Structured empowerment: an award-winning program at the Burswood Resort Hotel

Ron Cacioppe Graduate School of Business, Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia

In recent years, organizations have identied the benets of employee empowerment programs: empowered employees are able to solve customer and organizational problems promptly and professionally. The management at the Burswood Resort Hotel in Western Australia recognized that they wanted to develop these qualities in their employees and embarked on an empowerment program, acknowledging that achieving an empowered workplace was a long-term initiative requiring continued management commitment. Their approach was based on management theory and practice, yet remained exible to the needs of the hotels employees and customers. A program was designed and was tailored to the hotels culture and work environment. An empowerment survey was conducted prior to the program and again 18 months after its initiation. This article describes the organizations experience of introducing empowerment into a traditionally-structured workplace; explains its success; some of the problems encountered and the effect of a recent merger on the progress of the program. Emma Cerini of Integra Pty Ltd provided considerable time and assistance to help research, write and modify this article. Her input, patience and perseverance were valuable in completing it.
Leadership & Organization Development Journal 19/5 [1998] 264274 MCB University Press [ISSN 0143-7739]

The empowering of individuals, groups, organizations, and societies is a noble, necessary and natural part of human development (Vogt and Murrell, 1990, p.1).

Empowerment: hope or hype?

The argument over whether empowerment is an effective tool of organizational development is not new. A review of the literature shows that organizations have a long history of trying to encourage employee participation. This can be traced back to the 1960s when managers began to realize the benets of giving their employees the power to control their own work environment. In the past, these attempts have focused on initiatives such as job enlargement, job enrichment, management by objectives and quality circles (Thorlakson and Murray, 1996). More recently there has been growing interest in the concept of empowerment, by both management researchers and practitioners. Many see the rise in the popularity of empowerment as a response to the impact of global competition and information/technology revolution. They believe it is an effective method for equipping organizations and employees with skills necessary to meet the challenges of the future. Customer service organizations have particularly been attracted to employee empowerment in their driven desire to improve service quality and ensure that the organization is more responsible and responsive to their customers. Research indicates that empowerment programs have worked in selected companies (Breeding, 1996). For example, at GE-Auburn after organizing its entire workforce into 61 self-directed work teams improved productivity by 115 percent, while customer rejections fell by 35 percent and cycle time shrank 90 percent. In addition, worker compensation costs have fallen from $1 million to $25,000 over a ve year period (Miller, 1995). However, it is important to understand that the cost associated with implementing these programs is often signicant. These costs included the increased investment in selection and training, high labour costs, inconsistent service delivery, give-aways and bad decisions. Even though there are substantial results when empowerment is successful, a recent survey conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California suggests that many organizations are ignoring the benets.

Introduction
When introduced correctly, empowerment can be a powerful tool of organizational change, employee participation and customer satisfaction. In particular, research suggests that an employee empowerment approach to service delivery has the potential to remedy problems such as poor customer service and inefficient operations (Bowen and Lawler, 1995). Organizations considering empowerment need to understand that it is by no means an easy option. It requires an enormous commitment on behalf of management and the resulting programs need to be nurtured and maintained. One organization having success with an empowered approach to service delivery is the Burswood Resort Hotel (BRH), in Perth, Western Australia. The BRH is a ve-star hotel offering resort, corporate and recreational activities and is located next to the citys only casino. The hotel has been operating for nine years and employs 240 full-time, part-time and casual employees. The 1990s have been a particularly challenging time for Australian hotels. High labour costs, increased competition and a reduction in tourism has seen many hotels review their management style and structure. In 1995, the hotels management team became committed to implementing employee empowerment and engaged consultants to develop an empowerment program that would incorporate the most successful approaches but exible to the requirements of the hotel. The purpose of this article is to describe the Burswood Hotel empowerment program including: the concepts behind its design, the training program and organizational support that were required. In addition, the survey used to measure the programs success, the problems encountered during the program and its future direction are also discussed.

