Making the Case for Quality
August 2015
Indian 5-Star Hotel Front-Line Staff
Find Happiness, Empowerment in
Solving Attrition Problem
At a Glance . . .
Muri, a Japanese term
that means stress, exists
throughout organizations,
and the elimination of it
plays a crucial role in its
growth and sustainability.
While the hotel industry
is growing in India and
other parts of the world,
attrition has become a
very big problem, with
one of the primary reasons
being work stress.
This case study discusses
the techniques that were
used by consultant Sunil
Kaushik to understand
the root causes of stress,
to quantify it, and arrive
at solutions for a popular
Indian hotel chain that
will remain anonymous.
ASQ www.asq.org Page 1 of 4
by Sunil Kumar V Kaushik
Sunil Kumar V Kaushik is a freelance Six Sigma trainer and consultant who is also an ASQ Influential
Voices author. Hired by a major hotel chain in India to train its senior management on Six Sigma
practices, Kaushik was retained to complete a process improvement project in September 2013 for the
chain, which operates in 16 countries and employs more than 9,000 individuals.
The director of the Bangalore branch, who was also the project sponsor, shared that for the previous
year, the company had experienced a large spike in customer escalations due to numerous mistakes
from the staff. Kaushik gathered a sample of the mistakes through interviews and analyzed the details
to learn they were all linked to not following the process. For example, when a family came to the
restaurant with kids, staff members did not ask if the parents required special seating for their infant
children, and if the customers requested one, the employees did not put in effort to finding one, or
bluntly would tell the family they did not have one. Also, several customers had to repeatedly request
water that was not served on time, and even some regular guests requested specific tables to avoid cer-
tain employees whom they thought provided poor service.
Kaushik felt it difficult to put in place a process to fix these issues, as they all involved human interac-
tions and the only measure could have been to learn how much effort the staff had made to please the
customer. When he looked at the tenure of the staff to validate if there were needs for additional train-
ing, 64 percent of the employees were on the job for less than one year, while 20 percent were less than
two years, and only 17 percent had been working for the company for more than two years. It became
increasingly clear that training, or lack thereof, was at the root of the problem due to a large population
of relatively new staff members coming in contact with customers.
Insight to Attrition
The sponsor agreed with Kaushiks findings, confirming that retraining should be provided on a regular
basis. The trainings duration varied from 10 days to four weeks depending on the role, and it took an
employee approximately six months to comfortably learn everything and be able to work indepen-
dently. The change, though, was not of much use, as the trained employees would usually quit within
a year, and then the cycle would begin again. Kaushik understood the problems root cause was due to
attrition, which was hovering at 41 percent.
To further investigate the issue, senior stakeholders participated in a brainstorming sessiona task
many of the leaders expected to use to devise solutions such as automation or mistake proofing to
reduce mistakes. But such moves were not likely since this was the hotel industry, which requires
human interaction with customers, and leaders soon agreed that if the attrition was decreased to more
reasonable levels, there would be multiple benefits, such as an
increase in customer satisfaction and reductions in cycle times
and hiring and training costs. But first, to rule out the monetary
benefit factor, which is one of the common causes for attrition,
a benchmark study was completedsalaries were on the same
lines with competitors.
To learn more from the employees, Kaushik conducted one-
on-one interviews with a small group spread across different
departments, tenures, and levels within the organization. He
found it difficult to earn their trust, allowing them to openly and
truthfully provide information. The employees all said they were
happy to be part of the company, but they did not answer why so
many people quit. Many were scared to say anything ill of their
managers or the working environment, forcing Kaushik to dig
much deeper in search of answers, which were still insufficient.
The projects sponsor was informed of the difficulties and con-
vinced that without the support of the front-line employees, no
impactful change could be brought to the organization. The
leaders began addressing the groups in person regarding the
importance of knowing their problems with a clear emphasis
that improvement would be impossible unless the employees
shared the real cause(s) of the high attrition rate. This led to the
first-ever meeting between front-line staff and senior leadership.
Following the meeting, employees were handed a satisfaction
survey containing 30 questionsa questionnaire that would
guarantee anonymity to spark honest conversation of the real
