Crown Spa Hotel – stress management
| Company name | Crown Spa Hotel |
|---|---|
| Sector | Hotel and leisure |
| Number of employees | 126 |
| Type of workforce | Customer service, front-of-house, sales, bar/restaurant staff |
What issue was the organisation facing?
Staff absence was the main health and well-being issue for the organisation. Though overall they did not as an organisation have a lot of sick days; they had 2.1 days sick per 100 days worked for year November 2007 to October 2008, an increase from the previous year which was 1.6 days sick per 100 days worked. The increase was mainly due to one person having a hip replacement which was booked prior to them joining the organisation.
Stress and work pressure was another issue, especially over busy periods, and certain employees were not able to handle stress and work pressure as well as others.
What action did the organisation take?
Every 6 months, the company carries out anonymous stress surveys using an online survey tool (www.surveymonkey.com). The survey is sent to all team members to answer honestly about their stress level and how they feel they cope with managing their stress. Through an analysis of the results, the company can determine if there are stressful situations or issues in particular departments and address the department as a whole, instead of targeting certain individuals.
One example of where this was successful was in their reception department. The employees had told management that they were feeling under immense pressure with their workload, the fact they were about to start their main season, the complaints that come into reception regarding a hotel refurbishment and their own personal lack of training in stress management. To alleviate these causes of stress, they:
- employed two new receptionists to spread the workload
- instructed a particular duty manager to always handle complaints regarding refurbishment issues
- arranged for one senior receptionist to assist the Front Office Manager and act as the department trainer, spending at least two hours a week training every receptionist on how to handle customer service issues at reception.
After the stress survey, they made recommendations to employees in the staff newsletter on how to improve their work-life balance, improve inter-departmental communication and take advantage of the benefits within the hotel that they are entitled to (for example, gym, swimming pool).
What has been the impact of implementing health interventions?
In the first quarter of the 2007 payroll year, they had 19 leavers, 5 of which left within their first 3 months. During the same period in 2008, (when the new induction process had begun), they had 14 leavers, but only 2 left during their first 3 months. Using the same data their staff retention levels are improving. During the 1st quarter of 2007, 5.7% of their employees left, this was down to 4.12% for the same period in 2008.