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The survey found that only 10 percent of employees in Fortune 1000 companies are truly empowered (Johnson and Thurston, 1997). Randolph (1995), suggests that successful applications of empowerment depend on management commitment and continual communication of information. Organizations successfully implementing appropriate empowerment programs benet from a quicker response to customer needs, a quicker response to dissatised customers, employees who feel better about their job, and an increase in employee improved service ideas (Bowen and Lawler, 1992). For employees, the reward of empowerment is the opportunity to be proud of their work. Employee empowerment opens up many more opportunities for employees to exercise creativity, exibility and autonomy on the job. This is believed to have a benecial effect on employee self-esteem, and employees who feel better about themselves will be better prepared to serve guests. Despite these claims, there is considerable disagreement about the effectiveness of empowerment. Many researchers (Spreitzer, 1995; Thorlakson and Murray, 1996), voice concerns about the lack of objective research regarding the effectiveness of empowerment programs in the organizational setting. Despite testimonials advocating an empowered approach, these researchers believe that empowerment programs are in danger of failing due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of the constraints surrounding the empowerment process and how they can lead to failure (Thorlakson and Murray, 1996). Empowerment can be a way to help unleash an organizations full potential. A number of organizations in the hospitality industry have taken up the challenge of empowerment and implemented programs with varying success. The Sheraton Sydney Airport and Ritz Carlton in Sydney have both implemented employee empowerment programs and attribute the success of their operations in part to their implementation of an empowerment program (Carter, 1997). Carter (1997) describes the empowerment program at the Sheraton Sydney Airport as part of a major strategic business initiative to lower labour costs and improve customer service. Empowerment can become a passing fad in an organization if it is not well thought out and implemented, or if management sees it as an opportunity to let staff think and decide for themselves without recognizing how much personal and organization change is involved. Empowerment requires changes to management behavior, organizational systems and

staff s view of themselves and their work. If these changes do not occur, empowerment will quickly become a supercial and meaningless program which staff do not understand. When viewed on a continuum, empowerment can be a positive process if the organization is very clear on what type of empowerment is suitable and is willing to put in considerable effort to ensure it works.

What is empowerment really?

Understanding what empowerment is, the different models of empowerment and the steps for its implementation, is the rst major task on the road to real empowerment. Like many concepts of modern management theory, the literature is overowing with competing denitions and models of empowerment. Confusion over how to dene empowerment is one the rst obstacles confronting any organization considering the introduction of empowerment. Denitions of empowerment vary greatly depending on who is describing it. For example, psychologists emphasize the individual motivational aspects of the empowerment process while management theorists describe the behavior of individuals in relation to others within the organization. More recently empowerment has come to mean self-directed teams. Conger and Kanungo (1988) dened empowerment as the motivational concept of selfefficacy They take an individual, motivation . approach to empowerment and dene it as a process of enhancing feelings of self-efficacy of employees through the identication of conditions that foster powerlessness and through their removal. Thomas and Velthouse (1990) disagree with their denition arguing that empowerment is in fact multifaceted and its essence cannot be captured by a single concept. They dened empowerment more broadly as increased intrinsic motivation manifested in a set of four cognitions reecting an individuals orientation to his or her work role, these being meaning, competence (or self-efficacy), selfdetermination and impact. Other organizational practitioners dene empowerment as the process of encouraging employees, including management, to utilize their skills and experience by giving them the power to use more judgement and discretion in their work. It provides employees with enough authority, resources and latitude to be able to work effectively (Eccles, 1993). Vogt and Murrell (1990) suggest that most motivational approaches to employee empowerment come from a position of control and do not imply personal or group development.

