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COM 2301-Professional

Communication- Dr. A. Agnaou

Tarmounia OmarMrini

YasmineAbdouss WafiAkhanchouf

MeryemBaddi

MohamedBensaid Yassine

Service Learning: Site Visit Report

SPRING 2015

GRAND HOTELIFRANE

Table of Contents

Introduction P.2

Background P.4

Area of concentration/Fact finding P.6

Analysis/Reflection/Appraisal P.9

Conclusion P.11

Appendix P.13

Bonus Points P.14

Introduction1

For the site visit report, an opportunity was provided to us to connect and see how a

professional place works. Because we are being prepared to enter and embrace the

professional world in a relatively close future, this is an excellent opportunity for us to

apply Al Akhawayn University’s mandate and mission on social responsibility and

analysis. Our goal is to conduct a site visit, to actively interact not only with the

personnel but also with all the departments of the organization that are inter-linked, our

goal consists also of on-site interviews we have done to understand the issue and the

components. We are also in charge of giving a feedback and evaluating the

organization, stating what is appreciable and what should be improved.

The organization we chose to visit is the Grand Hotel Ifrane, one of the most well-

known hotels in the resort city of Ifrane. The Grand Hotel Ifrane is situated in “Avenue

de La Marche Verte, Ifrane, Maroc”. The location is known as the “centre-ville” or

downtown of Ifrane, its location is interesting because it is near all the important

facilities such as restaurants, shops, markets, banks or coffee shops. The Grand Hotel

Ifrane is a big white building, with brown ornaments and orange windows; the roof is

red, in accordance with the city’s construction standards, using red tiles. The building is

European and Oriental/Arabesque-styled, there is a combination of the two styles, and

the columns for examples are Arab-styled, with a circular shape.

According to the hotel's manager, Grand Hotel was founded in 1941 by the French who

built this hotel to be a gathering spot for French officers, French citizens and their

families. It was during the French Protectorate and the Second World War, Ifrane was

especially known for being a rest and leisure center, the city was built in the 1920s,

precisely in 1928 by the general secretary of Morocco Eirik Labonne. The presence and

location of the Grand Hotel Ifrane is exceptional and non-negligible in a city of more

than 30000 people, at 1713 meters of altitude and situated strategically and closely

between two significant cities that are Fez and Meknes.

The visit had a duration of about four hours and was done by our team comprised of the

following members: Akhanchouf Meryem, Baddi Mohamed, Mrini Yasmine,

Tarmounia Omar, Bensaid Yassine and Abdouss Wafi.

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Our team visited the different departments, the ones that consists the hotel are

comprised of the Housing/booking, Food services, Entertainment/Attraction and

Accounting and Finance. But also the team visited the “internal” department, the

administration.

This report has been prepared with all reasonable skill, care and diligence and it

summarizes the findings from the four-hour site visit.

All information, statements and data quoted in this report are based on information

provided by the Grand Hotel’s staff.

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Background

Since the 1940's, Grand Hotel was regarded as one of Ifrane's most prestigious hotels

but its status was overshadowed in later years following the construction of the splendid

Michlifen Hotel. The latter received multiple renovations along the year only to become

Ifrane's most prestigious hotel, known for being the favorite place for wealthy tourists

visiting Ifrane.

Still, the manager of Grand Hotel Ifrane, also known as GH, reaffirms that his hotel still

enjoys a strong base of support and loyalty from customers who enjoy the feeling of

"old times" the hotel provides and the general feeling of a hotel built nearly 75 years

ago. So what is the mission of GH today?

Well, according to the manager the mission of the hotel is to provide tourists with an

opportunity to enjoy the beauty of Ifrane and relax in the midst of its beauty. GH

provides the perfect place for middle class and upper class families who want to spend

the extra money they have on a good hotel, like GH, and still have enough to go

shopping and explore the area. The Grand Hotel in Ifrane also provides an alternative in

opposition to the very expensive Michlifen Resort Hotel. They also do not want to be

unreachable in terms of prices and make sure the prices are always affordable.

