By Corbin Ball
Saturday, 23rd June 2007
As a professional speaker and consultant my travels cover about 130 days per year and have strong feelings on what constitutes the ideal hotel stay.
For you hoteliers out there that wish to improve our stays, please take notice! For you fellow travelers out there -- please send me your thoughts and I will update this online file as they are received.
The Sleeping Room:
A hotel visit should be welcoming, comfortable, upscale, designed for business, and have my needs taken care of quickly but unobtrusively.
The bed:
Provide a variety of pillows (foam, fiber, feather – soft and hard). Please cater to our individual preferences.
Provide layers of bedding. Often a single sheet is too cold and the feather duvet seems like it was rated for a Mount Everest expedition. Let us choose!
Lose the printed bed spread that is not changed with every cleaning. You just don’t know what has happened on it!
Many alarm clocks are way too complex. We should not need a degree from MIT to be able to set them!
Make it possible for the alarm clock to be placed in either side of the bed. At home, my alarm clock is on the right side of the bed… I like to replicate that when I travel.
I use the telephone wakeup call as a backup. I prefer the automated “key-pad” setting option as being faster and more reliable than dealing with a person for this.
Provide enough light to read by (on each side of the king bed) and that is easy to find the switch to turn it off, preferably a large switch at is base. A dimmer switch is ideal.
Keep the dual-line bed phone simple – too many features discourage use. In general, all technology in the guest room should be immediately intuitively obvious on how to use.
A great bed comforter
The practice of the hotel housekeeper tucking the top sheet and blanket under the mattress. When I pull the blanket and sheet from the mattress so that I can get into bed, the bottom sheet comes out with it and I have to get down to re-tuck it in or I end up sleeping on a loose sheet.
Have the housekeeper check that any alarm on the clock is in the "OFF" position. I was awakened three times in a row during hotel stays where the prior occupant apparently had a very, very early flight -- or a sick sense of humor.
An easily accessible outlet near the bed (that I don't have to crawl under the bed to reach) is useful. I use my cell phone as my alarm clock and I like to be able to re-charge it overnight and have it nearby to turn off when it sounds.
The bathroom:
Please provide a night light! We should not have to be assaulted with glaring light when we get up to use an unfamiliar restroom during the night. The two best options I have seen are the lighted shaving mirror (this works great as a soft nightlight), or the automated nightlight built into mounted hair dryers. However, a simple $5 dimmer switch would work just fine.
While I am on the subject though, please provide a lighted shaving mirror.
Mounted hair dryers (with adequate heat and flow) are much better than scrambling around trying to find the dryer in the drawer or bag, unwinding the cord wrapped around the handle, finding and available sockets, and plugging in the ground protection plug the right way into it!
Provide enough surface space, ideally a shelf, on which to put your toilet items.
Do not wrap the soap in bullet-proof saran wrap that is as difficult as CD wrappers to take off. Make it easy to use!
Better yet, provide bulk soap and shampoo dispensers which are easier to use and less wasteful.
Provide flat corner shelves standing height in the shower. I regularly use a razor and shampoo – it would be nice to have a place at standing height to set them.
Provide simple to use shower controls. I was recently drenched with cold water in a luxury hotel in Dublin because of ambiguous shower controls.
Maximum hot water temprature should be no more than 120 degrees Fairenheight (49 degrees Celcius). The scalding risk is high with unfamiliar controls.
Provide a show head that is adjustable and can be directable.
I love super-sized towels – it is a cheap way of providing a sense of luxury.
Of course, absolute cleanliness is a minimum requirement.
The desk:
Women can’t put make-up on by feel. Why are hotel rooms and bathrooms always so poorly-lit? Yes to dimmer switches at night, but we need dressing-room- bright the rest of the time please. Eyeliner is tricky stuff…
I have to disagree with you, Corbin, about the mounted hair dryers. They tend to be very compact and suck long hair into the intake!
A shaving/makeup mirror in the bathroom. Too few hotels - even new luxury hotels - have them. I can't reach the big mirror (I'm short, and nearsighted).
Quality sundries including razor, shave cream, toothbrush & paste, hairbrush, comb, a real shoe shiner besides the normal array of toiletries.
Both rain shower head and hand held; shower separate from deluxe bath
Skip folding the toilet paper into little points. Have the housekeeper use the time to disarm the clock radio (see The Bed section).
No to "luxury" touches like frigid cold marble bathroom floors. That's a huge turnoff during a middle-of the-night visit. I'd rather have vinyl, or even linoleum - not as elegant, but a lot warmer on the feet. (I once stayed in a luxury hotel in December where two of the bathroom walls were exterior walls. You could have frozen ice on their expensive marble floor.)
Why on Earth doesn't every hotel have strong grab bars by the bathtub in every bathroom, to assist in getting in and out of the tub? Much cheaper than the lawsuit from the guest who slips and breaks a leg.
Also, why isn't every hotel offering guests the option of having towels/sheets changed every other day, instead of daily?
No bathroom fan!
OK, would you store the extra toilet paper roll in the closet on the other side of the room, in a little bag with a witty saying that made you wonder what was in the bag?
No hook in the bathroom for your pajamas or robe. So you have a really high-style sink but you have to flop your clothes on the wet counter
Cushy towels!
Have lighting in the bathtub/shower area. It can feel like being in a dungeon once you pull the shower curtain.
I have stayed recently at two hotels that encourage towel re-use to save the planet, but don't include enough towel racks to hang your towels on! Pottery Barn style cupboard storage, or funky hooks that don't allow the towels to dry just don't make sense.
For road warriors, a working office is essential part of the guest room experience. Here are some of the basic requirements.
Provide a desk that is ergonomically correct to use with a laptop – I other words, standard keyboard height.
I really like the two-level desks, where the botom level rolls out to provide more space
Provide an ergonomic (Herman Miller Aeron-like) chair with height adjustment capabilities.
Provide easily accessible power. Four open plugs at a minimum and accessible form the desk top. We have lots of gadgets (phones, computers, i-Pods and more). We need to plug them in to recharge and we don’t want to go crawling under the desk to find them.
Provide an adjustable reading light with the switch on the base.
Provide free Wi-Fi and/or wired broadband internet access. I know the luxury properties out there are still trying to keep this a profit center but this is becoming a utility such as lights and water. Don’t nickel-and-dime us to death with these add-on charges!
Make this internet easy to access. Opening my browser and clicking “OK” is all that it should take.
I like to use a security cable for my notebook computer. I would be nice to provide a hook near the desk to secure this to (or a desk that allows a security cable to be threaded into).
A dual-line phone would be nice, although I tend more and more to use my cell phone.
A business center to print out documents is nice, but ideally web printing options to printers on each floor should be available.
I would like to see other hotels follow the lead of Gaylord’s iConnect (redrocketinc.net/html/gaylord/demo2.html) – putting a thin-client flat-panel computer screen and keyboard in every guest room (linked into the hotel server via
Wi-Fi or high speed data lines). For minimal or no cost, guests can log-in, surf the web, check their web mail, etc. The hotels can build this into property management system for guests to make dining reservation reservations, wakeup calls, guest satisfaction surveys, concierge services, folio information/checkout and more. Event information can included including branding, agenda and tradeshows. Hotels can use it to up-sell guest on hotel features, theme park entrances, and charge for advertising space. This system is cheap to implement, quick to payback, and offers substantial benefits to hotel guests.
Don't charge me an exorbitant local phone call charge to connect with your off-property internet support staff! It ads insult to the injury of being charged exorbitant rates for your WiFi.
Speaker phone on desk is a must
Stop wasting money on phones with push buttons for services (since they all roll to operator whenever I call) -one call is all I should have to make
Entertainment center:
Please make the remote control easy to use. The On/Off switch, channel and volume switch in particular should be easy to find.
Put the TV on a swivel that makes it easy to see from the bed and the desk – this will become more difficult to do as flat-panel screens are more widely used, but this will need to be worked out.
I hate the annoying repeating musical announcement that is often used when you turn on the TV! If we want to use the premium services, we will find them without the audio assault.
Provide a socket to plug in my iPod or other MP3 players into the entertainment sound system.
Provide video and audio plugs so that I can view my video or video or camera images.
Please have a SLEEP button on the TV remote control.
Love flat screen HD TVs
Closet:
Choose an iron and ironing board that are easy to use. I like the iron with the spring-loaded retractable cord. The iron release switch should be in the front of the board where you would naturally place your left hand. Also, provide enough AC plugs – especially at the desk and in an area to be used for the iron.
Use normal sized clothes hanger hooks. Most of us are not going to steal them. Please stop treating us like criminals by using those small, hard-to-use hanger hooks.
Provide an easy-to-set digital safe large enough to place a notebook computer in. A nice additional touch is to provide a power outlet inside so that you can securely store and charge your computer at the same time. It would be nice if this is a counter level rather than having to crawl on your knees to access it.
Provide a full size mirror.
Not only do we agree with the small-hook hanger problem, we need more hangers. A three-day conference with dinner/banquets, tours, etc. stretches a girl’s wardrobe and all its various bits. Five coat hangers in the wardrobe just won’t do.
Lighted closet when opened
More hangers!
Spray starch
A second luggage stand would be nice - especially when the room is double occupancy.
Another earnest request for more rod space and more hangars. Two women on a business trip for a week are doomed to triple-pile clothes on a hangar.
General Room:
The thermostat should be simple to use and in a location that is easy to find.
Please provide a coffee maker – preferably on a table or ledge just outside of the bathroom.
Make the coffee fitler packs easy to open and clearly designated cafinated or decafinated. This is picky, but I prefer the round ones that fit nicely into the coffee maker.
Windows that can be opened are ideal.
Make sure the door automatically closes (and locks with an audible click) when you leave the room.
Give guest newspaper options.
Check-in/Lobby/Public Space:
Always, always, always provide a floor-length mirror.
An electronic "do not disturb" or "clean please" sign activated by a button inside the room; no door hangers or need to make sure no one is looking
Motion activated discrete floor lighting when getting out of the bed during the night
A light bright enough to read by -- at least 100 watts -- beside the bed and/or next to the chair is mandatory.
Don't feel you need to turn the TV or radio on during turn-down service. After spending the day in meetings, coming back too a quiet room is much preferred.
An ottoman with the chair, or even a comfortable recliner chair so I can put the feet up that just walked 20 miles of convention center, gets major brownie points.
Those of us that keep socks on our feet -- especially white ones -- know how clean the carpets are. Shampoo 'em occasionally, will ya!
If you're going to deliver a paper outside my door, please do it quietly. It's not nearly as appreciated when I had to be awakened at 4 am to get it.
No Smoking Rooms (and floors) should be strictly enforced. "No Smoking" should mean no trace of smoke smell to the most sensitive of noses... Ideally, that no one has ever smoked in that room.
