Background
ARISE: The destination-for-a-Day Spa includes a health and beauty complex that provides complete relaxation to its guests. ARISE was created to deliver more than standard spa services but also personal wellness coaching, becoming a special place for rest, recovery, and development. The organization delights in providing a full range of services such as massages, skincare services, hair care, and manicures, resulting in total client experience.
It is located in a large building with facilities such as treatment rooms, a salon, a health club, and a café, which address a variety of clients’ demands. Although the ARISE concept was innovative and initially received a positive reception from its clients, the case study highlights some operational and strategic challenges that ARISE experiences. For instance, these key issues include low employee morale, high staff turnover rate, and problems with schedules and job duties, affecting both the satisfaction levels of customers as well as the financial performance of the spa.
A comprehensive problem scenario in the case study involves operational deficiencies, employee dissatisfaction, and customers’ gap expectations with experience. However, ARISE fails to manage scheduling conflicts, causing them to impact client punctuality and overall satisfaction. In addition, PWC employees receive tips, which pose a challenge because tips are often the only compensation they get. Employee dissatisfaction worsens due to the difference between expectation and reality in tipping and problems with the implementation of the All-Star Team plan.
Case Analysis
Identifying the Presenting Problem
The presenting problems at ARISE: Destination for a Day are complex, addressing the aspects of booking, workers’ remuneration, and customers’ experience. One of the main issues is the ability to sustain the schedule since many clients, particularly of the café, experience a delay, making them late for their appointments. As a result, downstream appointments suffer, with clients becoming unsatisfied and Personal Wellness Coaches feeling disappointed. Another critical issue concerning employee remuneration, especially on the tips given to PWCs, is also a point of concern. The fact that the expected and actual tips do not match the new All-Star Team plan contributes to dissatisfaction and high employee turnover. It is done through fishbone diagrams and other methods that uncover several interconnected factors responsible for these problems. Effective communication, inappropriate facilities maintenance coordination, and a flawed “All-star team plan” implementation are key factors that lead to the ultimate spa experience (Musheke & Phiri, 2021). The fishbone diagram is also helpful in identifying other causes like lack of training, unclear job responsibilities, and mismatch between the management and the employee expectations. This thorough investigation reveals a network of interlocked issues that calls for specific remedial measures for durability gains.
Redefining the Problem
To redefine the problems at ARISE: A Destination Spa for a Day – a systematic and comprehensive discovery process should be at the core of the strategy. They will apply a problem-driven discovery, concentrating only on the difficulties preventing the spa from operating successfully (Mansoori & Lackéus, 2019). The discovery process should be self-managed and involve key stakeholders, including management representatives, PWCs, and clients who understand how the spa works. This inclusive approach is essential and gives a broader view of the discussed problems. All parties involved in the discovery process would include PWCs from different specialties, front-line staff, spa management, and, where applicable, external consultants who are experts in human performance improvement (Mansoori and Lackéus, 2019). Such a diverse group will have varied inputs about their respective fields of specialization, which will help identify problems accurately an
d consider specific dimensions of human performance improvement regarding the satisfaction of both PWCs and customers. Communication effectiveness, job responsibilities, training adequacy, and aligning these three dimensions with organizational goals (Dawit & Huluka, 2023). A robust data collection approach would involve interviews, surveys, analysis of documents, and observation. Qualitative surveys would be collected from PWC interviews, management, and clients, while questionnaires could capture broad perspectives. Document analysis will focus on schedules, policies, and training materials, while direct observation will observe employee-client interactions and facility operations in real time. This research procedure should be broad and far-reaching to reveal open and concealed problems in spa operations (Musheke & Phiri, 2021). The purpose would be two-fold: first, identifying the issues that aggravate the current issues, and second, exploring systematic problems affecting human performance. Dual focus helps to target both the symptoms and the cause of the challenges of ARISE.
The fishbone diagram, a visual representation tool, would create a clear and straightforward picture of the situation (Gartlehner et al., 2017). The cause-and-effect relationships among factors that lead to performance problems are highlighted in this model. The schematic shows main problems like conflicting schedules, insufficient remuneration, and difficulties relating to the All-Star Team scheme and factors of origin. As a communication tool, this visual aid is potent, helping all the stakeholders understand each other and paving the way for improved future performance.
Recommended Performance Improvement Solutions
Revise Scheduling and Job Duties
ARISE scheduling problems require the introduction of an efficient scheduling system. Using tools such as scheduling software minimizes conflicts and maximizes efficiency. Doing this necessitates developing an easy-to-use system whereby clients can schedule appointments conveniently, thus reducing delays resulting from scheduling conflicts (Mansoori & Lackéus, 2019). Furthermore, the system should consider the possibility of delays in the café during rush hours so that clients are ready for their appointments.