Concerning the structure of the organization, the manager states that the Hotel is in fact

short staffed, meaning that there aren't enough staffers to serve the customers. With that

said, the hotel enjoys a strict hierarchy based on mutual respect between the director of

each department, his/her lieutenants and the employees. Grand Hotel is, like many other

Hotels, made of different departments. The main departments are Housing/booking,

Food services, Entertainment/Attraction and Accounting and Finance department.

Housing revolves around keeping the hotel well-kept, clean and organized. The food

service revolves around overlooking what is needed for the hotel when it comes to

accommodating the guests and their choices when it comes to food. The administration

is in charge of the internal affairs of the organization.

Entertainment/Attraction comprises, first, of the nightclub that operates 6/7 days, the

nightclub is an important component for attracting and keeping the clients, on the other

hand is really important when it is snowing for example or when there is a scheduled

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group visit to the city. The hotel proposes to such groups a program of attractions that

include sightseeing, exploring and hiking among many other fun activities.

The accounting and finance department is responsible of the budgets for each

department, the salaries of the employees and counting the profits. They are also in

charge of the transactions with the providers, such as food, ingredients or reparations if

necessary.

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Area of concentration/Fact finding

This section emphasizes on the communication issues and the general functioning of the

organization.

The Grand Hotel in Ifrane consists of the following main departments: Housing/

booking, Food services, Entertainment/Attraction and Accounting and Finance

department. Such departments are coordinated by the administration that takes care and

manages the internal affairs, asked about their main task; they said “we have to ensure

the efficient performance of all departments in the organization”. They also act as a

connecting link between the senior management, the manager and the employees, if

something does not work well or if there are disputes and quarrels, they confessed that it

happened before. The administration is also very direct and says what is wrong to the

employees if they are not satisfied or if a complaint came from the manager. Also

included are the Human Resources especially focusing on the employees, their

performance and their well-being. The Human Resources provide motivation to the

work force and make the staff realize the goals of the organization and keep the quality

provided.

The accounting and finance department is responsible of the budgets for each

department, the salaries of the employees and counting the profits. They are also in

charge of the transactions with the providers, such as food, ingredients or reparations if

necessary. They stated that for now, Grand Hotel is not in crisis or bankruptcy,

everything is doing really fine, and there are profits at the end of the month. They said

of course there have been periods where there were no profits, especially in

summer/autumn season, around the months of September/October. They did not say the

exact amount of profits, but they said “Many people visit the hotel per year, the balance

is positive, we have many customers and things are doing fine”.

The hierarchy of the organization is composed of the “Président Directeur Général”, the

president of the hotel, he is not in charge of the internal affairs or making sure work is

done. He is more in charge of the global well-being of the organization, its reputation,

its image and its attractiveness, he ensures of the good relations the hotel has with

providers, partners and important clients. The president is also an ambassador of the

organization when he goes to important meetings or conferences, for example, to

promote the Grand Hotel. The manager is the one in charge of the internal affairs in the

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organization; he supervises the work done by the employees and the coordination. The

manager said that “there haven’t been hierarchical issues or problems with the

hierarchy; generally there is a respect of the position held and the authority”.

Concerning gender equity, it is quite interesting, they ensure that everyone is equal

assured to us that it is the case, the manager has stated that all the employees are treated

equally regardless of their gender, they also receive equal pay if they hold the same

position within the organization, the manager also stated that “inequality at work

doesn’t exist at the Grand Hotel”.

The food services/restaurant provides a quite diversified range of different meals, its

main goal is to provide equilibrated and high quality food. Also its main concern is to

entertain good relations with the providers of primary food and raw food. They need to

ensure that everything is in good quality and fresh.

