Title Power to the People; The study of the factors concerning Motivation at The Goa Marriott Resort &

; Spa Authors Shashibhushan B N (2011233) Goa Institute of Management (GIM), E mail- shashibhushan.nagarajachar11@gim.ac.in Shawn Menezes (2011234) Goa Institute of Management (GIM), E mail- shawn.menezes11@gim.ac.in Shreya Goel (2011235) Goa Institute of Management (GIM), E mail- shreya.goel11@gim.ac.in Shruti Vashist (2011236) Goa Institute of Management (GIM), E mail- shruti.vashist11@gim.ac.in Siddharth Goyal (2011237) Goa Institute of Management (GIM), E mail- siddharth.goyal11@gim.ac.in Sumeet Raina (2011238) Goa Institute of Management (GIM), E mail- summet.raina11@gim.ac.in Sushant Gupta (2011239) Goa Institute of Management (GIM), E mail- sushant.gupta11@gim.ac.in

Abstract:At the beginning of the year 2011, the world came out of the shadows of deep recession, the economy was steadily picking up and those thoughts of, Lets go somewhere for some R & R were just beginning to enter the minds of the people. People were beginning to travel & visit places and apart from benefiting the transport industry, it also benefited the hospitality industry. The Hotels in Goa were also gearing up for this new influx of travelers. The Goa Marriott Resort & Spa opened the doors of opportunity with the renovation of their property. The employees and the staff were the key to convert this opportunity into a success. The Hotel realized that they need their entire team to be at their best in order to provide the best service to the guest and that can be only accomplished if their employees are enthusiastic & excited about what they do & about doing it for the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa. This case gives an insight into the policies and programs implemented by Goa Marriott Resort & Spa to enhance the motivational level of the employees,

through the eyes of one of their housekeepers, Mr. David Lobo*. The case also describes the initiatives by the hotel taken to ensure that the staff provides the highest quality service to the customers which is synonymous with what the brand Marriott stands for. (*Mr. David Lobo is a purely fictional character) The Venue: The Goa Marriott Resort & Spa Its Monday morning, the 2nd of May 2011, and David was back at his routine after a restful Sunday. He was happy to come to work & thought to himself how great it was to work in The Goa Marriott Resort & Spa. He mused to himself, This hotel is among the premier 5-star hotels in Goa. They have recently revamped their lobby with modern amenities, functional seating and food & beverage options that will inspire any guest to engage, relax, work and play. The hotel has 180 newly renovated rooms with picturesque views of the expansive bay (Exhibit 1) and well-maintained gardens which are designed to meet every need of the leisure or business traveler. The dining facilities include a revolutionary transition lounge, outdoor dining at their specialty barbeque restaurant and 24-hour in-room dining. With 9,149 sq ft of fully refurbished banqueting and conferencing spaces, celebrating weddings or organizing an important event is an attractive proposition. What a place to work in. It is a well-accepted fact that this hotel has set the standard in Goa for impeccable service and it continues to endeavor to be at the forefront of the hospitality service. He smiled to himself & said, This May is going to be awesome. _______________________________________________________________________________ As always, our associates are the key to our success. You exemplify Marriotts enduring spirit to serve culture. Thank you for your loyalty, your dedication, and for all you do to make our guests feel welcome wherever their journey may take them!!
- J.W. Marriott Jr. Chairman of the Board & CEO

Essence of Motivation Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goaloriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes us to act. It involves the biological, emotional, social and cognitive forces that activate behavior. There are three major components to motivation: activation, persistence and intensity. Activation involves the decision to initiate a behavior. Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist. Finally, intensity can be seen in the concentration and vigor that goes into pursuing a goal. Different types of motivation are frequently described as being either extrinsic or intrinsic. Extrinsic motivations are those that arise from outside of the individual and often involve rewards such as trophies, money, social recognition or praise. Intrinsic motivations are those that arise from within the individual, such as doing a complicated cross-word puzzle purely for the personal gratification of solving a problem.