If two guests are assigned to the room, provide two luggage racks.
"Power on" settings operated by room key that are common in many international locations should be standard in US (or motion activated)
Want feedback on staff performance? Give us "Service Bucks" - cards to hand to staff who go ABCD - Above and beyond the call of duty
Integrate housekeeping staff with maintenance - no excuse for burned out lights.
Clean the heat/air-conditioning filters regularly and dust occasionally so I don't wake up with my eyes swollen shut!
An earnest request that every hotel room in the country switch to compact flourescent lights - they are cooler, they are better for the environment, and they are a hugely impactful energy savings measure that has no impact on the guest experience. Folks, this technology has evolved since the 1970's even if the hospitality industry hasn't.
You only get one chance to make a first impression.
Keep the check-in line to a minimum. Provide self-service kiosk as an alternative to waiting in line.
Also, kiosks providing airport check-in services are a nice touch.
Welcome people with sincere friendliness. A smile and a friendly greeting will go along way.
Hoteliers should greet people using their name whenever possible. These are a few of the peeves/needs I immediately came up with. What are yours? Please send them along and I will update this article accordingly.
I like never waiting for elevators; never having to push the elevator button
Get the room reservation right
I absolutely support diversity in hiring, but please -- in the U.S. have your front desk staff (and telephone operators) speak English well enough to be understood.
To the hotel that elected to turn the water completely off from midnight to 5:00 am (and I arrived at 1:00 am) -- not letting people making reservations know this would be the case is as bad as it gets. I feel fairly strongly that flushing and washing my hands is something I'm paying for no matter what the time of day or night. Having the plumbers banging around during that time only made it worse.
The groovy vibe in the lobby included really loud music - so loud that you couldn't hear the reservation desk staffer during check in.
In high style, form and function should go together, and at this property, stuff looked good but nothing worked.
Directions - driving, shuttle, taxi - to your hotel provided regardless of how I book a stayGet your frequent stayer program profiles to match what people REALLY want - one to one marketing. My room gets no paper, and doesn't get turndown service, and I need a late check out always. Don't try and customize room for me - way to hard and costly. Just set my profile correctly for centralized service.
Please don't make me have to prove that I not only provided the Master Account information, but am really on it!
And don't need to produce a credit card as incidentals are included.
Corbin Ball, CMP, CSP is a professional speaker and consultant focusing on meetings technology. With 20 years of experience running international citywide technology meetings, he now helps clients worldwide use technology to save time and improve productivity He can be contacted at his extensive web site: www.corbinball.com .
Monday, June 25, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Becoming the Employer of Choice.
By Jeff Mowatt
Thursday, 21st June 2007
If you think you have staffing shortages, you ain't seen nothing!
Come to my town, Calgary, Alberta and we'll talk; the economy of this boom town is so overheated that managers and business owners are scrambling to hang on to even mediocre employees.
Far too many managers figure the only way to gain staff loyalty is to buy it. That's a myth - and it's an excuse that you shouldn't accept of yourself or other managers. Of course money is important - but there is another way to gain employee loyalty that doesn't cost a thing.
I'm referring to employee recognition. Just how important is this to employees? According to the landmark studies in employee motivation spearheaded by Dr. Kenneth Kovach at George Mason University, the second biggest motivator for employees is recognition. Number one is interesting work- which requires an investment in staff training. Since I want to focus on zero cost ways to increase staff retention, let's talk about recognition.
The question you need to ask yourself is, "Do you recognize the performance of your employees as much as you know you should?" For most managers and business owner the answer is a cold, hard no. I think the simple explanation is managers get so busy they tend to forget to express appreciation to the people who deserve it. Although, this is generally an oversight, it is an expensive oversight.
Employee recognition is relatively cheap, yet it has a tremendously high payoff in terms of morale, reduction in staff turnover, and most importantly customer satisfaction. I believe part of the problem is that when you work with employees for a long time, it's hard to find creative ways to recognize them. Plus, mangers tend to view employee recognition as being a scattering of random events rather than an ongoing process.
Fortunately, there is a systematic on-going process for recognizing your employees that goes far beyond an isolated slap on the back.
Recognition in CAST Meetings©I'm referring to recognition that happens in a CAST Meeting. CAST stands for Customer Service Team Meeting. CAST is a monthly, 90 minute in-house forum where managers and front line employees discuss how to enhance the customer experience. Of five elements that are covered in a CAST Meeting, one of the most motivating is the agenda item I call Service Legends.
At this point in the meeting, managers point out specific incidents where certain employees have provided exceptional service. The employee is asked by the manager to share the details of the incident with everyone and why they did what they did. Then the whole group joins in a round of applause for the person.
When you see employees literally cheering each other on for providing exceptional service, you know that the customer-focused culture is growing roots. That was certainly the case with one of our clients, a government-run vehicle-registration department...
During the Service Legends portion of a CAST Meeting, a manager asked 'Richard,' a vehicle-registration clerk, to share with the group what happened when a customer phoned and asked for a refund cheque. Richard explained to the group the dire circumstances that the person was in. He realized that 'standard practice' was to mail the cheque and the customer would receive it in a couple of weeks.
However, it didn't sit well with him, so he drove the check over himself that same day. He introduced himself and said that he figured she could use the refund right away. "You could see that tears were welling in her eyes as she thanked me. I was really glad I did it." At that point in the CAST Meeting the group erupted in heartfelt applause for Richard. Richard's co-workers and supervisors were doing more than expressing their support for what he had done; they were also demonstrating their pride in the way people in their department respond to the individual needs of customers.
That story, and the fact that the manager brought it to everyone's attention, provided a lot of lessons about customer service that no policy will ever be able to convey.
That's recognition based not on seniority, but service. And the approval doesn't just come from the employees' supervisors, but from their peers. Most importantly the stories that emerge become your own in-house parables that serve as wonderful learning examples for everyone. In other words, the CAST Meeting's Service Legends piece transforms recognition into part of your ongoing education process that people learn from.
We all want to do well - and be recognized for doing so. Of course people need to be paid market value for their services. But hard cash is cold. You'll warm the hearts and the loyalty of your team members when you take the time - and have a process - to recognize actions that merit talking about. It doesn't cost a thing and in this marketplace - and with the impending staffing shortages that all the experts are forecasting - it just may make you the employer of choice.
Customer service strategist and professional speaker, Jeff Mowatt is an authority on The Art of Client Service . . . Influence with Ease®. For further tips, self-study resources, and training services on this topic, click Improving the Sales and Service Culture.
This article is based on the critically acclaimed book Becoming a Service Icon in 90 Minutes a Month, by customer service strategist and professional speaker Jeff Mowatt.
To obtain your own copy of his book or to inquire about engaging Jeff for your team, visit www.jeffmowatt.com or call 1.800.JMowatt (566.9288).
Thursday, 21st June 2007
If you think you have staffing shortages, you ain't seen nothing!
Come to my town, Calgary, Alberta and we'll talk; the economy of this boom town is so overheated that managers and business owners are scrambling to hang on to even mediocre employees.
Far too many managers figure the only way to gain staff loyalty is to buy it. That's a myth - and it's an excuse that you shouldn't accept of yourself or other managers. Of course money is important - but there is another way to gain employee loyalty that doesn't cost a thing.
I'm referring to employee recognition. Just how important is this to employees? According to the landmark studies in employee motivation spearheaded by Dr. Kenneth Kovach at George Mason University, the second biggest motivator for employees is recognition. Number one is interesting work- which requires an investment in staff training. Since I want to focus on zero cost ways to increase staff retention, let's talk about recognition.
The question you need to ask yourself is, "Do you recognize the performance of your employees as much as you know you should?" For most managers and business owner the answer is a cold, hard no. I think the simple explanation is managers get so busy they tend to forget to express appreciation to the people who deserve it. Although, this is generally an oversight, it is an expensive oversight.
Employee recognition is relatively cheap, yet it has a tremendously high payoff in terms of morale, reduction in staff turnover, and most importantly customer satisfaction. I believe part of the problem is that when you work with employees for a long time, it's hard to find creative ways to recognize them. Plus, mangers tend to view employee recognition as being a scattering of random events rather than an ongoing process.
Fortunately, there is a systematic on-going process for recognizing your employees that goes far beyond an isolated slap on the back.
Recognition in CAST Meetings©I'm referring to recognition that happens in a CAST Meeting. CAST stands for Customer Service Team Meeting. CAST is a monthly, 90 minute in-house forum where managers and front line employees discuss how to enhance the customer experience. Of five elements that are covered in a CAST Meeting, one of the most motivating is the agenda item I call Service Legends.
At this point in the meeting, managers point out specific incidents where certain employees have provided exceptional service. The employee is asked by the manager to share the details of the incident with everyone and why they did what they did. Then the whole group joins in a round of applause for the person.
When you see employees literally cheering each other on for providing exceptional service, you know that the customer-focused culture is growing roots. That was certainly the case with one of our clients, a government-run vehicle-registration department...
During the Service Legends portion of a CAST Meeting, a manager asked 'Richard,' a vehicle-registration clerk, to share with the group what happened when a customer phoned and asked for a refund cheque. Richard explained to the group the dire circumstances that the person was in. He realized that 'standard practice' was to mail the cheque and the customer would receive it in a couple of weeks.
However, it didn't sit well with him, so he drove the check over himself that same day. He introduced himself and said that he figured she could use the refund right away. "You could see that tears were welling in her eyes as she thanked me. I was really glad I did it." At that point in the CAST Meeting the group erupted in heartfelt applause for Richard. Richard's co-workers and supervisors were doing more than expressing their support for what he had done; they were also demonstrating their pride in the way people in their department respond to the individual needs of customers.
That story, and the fact that the manager brought it to everyone's attention, provided a lot of lessons about customer service that no policy will ever be able to convey.
That's recognition based not on seniority, but service. And the approval doesn't just come from the employees' supervisors, but from their peers. Most importantly the stories that emerge become your own in-house parables that serve as wonderful learning examples for everyone. In other words, the CAST Meeting's Service Legends piece transforms recognition into part of your ongoing education process that people learn from.
We all want to do well - and be recognized for doing so. Of course people need to be paid market value for their services. But hard cash is cold. You'll warm the hearts and the loyalty of your team members when you take the time - and have a process - to recognize actions that merit talking about. It doesn't cost a thing and in this marketplace - and with the impending staffing shortages that all the experts are forecasting - it just may make you the employer of choice.
Customer service strategist and professional speaker, Jeff Mowatt is an authority on The Art of Client Service . . . Influence with Ease®. For further tips, self-study resources, and training services on this topic, click Improving the Sales and Service Culture.
This article is based on the critically acclaimed book Becoming a Service Icon in 90 Minutes a Month, by customer service strategist and professional speaker Jeff Mowatt.