The materials the Grand Hotel uses, this business card (see appendix) is the only thing

they have to promote their organization. They told us that this business card is used

when the president goes to important meetings or conferences, for example, to promote

the Grand Hotel. There is a lack of communication between the hotel and the clients,

apart obviously, from the restaurant menus, there is no indication of their services and

their content. The organization’s handouts and written work ethics for their staff does

not exist, in terms of proper behavior and conduct, the manager told us that they all the

employees had training when they were hired. When we were insisting on the handouts

and written rules, he said that they do not need these because they know what to do,

what is wrong and should not be done, it is kind of informal. When asked about the

work ethics, the manager said that they were included in the “informal” handouts they

were told, it is informal, they know what to do and the ethics related to work. Such

comprise of not coming late, being polite and warm with the clients, being at their entire

disposition. Integrity (being trustful, honest), the sense of responsibility, always looking

for the quality and being effective, the sense of teamwork and valuing your teammates,

those are the work ethics the employees are told wen hired. They are part of their

training. Concerning a transgression of work ethics, the manager is in charge of

identifying the problems, assessing the needs and trying to correct the problem, but

generally he said “I am satisfied with all our employees”.

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Concerning the external communication and the extension of the Grand Hotel’s image,

there are some problems, it lacks promotion. There isn’t a website for the hotel; it needs

a website to its proper running and to attract more clients, like foreigners for example.

Concerning this, we were told that they have some agreements with travel companies,

when tourists come; they make sure they go to their hotel; this is a kind of promotion

concerning their organization. Their official representation is quite weak, they don’t

have website but they offer reservation service online, through booking.com, it is the

only one, the other representation is found in Tripadvisor, with comments and

appreciation from clients but there is no reservation there.

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Analysis/Reflection/Appraisal

We have found that the information we obtained through asking and interacting with the

staff of Grand Hotel in Ifrane was clearly adequate and representative of the

organization.

For instance, even if the company has more male employees than female employees (35

males versus 12 females) the manager has stated that all the employees are treated

equally regardless of their gender, they also receive equal pay if they hold the same

position within the organization, the manager also stated that “inequality at work

doesn’t exist at the Grand Hotel. Also, when asked about the issue of sexual harassment,

the manager admitted that such incidents may occur, like in any organization, but that

they are dealt with in a professional manner. If anything of this happened, the

appropriate sanctions will be used. Other issues were raised such as profit making

considering that Ifrane is an isolated city, and to that, the manager responded that the

Grand Hotel makes a considerable profit especially during periods of snow as Ifrane

remains a very attractive touristic destination. Moreover, the Grand Hotel has built a

strong reputation by retaining its customers, by being the second best hotel in Ifrane and

by offering several leisure services.

The main issue the organization is suffering from is a lack of employees, and a

disparity between the number of male and female employees, as well as having very

little bedding (only 42 rooms), and even though the Hotel makes profit out of its

suitable location, the Set club ( the nightclub of the Grand Hotel) that attracts a young

clientele, food services ( an Asian cuisine and Italian cuisine menu as well as Moroccan

and diverse food) and good reputation it has to make improvement by hiring more

employees, especially females, to counterpart the lack of employees and contribute in

the development of Ifrane’s economy. Also, increasing the number of rooms by making

modifications in the building’s structure would be perfect to be able to host more

visitors and increase its competitiveness within the market, but that issue is very costly

and extremely hard to achieve. Proposing rooms with many beds (3 or 4) could be an

alternative to increase the profits, they are addressed to relatively low-budget tourists

who do road trips or hiking in the region.

What could be done to increase the number of employees is installing an effective hiring

strategy that includes training which will allow the organization to be skilled and

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knowledgeable employees that will work for the well development of the organization

and its overall profitability.

The issue of the nightclub is quite significant, because it is in the same building as the

rooms; we were told that some clients were complaining about the loud noise in the

nightclub, preventing them from sleeping. This is a serious issue concerning the

reputation and attractiveness of the hotel, there should be an effective system of

isolation. Even though the manager said “We have the nightclub in the basement, so our

customers cannot hear the noise or the music from their rooms. Also, the infrastructure

of the hotel is strong to avoid the noise”, more efforts need to be done.