Workers in any organization need something to keep them working. Most times the salary of the employee is enough to keep him or her working for an organization. However, sometimes just working for salary is not enough for employees to stay at an organization. An employee must be motivated to work for a company or organization. If no motivation is present in an employee, then that employees quality of work or all work in general will deteriorate. When motivating an audience, you can use general motivational strategies or specific motivational appeals. General motivational strategies include soft sell versus hard sell and personality type. Soft sell strategies have logical appeals, emotional appeals, advice and praise. Hard sell strategies have barter, outnumbering, pressure and rank. Also, you can consider basing your strategy on your audience personality. Specific motivational appeals focus on provable facts, feelings, right and wrong, audience rewards and audience threats. Motivation in the Hospitality Industry The characteristic of employees in hospitality industry is a pleasing personality and good communication skills. People are the center of this type of business and it is pleasing and satisfying a variety of their needs that is the utmost concern. But since human beings are complex, this industry must employ knowledgeable service crews who understand and know about the different types of personalities of clients and their different needs. The main concern then of the managers of hospitality industry is not only to improve service, but also how to motivate employees to make them flexible, pleasant all the time and able to manage the stresses of the service industry capably. Let us now get back to David & learn more about the methods employed by the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa The Models & their Catwalk: The Houses & their Events David was a proud member of the Titans. In the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa, the employees are divided into 4 house; Kings, Vikings, Warriors and Titans. We have a good thing going here. Every month is dedicated to one of the houses. The House has to organize cultural events, sports events and host one special lunch for the other houses. For this special lunch, all of us house-members have to organize the lunch right from assisting with preparing the dishes to serving the same, setting the Dcor & cleaning the premises. David has a special affection for the group of Titans. Not only are his best friends Marcus & Trevor in it, but also Remember the Titans is one of his favorite movies. That was by far one of the best movies & I cant help but get charged up after watching it. The competitions usually organized by each of the houses include, Footy Fever (Football), Minute to Win it, Best out of Waste & Dodgeball. The winners of these events are given points for their efforts & at the end of the year; the house with the maximum number of points wins the rolling trophy.We are currently sitting second but Im quietly confident that well get there.

David is talking about the Associate Appreciation Week (AAW). This time its from the 18th to the 24th May & I am really looking forward to it. The events that happen over a week are simply amazing. In fact, I better head to the notice board to check if its already put up.(Exhibit 3) The euphoria around AAW is built by starting the event Countdown to AAW which typically includes HR team wearing COUNT DOWN TO AAW T-shirts, posters are displayed in all departments and corridors and the Heart of House (auditorium) is decorated 2 days before. David wished, I hope I can help decorate the place. Its like decorating your home for Christmas! The Theme: Spirit to Serve In this hotel, all of us are drilled with the Spirit to Serve. Its a philosophy that Mr. J.W Marriott wanted us to work & is practiced around the world. Its unique to this hotel & I havent seen a philosophy being taken up so passionately in any of my previous jobs than I have in this one, recalled David .The philosophy of Spirit to Serve, that is of putting employees first, is particularly important in the hospitality industry because the Marriott is in the people business, not just the service business. Customers are not just affected by the tangible parts of the business but by the intangibles as well. Employees provide the human touch component of the services offered by any hospitality industry. If the people who are responsible for supplying that human touch are unhappy, tired, stressed, poorly trained, or otherwise distracted, they're probably not going to do a good job. On the flip side, if employees are content, confident, and generally happy with themselves and the job, their positive attitude will be felt in everything they do and they are likely to perform at their best as well. We can see the difference for ourselves and the hotel takes great pain to see that we are not only well trained but that we are well motivated as well. The Goa Marriott Resort & Spa are proud to organize the AAW and noted below are their goals & objectives for this program: Building on Marriott's enduring culture of recognition and pride, this special celebration pays tribute to all associates for their dedication, commitment and outstanding service. It also allows the hotel to be better members of the many global communities we touch, whether we are addressing the issues of education, inclusion, employment, poverty, the wellbeing of children, creating a healthier planet or basic human rights. Giving associates the opportunity to serve their local community with their time and talents. Existing efforts at our hotels and business units to promote and celebrate diversity and inclusion