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The most successful orientation of empowerment is when leaders focus on liberation of human potential and on personal and organizational development. They point out the major difference with this type of empowerment is the realisation that total power can be created and expanded when people are given greater freedom of decision making whereas many other approaches assume power is shared or given up by one party when given to another. Understanding the notions of power and control is often the rst step in getting a hold on the concept of empowerment. Perceived control is the belief that one has control to inuence decisions (Conger and Kanungo, 1988; Parker and Price, 1994; Spreitzer, 1995; Thomas and Velthouse, 1990). Research has demonstrated that people both feel and perform better when perceived control is high (Parker and Price, 1994). In addition, perceived control has been associated with physical and mental health, longevity, concentration, task persistence and job performance (Bandura, 1986). At the inception of an empowerment program, an organization must dene empowerment operationally Management and employ. ees need to understand what it is that they are expected to do differently The BRH empower. ment program dened empowerment as:
the process of giving all employees, frontline staff and managers the ability and discretion to make decisions and take actions which lead to excellent customer service, employee satisfaction and organisational success (Cacioppe, 1996).

Table I Dimensions of empowerment Dimension 1. Choice Denition Giving employees the skills and the right to choose a different course of action in performing their work When the employee experiences making a difference in accomplishing the task. The job is seen to improve the lives of other people If a person can perform the task activities skillfully when he or she tries, then the task positively affects competence If the person views the task he or she is doing as worthwhile, if they care about what they do, if it provides a sense of purpose

2. Impact

3. Competence

4. Meaningfulness

Empowered employees do what is necessary to provide excellent customer service. For all employees to be able to provide this service it means they will need to able to respond to customer needs, solve problems, think creatively and have the support of the organization to bend the system when necessary .

Empowerment as a continuum
Every organization needs to approach empowerment differently A review of the . literature reveals examples of the different approaches to empowerment and the various models that have been used to explain the empowerment process. Conger and Kanungo (1988) favor a motivational perspective because it encompasses enabling rather than simple delegation. Their research suggests that there are a number of conditions that empower employees: choice, impact, competence and meaningfulness (see Table I).

Thomas and Velthouse (1990) point out that empowerment must start with the self and its belief systems. The belief systems which include the world view and self-concept must encourage behaviors aligned with the goals and methods of empowerment introduced into the organization. This needs to occur for both staff and managers within the organization. Empowerment can be seen as a continuum with varying degrees of empowerment being given to staff. Rarely does an empowerment program run into trouble because it proceeds too slowly Far more common is an empower. ment campaign, which runs aground as the result of managers and staff not being clear on when they are empowered and when they are not. In addition, many organizations go to semi-autonomous work teams too soon, or without adequate training. The BRH recognized that empowerment should be a gradual step-by-step process that prepares people to assume more responsibility and authority . Too often employees feel bewildered by their new responsibilities and supervisors are saddled with more responsibility while feeling threatened by their employees new power. Bowen and Lawler (1995) suggest that an empowerment approach works best when the delivery of service involves managing a relationship with the customer as opposed to simply performing a transaction. Their model of empowerment contains three different levels of empowerment over a low to high involvement continuum. They represent increasing degrees of empowerment as additional knowledge. Information, power and rewards are pushed down to front line

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employees. They believe that empowerment is not an all or nothing alternative, but rather a choice of three options: suggestion involvement, job involvement and high involvement. They conclude that high involvement industries such as hotels are ideally suited to empowerment. Figure 1 shows an empowerment grid, which indicates how far along the empowerment continuum the BRH program is. One axis of the grid represents the extent to which individuals and teams are empowered. The other axis represents the amount of decisionmaking freedom given. Johnson and Thurston (1997), have used a similar type of empowerment grid to describe a team-based empowerment program at Multicorp, a US Fortune 500 company . The shift nature of hotel work, the large number of individual-customer interactions and the difficulty in getting time for team meetings make the individual job empowerment approach more suitable for Burswood. Team-based approaches to empowerment were examined but considered too difficult to implement, especially in the food services and house cleaning divisions. The Burswood empowerment program adopted the approach that there are two types of empowerment exible and structured. Flexible empowerment allows employees

wide ranging latitude in making on the spot decisions that directly affect customer service and satisfaction. Flexible programs do not place limits on the actions employees can take to satisfy a customer. Structured empowerment provide employees with specic guidelines and limits on the extent they can take actions in offering solutions to problems. Employees, for example, were empowered to change the bill of a guest up to $150 without asking their supervisor. It was decided that the hotels goals would be best achieved through a structured empowerment program with the aim of moving to a exible program at a later date.

