Owner Hired a consultant!

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birdwatcher

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Well its happened the owner has hired a consultant to help boss understand why its not working like it should. We had the first meeting on Friday and all three of us-me, my husband and the lady that takes care of the Event Center/Antique Shops and told the consultant what we thought should happen to market this whole block correctly or why its not working correctly.
It seems that the chamber director has talked the owner into doing this although all around town people don't really care for this director but the thing was that the Chamber was not doing anything and the former director-lets just say did not go with raving revues or happy things that happened so this new directort is at least taking the chamber in the right direction. Its exciting but yet we know from the little experience we've had that the boss is very controlling and micro manages from afar or long distance and for 5 years its not changed eventhough people in town and elsewhere have given boss advise it was not taken-lets just say there is a very high turnout here 5 innkeepers in 5 years and as many directors-the lady that is in the events center has been here the longest 4 years and says the same.
The consultant said that he/she wanted to know what we thought and that its important for us to tell because we are all here and boss is not and too far away. We told him/her the truth, he/she is coming back on Monday and hubbie and I are to get all info and numbers (that we can) and recomendations of what we need to make this place a raging success-the thing is that I don't think it will change and im sure the director has spoken to people in town and they have voluteered info about boss-and director did help boss to get rid of last director.
Has anyone out there had a consultant give you advise for your business? Did you get anything out of it? Did you follow all the advise and which ones did not work and which ones did? What actually should we gather for the consultant?
First thing I would put on list-which was put when we got hired is -NEW MATTRASSES these are at least 20 years old and apparently this has been mentioned before by other innkeepers but not taken into consideration and not changed.
This place has great potential if the owner would just let us do our job and not have to breath down our neck from accorss the country-it makes s not want to do anything out of the ordinary or anything without boss's approval don't get me wrong; I understand that the owner should be involved in the business-but every single decision has to go by boss and eventhough you know what you are doing because you have experience in such-it will change because its not right and it has to be approved. It gets really tiring and we can never think out of the box. I ink important decisions should be left up to the boss, but if you see that something does not work in a guestroom and the owner tells you that she practically does not care and that the guest can do it elsewhere-there is a problem and this is as simple as a mirror that is too small in the bathroom it won't allow anyone to see past just your face you could not possibly do your hair or makeup, owner told us that the guest can use the dresser mirror to do this-this is just WAY TO CONTROLING and rigid. Do you think the boss will change?
Well thanks for the advise early.
 
Your boss is a control freak and that is it. She has no experience with B & B and won't listen to people who do. Honestly I am not surprised at this situation. I was leary of the whole thing from the start. If I were you, get busy with your resume and get out of Dodge and find a person who will appreciate good employees.
 
The owner would have been better off investing money in new mattresses .. I have been a consultant but they should not be coming in asking YOU what needs to be done!! They should be there to observe and recommend. Of course they have to understand the business and need to do that both from your standpoint and that of the guests standpoint.
Personally I would hold my tongue or even record your conversations, GA where I am is a "one person in the know" state so only one of us needs to know about the recordings (me!) cause you never know when they say he said / she said. Not always possible to do this I know
Why did the owner not sit down with YOU and do this FIRST? then suggest a consultant may be able to help "all of you"?
Seems like the owner is the issue here and if the issues have been issues that long ..... well ....
shrug2.gif
 
Your boss is a control freak and that is it. She has no experience with B & B and won't listen to people who do. Honestly I am not surprised at this situation. I was leary of the whole thing from the start. If I were you, get busy with your resume and get out of Dodge and find a person who will appreciate good employees..
I second catlady. I've been in this situation in a different business, and the boss will NEVER listen to you or any consultant that she hires unless the consultant tells her what she wants to know.
RIki
 
Been following this from the beginning.
You are in a no win situation.....
You either suck it up.....do as your told.....stop trying to reinvent the wheel.
Or move on.
 
With all you have told us from the beginning, there will be no changing the boss. She is only trying to find someone to tell her that SHE is right and that everyone she has working for her is wrong. She will not get this with this consult either and so the cycle there will continue.
I am in agreement with everyone else here, get your resume together and find another location. The longer you stay there it damages your resume for future positions.
 
The Boss is someone who will throw good money after bad until she finds someone who says what she wants to hear rather than spend a lot less doing what actually NEEDS to be done.
 
