If being a smelly town is the only bad thing about my stay in Mosinee I know this will break from the feel of the last two installments of Management Memoirs. But this is just the way I feel. I know this is kind of shocking, but let me try to make sure I’m crystal clear on this subject. My whole time in Mosinee, including the hotel and it’s Employee’s, was an enjoyable learning experience.

I have got to say that the General Manager, a woman by the name of Michelle, made the train a painless process. I have done this hotel thing for almost ten years now, and of all of the people I have met in this biz Michelle is one of the few people who really seems right for this crazy business. She is just really good at what she does. I learned a few things from this lady. I didn’t really get to use them with this gig, but they are ideas stored in my head if I ever get the chance to use them. Not only is she good at what she does, Michelle makes it look easy. This was where I had a lot of problems down the road (Metropolis).

Through Michelle I learned all of the arcane arts of general managing that were unknown to me. I didn’t master them, but it was good that I got a taste of them.

This is what has helped the most for me during my present tour of duty at the hotel I work for again. Some of the things I learned for the first time are accounts payable, accounts Receivable, payroll, going through audit packs, and then just the simple art of how you handle your employees. This last thing was another problem I had down the road (Metropolis, again).

The thing is, I figured out after the whole thing was over with, that for Michelle’s system to work (at least for me) you had to have quality employees. Now this is a thing that hinges on every thing any manager does. It’s essential for a manager to succeed. I also feel that this something that most management don’t realize. I won’t get into the details of low pay for people who stick with a company or the general lack of appreciation of the peon class of employees. My feelings on this have been well documented on this website. Instead let me tell you about some of the people Michelle works with.

First off Michelle has an excellent Front Desk Manager by the name of Sandra. Sandra is like Michelle, she has done this hotel thing for more than a few years. She is also a real nice person. She’s funny and knows how to handle the people she works with and the guests who stay at the hotel. Now these are qualities that, to me, are a most for a FDM. A lot of the problems the hotel I work at now has had problems with people that had a lack of these two things.

Second, Michelle has a great Auditor by the name of Randall. Randy is an old fashioned southern gentlemen. Once again you have an employee who is great with guests and his fellow employees. He also is a very smart guy. There were a few nights I worked with Randy on the audit to make sure I knew what I was doing. We had many conversations that were very interesting.

Last but not least is Bernard, who handles maintenance and everything regarding the pool. When it comes to the upkeep of the pool Bernard is the best. The task of cleaning and checking the chemicals is handled with a religious fervor I have not seen the likes of since.

I guess the point of this one is that some good came out of my time as an Operations Support Manager. I learned a lot of things I never had known about before. My time in Mosinee was one of the only times I actually enjoyed working for that other hotel chain. I have not talked to Michelle since I left the company, but I hope she ahs continued success with them. I hope she is able to keep the crew she has, seeing how that helps in part of her hotel’s success. So if your ever in Mosinee, Wisconsin stop in at the hotel and tell Michelle, Sandra, Randy, and Bernard hi and tell them I sent you (it’s the hotel with the initials AI (Artificial intelligence)).

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