To obtain your own copy of his book or to inquire about engaging Jeff for your team, visit www.jeffmowatt.com or call 1.800.JMowatt (566.9288).
Monday, June 18, 2007
Follow Trends, One Guest at the Time.
By Rick Hendrie
Monday, 18th June 2007
Lets talk a bit about the key trends impacting retail in general and hospitality & foodservice in particular.
Why, how and what are the implications?
Customization is King.
From Casual dining concepts offering mix-and-match dinners, to Hoteliers like Joie de Vivre providing first time guests a tour of San Francisco completely tailored to the desires of the guest, brands are seeing the value of giving the guest both a choice and a role in creating the outcome.
This is not new.
Fuddruckers' original success was a direct result of giving the guest a chance to "make the World's Greatest Hamburger". It only suggests that this 'trend' is a tidal wave and not a gentle ripple, because it's been a long time coming. The consumer wants choice and a role. They determine your brand, one experience at a time.
Implications?
Customization is not recreating the wheel every time, but breaking the brand down into manageable chunks, to be reconstituted into experiences that feel unique to each guest.
More Noise, Less Filling:
Inundated with information and wired for more — that's today's consumer's paradox. We love our email, our instant messaging, our internet and our cell phones, but our brains cannot absorb the amount of data rushing at us. A brand that has imbedded itself in the non- logical part of the brain (where do you think Lexus, Harley or Starbucks' brands reside?) provides the comfort of stress free identification.
Those brands also happen to enjoy an enormous competitive advantage. People buy experiences that 'fill up their emotional bellys' and reject messages hurled at them because you think it's relevant. Besides, it's not just noise, it's boring.
Implications?
Be true to whom you are, reflect exactly how the customer perceives you and up the dial on the experience, itself.
Tribes emerge. Demos are 'so yesterday'.
We're no longer constrained by physical or geographic barriers because of interconnectivity, so consumers can now congregate with those of like passion, regardless of location. The best brands focus on these Tribe's passions (think Harley again).
Yet marketers and CEO's are still stuck in the time warp of 25–54 demo targets. Wait until the business world wakes up to realize that the rating system feeding that measurement dinosaur has been over-estimating the reach of advertising. They're not getting their money's worth. Worse, it's 'targeted' to a generalized populace, when our culture is becoming more splintered than ever. How many cable channels are there again? 500? There will be panic and fury run amok in the halls of executive row.
Implications?
Niche marketing just got more interesting. You can target more effectively and appeal to that non-logical center of each of us. Passions rule. Transactions bore.
You're lying:
No one tells the truth. Companies don't. People don't. Brands don't or that is what it seems. Consumer BS meters are at an all time level of sensitivity. Conversely, there is a deep (or maybe even deeper) need to believe. Companies that focus in on their 'key value', the essential moral, if you will, that fuels their passion, will endure. It also increases the chance that the branded promise will be delivered repeatedly.
The value driven brand won't just win, it will dominate. Lexus is the king of this. People know if you mean it. So, walk the talk.
Implications?
If you explicitly try and live your values, consumers will give you plenty of slack. Everyone understands that perfection is impossible. But, the pursuit of excellence is a journey worth taking, one which guests will want to take with you.
Know & Appreciate me:
People want to be acknowledged even as they are cynical and depressed about the prospects. When the best WOW a QSR guest can give me is that someone thanked them sincerely, you know we're operating like zombies.
Implications?
Anyone who provides a personal touch (Hello??? Thank You??? Welcome???) is miles ahead of the pack. Imagine what could be done if people actually were recognized? Take your loyalty club and reimagine it as a conversation club, not a coupon dispenser.
Make it exactly like I remember, only better:
It's not nostalgia at work here, but a hunger for some imagined 'better time', when things were done with pride and care, when a claim of quality was more believable. The truth is that products may have had those characteristics, but they had other flaws we won't accept today.
Some of the retro car designs play into this. So the smart marketer stakes a sword in the sand around being excellent or operating with integrity and the product they produce will fulfill these longings.
Implications?
Consumers in this country, in spite the sneers of style mavens, like the artful, if artificial recreation of the past. They appreciate quality and expect it, but the success of Universal Walk in LA or much of Las Vegas as true, egalitarian gathering places, demonstrates that the search for a memory is really a search for community.
You shut up! No, you shut up!:
We're feeling angrier and angrier. Road Rage rules. Partisanship has gotten nastier, consumers less patient and everyone is exhausted. Politeness can become a differentiating brand characteristic. Being the friendliest place in town is not a goofy aspiration, but a way to beat the bejezus out of the competition.
Implications?
You first hire based on attitude and energy, then on someone who is inspired by your passion. The rest is training and these associates will be able, not just to withstand consumer's frustrations, but also sooth them with genuine caring.
There are plenty more trends that affect us, but these are my Sweet Seven. Tell me if you don't see these at work in your life. They aren't just passing fads, but powerful emotional shifts that have taken, in some cases, years to reach their crest. But once the roller coaster descends, companies unprepared for the ride are flung into oblivion and business school case studies.
Sign up for my complimentary monthly newsletter by going to www.remarkablebranding.com or give me a call at 617-335-1011 to discuss these ideas further. I’ll be happy to oblige.
Rick Hendrie
President & Chief Experience Officer
Monday, 18th June 2007
Lets talk a bit about the key trends impacting retail in general and hospitality & foodservice in particular.
Why, how and what are the implications?
Customization is King.
From Casual dining concepts offering mix-and-match dinners, to Hoteliers like Joie de Vivre providing first time guests a tour of San Francisco completely tailored to the desires of the guest, brands are seeing the value of giving the guest both a choice and a role in creating the outcome.
This is not new.
Fuddruckers' original success was a direct result of giving the guest a chance to "make the World's Greatest Hamburger". It only suggests that this 'trend' is a tidal wave and not a gentle ripple, because it's been a long time coming. The consumer wants choice and a role. They determine your brand, one experience at a time.
Implications?
Customization is not recreating the wheel every time, but breaking the brand down into manageable chunks, to be reconstituted into experiences that feel unique to each guest.
More Noise, Less Filling:
Inundated with information and wired for more — that's today's consumer's paradox. We love our email, our instant messaging, our internet and our cell phones, but our brains cannot absorb the amount of data rushing at us. A brand that has imbedded itself in the non- logical part of the brain (where do you think Lexus, Harley or Starbucks' brands reside?) provides the comfort of stress free identification.
Those brands also happen to enjoy an enormous competitive advantage. People buy experiences that 'fill up their emotional bellys' and reject messages hurled at them because you think it's relevant. Besides, it's not just noise, it's boring.
Implications?
Be true to whom you are, reflect exactly how the customer perceives you and up the dial on the experience, itself.
Tribes emerge. Demos are 'so yesterday'.
We're no longer constrained by physical or geographic barriers because of interconnectivity, so consumers can now congregate with those of like passion, regardless of location. The best brands focus on these Tribe's passions (think Harley again).
Yet marketers and CEO's are still stuck in the time warp of 25–54 demo targets. Wait until the business world wakes up to realize that the rating system feeding that measurement dinosaur has been over-estimating the reach of advertising. They're not getting their money's worth. Worse, it's 'targeted' to a generalized populace, when our culture is becoming more splintered than ever. How many cable channels are there again? 500? There will be panic and fury run amok in the halls of executive row.
Implications?
Niche marketing just got more interesting. You can target more effectively and appeal to that non-logical center of each of us. Passions rule. Transactions bore.
You're lying:
No one tells the truth. Companies don't. People don't. Brands don't or that is what it seems. Consumer BS meters are at an all time level of sensitivity. Conversely, there is a deep (or maybe even deeper) need to believe. Companies that focus in on their 'key value', the essential moral, if you will, that fuels their passion, will endure. It also increases the chance that the branded promise will be delivered repeatedly.
The value driven brand won't just win, it will dominate. Lexus is the king of this. People know if you mean it. So, walk the talk.
Implications?
If you explicitly try and live your values, consumers will give you plenty of slack. Everyone understands that perfection is impossible. But, the pursuit of excellence is a journey worth taking, one which guests will want to take with you.
Know & Appreciate me:
People want to be acknowledged even as they are cynical and depressed about the prospects. When the best WOW a QSR guest can give me is that someone thanked them sincerely, you know we're operating like zombies.
Implications?
Anyone who provides a personal touch (Hello??? Thank You??? Welcome???) is miles ahead of the pack. Imagine what could be done if people actually were recognized? Take your loyalty club and reimagine it as a conversation club, not a coupon dispenser.
Make it exactly like I remember, only better:
It's not nostalgia at work here, but a hunger for some imagined 'better time', when things were done with pride and care, when a claim of quality was more believable. The truth is that products may have had those characteristics, but they had other flaws we won't accept today.
Some of the retro car designs play into this. So the smart marketer stakes a sword in the sand around being excellent or operating with integrity and the product they produce will fulfill these longings.
Implications?
Consumers in this country, in spite the sneers of style mavens, like the artful, if artificial recreation of the past. They appreciate quality and expect it, but the success of Universal Walk in LA or much of Las Vegas as true, egalitarian gathering places, demonstrates that the search for a memory is really a search for community.
You shut up! No, you shut up!:
We're feeling angrier and angrier. Road Rage rules. Partisanship has gotten nastier, consumers less patient and everyone is exhausted. Politeness can become a differentiating brand characteristic. Being the friendliest place in town is not a goofy aspiration, but a way to beat the bejezus out of the competition.
Implications?
You first hire based on attitude and energy, then on someone who is inspired by your passion. The rest is training and these associates will be able, not just to withstand consumer's frustrations, but also sooth them with genuine caring.
There are plenty more trends that affect us, but these are my Sweet Seven. Tell me if you don't see these at work in your life. They aren't just passing fads, but powerful emotional shifts that have taken, in some cases, years to reach their crest. But once the roller coaster descends, companies unprepared for the ride are flung into oblivion and business school case studies.
Sign up for my complimentary monthly newsletter by going to www.remarkablebranding.com or give me a call at 617-335-1011 to discuss these ideas further. I’ll be happy to oblige.
Rick Hendrie
President & Chief Experience Officer
Friday, June 15, 2007
Hotel Innovator Ian Schrager and Marriott International To Create Next-Generation Lifestyle Boutique Concept
From a marriott.com news release
Players At Opposite Ends of Hospitality Industry Join Forces to Build and Operate Up to 100 Distinct Hotels Around the World
CONTACT:
Tom Marder
(301) 380-2553
tom.marder@marriott.com
Washington, DC - 14 June 2007 -
Marriott International, Inc., (NYSE: MAR) is partnering with Ian Schrager, who invented the concept of the boutique hotel 23 years ago, to create a new brand of as many as 100 hotels that will combine the personal, intimate, individualized and unique lodging experience that Mr. Schrager created with Marriott’s operational expertise on a global scale.
