GENERAL MANAGER MANUAL (Basic Guidelines )

 Basic Guidelines

                                                                                                                 

BASIC GUIDELINES

RELATIONSHIP

·         The XXXXX CEO represents Xxxxxxxxxxx Hotels, Resorts and Residences in dealing with the Owners, Board of Directors, Board of Commissioners, and designated representatives of all hotels in Asia under XXXXXXX management. He will maintain a close working relationship with the Owning Companies. GM’s are required to inform him of any negative situations that might arise in this relationship.

·         It is the responsibility of the CEO to ensure that the hotels fulfill their obligations towards the Owning Companies. GM’s are required to assist   the CEO as much as possible in making sure that all obligations are met.

·         The GM should aid the CEO to ensure that the Owning Companies fulfill their obligations towards Xxxxxxxxxxx e.g. in the timely payment of all fees due to XXXXXXXXXXX

·         The General Manager works closely with the CEO in all aspects of properly managing the business, staff relations, owner’s assets, and Owning Company relations. At all times, dealings and conduct should be geared to properly representing and safeguarding the interests of Xxxxxxxxxxx.

COMMUNICATIONS

·         The CEO should be consulted on all requests from the owning Companies which the GM believes are either outside the boundaries of the management agreement or if the GM is unsure are contained within the scope of valid Owner requests for data included in the management contract. Any subject which the GM knows to be of a particularly sensitive nature MUST BE DISCUSSED WITH THE CEO PRIOR TO ANY DECISIONS BEING ADOPTED BY THE GM.

EXPENSES

·         Visits of the CEO should be expensed/ charged as stipulated in the agreement with the Owning Company. Most Agreements provide the CEO be provided with full courtesies (i.e. Airline ticket paid for by hotel, airport pickup, complimentary accommodations, meals,  beverages, laundry, telephone calls etc )

·         The General Manager is required to submit his expenses on an expense claim form and must submit this form and copies of receipts to the Corporate Office for review and approval by the CEO. All expense reports must be submitted on a monthly basis .in order to properly account for them in the period in which they were incurred. Expenses submitted on a late basis without proper justification may be subject to disapproval and non reimburse

OTHERS

·         Any General Manager intending to travel outside the country of his assignment must have the written approval of the CEO (preferably a minimum of two weeks in advance of said trip).

·         When transmitting this request, the General Manager should include :

1.    Reason for travel

2.    Departure and return dates

3.    Full itinerary and successive addresses to enable contact

4.    Name of person responsible for the Hotel during his absence

·         Same procedure applies for any domestic travel in excess of 24 hours if it occurs during normal work days.

·         Same procedure applies for time off or unscheduled leave of duty. In which case the Aston Director of Operations can be contacted for approval. All time off must be documented by using the appropriate forms with Corporate Office signing off. This is to ensure to Owners and hotel staff that the GM is leading by example in adhering to Company Policy and Procedures.

MONTHLY OWNER AND OPERATOR MEETINGS

Owner and Operator Meetings are normally held once a month to review the hotel performance from the previous month. These meetings are chaired by the resident GM and are normally attended by the GM, Mr.  CEO, and Mr.  Director of Operations and the Hotel Board of Directors or Owners.

The hotel’s financial controller and director of sales may also be asked to attend and give an overview of the previous month’s results and performance as well as a forecast for the coming months, 90 day cash flow projection and revenue/OCC and ADR outlook for the coming three months. A general overview of the hotels performance is given by the General Manager who may use power point, overhead projector etc to aid his presentation.

On a rotational basis, one other department head should also be invited to attend and present an overview of their department.

The presentations should all be given in a positive manner especially when discussing results of disappointing performance.

These meetings normally last between 1 and 2 hours. Refreshments are made available as well as any other equipment required.

All financial data as well as the meeting agenda must be submitted to Aston International for review and comment - no later than 2 days before the scheduled meeting. For GM’s who are new to the AXXXX Group or new to the hotel they have been assigned, it is preferable during the first few meetings , that a pre-meeting or dry run presentation be scheduled one or two days in advance of the actual scheduled Owner/Operator Meeting. This will enable the new GM to be better prepared to cover all the required materials expected by XXXX, as well as being prepared to present the data in the most efficient and beneficial manner to the Owners.

The minutes for the meeting should be prepared by the GM or GM’s secretary and sent to Aston corporate for approval before being distributed to all parties concerned. These minutes should be issued no later than three business days after the meeting date.

The agenda will normally include the following items as a minimum:

Ø  Review the minutes of the previous meeting. (If there are no comments then the action items only will be reviewed.)

Ø  Overview of hotel operations

Ø  Financial statement overview

Ø  CAPEX – urgent matters

Ø  Sales & marketing review

Ø  Presentation by chosen department head

Ø  Employee or SPSI issues

The report for the meeting should be issued in bound form with all pages numbered.

The report should contain as a minimum:

1. A table of contents
2. An executive summary
3. A financial summary to include the data for all of the items listed below.

Ø  Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet Overview

Ø  Cash flow review (see recommended format in the appendix)

Ø  PTEB Review (see recommended format in the appendix)

Ø  Accounts Receivable Aging

Ø  Accounts Payable Aging

Ø  A forecast of the coming 3 months (see recommended format in the appendix)

4. A sales & marketing summary including graphs etc. to include such items as:

Ø  Room night production

Ø  Average room rate

Ø  Market mix

Ø  Sales customer/call list

Ø  Any new rates issued

Ø  Entertainment conducted

Ø  Lost or pending business

Ø  Review of sales activities for the past month

Ø  Planned action plan for the coming 2 months

GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

·         There is differing terminology referring to disputes and grievances in the workplace.

Obviously the manner in which a grievance is raised and the, in which it is most appropriately dealt with, will vary according to local culture and the employment relation’s environment. In many cases a “a grievance procedure” refers to an issue raised by an individual employee, and a “dispute procedure” refers to more broadly based claims covering a substantial section of the workforce (and are often brought to management’s attention by way of third party, such as a trade union) however these terms are interchangeable.

·         Whereas it is not reasonable to expect management to anticipate all potential disputes and grievances, it is likely that most employees will at some stage have issues which concern them at work, and it is appropriate that these issues are brought to the attention of management.

·         It is therefore very important that when these issues are brought to your attention a number of key guidelines are followed as a matter of urgency :

·         Management should make every effort to understand the nature and dimension of the grievance, and the reason for it being raised :

·         Demonstrate empathy through actions and words-whether your agree with what is being said - you must remember, that his is a big step for the grievant;

·         Management should immediately inform the employee/employees of the mechanism to be followed and ensure that they understand the timeframes;

·         Default to your local grievance procedures and document the steps taken as well as the outcomes;

·         In addition, the pro-active steps should form part of your annual management development program :

·         Management and supervisory levels should be aware of and trained on identifying grievances as they occur and understand their role in effective grievance Management.

·         All managers should acknowledge the key influence which poor grievance management has on the employee relation’s environment.

·         The non-handling of grievance gives rise to frustration which can permeate through to other employees and promote an uneasy working environment in which disputes and poor employee relations can arise.