Growing the Right Skills through Five-Star Management (2001)

Abstract This article reports on a qualitative study where six organisations from different industry backgrounds were examined in order to investigate the effect of management style on employee skill utilisation. One of the organisations studied was a holiday resort. A modified grounded theory method was adopted, whereby managers and employees defined management styles and the perceived influence of those styles on employee skill utilisation. It was found that, where managers possess strong interpersonal skills and adopt consultative, participative styles of management there was, apparently, a beneficial effect on employee skill utilisation, regardless of the industry. Keywords: Management Style, Consultation, Employee Participation, Skill Utilisation Management in the Hospitality Industry A ubiquitous feature of the hospitality literature is the contention that hotel general managers are instrumental to the success of a hotel property. Contingent to this success is the influence managers have on employees and their way of working. Consequently, the effective management of people is one of the most perplexing dilemmas facing leaders and managers of modern times and explains why the nature of management has been the subject of extensive research for many years (Hunt, Wallace, and Richards 1996; Savery Mazzarol, and Dawkins 1996; Starkey 1998). Despite there being no universal agreement as to what constitutes effective management, there is a strong theme in the literature which supports the view that it is the critical factor in determining organisational success or failure (Dawson 1996, Senior 1997). Much of the management literature has centred on the concept of autocratic and democratic management styles, the former associated with various interpretations of Taylorism and the latter with the human relations' movement (Fulop and Linstead 1999). Horstman (1992, p.287) holds that the strategic purpose of management control is to secure employee compliance with managerially defined objectives of all types, ranging from `management coercion' (an autocratic style) to `management seduction' (a democratic style). The adoption of an autocratic style is said to produce better results in the short-term, due to compliance based on fear (Bass 1981; Likert and Likert 1976), while several studies have noted that democratic styles induce more subordinate satisfaction and better long-term performance than autocratic styles (Fulop and Linstead 1999). A third style, referred to as `laissez faire', involves managers `who give the group complete freedom, provide necessary materials, participate only to answer questions and avoid giving feedback; in other words, they do almost nothing' (Bartol, Martin, Tein and Matthews 1995, p.453). The contingency theories of leadership indicate a person may change their style from directive to supportive (and vice versa), depending on the situation. Where situations are ambiguous, uncertain and/or stressful (Fodor 1976; House 1974) or where subordinates lack ability and unwillingness, research indicates that more autocratic styles tend to be adopted (Hersey and Blanchard 1988). Nevertheless, the function of management as a mechanism for control sits uneasily with contemporary rhetoric that advocates employees take more initiative and responsibility (Mabey and Salaman 1995). Tracey and Hinkin (1994) argue that that many hospitality managers have been trained in the conventional style of management, which focuses on the functions of planning, organising, leading and controlling. They contend that this form of training has developed a tradition in the hospitality industry of autocratic management, where managers operate within rules and regulations, with very little room for subordinates to display any individual freedom, creativity and innovation. Conversely, Hoque (1999) argues that despite a number of hospitality industry reports indicating a lack of interest in `HRM practices' among managers (Price 1994), there is evidence that hotel managers are taking more of an `HRM' approach than before (Hoque 1999). …