The road to empowerment

The hotel launched the Simply the Best staff empowerment program in 1994 (see Figure 2). The program began as a result of a complaint that a well-regarded customer made to the general manager, Ulrich H. Kunzmann, about the hotel. A staff member had insisted on payment of cash at the bar because the customer could not remember their room number. The staff member was following hotel policy, as she was instructed to do, but the customer who had visited the hotel on many occasions was offended by the

Figure 1 Empowerment grid

Staff make decision entirely thru consensus Staff make Decision, consult Leader Leader facilitates Gets majority view Consultation, discussion, final say, decision by Leader Ask for input, Leader decides Semi-Autonomous

Self-Managed Team sets goals Team hires staff Wider scope and freedom for individuals to act and make decisions Individuals given freedom to decide within set limits

Extent of Decision Authority

Flexible Empowerment

Burswood Hotel Empowerment Program

Structured Empowerment

Goals set by management, some suggestions from individuals Individuals are given set tasks and roles Disempowered Individuals & Groups Co-Acting Individuals & Groups Empowered Individuals Empowered Teams

No Involvement Leader decides

Extent of Empowerment

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Figure 2 Model of the Burswood Resort Hotel empowerment program

Management Commitment

Systems Support

Empowerment Training

Empowered Employee

inexibility of the rules. The general manager reected on this experience and felt the hotel had reached a stage where staff could be trusted to think for themselves and make decisions of this type. An external consultant was contacted and asked to put forward a program which would move the hotel to a more empowered culture. The program took a holistic approach to empowerment, through training, management encouragement and empowerment systems that ensured that the process would occur. The Simply the Best program was implemented using a stepwise approach, with the key aspects being: management commitment and support; a exible system with guidelines to support employee actions; and training for staff so that they can provide solutions to customer problems.

employees. Second, managers were also required to complete the same empowerment training as their employees. Both forms of training are important because, as Parker and Price (1994) discovered, employees feel most empowered when they perceive that their managers are both empowered and are supportive of the process. The second method of obtaining management commitment was the establishment of the empowerment team. The empowerment team consisted of six members representing staff and management. Its purpose was to establish the boundaries of empowerment and encourage management and employee support. The empowerment team was independent of the management hierarchy but had leverage to implement changes.

Building a system support

Organizations cannot just pay lip service to the ideals of empowerment, instead they must build and nurture an environment that supports empowered behavior. The Simply the Best program set about achieving this by building a support system containing the following vital elements.

Development of empowerment guidelines

In order to introduce a structured system of empowerment, empowerment guidelines were required to set boundaries for employee decision making. These guidelines provided a framework in which staff can achieve levels of customer service and perform condently in order to surpass both personal and organizational expectations. The empowerment guidelines were initially developed by the staff in co-operation with department supervisors and were approved by the empowerment team. They were communicated to employees during the empowerment training program and additional guidelines were developed as other staff completed their training. Empowerment guidelines covered areas such as giving customers reductions on their bill, free food and drinks, writing letters on anniversaries or to purchasing materials without checking with supervisors. The development of empowerment guidelines was important to the implementation of structured empowerment. Training was necessary to ensure that the empowerment team and supervisors were able to distinguish the difference between the guidelines and existing policy and procedures. It was however a time-consuming and difficult task. After the program was running two years, the empowerment guidelines were seen to be too formal and difficult. A more informal process was introduced where

Management commitment
Before an organization can seriously consider implementing an empowerment program there needs to be a strong and continued commitment from management. The role of management is to lead and facilitate the empowerment process. Resistance from management is the most common issue constraining empowerment programs. Kizilos (1990) pointed out that many managers have spent years acquiring power and authority and are often unwilling to give it up. The Burswood program set about obtaining management commitment to empowerment by conducting management training, establishing an empowerment team and identifying the hotels mission and vision. The Simply the Best program required executive management, department heads and the empowerment team to complete two types of training. First, a Head Start program was conducted, to explain the concept of empowerment, the aims of the program and how to encourage and support empowered

