I'm overwhelmed at where to begin...
There is no HR department...she happens to be outside smoking cigarette after cigarette every day and if you ask a question the usual response is "I don't know. Call the hotline." The management is a joke. There is blatant favoritism, they work the best people to the bone and punish them for the smallest infraction, yet applaud the employees who do the bare minimum of their job requirements. The hours are ridiculous and certain employees often have to work 10-11 days in a row without a day off or have shifts that last until 10:30pm and then are expected back for an AM shift at 6:30. The summers are usually pretty busy and employees sometimes get over time but the front desk is never staffed properly so the busy season is often very overwhelming while the winter (off season) is so dead that hours are cut drastically...once again, only for some employees. Management never seems to actually take a look at occupancy and never staffs or schedules properly. There is never any employee handbooks available and, as stated before, HR department doesn't exist. People have been told absolute lies about IHG policies and their only recourse is to call corporate to get information.
Yearly reviews are a joke. Every year we are told that none of us will get more than a 6 cent raise because only "role models" get the highest raise (which is still like 10 cents, seriously?!) ...but that status is absolutely unattainable, no matter how hard you work because "no one is perfect". The employee surveys are also a joke because although most employees filled them out with reasonable complaints hoping to change things for the better, nothing was ever done. We filled them out and that was that. We never heard of any of it again. No managers went over the surveys, no change ever happened at all.
I've been a full time employee for about two years and unfortunately can't quit yet due to being pregnant. I was also told that I only get 6 weeks unpaid maternity leave and will HAVE to come back immediately after or I will lose my job and benefits and will have to pay into every doctors visit I've had. (Which honestly, was the most information I've ever gotten out of HR to date.) There are specific managers here who are very cruel and heartless and almost seem to enjoy picking on certain employees and passing on false information. I was also told that I only get 1 bereavement day, only for the funeral, when a family member passed away. I had to find an old handbook and call corporate to sort that out as well.
If the poor management wasn't bad enough, a good deal of guests are horrible as well. They seem to think that they are owed the world at their feet for being IHG members and we've even had other hotel owners walk in and treat the staff like garbage because they are "Platinum members". Front desk staff is often verbally abused and management lets it happen. I once had a guest curse and yell at me because he decided to grab something to eat at the airport before heading to our shuttle and missed it. He yelled and cursed at me in front of my manager, while I was trying to check in another guest, and my manager just stood there and stared.
I fully plan on leaving this place as soon as I can and I would not recommend it to anyone. This hotel in particular needs to be shut down and the owners should be glad that they don't have any more than two lawsuits thrown at them right now. I have never worked in a more unprofessional place and I can't believe I felt I was desperate enough to stay this long.