 This is a very special week for the people here at the Marriott. It's their Associate Appreciation Week when they thank their associates for all their hard work throughout the year Marriott feels that they have a special responsibility and role to play in helping their communities thrive. They want every Marriott community to be a better place to live and work because they are there. David was also very proud of the fact that The Goa Marriott Resort & Spa actively ties-up with Caritas-Goa, Tivim, which deals with caring for children with HIV. The hotel takes care of the food rations up to a value of INR 10,000. It feels good to give back to society. This clearly shows that the Spirit to Serve is not only restricted to the Marriotts properties but to society as well. The Fillers: Other monthly events & initiatives David woke up on Friday the 6th. Its Fun Friday and todays my turn to represent the Titans!! Every Friday, the house of the month organizes small games along the lines of the Minute to win it series. These events are conducted during tea-time & the winners get cakes, pastries, etc as prizes. When 4 pm came, David stepped up to play the game. This month is dedicated to the Vikings and they organized a game of throwing pencils into glasses as the Minute to Win it event for Fun Friday. David did his best but only manage second place. Aw well.. As long as we have gained points on the Kings, none of the others has a realistic chance of catching us. Weve got our eyes on the big picture & we are much closer to winning the trophy David trie to console himself. He felt let down by the fact that they could not get the treats that the Warriors had won that day. Over Lunch the next day, David & his pals planned on the teams approach toward the big week. They also reminisced about last years October Appreciation. Every October, the housekeeping division of the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa are given special appreciation for their role in the organization. The members of this division are responsible for cleaning the rooms, restrooms, etc. and these jobs are routine & considered mundane. However, they are very important for the smooth functioning of the Hotel. Hence the hotel makes this month extra special for this workforce.I bet this week will trump that month for sure, David thought aloud. This month, the Vikings set the 11 th of May as the Smile Day. This time David was caught unaware that the smile day was this day but he was ready as always. David was optimistic. I always win a badge & Im sure Ill get one today. Hope most of us Titans do so that we can grab more points than the others. Every month, the house thats in charge holds a Smile Day wherein badges are awarded to the employees and associates who are smiling & cheerful throughout the day. This day is not fixed & is one the most innovative initiatives by the Hotel.

At the end of the day, David did get the badge he coveted but unfortunately, the Titans didnt gain much ground. We are a pretty close-knit team & all of us want the big trophy. This brings us together & I enjoy working with my colleagues on the job. Even if someone is not in my house but is part of my team, the friendly banter we have during our rounds makes work interesting. Thats why number one is so important for us. We want those bragging rights. On the 15th of May, David had his moment. He had been walking through one of the corridors when an elderly guest requested his assistance to take him to the lobby. In keeping with the Spirit to Serve, David went beyond his call of duty an assisted the gentleman. He even the assisted the gentleman in boarding the van that was waiting outside. On hearing of what happened, Davids manager rushed to the lobby & gave David a Moment. Moments is another innovative program and works along the lines of instant recognition. Here, managers are empowered to reward those employees who go that extra mile to satisfy the needs or demands of the guests. This award is handed over at the immediate completion of the task & is meant to motivate the employees to go beyond the call of duty to serve the guests. A voucher is handed to the employee that he/she can redeem for food, pastries, etc. David was super excited. Hope this is a sign that all will go well for us next week. The Showstopper: Associate Appreciation Week 18th of May finally arrived and everyone including David is super excited. All of the staff has a smile on their face & are anticipating an awesome event. Theres a spring in everyones step. Teams have even rehearsed for some of the events and we are looking forward to it like we did a cultural event back in school or college. AAW is an annual event which is organized in the month of May to make the employees and the staff feel empowered. Each year the Marriott hotel marks the anniversary of its founding, May 20th, by setting aside a week to express appreciation to their worldwide family of associates. Building on Marriott's enduring culture of recognition and pride, this special celebration pays tribute to all associates for their dedication, commitment and outstanding service. Day 1 David and the rest of the staff move into the hall. Everybody entered with a smile on their face. The HR team had done a wonderful job with the dcor & the shack theme was clearly visible. The people entered & were greeted by the brass band that played the tune from Bridge over the River Kwai as they walked in. After a quick welcome, the department decoration contest commenced & all rushed to touch up their respective departments. There was a lot of team work involved and the departments were cleaned & decorated in the run up to the 18th. Decorating our own departments gives us a sense of identity with it. This place is after all, our second home. said David.