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employees would nd areas where empowerment could be useful. The empowerment team and the employee communicated these areas to the employee's manager and an informal discussion occurred between the employee and the manager on whether the wider authority could be given.

how their department is performing in order to make informed decisions to maintain and to improve performance in the future (Lawler, 1988). The performance appraisal system was revised after the empowerment program was introduced and more emphasis was given to empowerment in performance reviews.

Empowerment team suggestion form

Employee participation was an essential element of the empowerment program. It was essential to obtain ideas or suggestions from employees for improving guest services and organization processes. Burswood employees were requested to make suggestions on how to improve guest service, guest satisfaction and service delivery as part of their training. In addition, employees made suggestions using the empowerment team suggestion forms. A suggestion box was positioned in the staff canteen and the empowerment team discussed any suggestions.

Empowerment training
Employees cannot act in an empowered manner without training. Training, in short, offers a tool for becoming empowered and in itself is empowering. Over a two-year period, over 200 employees and managers from different departments completed three days of intensive training. The objectives of the training were to gain staff commitment to the Simply the Best program, develop seven key skills to improve customer satisfaction and hotel service and motivate staff to take initiatives and actions to resolve customer and hotel difficulties. The training was highly interactive, incorporating the use of group work, role plays and videos. It demonstrated how employees should use their new powers and provide them with skills and knowledge which enabled them to do so. The training focused on developing interpersonal, decision-making and problem-solving skills to enable employees to be able to act in an empowered way The . structure of the Burswood training program is illustrated in Figure 3. Supervisors were required to complete an additional session dealing with their new roles and behaviors. The objectives of this additional session was to train supervisors to

Rewarding employees
Another element of a support system is setting and providing employee rewards which recognizes empowered behavior. Rewards enhance empowerment by recognising and reinforcing individual skills and providing individuals with incentives for participation (Lawler, 1988). Upon completion of the program staff receive a certicate and pin that represents participation in the empowerment program. Empowering actions are highlighted in the staff magazine and an Employee of the Month award recognized empowered employees who provided exceptional customer service.

Communicating information
Researchers and practitioners suggest that in order to empower employees, organizations must make information more available to more people. If employees are to become stakeholders in the success or failure of an empowerment program communication is absolutely necessary Without it mistrust, . misunderstanding and resistance will block success. When all employees share information they can focus on achieving the organizations mission. A series of introductory meetings were conducted to explain the empowerment program to staff. The meetings were designed to set out the purpose and goals of the Simply the Best program, explain the benets of the training and provide examples of possible behaviors as well as answer questions. An empowerment newsletter was distributed and was the responsibility of the empowerment team. A video was also produced which explained the key elements of the program. Information about performance is important because employees need to understand

Figure 3 Training sessions for the empowerment program

The Power to Empowerment Deliver, and Paradigms Managing Upwards 1. 7. Performing Saying No 2. Service Under Nicely! 6. Empowered Stress Employee 5. Creating Customer Solutions 4. 3. Managing the Risk of New Behaviours

Listening for the Real Problems

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empower staff and to realign their roles to t this process. Supervisors and staff who were excellent role models in customer service and empowerment skills were also encouraged to conduct empowerment training. They received appropriate training in conducting the empowerment program and were coached on training techniques during three programs run by the external consultants from Integra Pty Ltd.