The administration department, with the current situation, even if it is not really their

job, could also work to advertise the hotel on a larger scale in order to attract a new

clientele, especially during “warmer seasons”, thus creating an image of an affordable

and enjoyable place to stay in, in a city that does attract many tourists, especially in the

winter season, what could also be offered are touristic programs such as hikes, visits or

camping events in order to promote the city of Ifrane as something bigger than its ski

station.

The Grand Hotel has a major problem with communication. To extend their clients and

with the excellent reputation Grand Hotel has, they should definitely create a website, it

will not only attract more clients and spread an even better image, but it will also

provide more information for the clients concerning their services and their rooms, it is

their right to be informed before paying. When raising this issue with them, they said

that they think about it, to increase their reputation and visibility on the web thanks to a

website and advertising. By looking for hotels in Ifrane we mostly find advertising and

offers for the majestic Michlifen Hotel. The staff is aware of this situation but it doesn’t

have the same resources and human resources as the Michlifen Hotel does. Furthermore,

they do not have a communication team specialized in improving and increasing the

image, reputation and visibility of the Hotel, they have the marketing team, but

establishing such team only specialized in this would be beneficial.

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Conclusion

The site visit report at the Grand Hotel in Ifrane was very beneficial and helpful to be in

touch with the professional world and have an idea on how individuals of the same

organization interact and work. For some of us, it was the first time visiting a

professional environment; it was a new experience being there. This site visit would be

like an introduction or a brief summary of what some of us would do if we embrace

these jobs or jobs within the same field. As a team, we learnt that team work is very

important and can affect your job and your daily life, because most of us will be

beginners and be occupying positions that require interaction and communication (not

like a boss in his office), it is important to be honest, humble and kind with our future

comrades.

We learnt that the organization should be equal with all departments; it should not

neglect one in terms of budget or importance, because as a whole the organization will

surely be affected. Communication is very important, being clear will affect your

surroundings and the services offered within an organization. Also, not being afraid to

tell what is wrong or what lacks will improve the organization you are working for and

contribute to its well-being. Having clear and shared goals will only make the team

better, because each one is contributing for the sake of everyone. Coordination is also

very important; a shared understanding between the members of the organization will

make the tasks better and efficient.

We would advise other people that would want to perform a site visit to have their

questions related to a particular issue they would investigate in a particular department

( the marketing and communication department for instance) and probably contribute in

the development of the department by bringing suggestions based on the material they

have covered in class. When it comes to interviewing the persons, don’t be timid and

dare to ask all sorts of questions, but not personal questions (keep in mind the site visit

report is about the organization as a whole, so don’t ask their salary or if they like their

job, or if incidents happened).

It is important and beneficial to be curious, but careful, being curious does not mean

being disrespectful and disrupting the staff’s jobs. Ask your questions and be interested

without insisting too much, if someone finds your question embarrassing or consider it a

secret, do not insist. What is important to consider is your behavior, if you feel bored or

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unsatisfied with the answers, do not show it or insist too much, the staff is doing its best

to be helpful. The first impression of the team is very important, the beginning of the

visit is crucial, because you show the staff your personality and this decides how the

visit and interviews will be conducted. You should show that you are confident and

really interested as well as energetic.

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Appendix

The materials the Grand Hotel uses, this business card is the only thing they have to

promote their organization. They told us that this business card is used when the

president goes to important meetings or conferences, for example, to promote the Grand

Hotel.

The entry of the Grand Hotel, as stated before, we can see the Arab-styled columns.

A typical double room at the Grand Hotel, the staff is quite proud of the large bed used,

they claim that it is unusual to use large beds in the double room, because normally

hotels seek to maximize the use of space to have more profits, in this case more space is

required, so less rooms.

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Bonus Points

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