After the judges walked through the departments, lunch was served and everyone sat down & interacted with each other. Following lunch, the staff proceeded to play Just a Minute game. David represented his team & they won first place. Day 2 The next day involved a social initiative in which the associates of Marriot visited Caritas-Goa, an NGO dedicated towards the upliftment of HIV infected children and took them to the Goa Science Center. Then it was time for a movie. An interactive show on astronomy was conducted in the mini planetarium where the night sky can be simulated in an inflatable dome to know the star patterns. David was super excited to see such an environment. Work would be more like fun and enjoyable in such an atmosphere. chuckled David Later in the day associates distributed jute bags in the local residential area and made them aware about the health hazards and pollution created by plastic bags. At the end of the day David was felt content having done something towards making this planet a cleaner place. Day 3 3rd day witnessed a cultural event which included various competitions between different houses. The event commenced with a cultural dress competition. The place resembled mini-India when all the associates came dressed in their ethnic attire. Although we are in Goa but it feels like we are touring different states. It feels like I have seen Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujrat at one go. Hope I get to tour India someday. said David After such a colorful display of ethnic wear, another competition awaited the associates i.e. the Rangoli competition. All the houses had a great time displaying their creativity on the floor. Vikings were declared winners. The day concluded with a group photo in Hotel lawns. We have to do better! Come on Titans!! exclaimed David Lobo. Day 4 A mega sports event was organized on day 4 between the houses. David being a sports enthusiast was very excited about the event. Day started with a Volleyball game between teams representing all the 4 houses. All the teams were good but the Kings had the strongest team. The games went on for quite a long time and to everybodys surprise Davids team, the Titans, won their games. The hard work and enthusiasm shown by the Titans paid off. David Lobo was now content with his performance and he congratulated his team for the good performance. Then came the time for tele-games on beach. Pani Puri eating competition was scheduled last. People who participated had not eaten much to take part in the competition. Now they could eat their favorite dish as much as they can without even paying. Pani Puri eating competition was the best thing to happen. We ate around 50 puris which were a record and we won yet another competition. Things just could not be better.sighed David. Day 5 On the 5th day, families of all the Associates were personally invited to spend a day at the resort.It was a great experience to interact with the families of your

colleagues. This way you get to understand them better. Food and Games stalls were set up in the resort. Apart from this, an Antakshari competition was conducted between different houses and a fancy dress competition was conducted for the children. When a mother or a wife sees what his son or husband is doing or the place where he is working, the motivation and the willingness to give more than 100% increases automatically. To see children participate in my office was a refreshing change. smiled David. Also the local NGO was invited to put up stalls and all the money generated through sale of goods went to the NGO.

Day 6 The last day of the week came to soon for David & his friends. A stage night was organized which included the highly anticipated fashion show. Associates walked down the ramp with lan. Then there was a group dance competition between different houses. It gave an opportunity to the people who could not showcase their talent till now. Many of them had been rehearsing for days. Everyone tried their best to make the most out of this opportunity. The audience cheered for David and his team while they performed the Salsa on stage. They won the competition & the Titans moved to the lead of the standings. Finally a prize distribution ceremony was organized for various winners of competitions held during the week. David & his team of Titans won the coveted rolling trophy. We did it!! He screamed. The Judges Ratings: What difference this made to the Customer David strongly felt that the AAW had a huge impact on everybody at the Hotel. There is a definite change in the atmosphere in the workplace & one can feel a different buzz in the cafeteria. David's feelings were supported by an associate survey which is carried out after the month to measure the effectiveness of all the initiatives of the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa. The results pertaining to the Customer Satisfaction are shown in Table 1. It is clear that the ratings have dipped towards the month of May but improved drastically after the motivational program that is conducted after the end of May. Going Forward It appears that the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa is not only geared up in terms of infrastructure to cater to the growing influx of customers but also in terms of having a motivated team to serve them. David recalled what Harry S. Truman once said, I found that the men & women who got to the top were those who did their jobs they had in hand, and with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm and hard work. After witnessing the intensity with which everyone

has competed over the past year & especially the past week, David is confident that the employees are fired up to give their best when they come in to work every day. Its imperative that the employees of the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa strive to do their best in their own interest as well as that of the Hotel. Each & every employee looks forward to come to work every day as they are charged to give their best to serve not only their Houses, but the Hotel that houses them. The Hotel can look forward to an optimistic future knowing full well that they have a motivated team to deal with the challenges that lie ahead. David & his fellow house members waiting for June to begin defense of their trophy.

Table 1 April Customer Satisfaction: Overall Customer Satisfaction: Staff Service 76.7 70 May 75.8 71.9 June 89.5 89.5

Exhibit 1: Goa Marriott Resort & SPA with view of magnificent ocean

Exhibit 2: Lobby of GMR

Exhibit 3: Association Appreciation Week Print Ad

Exhibit 4: Schedules of Associate Appreciation Week