The job description of the personal wellness coaches also forms an integral aspect of this intervention. Emphasis should be placed on the need for cleanliness during breaks so there is enough time for cleaning and stocking between the clients’ appointments. They can be further enhanced by incorporating periodic refresher courses and posters showing the roles of keeping clean/well stocked. This will address the scheduling and job duty problems and help the spa enhance operational efficiency and satisfy clients’ needs.
Enhance Training Programs
The second intervention is centered on developing and implementing a complete training program for PWCs. These programs must focus on improving coaching skills, good customer service, and a client-oriented orientation. PWCs should also integrate time management modules, which will assist them in making their schedule and ensuring services are delivered on time (2015). Additionally, good communication and conflict resolution courses are essential so PWCs can handle relationships and interpersonal problems arising among customers and colleagues.
Implement All-Star Team Plan Enhancements
It is essential to enhance team dynamics to alleviate the impact of turnover. By cultivating a conducive working experience, the All-Star Team Plan will motivate employee satisfaction and loyalty. Feedback sessions between teams can give an alternative perspective on improving the plan in practice (Rummler & Brache, 2013). This intervention seeks to change the team structure from a source of bother to the cornerstone of employee involvement and pleasure.
Expected Benefits
Implementing a lean scheduling system alongside specific job responsibility definition is set to translate into significant enhancements in schedule compliance. The spa is expected to reduce wait time and conflicting appointments by using technology to eliminate conflicts and delaying factors such as café service (Swanson, 2022). This improves operational efficiency and customer satisfaction since customers expect smooth operations and promptness during every spa session.
Improving PWCs’ training programs can boost job satisfaction, resulting in higher employee retention. They are trained comprehensively to become proficient in effective coaching, customer service, time management, and conflict resolution. PWCs will gain competence and confidence as they carry out their duties; as a result, this will increase job satisfaction. As a result, the spa anticipates reduced turnover rates, which will help to create a more committed and loyal team.
The changes expected of the All-Star Team Plan are expected to improve working relationships among PWCs. The strategy includes team-building activities and incentives to reinforce ties between team members and foster a culture of mutual responsibility. More vital peer collaboration among teammates and uniformity at the client end is realized due to a more unified client experience (Swanson, 2022). The spa will foresee improvement in staff satisfaction and customer service delivery as the PWCs work together.
The interventions are designed to improve the spa’s financial performance. Better training programs that lead to better coaching services will lead to more tips for PWCs. Client satisfaction and tipping behavior positively correlate with expectations of higher tips for clients when perceived service quality is better (Mansoori & Lackéus, 2019). On the other hand, controlled turnover will result from improved employee satisfaction and engagement, resulting in reduced expenditure on recruitment and training. In this respect, the spa must retain highly competent employees with better experience. This makes it possible to develop a more stable operational model that is also affordable with better financial performances in the future.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the ARISE: A Destination for a Day Spa analysis has highlighted the critical hurdles that operations efficiency and employee satisfaction face. Identified presenting problems such as scheduling conflict, poor employee morale, etc., led to extensive analyses of causations and appropriate interventions. These problems will be solved through the proposal that entails a revised scheduling system, improved training programs, and a better All-Star team plan. These interventions will have benefits like improved schedule adherence, employee satisfaction and retention, increased team collaboration, and financial, health, and environmental sustainability. Through such initiatives, ARISE can tackle existing threats facing the organization and prepare it for future growth. To realize the spa’s potential, however, it must maintain its commitment to excellence in service delivery and staff well-being.
References
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Gartlehner, G., Schultes, M.-T., Titscher, V., Morgan, L. C., Bobashev, G. V., Williams, P., & West, S. L. (2017). User testing of an adaptation of fishbone diagrams to depict results of systematic reviews. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-017-0452-z
Mansoori, Y., & Lackéus, M. (2019). Comparing effectuation to discovery-driven planning, prescriptive entrepreneurship, business planning, lean startup, and design thinking. Small Business Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-019-00153-w
Musheke, M. M., & Phiri, J. (2021). The Effects of Effective Communication on Organizational Performance Based on the Systems Theory. Open Journal of Business and Management, 9(2), 659–671. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbm.2021.92034
Robinson, D. G., & Philips, J. C. (2015). Performance Consulting: A Strategic Process to Improve, Measure, and Sustain Organizational Results Ed. 3. Berrett-Koehler.
Rothwell, W. J. (2013). Performance consulting: applying performance improvement in human resource development. Wiley.
Rummler, G. A., & Brache, A. P. (2013). Improving performance: how to manage the white space on the organization chart. Jossey-Bass.
Swanson, R. A. (2022). Foundations of Human Resource Development, Third Edition. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
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