According to J.W. Marriott, Jr., chairman and CEO of Marriott International, the marriage of the premier lodging company worldwide with the pioneer of the lifestyle boutique hotel is an attempt by both to push the boundaries, break new ground and take the hotel industry to a new level. "Nobody has done what Ian has been able to do with his hotels time and again, and he is the perfect partner to help us create and launch a new, modern genre of hotel,” said Mr. Marriott. "These hotels will be an excellent complement to the Marriott portfolio of brands and allow us to use our global platform and ability to execute to create something completely new, different and original—the first truly global branded boutique lifestyle hotel on a large scale. We expect the brand to set the standard for decades to come.”
The brand, the brainchild of the new partners, responds to new cultural and social imperatives that Mr. Schrager says have emerged. This brand will reflect these changing lifestyles and cater to a vast underserved market of guests expecting and in turn demanding a unique experience not merely a place to sleep. “Together Marriott and I have a new vision and plan to radically rethink and catapult the lifestyle boutique hotel into the present by capturing the spirit of the times,” said Mr. Schrager.
“People today are sophisticated and they understand good design, quality, originality and commitment to excellence. They will not accept something derivative and they want the ethos and soul of a hotel to be authentic and have character. They also expect and deserve impeccable, modern and gracious personalized service that is at the same time luxurious yet down to earth. It is the ultimate balancing act of these apparent contradictions to create a hotel that is simultaneously specific and customized yet universal. We intend to make this type of lodging widely accessible and available for the first time in the key lodging destinations across the globe and to everybody around the world who wants it.”
The hotels will be located in gateway cities throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. The initial list of markets to be explored includes New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, and Las Vegas in the U.S.; London, Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan and Rome in Europe; and Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul and Tokyo in Asia. With an average size of 150-200 rooms, each of the hotels will reflect the best of the cultural and social milieu of its location and of the time. A diverse set of world-renowned architects and designers will be recruited to create one-of-a-kind buildings spanning the complete range of project types, from new construction, to conversions, to dramatic renovations. The partners expect these hotels to be not just the most aesthetically pleasing in their markets but to be the most environmentally responsible as well.
According to Mr. Schrager, the brand’s unifying aesthetic will be in its approach and attitude to the modern lifestyle rather than its appearance, with design and architecture derived from the scale, location and feel of the individual properties. “The brand will be about an attitude, about a feeling rather than a look,” he said. “Sophisticated public spaces, finishes, design and details will serve the experience not drive it.”
The partners will divide responsibilities for rolling out the brand, with Mr. Schrager leading the effort on concept, design, marketing, branding and food and beverage. Marriott will oversee the development process, and operate and manage the completed hotels. In particular, Marriott will use its relationships in the development community to identify appropriate potential development partners and owners in various markets. The partners expect to have at least five firm development deals signed under the new brand by the end of 2007 and 100 hotels open or in the pipeline within a decade.
“The scale of this brand requires the reach, resources and expertise of a global player like Marriott, while the innovation necessary calls for the experience and originality of the category’s most accomplished entrepreneur, Ian Schrager,” said Mr. Marriott.
Editor’s Note: Recorded audio from today's press conference will be available at approximately 12 noon Eastern Time by visiting http://www.marriott.com/investor. The webcast will be available until Sept. 7, 2007 at the same site.
About Ian Schrager
Entrepreneur Ian Schrager has achieved international recognition for concepts that have revolutionized both the entertainment and hospitality industries. His keen instincts for the mood and feel of popular culture were honed during the 70’s and 80’s, when he and his late business partner, Steve Rubell, created Studio 54 and Palladium. The pair soon turned their attention to the hotel business, opening Morgans Hotel in 1984, introducing the concept of the "boutique hotel" to the world. Following this were Royalton Hotel and Paramount Hotel, in which Schrager again broke with industry convention by creating "lobby socializing,” where the hotel lobby became a new kind of gathering place for guests and New York City residents alike, and "cheap chic,” where affordable luxury was offered in a stylish and sophisticated environment. After leaving Morgans Hotel Group in 2005, Mr. Schrager founded Ian Schrager Company, which owns, develops, manages and brands hotels, residential and mixed-use projects. It is currently involved in projects in New York, Miami and Las Vegas as well as other gateway cities around the world. His first residential project, 50 Gramercy Park North, provides unique luxury residences adjacent to the only private park in New York City with world-class service from the Gramercy Park Hotel, another recent project from Ian Schrager Company, designed in collaboration with artist, Julian Schnabel. In addition, Mr. Schrager is nearing completion on his second residential project, 40 Bond, slated for occupancy in June 2007. The building, designed by eminent Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, is their first residential project in America and combines luxury apartments and townhouses. The first townhouses built in New York City in generations offer unprecedented, innovative and sophisticated layouts, details and finishes.
About Marriott International
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading lodging company with nearly 2,900 lodging properties in the United States and 67 other countries and territories across 18 lodging and vacation resort ownership brands. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and had approximately 151,000 employees at 2006 year-end. It is ranked as the lodging industry’s most admired company and one of the best places to work for by FORTUNE®. The company is also a 2006 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR® Partner. In fiscal year 2006, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $12.2 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com.
Players At Opposite Ends of Hospitality Industry Join Forces to Build and Operate Up to 100 Distinct Hotels Around the World
CONTACT:
Tom Marder
(301) 380-2553
tom.marder@marriott.com
Washington, DC - 14 June 2007 -
Marriott International, Inc., (NYSE: MAR) is partnering with Ian Schrager, who invented the concept of the boutique hotel 23 years ago, to create a new brand of as many as 100 hotels that will combine the personal, intimate, individualized and unique lodging experience that Mr. Schrager created with Marriott’s operational expertise on a global scale.
According to J.W. Marriott, Jr., chairman and CEO of Marriott International, the marriage of the premier lodging company worldwide with the pioneer of the lifestyle boutique hotel is an attempt by both to push the boundaries, break new ground and take the hotel industry to a new level. "Nobody has done what Ian has been able to do with his hotels time and again, and he is the perfect partner to help us create and launch a new, modern genre of hotel,” said Mr. Marriott. "These hotels will be an excellent complement to the Marriott portfolio of brands and allow us to use our global platform and ability to execute to create something completely new, different and original—the first truly global branded boutique lifestyle hotel on a large scale. We expect the brand to set the standard for decades to come.”
The brand, the brainchild of the new partners, responds to new cultural and social imperatives that Mr. Schrager says have emerged. This brand will reflect these changing lifestyles and cater to a vast underserved market of guests expecting and in turn demanding a unique experience not merely a place to sleep. “Together Marriott and I have a new vision and plan to radically rethink and catapult the lifestyle boutique hotel into the present by capturing the spirit of the times,” said Mr. Schrager.
“People today are sophisticated and they understand good design, quality, originality and commitment to excellence. They will not accept something derivative and they want the ethos and soul of a hotel to be authentic and have character. They also expect and deserve impeccable, modern and gracious personalized service that is at the same time luxurious yet down to earth. It is the ultimate balancing act of these apparent contradictions to create a hotel that is simultaneously specific and customized yet universal. We intend to make this type of lodging widely accessible and available for the first time in the key lodging destinations across the globe and to everybody around the world who wants it.”
The hotels will be located in gateway cities throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. The initial list of markets to be explored includes New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, and Las Vegas in the U.S.; London, Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan and Rome in Europe; and Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul and Tokyo in Asia. With an average size of 150-200 rooms, each of the hotels will reflect the best of the cultural and social milieu of its location and of the time. A diverse set of world-renowned architects and designers will be recruited to create one-of-a-kind buildings spanning the complete range of project types, from new construction, to conversions, to dramatic renovations. The partners expect these hotels to be not just the most aesthetically pleasing in their markets but to be the most environmentally responsible as well.
According to Mr. Schrager, the brand’s unifying aesthetic will be in its approach and attitude to the modern lifestyle rather than its appearance, with design and architecture derived from the scale, location and feel of the individual properties. “The brand will be about an attitude, about a feeling rather than a look,” he said. “Sophisticated public spaces, finishes, design and details will serve the experience not drive it.”
The partners will divide responsibilities for rolling out the brand, with Mr. Schrager leading the effort on concept, design, marketing, branding and food and beverage. Marriott will oversee the development process, and operate and manage the completed hotels. In particular, Marriott will use its relationships in the development community to identify appropriate potential development partners and owners in various markets. The partners expect to have at least five firm development deals signed under the new brand by the end of 2007 and 100 hotels open or in the pipeline within a decade.
“The scale of this brand requires the reach, resources and expertise of a global player like Marriott, while the innovation necessary calls for the experience and originality of the category’s most accomplished entrepreneur, Ian Schrager,” said Mr. Marriott.
Editor’s Note: Recorded audio from today's press conference will be available at approximately 12 noon Eastern Time by visiting http://www.marriott.com/investor. The webcast will be available until Sept. 7, 2007 at the same site.
About Ian Schrager
Entrepreneur Ian Schrager has achieved international recognition for concepts that have revolutionized both the entertainment and hospitality industries. His keen instincts for the mood and feel of popular culture were honed during the 70’s and 80’s, when he and his late business partner, Steve Rubell, created Studio 54 and Palladium. The pair soon turned their attention to the hotel business, opening Morgans Hotel in 1984, introducing the concept of the "boutique hotel" to the world. Following this were Royalton Hotel and Paramount Hotel, in which Schrager again broke with industry convention by creating "lobby socializing,” where the hotel lobby became a new kind of gathering place for guests and New York City residents alike, and "cheap chic,” where affordable luxury was offered in a stylish and sophisticated environment. After leaving Morgans Hotel Group in 2005, Mr. Schrager founded Ian Schrager Company, which owns, develops, manages and brands hotels, residential and mixed-use projects. It is currently involved in projects in New York, Miami and Las Vegas as well as other gateway cities around the world. His first residential project, 50 Gramercy Park North, provides unique luxury residences adjacent to the only private park in New York City with world-class service from the Gramercy Park Hotel, another recent project from Ian Schrager Company, designed in collaboration with artist, Julian Schnabel. In addition, Mr. Schrager is nearing completion on his second residential project, 40 Bond, slated for occupancy in June 2007. The building, designed by eminent Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, is their first residential project in America and combines luxury apartments and townhouses. The first townhouses built in New York City in generations offer unprecedented, innovative and sophisticated layouts, details and finishes.
About Marriott International
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading lodging company with nearly 2,900 lodging properties in the United States and 67 other countries and territories across 18 lodging and vacation resort ownership brands. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and had approximately 151,000 employees at 2006 year-end. It is ranked as the lodging industry’s most admired company and one of the best places to work for by FORTUNE®. The company is also a 2006 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR® Partner. In fiscal year 2006, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $12.2 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Icebreakers: When, Why and How to Use Them.