Measuring success
A unique aspect of the BRH empowerment program was the use of an empowerment survey as a means of evaluating the effectiveness of the program. The survey was designed to measure the affect of empowerment on the organizational and employee effectiveness and staff s overall perception of empowerment. The hotel realized that it could not expect long-term commitment to the principle of empowerment without being able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program. As the literature indicates, despite its popularity, there is little research on the effectiveness of empowerment programs (Spreitzer, 1995; Thorlakson and Murray, 1996). The survey contained 25 statements which measured staff s perceptions on the dimensions of empowerment such as exibility in decisions, impact of their actions, competencies in performing their tasks, meaningfulness of decisions, management support and communication. It also contained open questions concerning staff s perceptions of the program's effect on the quality of the customer service. Employees were asked to respond to the following statements prior to the introduction of the empowerment program and then 18 months after its inception. A summary indicator represented the extent of agreement staff indicated for each statement. A calculation was used in which each response is given +100 for complete agreement; +50 for partly agree; 0 for neutral or undecided; 50 for partly disagree; and 100 for completely disagree. In addition, an average of the 25 questions was calculated and represented as an overall empowerment score. The empowerment survey was conducted in 1994 and 1996. The results of the 1994 survey provided a baseline measure which was used to monitor the success of the program as well as valuable input to the program design. The results of two surveys are shown in Table II. An increase in the empowerment score of nine points is a considerable improvement. According to staff s perceptions, the greatest improvements were as shown in Table III.

The results show that staff felt the empowerment training gave them the necessary skills, that they were being encouraged to provide improved customer service, and that there was increased exibility in providing customer service. One area that decreased slightly was the perception of staff that they were providing a useful service to customers. While still scoring very high (84), the written comments indicated staff felt they could provide an even better service if they were given more freedom to make decisions by their manager. In addition to the survey results, there were several clear examples that showed the empowerment process was working throughout the hotel. In one instance, a rather large male guest at the hotel was unhappy that the terrytoweling bathrobe provided in the room was too small for him, even though it was an extra large. A room cleaner whom this guest mentioned it to, took it upon herself to call the bathrobe manufacturer and ordered a special bathrobe to t the customer. It was delivered to his room the next day The cus. tomer was so delighted by this gesture he wrote a letter to the general manager of the hotel and indicated that he would use the Burswood Hotel on all of his future visits to Western Australia. There still is an extraextra large bathrobe for this customer stored in a special section of the hotels wardrobe department. The empowerment team, senior management and organizational development consultant, reviewed the results of the survey and were quite pleased that the benets of the empowerment program were being recognized by staff. A few months after the 1996 survey, the hotel won an award for the best staff training program in the tourism industry in Western Australia and as the best ve-star hotel in Australia. Senior management believed that the empowerment program was a major contributor to this success.

Problems encountered
While the empowerment program was seen by outsiders, staff and senior management to be highly successful, the members of the empowerment team, the director of personnel and the organizational consultant were aware of several areas that needed improvement. These included: Middle-level managers and some heads of departments did not fully understand, embrace or encourage empowerment. The hotel has been run on hierarchical lines for some time and while staff were

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Table II BRH empowerment program before and after measures 1994 results N = 177 49 62 29 32 1996 results N = 222 48 67 39 50

Empowerment survey statements 1. I have a lot of control about how I do my job 2. I know the overall purpose and objectives of the organization 3. I have the authority to correct problems when they occur 4. I am given the freedom to do things which will meet customers or co-worker needs 5. I am very clear about how much discretion I have in altering procedures to solve customer problems (either internal or external customers) 6. The work I do is important in providing a useful service to customers (either internal or external customers) 7. I can rely on other departments to help if I need their assistance. 8. I get useful feedback about how I am performing in my job 9. I feel like a valuable member of the organization 10. Considering everything required in my job, meeting customer needs (either internal or external customers) is a very high priority 11. I effectively handle the stress that is part of my job 12. My immediate team works well together to provide excellent customer service 13. If I make a mistake, I dont get in to trouble as long as I was trying to please customers 14. People in my work area are encouraged to think about ways to improve customer service 15. I do not have to go through a lot of red tape to change things 16. The equipment and machines I work with help me to provide good service 17. The rules, systems and procedures which are currently in place help me to respond quickly to internal or external customer requests 18. The organization keeps me informed of changes to policies and procedures 19. I am given the opportunity to inuence decisions, systems and procedures which affect how we respond to customers 20. The time pressures/demands of my job are at a reasonable level 21. I have been adequately trained in dealing with a wide range of customer problems that I might meet 22. I am encouraged to handle job related problems by myself 23. I am rewarded/recognized for actions that result in exceptional customer service 24. The actions of senior management show that exceptional customer service is their highest priority 25. I am encouraged to nd new ways that improve the way we do things Overall empowerment score Level of signicance: * = > 0.05; ** = > 0.01; *** = > 0.001

