project deadlines. Naturally this will mean the members of the
club paying more for the services; however, this will bring the charges in
line with similar institutions and facilities. The CEOs biggest concern is how
to undertake this project with the minimum of disruption to both members
and staff. It is not an option to shut the club down completely during the
project. Business as usual, as much as possible, must be maintained.
□ Scenario: The CEO has asked you to prepare a 15-minute PowerPoint
presentation for the Board of Directors “selling” your consultancy services.
You still need to pitch for the contract since the two other board members
will be involved in the decision.
□ Instruction: Prepare a presentation in which you should:
□ Explain the importance of Strategic Human Resource Management (HRM)
(AC 1.1) and how you could add value to the Club. You should discuss how
strategic HRM could be linked with other departments. (AC1.2) Explain the
strategic human resources services you could provide to the Club and their
purposes (AC 1.3)
□ Analyse the factors that the Club should consider before embarking up the
renovation and restructure. (AC 2.1)
□ Determine some preliminary HR requirements for the organisation
considering the new contract. (AC 2.2)
□ The Board is likely to ask questions – so be ready to answer any questions
that may arise.