Michael Goldman
Saturday, 9th June 2007
Icebreakers are a great way to start a meeting or a training session; it get the teams together and "breaks the ice", however when should you be using icebreakers? Will it take up too much time?
One of my client was particularly concerned about an upcoming facilitation with a new group.
She wanted to open with an engaging activity that would get attendees talking, but worried how they would feel about a ‘game’ using up their limited meeting time.
Below is my response, and I look forward to reading additional thoughts that any of you have, so drop us a line with your comments.
When to use icebreakers
As a Pattern Interrupt - helps people to stop and focus on the here and now. Ensures people are present and focused before entering in to the substantive part of the dialogue.
As a Metaphor or Lesson - by choosing the right icebreaker you can create an experience that speaks to the meeting purpose or the core of the problem or opportunity to be discussed. How people behave during the icebreaker and lessons learned can be reincorporated in the facilitated session to further accentuate a point or intended outcome.
To Build Familiarity - especially with people who don’t know one another, icebreakers get people talking to those who they may feel apprehensive to disclose personal or emotional information.
To Alleviate Status Concerns - icebreakers help people to experience working together on ‘common ground’ where status or expertise can’t take the upper hand.
To Set the Tone - a fun icebreaker helps set a lighter tone which may be necessary before entering into a difficult conversation.
When to NOT use icebreakers
As Dorothy Strachan states in her book Questions that Work, “you don’t need icebreakers when there’s no ice.” Essentially if people know one another and feel comfortable with their peers icebreakers will be perceived as meaningless or a method for filling time. In these cases it’s best to do a starting exercise for the purposes of helping to:
Reveal meaningful information that can assist in helping to identify expectations
Uncover potential resistance upfront by identifying concerns and solutions to those concerns for the event
Debriefing an Icebreaker
In order to transition an icebreaker from being just a ‘warm up’ to something that provides insight or learning (i.e. about how the group works together to deal with issues or make decisions), a purposeful debrief is required. Questions to use during the debrief could include:
What learning did you get from the icebreaker?
How is the learning from the icebreaker tied to our upcoming discussion?
What lessons did we learn from our icebreaker that we can apply to our upcoming discussion?
What did we learn from the icebreaker that we need to keep in mind for helping engage in successful dialogue?
A Generic Icebreaker
A simple roundrobin icebreaker that I use frequently:
State your name
Tell us what you do (in the organization, as a consultant, back at work, etc.)
What’s your #1 expectation for this event (flipchart their responses. Use their expectations as a final technique for determining at the end of the session what expectations were in fact achieved during the session)
What is it about you that makes you (this is the fun one! Choose 1 or 2 to focus on)…
A great team member (or consultant, project lead, manager, etc.)?
A pain as a team member!?
Passionate about something?
An innovator?
A strategic thinker?
Fun to be with?
A collaborative team player?
Etc.
www.facilitationfirst.com
Saturday, 9th June 2007
Icebreakers are a great way to start a meeting or a training session; it get the teams together and "breaks the ice", however when should you be using icebreakers? Will it take up too much time?
One of my client was particularly concerned about an upcoming facilitation with a new group.
She wanted to open with an engaging activity that would get attendees talking, but worried how they would feel about a ‘game’ using up their limited meeting time.
Below is my response, and I look forward to reading additional thoughts that any of you have, so drop us a line with your comments.
When to use icebreakers
As a Pattern Interrupt - helps people to stop and focus on the here and now. Ensures people are present and focused before entering in to the substantive part of the dialogue.
As a Metaphor or Lesson - by choosing the right icebreaker you can create an experience that speaks to the meeting purpose or the core of the problem or opportunity to be discussed. How people behave during the icebreaker and lessons learned can be reincorporated in the facilitated session to further accentuate a point or intended outcome.
To Build Familiarity - especially with people who don’t know one another, icebreakers get people talking to those who they may feel apprehensive to disclose personal or emotional information.
To Alleviate Status Concerns - icebreakers help people to experience working together on ‘common ground’ where status or expertise can’t take the upper hand.
To Set the Tone - a fun icebreaker helps set a lighter tone which may be necessary before entering into a difficult conversation.
When to NOT use icebreakers
As Dorothy Strachan states in her book Questions that Work, “you don’t need icebreakers when there’s no ice.” Essentially if people know one another and feel comfortable with their peers icebreakers will be perceived as meaningless or a method for filling time. In these cases it’s best to do a starting exercise for the purposes of helping to:
Reveal meaningful information that can assist in helping to identify expectations
Uncover potential resistance upfront by identifying concerns and solutions to those concerns for the event
Debriefing an Icebreaker
In order to transition an icebreaker from being just a ‘warm up’ to something that provides insight or learning (i.e. about how the group works together to deal with issues or make decisions), a purposeful debrief is required. Questions to use during the debrief could include:
What learning did you get from the icebreaker?
How is the learning from the icebreaker tied to our upcoming discussion?
What lessons did we learn from our icebreaker that we can apply to our upcoming discussion?
What did we learn from the icebreaker that we need to keep in mind for helping engage in successful dialogue?
A Generic Icebreaker
A simple roundrobin icebreaker that I use frequently:
State your name
Tell us what you do (in the organization, as a consultant, back at work, etc.)
What’s your #1 expectation for this event (flipchart their responses. Use their expectations as a final technique for determining at the end of the session what expectations were in fact achieved during the session)
What is it about you that makes you (this is the fun one! Choose 1 or 2 to focus on)…
A great team member (or consultant, project lead, manager, etc.)?
A pain as a team member!?
Passionate about something?
An innovator?
A strategic thinker?
Fun to be with?
A collaborative team player?
Etc.
www.facilitationfirst.com
Friday, June 08, 2007
Build a Sustainable Training Culture.
By Doug Kennedy
Friday, 8th June 2007
Being in the business of providing outside training support for hotels representing all market segments, I never cease to be amazed by numerous reasons hotel managers give for not being able to schedule training "just yet.
"We first need to get the right manager in place to lead the staff.
"Once we install our new ‘system’ then we’ll have more time for training.
"It’s just too busy now – we can’t spare the staff.
"It’s just too slow now – we have to cut budgets.
"We’d do the training now, but we’ve just had too much turnover lately.
Interestingly, I’ve casually observed that the hotels and hotel companies that already have the best sales and service training in place always seem to make the time to schedule even more, despite that they also seem to be the busiest. Interestingly, that training itself can be the solution for many of the objections above.
For example, one reason the hotel might be too slow right now to schedule anything is that the staff isn’t properly trained in sales. Similarly, the excuse of too much turnover is actually made worse because employees leave because they don’t feel they are being properly trained, as many state in their exit interviews.
The reality is that seeking the right time to schedule training is kind of like seeking happiness: Don’t wait for some major milestone or life event to "bring it to "make you happy and instead take control of your own destiny. When it comes to scheduling training and finding happiness, there’s no better time to start than right here, right now.
Alternatively, here are some very good reasons to schedule your next training class immediately:
Your hotel is only as good as the impression of the last guest who checked out today, the last person who called the switchboard and the last patron who dined in your restaurant. For that matter, your now-profitable hotel is only as viable as its last accounting period.
Due to our naturally curious human nature, everyone thrives when they are learning, and an environment of ongoing training and development helps reduce turnover and ensure standards long-term.
Indeed, at its core creating hospitality is an incredibly simple process, and yet also so incredibly hard to do well consistently.
Rather than waiting to find that "legendary training program event that will create an epiphany for your staff, make it a top priority every day to make sure everyone on your team conducts training everywhere and every time they can.
Here are some suggestions for making training happen on your very next shift:
Conduct "grab-and-go training on the fly. Everyone knows that business cycle in the hotel business creates significant bottlenecks where everything happens at once, and thus simultaneously also creates times during which absolutely nothing is happening at all, albeit only for a brief interval.
Whenever 15 or more minutes present themselves, grab every available employee who is open and conduct training activities and/or exercises.
Coach on the job, every day. Use down time between guest transactions to reinforce what was done well and to remind them what could have been done more effectively.
Clip and distribute articles from online and print trade magazines to your team on a regular (weekly) basis. Discuss their impressions and how the topic can apply at your hotel and lessons learned during grab-and-go training.
During slow periods, connect a tape recorder to a telephone handset adapter and have managers (who are coached in advance to sound like a realistic customer) place calls to frontline staff. The recordings can be critiqued and discussed during grab-and-go training.
Similarly, use the camera movie feature of the hotel’s digital camera or purchase an inexpensive camcorder. During down time, you can conduct role/play skill rehearsal activities in the workplace, videotape them and then critique them in small groups.
Reinforce core themes of traditional training workshops with work-place displays, posters and job aids that provide reminders in the workplace.
Doug Kennedy, president of the Kennedy Training Network, has been a fixture on the hospitality and tourism industry conference circuit since 1989, having presented over 1,000 conference keynote sessions, educational seminars, and on-premise training workshops for diverse audiences representing every segment of the lodging industry. Visit www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com for details or e-mail him at: doug@kennedytrainingnetwork.com.
Friday, 8th June 2007
Being in the business of providing outside training support for hotels representing all market segments, I never cease to be amazed by numerous reasons hotel managers give for not being able to schedule training "just yet.
"We first need to get the right manager in place to lead the staff.
"Once we install our new ‘system’ then we’ll have more time for training.
"It’s just too busy now – we can’t spare the staff.
"It’s just too slow now – we have to cut budgets.
"We’d do the training now, but we’ve just had too much turnover lately.
Interestingly, I’ve casually observed that the hotels and hotel companies that already have the best sales and service training in place always seem to make the time to schedule even more, despite that they also seem to be the busiest. Interestingly, that training itself can be the solution for many of the objections above.
For example, one reason the hotel might be too slow right now to schedule anything is that the staff isn’t properly trained in sales. Similarly, the excuse of too much turnover is actually made worse because employees leave because they don’t feel they are being properly trained, as many state in their exit interviews.
The reality is that seeking the right time to schedule training is kind of like seeking happiness: Don’t wait for some major milestone or life event to "bring it to "make you happy and instead take control of your own destiny. When it comes to scheduling training and finding happiness, there’s no better time to start than right here, right now.
Alternatively, here are some very good reasons to schedule your next training class immediately:
Your hotel is only as good as the impression of the last guest who checked out today, the last person who called the switchboard and the last patron who dined in your restaurant. For that matter, your now-profitable hotel is only as viable as its last accounting period.
Due to our naturally curious human nature, everyone thrives when they are learning, and an environment of ongoing training and development helps reduce turnover and ensure standards long-term.
Indeed, at its core creating hospitality is an incredibly simple process, and yet also so incredibly hard to do well consistently.