Diff. -1 5 10 18

Signif. N.S. * *** ***

34 90 24 0 38 79 61 45 27 33 -10 30 28 31 7 32 20 42 3 47 29 34

41 84 33 15 46 80 61 51 31 47 -2 45 40 43 27 40 39 47 8 47 40 43

7 6 9 15 8 1 0 6 4 14 8 15 12 12 20 8 19 5 11 0 11 +9

** ** *** *** *** N.S. N.S. ** N.S. *** *** ***

** *** *** *** * *** N.S. *** ***

allowed to take some responsibilities, the directors and a few supervisors were only allowed limited freedom to make decisions. For example, one staff member, after getting several requests from customers about the quality of oranges, took it upon himself to order better quality oranges which cost two cents more each. The staff member was certain that this was the right action to take but was

ordered not to do this again. No further discussion of the oranges was allowed. The empowerment team seemed to lose direction and commitment. There was little reward, reinforcement or guidance given to empowerment team members by senior management. In addition, the empowerment team had no direct powers and could only try to influence managers. Organizational decisions could override

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Table III Major areas of improvement in empowerment Staff responses I have been adequately trained in dealing with a wide range of customer problems that I might meet I get useful feedback about how I am performing in my job The equipment and machines I work with help me to provide good service People in my work area are encouraged to think about ways to improve customer service The rules, systems and procedures which are currently in place, help me to respond quickly to internal or external customer requests The organization keeps me informed of changes to policies and procedures I am rewarded/recognized for actions that result in exceptional customer service I am encouraged to nd new ways that improve the way we do things I feel like a valuable member of the organization
the efforts of empowerment team members. The empowerment program was not directly linked to the hotels business objectives and performance. While it had won awards and the survey showed staff perceived it was leading to greater empowerment, there were no objective data that it had directly contributed to higher occupancy rates or hotel profits. As a result, a number of modications and initiatives were added after the second year. These included: 1 A strategic planning workshop. This next step in obtaining management commitment and implementing the empowerment program involved, identifying and clarifying the hotels vision and mission. Information about the organizations mission is critical for empowerment (Lawler, 1988), and the creation of a mission and vision statement which express values and goals is an important step towards an empowered organization (Block, 1990). This information helps create a sense of meaning and purpose (Conger and Kanungo, 1988), and enhances an individuals ability to make and inuence decisions that are appropriately aligned with the organizations goals and mission. As a result of the BRH developed the mission and vision statements shown below:
The business we are in: Providing a luxury hospitality accommodation and experience that meet the personal and professional needs of our guests. Our Vision: To delight our customers while at Burswood resort by providing a

1994 results 20 0 30 33 28 31 3 29 38

1996 results 39 15 45 47 40 43 8 40 46

Diff. +19 15 15 14 12 12 11 11 8

special experience and the highest quality of hotel services in Australia.

2 Burswood staff from several departments in co-operation with the external consultant conducted the empowerment training program. Several Burswood staff were selected who had the skills to deliver the training and the knowledge and respect of the employees in the hotel. This demonstrated to the participants that employees who were well respected by management were also the major champions of the empowerment program. 3 The empowerment team was reorganized to include these empowerment trainers who had better rst hand knowledge of the program and who were intimately involved with its success. 4 Leadership training. A series of three-day leadership training workshops were organised for supervisors and managers. This included how to motivate and empower staff, how to develop teamwork, a 360o prole on their leadership and management skills and how to coach and manage performance. These workshops were highly successful and well received by supervisors, and provided renewed enthusiasm and understanding by the managers for the empowerment process. Senior management visited the Empowerment and Leadership Training programs to show their support. Staff still commented that one or two of the senior managers and supervisors, were not fully supportive of the program.

