A friend has unexpectedly inherited ownership of a 50-room family seaside hotel with restaurant and is concerned about the generally poor level of work performance, low motivation and morale, and disturbingly high staff turnover. You have been asked for your advice. Imagine you are in your friend's position and:

* Detail fully the likely actions you would take to help overcome the present situation.

* Indicate clearly the priorities you would have in mind.

* Make clear any necessary reasonable assumptions.

* Explain fully how you might draw upon particular theories of motivation.

* In particular, how would you attempt to maintain the motivation and performance of the permanent position of chef compared with ad-hoc or seasonal members of staff?

* Explain what longer-term actions you would recommend.

Questions

Share your observations with colleagues and discuss the extent to which you:

1. Avoided generalisations about what motivates other people.

2. Made assumptions (even if unintentional) about the work ethic of hotel staff.

3. Were able to distance yourself from your own work motivations. 

4. Learnt from undertaking this exercise.