I totally agree with everyone else. It's a losing situation. Get out as soon as you can before this woman totally breaks your spirit.
 
Thanks to all of you-yes, we believe the same and we have our resumes out there but until then we are just going to let the consultant tell her what needs go be done because what we tell her is not "worthy" I supposee. We are glad that boss is not too close and because she is so far away the consultant kind of has to work with what he has here.
We know that in the long run its money wasted, but maybe with some prayer (yea right) she may listen or if not we are just holding on until another position comes available-we learned something though and we will definantely ask what our role will actually be at our next assignment-till then we are kind of here and we care.
I just painted one of the bathrooms because honestly I was embarrassed for a guest to step into it, I will not say a word and see if owner even notices because of the "APPROVAL" thing its just too much to go through-so we shall see. Owner is very old and pretty much set in her ways-to change that will be very hard-but we will give consultant all info that we have and let him take it from there.
Thanks will keep you informed.
 
Sorry wrote a huge reply to this then my computer ate it. Long and short the woman is an idiot running a b&B is more common sense than rocket science. You need to do three main things to do well 1 Have a nice/attractive/comfortable place, Do some marketing/ have a nice breakfast. Having known you a while I am certain that anything you suggested was both common sense and cost effective. People like her deseve to go bust! If you make suggestions and they won't do them or do the opposite eventually they will drive you mad get out while you can. It will be so tempting as you walk out the door to say the reason this B&B isn't making you money is you! BYE!!!
 
Thanks to all of you-yes, we believe the same and we have our resumes out there but until then we are just going to let the consultant tell her what needs go be done because what we tell her is not "worthy" I supposee. We are glad that boss is not too close and because she is so far away the consultant kind of has to work with what he has here.
We know that in the long run its money wasted, but maybe with some prayer (yea right) she may listen or if not we are just holding on until another position comes available-we learned something though and we will definantely ask what our role will actually be at our next assignment-till then we are kind of here and we care.
I just painted one of the bathrooms because honestly I was embarrassed for a guest to step into it, I will not say a word and see if owner even notices because of the "APPROVAL" thing its just too much to go through-so we shall see. Owner is very old and pretty much set in her ways-to change that will be very hard-but we will give consultant all info that we have and let him take it from there.
Thanks will keep you informed..
I have made my statement but in light that you need to do all that you can for your current position & this consult has been attained to gather info - regardless if it is listened to - here is one idea in hopes to help win your case with the consult.
If bedding & room arrangement/amenites are one of the factors, why not have the consultant stay the night in one of the rooms. Let it SPEAK for itself. In some cases this would be a better situation if the consultant was a woman rather than a man - i.e. makeup mirror, room arrangement etc.... but some men would recognize these issus as well.
 
The owner has a business that isn't doing as well as she thinks it should, so she called in a consultant. That's not unusual for "hands off" owners.
From what you've said of your experience from the get-go in this position at this B&B, I think you need to realize that the owner/boss has an idea of what your role is with regard to her business. Sounds like that doesn't jibe with what you feel your role is there in the business. It also sounds like regardless of any number of directors or consultants that the owner brings in, this perception of the owner of your role won't change. Therefore, you and the owner are at odds over this and you're going to be unhappy in this situation unless you can see your way to going along with the status quo.
So, like some others have advised, you have to decide if you can put up with the situation or if you need to actively pursue another innkeeping position.
Maybe not what you wanted to hear, but sometimes the best thing to do is to move on to somewhere else before you become disenchanted with a profession as a whole. :)
 
I completely undersdtand and we have our resume out there, but in the meantime we are here and at this time until we find another position. This B & B is a part of an event center that is not talking together and the owner is not selling the whole property and I think that this consultant will be looking at changing the prospective of selling both pieces not doing seperately or piece-mealing it.
The owner owns a whole block-an event center (which is a historical home) a victorian garden in between the Event Center and the B & B and because this has not been marketed correctly it has missed the mark and because of the micro-management there has been more turnover than needed. We are hoping for the best but know that in our heart its not ever going to change.
 
It is looking like all you can do is what she tells you to do, nothing more, nothing less. It's hard because you'd like to be able to go to the next place with some positive results for your resume. Being thwarted at every step is not easy.
The best outcome is that this new consultant only has good things to say about your stewardship. They may end up with all the credit if things turn around. If they tell the owner what the owner doesn't want to hear, they'll be gone quickly enough.
 
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