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The future of the empowerment program

In 1997 the hotel, which until that time had been under a separate ownership and management, was merged into the Burswood Resort complex which includes a casino, the hotel, golf course, conference and event centers. Just prior to this announcement another empowerment training program was run. Since then the merger and the subsequent reorganization of management responsibilities and reporting occupied a lot of the senior and middle-level managers time and energy . The chief executive officer (CEO) of the entire Burswood complex, who was the previous CEO of the Casino, held meetings with all of the hotel staff and described how the combined organization would function. Senior management are considering a new 400-room extension to the hotel which would mean the addition of more hotel staff and services. The management of the Burswood Casino have had the major say in the restructure and many of the hotel corporate services have been centralized into the casino human resources, training, and information systems. Casino staff are subject to tighter controls because of gaming regulations and the large sums of money that they deal with. Integration of information, human resource and management policies and practices across the resort has had some short-term problems but is resulting in long-term benefits to the total resort business. The empowerment program is now at an interesting stage. After three years it has been perceived by staff to have improved customer service and their ability to respond to customer needs. It has also increased job satisfaction and is seen by senior management to have contributed to the success of the hotel. Still some of the managers and supervisors did not fully participate in the spirit of empowerment and used their position and expertise to control the actions of their staff. The empowerment team, the human resource professionals and the general manager were aware of this and were planning steps to overcome this limitation. The leadership training programs made steps in this direction but they were only a beginning. The development of mission and vision statements and the beginning formulation of strategic objectives had begun to provide the goals for the directors of each division which could be closely linked with the empowerment program. A process was also started where staff were to be given more information on the performance of the

hotel in terms of occupancy rates, customer satisfaction levels and profit. Much of this has been suspended for the time being as the reorganization and integration of the hotel and the casino has proceeded. There is a different management reporting procedure in that the hotel general manager reports to a chief operations officer of the hotel, who in turn reports to the CEO of the BRH complex. Most human resource activities such as training are now under the human resources department for the complex. Senior management in the resort complex are now considering whether to: use the empowerment program in the rooms division of the hotel; use the program in other divisions of the resort; or use components of the program in a general service program delivered to all employees. The Casino already has an Investors in People program which contains elements of empowerment and the hotel empowerment program may be integrated into this (Pontoni, 1997). No decision has been reached yet regarding how to proceed and in which direction. As several experts in organizational development have pointed out, effective organizational change requires coordinated effort and support from the leaders and the culture of the organization. The management of the larger Burswood complex will need to reinforce, encourage and reward empowerment behaviors and make empowerment part of the Burswood culture (Smither et al., 1996). Senior management have stated that they will bring empowerment into the larger resort complex in order to provide a higher level of service to all customers (Wilson, 1998). There is no doubt that empowerment has been successful and has been well received by the hotel staff. Progress has been made toward empowerment in the hotel no matter what direction the new complex takes in regard to the continuation of the formal empowerment program. Empowerment behaviors by staff and supervisors in some sections have now become standard and are no longer seen as part of the empowerment process. It is now a question as to what degree empowerment is seen to be a signicant contributor in the larger world of the BRH complex and what priority it will be given compared to the other objectives of the business. The decision is not whether empowerment should proceed at the BRH complex but rather what format is best suited for the total complex, what resources are given to it in staff training and how management will

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Ron Cacioppe Structured empowerment: an award-winning program at the Burswood Resort Hotel Leadership & Organization Development Journal 19/5 [1998] 264274

encourage and reward empowerment actions. The experience at the BRH suggests not only that empowerment is a process that can make significant contribution to the operation of hotel and gaming resorts but it will be integral to the way organizations will operate in the twenty-first century.

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