Rather than waiting to find that "legendary training program event that will create an epiphany for your staff, make it a top priority every day to make sure everyone on your team conducts training everywhere and every time they can.
Here are some suggestions for making training happen on your very next shift:
Conduct "grab-and-go training on the fly. Everyone knows that business cycle in the hotel business creates significant bottlenecks where everything happens at once, and thus simultaneously also creates times during which absolutely nothing is happening at all, albeit only for a brief interval.
Whenever 15 or more minutes present themselves, grab every available employee who is open and conduct training activities and/or exercises.
Coach on the job, every day. Use down time between guest transactions to reinforce what was done well and to remind them what could have been done more effectively.
Clip and distribute articles from online and print trade magazines to your team on a regular (weekly) basis. Discuss their impressions and how the topic can apply at your hotel and lessons learned during grab-and-go training.
During slow periods, connect a tape recorder to a telephone handset adapter and have managers (who are coached in advance to sound like a realistic customer) place calls to frontline staff. The recordings can be critiqued and discussed during grab-and-go training.
Similarly, use the camera movie feature of the hotel’s digital camera or purchase an inexpensive camcorder. During down time, you can conduct role/play skill rehearsal activities in the workplace, videotape them and then critique them in small groups.
Reinforce core themes of traditional training workshops with work-place displays, posters and job aids that provide reminders in the workplace.
Doug Kennedy, president of the Kennedy Training Network, has been a fixture on the hospitality and tourism industry conference circuit since 1989, having presented over 1,000 conference keynote sessions, educational seminars, and on-premise training workshops for diverse audiences representing every segment of the lodging industry. Visit www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com for details or e-mail him at: doug@kennedytrainingnetwork.com.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The Power of the Handshake.
Wayne Roby
Sunday, 13th May 2007
People forget the power of a handshake, when used in the right environment or context. Or a sincere look in their customers eyes, and remembering their name.
I think people forget that the Restaurant or Bar Experience is exactly that, “an experience.” A sincere handshake is just that, remembering their name is just that. It tells that person that they are important; they are significant, that they are just not another customer.
Of course, those pessimistic of this might say, “that only works for those customers you know” to which I say, “get to know your new customers.”
You should be helping to develop a core staff that instinctively finds opportunities to make a personal connection to their customers. To find out their name, where they’re from, and have they been to your establishment before.
By doing this, now they have made it personal, now there is an obligation between both parties involved. Naturally a customer gets better service (or is more forgiving of bad service) because the server truly cares about them, and the server gets better tips because the customer feels a sincere connection to them.
I have seen this principle work time and time again. Even tourism and convention “out- of-town customers” will return on more than one occasion during their visit, if your ‘team’ are effective. Repeat business can skyrocket if customers have been given the opportunity to make a personal connection with one or more of our staff. They became obligated to return.
Be sincere. Remember their name. Shake their hand. Give them an “experience.” This philosophy will always be a firm foundation; it should be the philosophy that contributes to your prosperity even through the tough times.
Good Luck
Wayne Roby, has over 15 years experience in the hospitality industry. He has worked extensively overseas and in Australia, gathering ideas and concepts that are tried and proven to work. A large amount of this experience has been at a management level in large restaurants and cafes focused on improving service, systems, sales, and standards!
www.cuisinescene.com.au
Sunday, 13th May 2007
People forget the power of a handshake, when used in the right environment or context. Or a sincere look in their customers eyes, and remembering their name.
I think people forget that the Restaurant or Bar Experience is exactly that, “an experience.” A sincere handshake is just that, remembering their name is just that. It tells that person that they are important; they are significant, that they are just not another customer.
Of course, those pessimistic of this might say, “that only works for those customers you know” to which I say, “get to know your new customers.”
You should be helping to develop a core staff that instinctively finds opportunities to make a personal connection to their customers. To find out their name, where they’re from, and have they been to your establishment before.
By doing this, now they have made it personal, now there is an obligation between both parties involved. Naturally a customer gets better service (or is more forgiving of bad service) because the server truly cares about them, and the server gets better tips because the customer feels a sincere connection to them.
I have seen this principle work time and time again. Even tourism and convention “out- of-town customers” will return on more than one occasion during their visit, if your ‘team’ are effective. Repeat business can skyrocket if customers have been given the opportunity to make a personal connection with one or more of our staff. They became obligated to return.
Be sincere. Remember their name. Shake their hand. Give them an “experience.” This philosophy will always be a firm foundation; it should be the philosophy that contributes to your prosperity even through the tough times.
Good Luck
Wayne Roby, has over 15 years experience in the hospitality industry. He has worked extensively overseas and in Australia, gathering ideas and concepts that are tried and proven to work. A large amount of this experience has been at a management level in large restaurants and cafes focused on improving service, systems, sales, and standards!
www.cuisinescene.com.au
Monday, June 04, 2007
Ten Reasons Why There’s No Green Business ‘Bubble’
By Joel Makower
05/29/2007
The world of green business seems to have come out of nowhere to dominate magazine and newspaper coverage. The media calls and e-mails have been arriving fast and furious—a dozen or more each week, even more than a month after Earth Day. CNN, the New York Times, Business Week, Advertising Age, Good Morning America, the Sundance Channel, Reuters, the Discovery Channel, Marketplace radio, and a slew of local papers.
A surprising number seem to have some variation of the same two questions: Is all of this focus on the greening of business merely a fad? When will the bubble burst? Such questions are understandable, albeit misguided. The world of green business appears to have come out of nowhere to grace the cover of every major magazine, business and otherwise, not to mention scads of other stories on inside pages.
Where stories about business and environmental issues used to appear sporadically in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other major publications, they are now daily fare, with sometimes as many as a half-dozen news stories, feature articles, and opinion pieces in a single daily edition.
For those of us who have been toiling in these fields for a long time, the greening of business is viewed as an “overnight success story” that was 20 years in the making. Given our society’s microscopic attention span, and the apparent need of the media to deflate trends they’ve helped pump up, coverage of green business would seem likely headed for a fall. And that might indeed happen, for any number of reasons. From the public’s perspective, this would make it seem like the greening of business was yet another cynical fad that’s now faded into the woodwork.
Such perceptions aside, the topic isn’t going away any time soon. Here, in no particular order, are 10 reasons why I think the greening of business will be an enduring issue for years to come, regardless of the media’s attention span:
1. The problems aren't getting any better. This is fairly obvious, especially if you’ve seen The Movie. The environmental movement, it’s been said, is rapidly morphing into the climate movement, and there’s a parallel shift taking place on the business side. The motivations may be different—for activists, climate has become a rallying cry that gives disparate groups a singular focus; for companies, it’s about the need to squeeze efficiency out of every operational nook and cranny while reducing risk and enhancing image. But the upshot is the same: Until the climate problem is under control, it will be Job One, environmentally speaking, inside most companies. And as concern, regulation, and market-based mechanisms to address climate change ramp up, this will be a key business focus for a long, long time.
2. The political will is finally emerging. Again, climate is the reason. In the United States and elsewhere, political leaders are realizing that this isn’t a topic that will go away; indeed, it is gaining steam and could even be a focus of the 2008 U.S. election. That could increase public scrutiny of how company lobbyists are pressing for favorable treatment, and some of this pressure could come from companies otherwise seen as “leaders” in corporate climate action, leading to activist charges of greenwashing or worse. If there’s evidence of a parade of public concern over climate change, politicians will certainly want to get in front of it, and companies may end up finding that there’s simply no longer enough lobbying money to buy their way out of the problem—or, better still, not enough politicians willing to be bought off.
3. Consumers are waking up. This remains to be seen, of course, but there are encouraging signs that the American public is finally ready to vote with their pocketbooks, choosing greener products, or products from companies perceived to be green leaders. One thing is certain: the pipeline of greener products from household brands is filling up. We’ll see a new wave of green product introductions starting later this year, including some from companies that haven’t previously been in the green marketplace. If their products catch on, that pipeline could become a gusher.
4. The supply chain is gaining power. Wal-Mart, which is pushing its 60,000 suppliers to perform all sorts of sustainability somersaults, is one big reason, but they’re hardly alone. Corporate and institutional buyers of everything from carpets to car parts are looking upstream for solutions, asking suppliers to, variously, reduce packaging, eliminate hazardous materials, use more organic or bio-based ingredients, and take other measures to “green up” their products and operations. That’s moving some markets toward cleaner production methods far faster than any mass consumer movement could.
5. The environment has become a fiduciary issue. The past 12 months has seen an almost weekly stream of stories and reports from large financial institutions—banks, insurance companies, and investment houses—talking about the risks of climate change, toxics, and other environmental issues to shareholders. And shareholders, especially pension funds and large faith-based institutional investors, are starting to hammer hard on companies to acknowledge, reduce, and report on their risk profiles in these areas.
6. The bar keeps moving. One theme of my presentations lately is the question, “How good is good enough?” Simply put, it bemoans the lack of standards or general agreement on what constitutes a “green business.” That lack of standards frustrates many companies’ efforts to be seen as “good guys”; instead, they never seem to be good enough. But there may be an upside to the lack of definitions: With no standards, the bar is free to drift continually higher. And that seems to be what is happening. For example, as more companies claim some form of carbon neutrality, the value of carbon neutral as a marketing claim becomes increasingly devalued. And as the bar rises, laggard companies, even if fully compliant on the regulatory front, are finding themselves farther and farther behind, from a reputation perspective.
7. Companies are moving beyond “sustainability.” Given the rising bar, it would follow that companies are continually innovating, and that the cutting edge moves increasingly farther out. Within the next two years, it would not surprise me if being a “sustainable” company was no longer seen as a leadership goal. The real leaders will have focused their sights on being restorative—for example, not being merely carbon neutral, but being carbon negative, taking more carbon out of the atmosphere than they put in.
8. More companies are telling their stories. It’s no longer good enough for companies to be quiet and humble on things green. That doesn’t necessarily mean they should be needlessly boastful, especially if it’s not in their nature to do so. But doing the right thing and keeping it quiet is less of an option these days. Customers—both consumers and business customers—want green heroes, companies they believe are setting the pace. Companies that believe that walking more than talking will insulate them from criticism are finding that the risks of being overly exposed may be outweighed by the risks of being seen as a laggard. Expect green advertising and marketing campaigns to grow in the coming months.
9. Clean technology is changing the game. The clean-tech boom (which, indeed, may be a bubble unto itself) is making it easier and cheaper for companies to transform their products, processes, and performance to use more renewable energy, bio-based or lightweight materials, and fewer toxic ingredients. Given that some of the most promising, game-changing technologies are only just now reaching their intended markets, we are on the cusp of a new generation of clean-tech products and services. As they roll out, whether from startups or mega-conglomerates, they’ll enable a wide range of new green products, services, and business opportunities.
