Class Acts. Rachel Sherman

workers were encouraged to retain specific standards appropriate to their work areas, the shift was toward the use of general core standards rather than specific routines. This shift also demonstrates the flexibility needed to provide the “experience” characteristic of luxury service.

      Sebastian detailed the process by which corporate management had arrived at these standards via the creation of a task force; like Alice's portrayal of the development of the hotel's credo, this approach centered on creating a common history and identity. He introduced the “eight mantras” of the new approach. He talked about the time line for implementing the new standards and how they would be measured by the mystery shopper company the Luxury Garden used. Finally, he talked about how management would “keep it alive” through continued training and visuals posted around the hotel. He concluded the presentation by saying that the CQE “will become a heart of our culture; it's what we do, what we're about,” and that we should “incorporate it into our daily lives.” The meeting ended with Sebastian asking simple questions recapping what he had said; workers who raised their hands and answered correctly received twenty dollars. On our way out we were each given a newly reprinted credo card that included the eight mantras.

      This introduction was followed by “train the trainer” sessions, in which Alice helped workers designated as departmental trainers to understand the program and the implementation process. I attended two of these sessions (lasting one and four hours), which featured professional-looking binders filled with training materials about facilitation, learning styles, lesson plans, and evaluation. Of the more than twenty employees who participated in these two sessions, at least fifteen were managers, both high- and midlevel, demonstrating that, in fact, managers would be primarily responsible for the training (in contrast to the rhetoric about worker trainers). Most workers who had been chosen were clearly of the more professionalized and committed variety. During the training, Alice laid out a time line for the updating of manuals and training of coworkers; she also directed role plays and other activities that offered trainers possible ways of communicating the concepts of the new program to workers.

      Some of what she encouraged was obviously unrealistic. Trainers who were not managers or concierges would not be able to send e-mails to the executive committee or to one another, because they did not have e-mail access. Some of the standards were also extremely difficult to implement. One standard exhorted the worker always to accompany the guest to his destination. But practicalities made that impossible; for example, workers could not take guests to the restroom, which was located far away from the desk. Alice's response to this situation was to acknowledge the problem and suggest vaguely that workers figure out creative ways to meet standards in their own departments.

      In interviews, Luxury Garden managers appeared to believe that workers were socialized into a particular identity via the corporate culture and training, and certainly they tried to promulgate this sense of commitment among workers. Some workers did seem identified with the hotel and proud to work there. However, worker attitudes toward the corporate culture and standards programs were not necessarily enthusiastic. I rarely heard nonmanagerial workers refer to one another as colleagues, as they were supposed to do. On my first day there, Dirk, a white doorman in his thirties, made a disparaging joke about the hotel but then checked himself, saying that he should “seem more committed” in front of a new worker. After the CQE rollout meeting, Lupe, a front desk agent, shrugged and opined, “Es algo más que tenemos que hacer” (It's something more we have to do). Other workers made fun of the “rah rah” nature of the meeting or commented simply that it had been short. Polly, a Chinese housekeeper with limited English skills, had been asked to participate as a trainer because, as Alice had pointed out publicly during the session, she usually trained new workers in her department. When I asked her if she had understood the presentation, she said, “Some of it,” and added, “They just said ‘go to the training,’ so I go.”

      Rather than only induce commitment to the hotel and its standards, these elaborate practices also served to make the worker feel as if he or she had some kind of accountability. There was a sense that workers might be held responsible and that managers were paying attention. Standards were generally clear, which made violations more noticeable. As we will see, these characteristics contrast with the more laissez-faire regime at the Royal Court.

       Who's in Charge: Hierarchy and Consistency

      The third facet of hierarchical professionalism at the Luxury Garden was a consistent, vertical distribution of authority in daily life. Managers supervised workers reliably, respected their investment in their work, and supported them when they had problems. But mechanisms of surveillance and accountability reinforced their authority.

      In general, worker-manager relations were cordial but professional. The advanced division of labor I have described established clear boundaries between workers and managers. Line employees did not function as supervisors, and areas of managerial responsibility were clearly demarcated. The active internal labor market for managers was an incentive for them to take responsibility. Although they were friendly with workers, when managers were called on by guests or workers to exercise authority they always did so, without appearing ambivalent about it. When they had to correct or train workers, they spoke in a friendly and educational tone. They also gave workers the support they needed to perform their tasks appropriately (such as reimbursing concierges for expenses related to familiarizing themselves with new restaurants and providing adequate computer systems). Managers rarely, if ever, socialized with workers outside work.

      In general, workers accepted managerial authority without comment. Conflicts between workers and managers usually revolved around scheduling rather than coercive communication or lack of availability (though concierges did criticize concierge managers).²⁴ Rarely did workers talk about new managers changing procedures significantly for no apparent reason. Although some workers complained about a lack of recognition, managers offered more praise than their counterparts at the Royal Court.

      The other face of a benevolent authority was worker monitoring, which was fairly sophisticated. Surveillance cameras were placed in several locations throughout the hotel. Though it was rare, managers occasionally disciplined workers for violations caught on camera; one bellman was written up for knocking over a lamp with the bell cart and not stopping to pick it up, for example. Workers were required to punch out for breaks, which was another form of technological surveillance. Managers told workers at the door to keep a log of the car tickets they handed out. Sebastian and François often spent an hour or so in the evening standing near the front desk; ostensibly they were there to greet guests, but they also kept an eye on the workers. Workers were aware that managers might be watching them. Lou, a young bellman, was nervous about showing me his personal Web site on the concierge computer, because he thought Patricia might come by and get angry. When Sebastian and François came within earshot, Alec refused to finish a juicy story he was telling, saying they disapproved of gossip.

      Workers also knew that mystery shoppers might be in the hotel. The Luxury Garden employed at least two different mystery shopper companies to rate performance several times a year. These guest spies wrote extensive reports comprising hundreds of pages, evaluating every possible detail of their experience in the hotel, naming workers, and enumerating their mistakes. Managers posted the results of these inquiries—minus identifying characteristics of the workers—in the back of the front office. Managers also posted comment cards and letters from guests, including both positive and negative feedback.

       Worker Relations

      Hierarchical professionalism led to the establishment of relations among workers that were friendly but neither especially intimate nor marked by mutual authority. Workers in the same area paid attention to one another's work and interacted often, but they did not constitute an independent regime of mutual regulation like the one I describe below at the Royal Court. The division of labor at the Luxury Garden made mutual training and surveillance difficult, both because workers were separated spatially from one another and because the jobs were differentiated such that fewer people surrounding the worker were qualified to criticize him (for example, only concierges would know about a mistake another concierge had made). Managerial authority made mutual regulation among workers unnecessary.

      Personal relations among workers were cordial but not