Complaint - Bullying

[Ozkarnak]

Currently on the Noordam and during dinner witnessed a terrible incident of an White shirted crew member, bully and belittle one of the lido servers. It’s been bothering me for the last hour and 25+ years in HR has me wanting to report it, but who do I report it to?. Is there HR on board or someone like the staff captain?.

 

thanks in advance.

[Mary229]

Open your app and go to contact us and there is a place to leave the good and the bad.  If you want to remain anonymous there should be a comment box for the hotel manager at the general services desk.  The hotel manager is the chief executive of hotel and restaurant operations.

[1025cruise]

Go to guest services and ask to leave a note for the hotel manager.

Thank you for defending the crew.

[HALcruiser2001]

"Bullying and belittling" are very subjective.  Without knowing what you witnessed, I would say don't bother with a complaint.

[Heartgrove]

The Noordam is currently sailing with personnel from the head office aboard. It is because they are doing a press member cruise. Not to make an excuse but there may be more tension within.

[3rdGenCunarder]

7 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

The Noordam is currently sailing with personnel from the head office aboard. It is because they are doing a press member cruise. Not to make an excuse but there may be more tension within.

 

All the more reason for a superior to take staff aside, away from prying eyes, for a dressing down.

 

[0106]

@OzkarnakI believe if you see something, you should say something.  As someone in HR, you know the importance of stating  the facts of what you witnessed.  The hotel manager can speak to the parties involved and determine if the action was bullying and belittling.  
 

If the white shirted crew member acts like this when they know they may be observed by head office personnel and members of the press are onboard, how do the act when the head office is not onboard?  Worse?  

[Cruising-along]

30 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

"Bullying and belittling" are very subjective.  Without knowing what you witnessed, I would say don't bother with a complaint.

It's pretty easy for an adult to tell the difference between belittling and normal conversation and training.  I believe the OP, with 25+ years in HR, can tell the difference.  The fact that it was noticed by a passenger shows that it wasn't done in a professional manner.  Never acceptable IMO. 

[sagavista]

I would leave a note detailing what you witnessed for the Hotel Manager to address.  Inform him you are available to discuss.  By signing the note it lends more creditability to your account.  It will be up to the Hotel Manger to then address.  

[Chinook Wind]

After witnessing several incidents of supervisors dressing down front line crew in front of passengers is the main reason why I don't sail with Celebrity any more.  I have 28+ years of working in HR and can recognize a culture of bullying. Ironically my only truly negative experience on board HAL was an interaction with a Pinnacle Grill maitre d' who had just arrived on board after being hired from Celebrity.

 

It can be tricky when the bully is wearing a white shirt -- simply complain to someone higher up.

In my case I asked the MDR Head Maitre d' who to speak to and he contacted the Asst F&B Director for me who met with me and handled my complaint.

 

You're doing the company a favour by letting them know about this behaviour.  It's nasty and certainly unprofessional -- neither is a good look for HAL.

 

[shack]

The classic by-line in hospitality is "Praise in public; criticize in private."

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Chinook Wind said:

After witnessing several incidents of supervisors dressing down front line crew in front of passengers is the main reason why I don't sail with Celebrity any more. 

Unfortunately, this is a byproduct of the DSC (daily service charge) culture on cruise ships.  It allows the cruise lines to hire or promote first line supervisors that have no personnel management experience or training, and give them no training, and push the "management" onto the front line workers who must "peer police" themselves in order to obtain the maximum DSC available.  HR and supervisor training is virtually non-existent on cruise ships.

[AFNavigator]

2 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

It's pretty easy for an adult to tell the difference between belittling and normal conversation and training.  I believe the OP, with 25+ years in HR, can tell the difference.  The fact that it was noticed by a passenger shows that it wasn't done in a professional manner.  Never acceptable IMO. 

Absolutely the right answer.  Even if the action had been about correcting an error (rather than bullying or belittling), it should NEVER be done in front of customers.  Doing so indicates either the supervisor's situation awareness was seriously lacking or, more likely, was done in public to boost his/her ego.

[Heartgrove]

Back to Posts #1 and #4, just what was the bullying and belittling act?

[Mary229]

I do believe the Hotel Manager is likely experienced and skilled enough to discern if there is need for action.  Even if it was not bullying it informs the HM that passengers are witnessing behavior that should not be public whether it is actionable or not.  
 

the rule in my businesses was always “the customers don’t want to see how the sausage is made” , that is, don’t disturb their enjoyment with the mundane .  Cruises are luxury items and like all luxury items benefit from a

bit of illusion.  The illusion is a smiling happy crew who are almost like your family.  

[LMaxwell]

Submit a comment through the Navigator app and request that GS call you back.  Based on when you were in the venue, they will know what staff was present. 

[DinkyDee67]

20 hours ago, Ozkarnak said:

Currently on the Noordam and during dinner witnessed a terrible incident of an White shirted crew member, bully and belittle one of the lido servers. It’s been bothering me for the last hour and 25+ years in HR has me wanting to report it, but who do I report it to?. Is there HR on board or someone like the staff captain?.