issues present hindering positive growth. In total, 226 front-
line employeesincluding those in the food and beverage, and
room-service fieldsprovided answers to the questions.
From the survey, Kaushik learned:
84 percent of the staff felt their job was highly stressful.
72 percent felt their health deteriorated.
59 percent felt their job affected their personal life.
91 percent who answered said top leadership does not hear
their voice.
68 percent felt the work environment was much better
with the competitive hotel chains.
81 percent answered they did not see any growth in their
jobrole.
57 percent were demotivated within a month of joining
because of their immediate managers and supervisors.
58 percent answered Yes for the question, Do you feel can relieve employees stress.
you are losing your self-respect when a customer treats
youbadly?
In the six months prior to the survey, the attrition rate for the
hotel chains employees was 41 percent, with major contribu-
tions from the food and beverage division (23 percent) and
room service employees (13 percent).
ASQ www.asq.org Page 2 of 4
The leaders thanked the employees for the feedback, saying they
were unaware of the issues. Randomly, employees were hand-
picked at all the levels for focus group sessions, and this time,
they were more vocal about the issues. The feedback included
73 percent of the participants saying they had issues with self-
respect, including the general manager (GM) who complained
that he was often treated like a servant when greeting top entre-
preneurs, ministers, and other VIPs at the hotel. He said it was
very easy for him to lose his dignity.
Upon learning more of the GMs background, including that he
had changed jobs three times in two years, Kaushik was curi-
ous to know the reason why. The manager told Kaushik that he
had been in the hotel industry for years as a GM and could not
handle stress. He then moved to a service organization as a vice
president, where the culture was vastly different. The GM said
in the service organization, he didnt have anyone to make him
his coffee or turn on his computer, unlike in the hotel industry,
and he felt he had lost his authority, so he moved back to the
hotel industry within six months. Hearing this and other feed-
back, Kaushik learned that:
Authority was the only power used by the managers to get
the work done.
There was never any interaction one level up, and middle
management did not feel attrition was an issue.
Those who quit the hotel mostly joined call centers, as they
had good communication, customer management skills, and
the work environment was stress free.
There was no proper hiring structure in place, apart from a
30-minute interview with respective managers.
Based on the survey response, it became evident the company
was in a bad spot. The problem was difficult for Kaushik to
approach because it was completely related to people, stress
management, and interpersonal skills. To further illustrate the
causes and effects for the muri in the organization, the surveys
findings, employee interviews, and lessons learned from brain-
storming sessions were mapped to an Ishikawa diagram, which
can be seen in Figure 1.
Solution Approach and Workshop
The findings were shared with the project sponsor and senior
leadership. The next step was to identify the processes that
make the job more stressful, and to determine how leadership
A value stream map was created with the project team to depict
a typical day of an employee from food and beverage. The
map, which could not be published in this case study, identified
the number of possible points that could cause stress. It was
found that an employees entire work day is spent receiving
orders, leaving many to feel stressed because they dont receive
 an opportunity to vent their frustrations
Figure 1: Ishikawa Diagram of Causes for Muri while always helping customers. With so
much stress and frustration, the employees
Personnel
were not self-driven; their objective was
Measurements Lack of motivation
to simply complete the task rather than to
Deterioration of health ensure customer satisfaction. While senior
leaders agreed with most of the observa-
Employee satisfaction not measured High ego in work environment tions, Kaushik was told the employee
Work-life imbalance concerns were normal in the hotel indus-
try and that not much could be done to
Stress not measured Self-respect improve it.
Lack of exercise
While he had initially tried to play the role
Muri of an advisor on the project, Kaushik deter-
Lack of process Power and authority Career development mined that being a facilitator was yielding
improvement used to get the trainings were minimal better results, so he decided to guide the
work done
No career path
staff through a brainstorming session to find
Authority driven
RCA never performed for employees solutions to problems identified in the sur-
Abusive vey. The main objective of these sessions
language used People blamed Losing experienced people
for defects
was to assure employees they were impor-
Customer-facing Long training period tant, and the managers were advised to hold
on to the solutions regardless of how simple
Work Methods Attrition or straightforward they were.