10. There's money to be made. That’s the real bottom line: The environment is now being seen increasingly as a potential value-add, not merely a cost to be minimized. Hence, green leaders are emerging throughout companies, not just in the environmental departments, as forward-thinking entrepreneurs (and intrapreneurs) identify and exploit new ways to leverage green thinking into new products and markets. As the number of success stories moves beyond hybrid automobiles and organic foods to include other categories of products and services, green will be seen as a more “normal” part of the marketplace.
There’s more. I managed to get through all this without once mentioning China or India. They, of course, are also game-changers, as they move forward—too slowly at times, leapfrogging the industrialized world at others—in building their fast-growing economies.
And then there’s the specter of surprises: another Katrina, a terrorist attack, refinery explosion, nuclear meltdown, deadly heat wave, infectious epidemic, discombobulating iceberg, or other catastrophe. Each of these could help move the role and responsibility of the private sector to be green leaders back into the limelight.
And once again, the media will likely “discover” the greening of business.
Joel Makower is Executive Editor of www.GreenBiz.com and writes the blog Two Steps Forward ,from which this is reprinted.
05/29/2007
The world of green business seems to have come out of nowhere to dominate magazine and newspaper coverage. The media calls and e-mails have been arriving fast and furious—a dozen or more each week, even more than a month after Earth Day. CNN, the New York Times, Business Week, Advertising Age, Good Morning America, the Sundance Channel, Reuters, the Discovery Channel, Marketplace radio, and a slew of local papers.
A surprising number seem to have some variation of the same two questions: Is all of this focus on the greening of business merely a fad? When will the bubble burst? Such questions are understandable, albeit misguided. The world of green business appears to have come out of nowhere to grace the cover of every major magazine, business and otherwise, not to mention scads of other stories on inside pages.
Where stories about business and environmental issues used to appear sporadically in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other major publications, they are now daily fare, with sometimes as many as a half-dozen news stories, feature articles, and opinion pieces in a single daily edition.
For those of us who have been toiling in these fields for a long time, the greening of business is viewed as an “overnight success story” that was 20 years in the making. Given our society’s microscopic attention span, and the apparent need of the media to deflate trends they’ve helped pump up, coverage of green business would seem likely headed for a fall. And that might indeed happen, for any number of reasons. From the public’s perspective, this would make it seem like the greening of business was yet another cynical fad that’s now faded into the woodwork.
Such perceptions aside, the topic isn’t going away any time soon. Here, in no particular order, are 10 reasons why I think the greening of business will be an enduring issue for years to come, regardless of the media’s attention span:
1. The problems aren't getting any better. This is fairly obvious, especially if you’ve seen The Movie. The environmental movement, it’s been said, is rapidly morphing into the climate movement, and there’s a parallel shift taking place on the business side. The motivations may be different—for activists, climate has become a rallying cry that gives disparate groups a singular focus; for companies, it’s about the need to squeeze efficiency out of every operational nook and cranny while reducing risk and enhancing image. But the upshot is the same: Until the climate problem is under control, it will be Job One, environmentally speaking, inside most companies. And as concern, regulation, and market-based mechanisms to address climate change ramp up, this will be a key business focus for a long, long time.
2. The political will is finally emerging. Again, climate is the reason. In the United States and elsewhere, political leaders are realizing that this isn’t a topic that will go away; indeed, it is gaining steam and could even be a focus of the 2008 U.S. election. That could increase public scrutiny of how company lobbyists are pressing for favorable treatment, and some of this pressure could come from companies otherwise seen as “leaders” in corporate climate action, leading to activist charges of greenwashing or worse. If there’s evidence of a parade of public concern over climate change, politicians will certainly want to get in front of it, and companies may end up finding that there’s simply no longer enough lobbying money to buy their way out of the problem—or, better still, not enough politicians willing to be bought off.
3. Consumers are waking up. This remains to be seen, of course, but there are encouraging signs that the American public is finally ready to vote with their pocketbooks, choosing greener products, or products from companies perceived to be green leaders. One thing is certain: the pipeline of greener products from household brands is filling up. We’ll see a new wave of green product introductions starting later this year, including some from companies that haven’t previously been in the green marketplace. If their products catch on, that pipeline could become a gusher.
4. The supply chain is gaining power. Wal-Mart, which is pushing its 60,000 suppliers to perform all sorts of sustainability somersaults, is one big reason, but they’re hardly alone. Corporate and institutional buyers of everything from carpets to car parts are looking upstream for solutions, asking suppliers to, variously, reduce packaging, eliminate hazardous materials, use more organic or bio-based ingredients, and take other measures to “green up” their products and operations. That’s moving some markets toward cleaner production methods far faster than any mass consumer movement could.
5. The environment has become a fiduciary issue. The past 12 months has seen an almost weekly stream of stories and reports from large financial institutions—banks, insurance companies, and investment houses—talking about the risks of climate change, toxics, and other environmental issues to shareholders. And shareholders, especially pension funds and large faith-based institutional investors, are starting to hammer hard on companies to acknowledge, reduce, and report on their risk profiles in these areas.
6. The bar keeps moving. One theme of my presentations lately is the question, “How good is good enough?” Simply put, it bemoans the lack of standards or general agreement on what constitutes a “green business.” That lack of standards frustrates many companies’ efforts to be seen as “good guys”; instead, they never seem to be good enough. But there may be an upside to the lack of definitions: With no standards, the bar is free to drift continually higher. And that seems to be what is happening. For example, as more companies claim some form of carbon neutrality, the value of carbon neutral as a marketing claim becomes increasingly devalued. And as the bar rises, laggard companies, even if fully compliant on the regulatory front, are finding themselves farther and farther behind, from a reputation perspective.
7. Companies are moving beyond “sustainability.” Given the rising bar, it would follow that companies are continually innovating, and that the cutting edge moves increasingly farther out. Within the next two years, it would not surprise me if being a “sustainable” company was no longer seen as a leadership goal. The real leaders will have focused their sights on being restorative—for example, not being merely carbon neutral, but being carbon negative, taking more carbon out of the atmosphere than they put in.
8. More companies are telling their stories. It’s no longer good enough for companies to be quiet and humble on things green. That doesn’t necessarily mean they should be needlessly boastful, especially if it’s not in their nature to do so. But doing the right thing and keeping it quiet is less of an option these days. Customers—both consumers and business customers—want green heroes, companies they believe are setting the pace. Companies that believe that walking more than talking will insulate them from criticism are finding that the risks of being overly exposed may be outweighed by the risks of being seen as a laggard. Expect green advertising and marketing campaigns to grow in the coming months.
9. Clean technology is changing the game. The clean-tech boom (which, indeed, may be a bubble unto itself) is making it easier and cheaper for companies to transform their products, processes, and performance to use more renewable energy, bio-based or lightweight materials, and fewer toxic ingredients. Given that some of the most promising, game-changing technologies are only just now reaching their intended markets, we are on the cusp of a new generation of clean-tech products and services. As they roll out, whether from startups or mega-conglomerates, they’ll enable a wide range of new green products, services, and business opportunities.
10. There's money to be made. That’s the real bottom line: The environment is now being seen increasingly as a potential value-add, not merely a cost to be minimized. Hence, green leaders are emerging throughout companies, not just in the environmental departments, as forward-thinking entrepreneurs (and intrapreneurs) identify and exploit new ways to leverage green thinking into new products and markets. As the number of success stories moves beyond hybrid automobiles and organic foods to include other categories of products and services, green will be seen as a more “normal” part of the marketplace.
There’s more. I managed to get through all this without once mentioning China or India. They, of course, are also game-changers, as they move forward—too slowly at times, leapfrogging the industrialized world at others—in building their fast-growing economies.
And then there’s the specter of surprises: another Katrina, a terrorist attack, refinery explosion, nuclear meltdown, deadly heat wave, infectious epidemic, discombobulating iceberg, or other catastrophe. Each of these could help move the role and responsibility of the private sector to be green leaders back into the limelight.
And once again, the media will likely “discover” the greening of business.
Joel Makower is Executive Editor of www.GreenBiz.com and writes the blog Two Steps Forward ,from which this is reprinted.
Friday, June 01, 2007
BEST HOTEL DEALS AWARDED TO CONSUMERS WHO PICK UP THE PHONE
A CBC News investigation revealed that consumers acting independently may be able to find their own best accommodation deals by simply picking up the phone and calling the hotel.
The CBC sought out rates for rooms with a two-person occupancy and a queen-sized bed, and found that, in a survey of 20 hotels across the country, rooms were requested for the July 6 weekend and for the week of July 6 through 12.
The investigation found that "calling the hotel's front desk yielded the best - or tied for the best - rates, 13 times out of 20." It notes that "booking through the hotel's website netted the second-best results," which was "followed by reserving through a travel agent and using internet travel sites Expedia.ca and Travelocity.ca."
The CBC quotes a November 2006 Statistics Canada study of online shopping trends, which found that "arranging travel services, including booking hotel reservations and car rentals, were the most popular type of online purchase."
"Canadians purchased 228,000 travel packages online last year while 778,000 booked hotel rooms," according to a June 2006 Conference Board of Canada report. The same study says "...while many consumers prefer using travel agents for their expertise, fewer people are using agents to book vacations. In the summer of 2006, 49% of travellers said they planned on booking through an agency."
The CBC sought out rates for rooms with a two-person occupancy and a queen-sized bed, and found that, in a survey of 20 hotels across the country, rooms were requested for the July 6 weekend and for the week of July 6 through 12.
The investigation found that "calling the hotel's front desk yielded the best - or tied for the best - rates, 13 times out of 20." It notes that "booking through the hotel's website netted the second-best results," which was "followed by reserving through a travel agent and using internet travel sites Expedia.ca and Travelocity.ca."
The CBC quotes a November 2006 Statistics Canada study of online shopping trends, which found that "arranging travel services, including booking hotel reservations and car rentals, were the most popular type of online purchase."
"Canadians purchased 228,000 travel packages online last year while 778,000 booked hotel rooms," according to a June 2006 Conference Board of Canada report. The same study says "...while many consumers prefer using travel agents for their expertise, fewer people are using agents to book vacations. In the summer of 2006, 49% of travellers said they planned on booking through an agency."
Thursday, May 31, 2007
A Guest Experience That Cannot be Copied or Cloned - By Peter McAlpine
Some Implications for the Hotel Industry
Does nobody see anything obsolete about the tendency of hotels to copy each other's guest experience, while the chains clone theirs throughout the hotel group? It's high time to move on from this practice. I would like hotels to understand that they can create a far more loving and caring guest experience that cannot be copied; one that increases the happiness and well-being of the staff and guests; and which puts the pervasive SOP/Customer Satisfaction (SOP/CS) guest experience in the shadows. This article explains why it is superior and why it cannot be replicated.
