Complications

I have been working the front desk at a hotel now for over a year. In general, it's one of the best jobs I have had. The atmosphere here is pleasant and the clientele is pretty friendly. I feel like I get to combine an office setting with customer service. But, as time has gone on, I have seen the flaws. Most of which are in the front desk staff.

This is not something that is very debatable. Everyone knows that the front desk is run poorly, including the people who are usually causing problems. The lack of leadership and the poisonous gossip are the main causes of concern for me. This is why a last week I left my manager a notice for my 2 week resignation.

My managers were a little upset, but not mad. They wanted me to stay and even though they knew and understood why I was leaving, they hoped I would change my mind. They offered me a pay raise and mentioned that a promotion could be worked out. Tired of all the problems and looking forward to a new future in another county, I still opted for the resignation.

Until I talked to more people, that is.

Several of the people here have to face things that they shouldn't need to. Including my managers. But, they are good people and they are here to try and make this work. I do value working under them and I have never come across a problem with our General Manager, Dennis. I know that there will be personal quarrels or hardships in any job I end up getting. I can't continue to run from the positions, I should stick around and also work at making things better.

I spoke to Thomas and it was agreed that I would ask them for a pay raise and promotion to supervisor. If they said no, nothing major would change. I am just out of debt and should have some spare money...so I could afford spending the time finding a new job. If they said yes, well, all the better, right?

Of course, you know once I got into work with this in mind, something had to happen to make me doubt myself. It seems that word got around about some things. Namely, my resignation and the fact that they offered me more money to stay. Most people were surprised but it wasn't a huge deal to them. Michelle, however, took this to heart. She is our current supervisor and the person whose job I was offered back in August. Michelle was highly upset that I was offered more money and the rest of the front desk weren't. Now, I know that is going to cause problems for Dennis and Teresa because supposedly, Michelle will be going to them and asking for a raise.

She doesn't know they would like to fire her, if they could. All they are waiting on is to get another person in here and trained so we can cover all the shifts.

It upsets me to see this. Michelle does the bare minimum of work in the front desk. She doesn't even handle her own position that well. As a supervisor, she is one of the poorest I have seen. Not only does she lack the ability to form any kind of leadership or respect, she doesn't know how to do half of things that are required of her. The reservations often go unchecked before they are stored in the system, the pages for accounting the themepark tickets sales are in shambles, the employees here get away with everything under the sun and she will just pass on responsibility to someone else (or blame.)It's ridiculous. And she wants a raise.

I'm going to talk to Teresa and Dennis this morning and ask that they consider replacing Michelle. I will let them know I would be more than happy to take her job (I'm trained for it anyway) and ask for a raise in pay. I'll be asking for 12.50 an hour and I will go down to 12.00, if need be. After all, our night auditor is making 11.50 and I can do more around here than he can. I have been trained for all the shifts and all the positions except management. Night Auditor, Front Desk, and Front Desk Supervisor. I am the only one who is, right now, able to work a graveyard shift and then come in the next day and handle the billing for our corporate accounts (Besides Teresa.)

I'm crossing my fingers.