Appendix 9-1
A Day in the Life of a General Manager
Monday, 7:00 A.M. I arrive at the office, just a brief ride down the elevator from my hotel apartment, go over the weekend’s operating statistics, check my e-mails, and begin going through the stack of paperwork on my desk.
8:05 A.M. A call from the company’s regional vice president, my immediate superior, who is just calling to check on how things are going. I update her on weekend occupancy and revenue figures. We discuss a number of personnel issues, including a prospecting marketing director for the hotel. We also swap corporate gossip, in a friendly way. It is nice to have a boss who can get the point across in a nonthreatening yet professional manner. I request that the company’s regional vice president of marketing accompany me to a neighboring city, where we will be trying to get a client to book a large convention.
8:24 A.M. The director of sales for the hotel dropped in to ask me why I was lowering next month’s revenue forecast. During the conversation, my secretary came in with papers to be signed, and I received a phone call from the head of security about a guest’s van that was stolen from the parking garage over the weekend. I put the conversation with the director of sales on hold because the director of sales had to attend another meeting.
8:30 A.M. Two junior executives who have been given responsibility for planning the upcoming employee picnic and golf tournament dropped by to discuss details. I made suggestions regarding the courtesy food and beverage carts that will be stationed on the golf course.
8:48 A.M. I walked over to the resident manager’s office to see how the search for a new chef is going. At the same time, I showed the resident manager the caps that will be given out during the golf tournament and mentioned some of the issues discussed earlier with the regional vice president.
9:03 A.M. The hotel’s convention coordinator came to my office about a problem with a convention group staying at the hotel. I explained how the issue be handled but left it to the convention coordinator to work out the details.
9:06 A.M. While signing papers, I got a telephone call from the hotel’s chief engineer, who brought up three or four operational matters.
9:12 A.M. I went to the 11th floor to look over a room remodeling in progress. While there, I ran into the executive in charge of the project, who updated me on the status of the project. I made several quick suggestions for the executive to follow up on.
9:33 A.M. The director of security caught up with me, and we talked on the way back to my office. The director of security gave me some more details on the van theft.
9:45 A.M. I walked to the nearby office of the food and beverage director to find out her concerns regarding the decision to hire a new chef. We also discussed how well the Friday night charity banquet went. The food and beverage director told me some corporate gossip received from the vice president of food and beverage that morning, and we laughed about corporate politics.
9:55 A.M. I received a call from a local businessman who wanted the address of a local celebrity. I had the information but did not give it out until I got some details on the reason for the request.
9:58 A.M. The hotel’s attorney called and updated me on a pending lawsuit.
10:00 A.M. I attended the regular Monday staff meeting of all department heads. I wanted to congratulate them on the great Friday evening banquet. I joked with three or four executives and then turned the meeting over to the controller. I listened as the controller discussed some key budget projections, and I signed some equipment requisitions. Toward the end of the meeting, I told everyone what went on at last week’s owners’ meeting and went over the planning for this year’s New Year’s Eve events.
11:00 A.M. After the meeting formally broke, I had a short conversation with five executives and reinforced the importance of the budget message from the controller.
11:05 A.M. Back in the office, I got a call from the son of the hotel’s managing partner, who is looking for some comps. After checking with the reservations department, I regretfully refused the request because the hotel is approaching 100 percent occupancy for those nights.
11:08 A.M. The resident manager came by to advise me that another hotel was chosen by the local tourist commission to house a group of wholesale travel agents. I called the city’s director of tourism to see if we could host a luncheon for the travel agents, and I was assured that the group will be housed at my hotel.
11:23 A.M. I called the chief engineer to check on an elevator problem. We also discussed the rooms rehab, the golf tournament, and the Monday night football game.
11:45 A.M. The hotel’s managing partner called to ask a question about some expenditures on the previous month’s profit and loss statement. I looked up the information and explained the details. We discussed five or six other issues, including the outlook for the local economy.
12:02 P.M. I reviewed an announcement about a reunion of an advanced management class I attended at the Conrad N. Hilton College at the University of Houston, to be held next year in Europe. After deciding to attend, I made a note to inquire about some details regarding the trip.
