Organizational change and management strategies

Green Mountain Resort and the "Problem" of Turnover

Which of the six change images discussed in the chapter can be identified in the assumptions about changing turnover that were held by: Gunter? The hospitality literature? The consultant?

These three stakeholders each had a different conception of the nature of the problem of high turnover at Green Mountain and how this problem might be addressed and the high turnover rate changed as a result. Gunter initially shared some of the key assumptions of the hospitality literature. He believed that high turnover was problematic for the resort because it was expensive in terms of having to expend resources recruiting new employees and then even greater expenses involved in training new employees.

At least as problematic for Gunter -- and this concern was also reflected in the hospitality industry literature -- was the fact that having few if any veteran workers at the resort reduced the quality of customer service. Workers without sufficient experience and without loyalty to each other or to the resort were likely to be both unable and unwilling to provide the best customer service, the level of customer service that would be needed to give the resort the kind of appeal that it would need to be an enduring quality institution in the region.

Gunter's assessment deviated in some measure from the hospitality literature because he did not believe that putting up with the costs of high turnover (especially in the form of poor customer service) was simply a necessary and non-negotiable aspect of running a resort.

The consultant brought a dramatically new perspective to the problem of high turnover -- by the simple expedient of deciding that if high turnover could not be eliminated then it had to be embraced, or at least viewed as a neutral aspect of doing business. By questioning the most fundamental assumption about high turnover -- that it was a detriment that could not be either dampened or reworked into a benefit -- the consultant allowed Gunter to be able to reframe the entire way in which his hiring and human resources processes worked.

B. How did these assumptions influence prescriptions for dealing with the turnover problem?

The assumptions that Gunter made and those that were reflected in the hospitality literature prevented them from re-framing the issue of high turnover. Because the conventional wisdom informed both Gunter and those experts in the field that are responsible for disseminating the conventional wisdom about the hospitality industry that high turnover is a cost of doing business in this industry. This framework prevented Gunter from assessing what was actually happening at the resort. He depended on a model inherited from general ideas that were floating around about human resources issues in the hospitality industry and these blinded him to the fact that his employees were actually performing better than he believed that they should be.

C. Choose another change image and apply it to the turnover problem. To what new insights does this lead?

Another image change that can be applied to the turnover question is the assumption that new employees do not come in with valuable skills. While it is true that new employees have to be trained in the specific needs of a particular job and company, this does not mean that they do not bring in valuable skills and knowledge. They may be especially helpful in being able to offer ways to change procedures because they do not have any stake in maintaining current ways of doing things (Burke, 2007. p. 81.)

D. What conclusions do you draw from this about the statement at the start of the chapter that if we only draw upon one particular frame, then this will take us away from thinking about what is going on from an alternative perspective?