There were 226 participants in 16 groups

Table 1 Problems, Solutions, and Impacts Board
Problem Solution
Manage stress, stay The yoga instructor from the hotel spa was
centered, manage asked to conduct 15-minute yoga and
health, achieve meditation sessions three days a week.
work-life balance
Senior leaders are trained on Vipassana
yoga to manage stress, uncertainties,
and stay focused on the present.
30-minute exercise in the gymnasium.
Meetings could be attended
from home over the phone.
Empowerment Managers put the problems to the
and self-direction forum and employees come up with
for continuous a solution through lean and logical
improvement reasoning, and the ideas are rewarded.
Participate in meetings with managers
one level above your immediate boss.
Empowerment and Mandatory lean training once a
self-direction for year and during onboarding, which
employee growth covers lean tools and wastes.
Clear growth path created (horizontal
and vertical) from bell staff and
doorpersons up to general manager.
Mentors are assigned to cross-train.
Ten hours dedicated for cross-
training per month.
Rewards and Monthly awards for the best
recognition improvement idea at different levels.
Policy Authority to be used by managers only in
case of urgency and customer escalations.
Abusive language used within the
hotel premises was offensive.
in the workshop. The problem was shared
Impact
Employees feel energized and
relaxed through the day.
Staff manages uncertainty and stays
centered, which helps in seeing the present
without any emotion attached to it.
Employees feel better and
have improved health.
Staff get to spend five additional
hours per week with family.
Synergy among front-line employees
builds confidence and a continuous
improvement culture.
Build trust between leadership and front-
line staff. Bring transparency to work.
Build a process improvement culture.
Create a pool of motivated, self-
driven employees from different areas
(rooms, bakery, bar, restaurant,
etc.) and retain the best talents.
Employees manage resources effectively,
saving costs on hiring and training.
Motivate and recognize employees.
Encourage employee to be self-driven to
serve the customer. Create a healthy and
clean work environment where there is a
mutual respect irrespective of the level.
with them and participants were asked how
leadership could help them. The work-
shop involved ice-breaker activities, focus
group sessions, and some mind maps.
Theemployees were able to come up with
65percent of the solutions.
This was quite new to them, and suddenly
they felt empowered and energized that
they were making a difference in their orga-
nization. The manager and senior leaders
actively participated and concluded that
whenever there was any problem in the
work area, the staff could brainstorm ideas.
Without losing momentum, boards were
installed in work areas (as can be seen in
Table 1) where the manager could write a
mistake that had occurred in the past, and
then staff would offer solutions, with the
best one being recognized through letters
and emails. The solutions were imple-
mented quickly, and within three days, staff
began receiving communication on the
progress of the solutions. The objective was
clear to employees: Understand customer
needs before they ask for something, and
provide a smile with theirservice.

ASQ www.asq.org Page 3 of 4

 Results

Second and third surveys were conducted at three and six months with the same As a Six Sigma professional, Kaushik
questioner. By the end of the first year, the attrition rate was 14 percent, a decline learned there are times when it is better
of 27percent just by using available resources and managing people effectively. not to bring out his expertise (advisor) and
Process improvement has become part of the work culture over the past year and instead have the clients understand they
many improvements have been completed, including improving customer satisfac- already know the solution (facilitator).
tion, cycle times, and the company reaping cost savings, according to the projects Thiswill create a huge synergy, people feel
sponsor. Specific data to support the anecdotal evidence was not offered though. empowered, and in such circumstances,
supervision is not required and people are
Over six months, employees completed three surveys answering questions on a self-driven, impacting the sustainability of
variety of factors, including feelings about stress and health. Figure 2 shows the the solutions.
improvements the employees made in regards to their physical and mental health as
the percentage of individuals identifying with negative factors decreased dramati- For More Information
cally. The following were the eight questions answered by employees each time:
To contact the author of this case
Figure 2: Employee Survey Results Over Time study, email Sunil Kumar V Kaushik at
sunilkaushik15@gmail.com.
100% To view this and other case studies,
90%
visit the ASQ Knowledge Center at
asq.org/knowledge-center/case-studies.
80%
70%
About the Author
60%
50% Sunil Kaushik, PMP, SPSM, CPSCM,
40% ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt
30% (CSSBB), is a freelance Six Sigma
trainer and consultant. Also an ASQ
20%
Influential Voices author, Kaushik blogs at
10%
www.trainntrot.com. He is getting set for an
0% around-the-world bicycle tour to promote
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
sustainable quality.
Pre-project Third month Sixth month

1. Do you think your job is highly stressful?

2. Do you feel healthy?
3. Does the job affect your personal life?
4. Do you feel your opinions and concerns are heard by senior management?
5. Do you think there are similar jobs in the market that can provide better work-life balance?
6. Do you see a career growth in the next three to five years?
7. Do you get enough motivation from your immediate managers/supervisors?
8. Do you feel you are losing your self-respect when a customer treats you badly?

ASQ www.asq.org Page 4 of 4