 

thanks in advance.

We were recently on the Noordam and also witnessed a similar incident. You can either wait for the post cruise survey to report it or fill in a note to the Hotel Manager and post in his letterbox located in the shelves adjacent to the Explorations Cafe.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I just made a complaint to Hilton, and got 20,000 Hilton Honor points from regional.  The evening manager was reprimanding the front desk clerk right in front of us, and there was no end in sight until that employee took the initiative to brake away from the ongoing lecture.  It wasn't bullying in nature, but it was inappropriate to carrying it out in front of us, both by having an audience for the reprimand, and keep us waiting.

 

There was also the matter of denying our food credit, charging us $2.19 for parking, and double charging the room rate, but who's counting?

 

I would explain exactly what happened, the best you can remember it.  Leave out speculation. What you saw could be bullying, it could be pushback, it could be an inside joke.  Either way, that should be left off the floor, in front of passengers.

[pghflyer]

my vote is to leave a note for hotel manager, if it is truly a misunderstanding they can disregard but at least someone spoke up

[kathy49]

On 1/6/2023 at 9:38 AM, Heartgrove said:

The Noordam is currently sailing with personnel from the head office aboard. It is because they are doing a press member cruise. Not to make an excuse but there may be more tension within.

should make no difference however it is interesting that for the press the regular crew is not up to par?

[Copper10-8]

On 1/5/2023 at 11:41 PM, Ozkarnak said:

Currently on the Noordam and during dinner witnessed a terrible incident of an White shirted crew member, bully and belittle one of the lido servers. It’s been bothering me for the last hour and 25+ years in HR has me wanting to report it, but who do I report it to?. Is there HR on board or someone like the staff captain?.

 

thanks in advance.

 

Yes, every HAL ship has a HR manager who takes care of many aspects of crew life onboard. I have worked with some outstanding ones. As a passenger/guest however, one does not regularly gets to see this individual who has an office on A-Deck and an HR clerk who assists him/her.

 

A manager/supervisor correcting a crew member occurs frequently onboard as it does on land however, should never be done in public in front of guests and co-workers. If someone makes an error, you take that person to a private area and point out the error. "Dressing someone down" - and I'm sure, many of us have been corrected in our respective careers, military service, you name it - under certain circumstances, serves a purpose but again, should not been done in public!

 

Ship's upper management will get involved when there is discipline against a crew member resulting from an incident 

 

If you are concerned about the interaction between the manager/supervisor (white shirt with rank/dept. on the epaulets) and a crew member as described, which it sounds like, you are, you have a couple of options:

 

1. There is a LKA (Let Us Know) function on the HAL navigator app. Write your observation and request a follow up - The LKA's go straight to the guest relations manager who will forward to management of the appropriate dept. on board

 

2. Request a face-to-face meeting with that same GRM and relay your concerns and observation and request a follow up contact. 

 

3. Write your observations of the incident on your electronic guest survey when you get home - Doing tis will not get you the immediate feedback you are looking for     

[Mary229]

I agree with reporting however I think it should be stated that the outcome is also a private affair and the passenger should not expect to hear anymore than a request for more information or an apology.   I would be shocked if a manager shared with me the outcome, that would be a violation of privacy.

[Copper10-8]

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I agree with reporting however I think it should be stated that the outcome is also a private affair and the passenger should not expect to hear anymore than a request for more information or an apology.   I would be shocked if a manager shared with me the outcome, that would be a violation of privacy.

 

I believe the feedback would/should be something to the tune of; We have investigated the matter and have contacted both individuals involved (should they be able to be identified). The matter has been handled internally 

[TableGirl]

I have a bit of HR experience and a bit of experience complaining on a HAL ship.  Personally, I would write a note to the Head of HR and ask for an appointment as soon as possible to discuss an incident of concern that you witnessed.  Give your name and room number.  I would write about the incident separately and when you meet with the head of HR explain what you witnessed and hand him/her your written account.  That way you have had a chance to look the head of HR in the eye to express your concern.  And if not HR then the Hotel Manager.  Since the name of the Hotel Manager is on the TV in the Staff Listing you could write it to the Hotel Manager and ask to speak to him/her or the their head of HR to discuss an incident.  When I had an issue with room service tray that was egregious I wrote a  nice note to the F&B manager and even though Guest Services tried to get out of me why I wanted to see her (the only female F&B manager in HAL) I insisted I see her.  I had pictures.  I didn't want to splash it all over FB or any other website.  I wanted her to know about it and fix the problem.  She followed up and ensured the rest of my trip was excellent in the F&B department.  When it wasn't - another separate issue that I was honest about - it wasn't her fault at all - nor her staff's fault - but still she made it right.  I think they appreciate a quiet conversation about issues that need their attention.

[HALcruiser2001]

What is an egregious roim service tray?