12:08 P.M. While reviewing a report, I called the hotel’s spa manager to determine the reason for and the solutions to the excessive glass breakage that was evident in the merchandise the spa was receiving from outside vendors.
12:15 P.M. The director of sales stopped by to tell me that a competing hotel had offered a “ridiculously low” room rate to a large convention group for which they are competing. We both complained about this irrational competitor. No decision about how to respond was made at the time.
12:18 P.M. Two junior executives brought me a copy of that a competing hotel had offered a “ridiculously low” room rate to a large convention froup for which they are competing. We joked about the compatibility of certain employees and who the ringers were on the different teams.
12:22P.M. My secretary forwarded a message from the mayor’s office about setting up a private dinner for about 20 people and indicated that I needed to call the mayor upon her return from Washington the next day.
12:30P.M, I left the hotel to go down to the River View Restaurant for lunch with the owner of numerous riverboats and tour companies, who is currently president of the local tourist commission. Although our meeting had no real agenda and no hotel business was transacted, we discussed numerous topics relating to the local tourism industry.
12:25P.M. I arrived back in my office.
1:30P.M. A newly hired young executive was brought around. I talked about how the hotel is trying to service small groups as well as large ones and how important it is for even the smallest meeting group to get special attention.
1:45 P.M. The controller escorted the representative of a credit card company to my office for an unscheduled meeting. There is some unusual new service being offered; before long, there were five people in an impromptu meeting that lasted 45 minutes. The idea doesn’t appear to apply to our business, and afterward I made a note to ask the controller why he brought this guy to me.
2:15P.M. I phoned a prominent local executive who heads up the city’s PGA golf tournament to drum up some tournament business. Nothing was resolved during our five-minute talk.
2:20P.M. I asked the resident manager to come by so we could discuss five or six subjects, including recent increases in the percentage of convention no-shows, a suggested room rate policy for the next month, various plans to finish up the rooms remodeling, and others.
2:59P.M. The catering director delivered the rough draft of a bid proposal on an Italian-American Festival the hotel is interested in hosting. I made a number of suggestions and complimented the catering director on a greet effort.
3:15P.M. I read two personnel action forms from the human resources department and called the director of human resources to discuss both. We discussed a number of other personnel issues during this ten-minute conversation.
3:33P.M. I got a call from a freelance writer who is doing a story about tourism and economic development. I answered questions and asked her a number of my own during our 12-minute talk.
3:45P.M. I received an unscheduled visit from the rooms management about a guest who did not get a wake-up call and subsequently missed a meeting. The guest wants a free night’s stay; we decided to offer him $59. The conversation went on to malfunctioning message lights on guest room phones and finally to the trophies for the golf tournament. The rooms manager got the golf trophies to show me.
4:00P.M. The assistant laundry manager dropped by to discuss a personnel problem. I listened, asked questions, and outlined a detailed procedure for the assistant laundry manager to follow.
4:15P.M. I checked my e-mail, did paperwork, and read mail and memos for an uninterrupted 20 minutes.
4:35P.M. The resident manager came by with the hotel’s operations analyst. We discussed a number of technical questions relating to sales forecasts and reports to corporate headquarters.
5:40P.M. I got a call from the general manager of a company hotel in another states. We talked company gossip, including possible corporate organizational changes. Other topics included the hotel’s capital budget, out families, and relations with hotel’s owners.
6:10P.M. I called the general manager of a company hotel in another city, previously the GM’s resident manager, to express sympathies over the death of her father.
6:30P.M. I returned to my apartment for a quick dinner.
7:15P.M. I met seven of my hotel executives at the hotel’s sports bar to watch some of the Monday night football game and was introduced to a corporate engineering specialist who is in town for a few days. I asked about various aspects of the engineer’s job, but no local hotel business was discusses at the table. Mostly, it was a little football and beer and a lot of joking and kidding.
8:00P.M. I said good night and returned to my apartment. It was a full but average day.