Reference no: EM132777069

Case Study: Managing Volunteers at Warner Leisure

Warner Leisure Hotels, part of the Bourne Leisure group, own a range of hotels throughout Great Britain. Bourne Leisure can claim to be one of the best employers in the UK Hotel sector, having featured in the 'Times 20 Best Big Companies To Work For' survey in 2015.

Warner Leisure Hotels aim at the older market. Their guest profile is in the 50-65 age group, relatively affluent, 'empty-nesters', pre-retired and retired. They specifically state that there are 'NO KIDS at any of our locations'.

The Hotels offer a range of activities including ballroom dancing, fencing, and a range of sports such as rifle shooting, swimming, bowling, tennis, croquet and cycling together with other facilities such as saunas, beauty therapies, and art and craft activities. They offer themed weeks and short breaks, for example, the 'Strictly Come Dancing' break and they can be considered as a form of Activity Hotel for the older guest.

Like most hotels, they tend to employ young staff. Unlike many hotels, however, staff turnover is relatively low. In line with the 'having fun' theme for their guests, there is an emphasis on their leisure staff running and joining in the leisure activities. One Leisure Manager suggested that the job consisted of '60 per cent cleaning and 40 per cent having fun', which may go some way to explaining the low staff turnover.

Recognizing the disparity between the ages of the staff and the guests, they have introduced a new policy of encouraging older, unpaid, 'volunteers', who might be interested in working as leisure staff and/or leading leisure activities. In exchange for their time, these volunteers receive appropriate training as well as free Leisure Club membership, (worth £500 per annum in 2011). In 2019, the organisation had 97 volunteers, who were expected to work set hours equivalent to one or two afternoons per week, depending on the activity and the particular hotel.

The company believes that this policy will broaden the range of leisure activities offered to guests, whose experience may be enriched as the volunteers are likely to have more in common with them.

Current leisure staffs see this as a positive move, believing it will enable them to spend more time with the guests.

Questions:

1. What do you think are the benefits of this arrangement to the different stakeholders at Warner Leisure?
2. Explain the challenges managers of the departments face in managing volunteers and paid workforce.
3. Discuss the different strategies you would implement, in the capacity of a manager, to foresee further commitment from the workers at Warner Leisure.