There are, however, some major implications for the hotel industry that the SOP/CS culture diehards and hotel groups that clone their SOP/CS guest experience will not like. Although they may not realize it yet, the time will come when the hotels and hotel groups that learn how to create it will reap the benefits over those that prefer to stick stubbornly to the well-worn path.
The scenario nowadays is basically this. When a new independent hotel opens, it uses many of the P&Ps, systems, and operational manuals 'borrowed' from the chain hotel groups. Similarly, when a chain hotel group opens or takes over another hotel, the corporate office fills it with basically the same P&Ps, systems and operating manuals used in all of the other hundreds of properties in the brand or Group. The result is a guest experience that is so similar wherever you go, especially in chain hotels where standardization and uniformity are treasured. This may be 'normal', but does nobody realize that the thinking behind it is now obsolete and that it merely confines you within the town limits of Normalville where every hotel's guest experience is basically the same?
Worse still, to facilitate the guest experience cloning process, the new hotels also install the same old Human Resources Department concept, which defies all pesticides and witches' cauldrons, and refuses to die. With the HR Department comes the service training, courtesy of the same Wonder Care customer satisfaction programme that has been doing the rounds in the Group for years with the occasional update. Cloneable customer satisfaction continues to 'rule, OK!', even if nobody dares to use these words anymore.
This approach has been great for the shareholders and financiers, but very uninspiring for the guests and staff as the guest experience basically stays the same. On the one hand, it enables the chains to open many new hotels each day or week very quickly and efficiently. But as long as the concept of service remains embedded in the SOP/CS culture mentality (100% efficiency in the SOPs), a hotel's service concept can be copied very easily by any hotel anywhere.
It must have occurred to people that with this cloneable concept of service, you eventually hit the ceiling of progress. Once every employee is performing the SOPs at 100% efficiency, how do you improve the guest experience except by focusing on the material aspects of a guest's stay. You can only become a maximum of 100% efficient, and you cannot use the same old concept to move to a higher level of guest experience. You cannot reach the stars on rocket fuel technology.
You can, however, change all this by creating a higher level of guest experience that cannot be reached by the SOP/CS culture hotels and which cannot be copied. The way to create a guest experience that cannot be copied is to completely change the focus and balance of the guest experience. You cannot create it with current thinking, which is very limiting.
Instead of basing the guest experience on performing the SOPs as close to 100% efficiency as you can, flavoured with a few dollops of that Wonder Care programme, hotels should base the experience on the main spiritual values and elements of service, namely, love, warmth, care (from the heart and not the SOP/CS kind), empathy, intuition, creativity, and mystery. When the focus is on creating a guest experience infused with these spiritual values and elements, you actually create something that cannot be copied or cloned, unlike the SOP/CS guest experience.
You have to change the emphasis from 100% focus on the standards to creating a guest experience in which the standards are saturated with love, warmth, care, empathy, intuition, creativity, and mystery. The more you saturate it with each one, the more the guest experience evolves. I find that these 7 create the synergy to take the service continuously to higher levels of guest experience. There is no ceiling unlike in the SOP/CS service culture, and this is one part of the beauty of it. The whole guest experience changes and can change in many ways.
This will sound laughable and idealistic in an industry where left-brain thinking still predominates, but the catalyst of this new guest experience is love. Assuming that you know how to do it correctly, the more you deepen the employees in this core value alone, the greater becomes the desire to want to show love to the guests; and as this spirit increases, the manner in which it is shown changes, and the guest experience changes. The spirit impacts the whole guest experience.
This is not theory. I have observed it happen several times. I started off in the hotel industry copying the SOP/CS guest experience like seemingly everyone else, but I always felt that something was missing. Eventually, I worked out that it is the spiritual element that is missing. Then I found a way to work through the heart to infuse the SOP/CS guest experience with love, care, warmth, and empathy to start off with before moving beyond this. I observed how the guest experience changed, and it even changed differently in different departments. People applied the spirit of love in a different way when creating the guest experience, and the synergy of the employees in one department created a different guest experience than in another department.
Then I observed how the same kind of guest experience differed greatly not just in different hotels, but also in different countries because of cultural influences. The SOPs were the same, but even with the same workshop content and the same extensive follow-up deepening programme in the 7 core values & elements, the guest experience turned out differently. By 'differently' I mean that the guest experience was stronger in certain core values and elements and so the staff did things differently. The emotional level also varied. Sometimes the guest experience was incredibly strong in love, care, and warmth, and sometimes less, but stronger in creativity, empathy, or mystery, for example. It could not be replicated because the spirit of love was at a different level. The spirit created affected everything.
So far I have just mentioned the effect of developing one core value, namely, love. Let's now add empathy. When you develop empathy, you change the guest experience further, and distance it even further from the SOP/CS guest experience, which in comparison becomes the relation everyone is embarrassed to talk about.
Empathy is an important quality to develop in the employees because the guest experience of tomorrow will require employees to be able to read and understand the guests intuitively, and to show that they are in-tune with them. In regard to the guest experience, empathy is a feeling an employee has of a guest's true emotions to a point where the employee can relate to that guest by sensing true feelings that run deeper than those portrayed on the surface. People often hide their true feelings with a mask, but an employee strong in empathy can sense the truth behind the mask and will act compassionately to help them express themselves, thus making them feel at ease and not so desperately alone. It is as though the employee truly understands, and indeed may do through personal firsthand experience.
When you develop empathy in the employees so that they are highly sensitive to the emotions and feelings of the guests and then act compassionately, considerately, and with understanding, the guest experience becomes truly wonderful - especially when you develop empathy by touching the heart and in combination with certain other core values and music.
The guest experience changes according to the development of empathy in the employees. The deepening programme will help the employees to increase their susceptibility to the emotion, as well as their desire to show it, but every employee will develop differently and practise it to a different degree. While the emotional level of empathy in the hotel will increase with the deepening programme, the intensity will differ between hotels, thereby resulting in more differences in the guest experience.
You can change the guest experience even more by developing the power of intuition of the employees. Why hotels don't develop this in the employees is a mystery to me. Everyone is born with intuition. Intuition enables us to have those moments of insight when we see a situation clearly and know precisely what to do. It creates those 'gut feelings' about a person or situation that turn out to be true. Unfortunately, many of us have been conditioned to distrust or ignore these direct experiences of clarity and insight, and to look at the facts instead.
Developing the intuition of the employees supports the development of empathy, and is a very important part of service at the level of creating truly memorable experiences and beyond because it increases the employee's feeling about the guests, and enables them to know what they should do to make each guest happy. By developing their intuition and by encouraging employees to use it, to act upon their feelings, and to show empathy with compassion, they will create more varied memorable experiences.
To summarize this, you can change the guest experience by the way you develop each of the 7 spiritual values and elements of the guest experience. When you develop one core value, it impacts the others, and this in turn creates a different guest experience. They are all interrelated. For example, the more you develop the intuition of the employees, the more it will impact the way they show empathy and the degree to which they want to show empathy. The more you develop love, the greater the effect you will have on the way empathy is shown and intuition is used. And so on.
When you add the element of mystery, the guest experience becomes even more impossible to clone. Mystery is an element that is seemingly little known in the hotel industry, but one day I am sure that it will be a normal feature. In short, mystery is when you leave even first-time guests asking themselves, 'How did she know ... that this is my favourite drink / fruit / food / music / etc. / or that I wanted to buy a Gucci handbag / that I want to go on a desert safari?' I haven't told her or anyone yet.' (There are ways!)
Mystery is something chain hotels will find very hard to create because you cannot make an SOP for it, and as soon as you try to standardize it, the mystery vanishes. The same actually applies to the other 6 core values and elements once you try to standardize them with SOPs and P&Ps. This point should not be taken lightly. Some of the current ways to create a guest experience will not work at the higher levels.
The level of mystery depends to a large extent on how the employees are deepened in the other core values because those other core values create the spirit and desire in the employees to want to create a guest experience filled with mystery. You can hand a hotel a list of 10 ways to create mystery, but the level of mystery created will depend on the synergy of all the core values being developed, and the level each individual employee has reached as a result of the deepening programme. Again, love is the catalyst that creates a truly memorable guest experience with mystery.
Let's add another of the core values, namely, care (genuine care from the heart as opposed to SOP/CS care), and the guest experience becomes even more impossible to copy or clone. In the SOP/CS culture caring service is mainly about providing guests with what they want and need in a material sense. Most hotels focus on ways to care for the guests and they have numerous manuals on how to do this; even going to the extent in one hotel group of having an SOP on how to smile. Generally, these manuals are full of procedures and standards that are written in a cold and emotionless language, seemingly by people from whose heart the spirit of loving and caring hospitality had been banished long ago.
In contrast, caring service at the level of creating a truly memorable guest experience is much deeper and closely linked to love. Truly caring service stems from love for fellow human beings and a genuine desire from the heart to make other people happy. How to develop this spirit of love goes beyond the article, but the spirit is very different from SOP/CS culture caring service where caring service usually feels like it is being provided because it is a duty to do so.
The more this core value is developed in the employees, the greater the impact it will have on the guest experience. The spiritual level of care in the guest experience is directly related to the degree to which the employees are deepened in love and empathy, and definitely not by training or techniques that increase or redefine efficiency. In turn, the more each of these core values is developed, the more they will impact the creativity and mystery in the guest experience because the more they are developed, the greater becomes the desire to be creative and to create mystery.
Everyone develops at a different speed. Some employees are so moved by the spirit and deepening programme that they are soon creating a guest experience that is infused with love, care, warmth, empathy, intuition, creativity and mystery. Others develop more slowly. Different departments develop at different speeds as well. Hotels as a whole follow the same pattern.
The guest experience cannot be copied because to a large extent it is created by the spirit of love, and this will vary from hotel to hotel. As the spirit grows, the experience will change. With deepening, the levels of love, care, warmth, empathy, intuition, creativity, and mystery increase, and as they increase the staff do different things for the guests, which they did not do before. The increase in emotion can be compared to turning up a dimmer switch to make a light brighter. Unlike in the SOP/CS culture, there is no limit to how far the dimmer switch can be turned.
This is what makes the guest experience grow and change in different ways. It is no longer restricted by the SOP manuals. With the gradual development of the core values and elements, the guest experience not only feels different, but new and different things also happen. Once a guest experiences it, s/he will never be happy again with an SOP/CS culture hotel.
Apart from the obvious financial benefits of moving on from the cloneable SOP/CS culture, there is another enormous benefit of creating such a guest experience, namely the health benefits of a truly memorable guest experience that is infused with love, care, warmth, empathy, intuition, creativity, and mystery.
Heart research over the years has proved that health starts with love, and that love can reduce stress. Research also shows that emotions work much faster and are more powerful for our well-being than thoughts; and also that the heart is much more important than the brain to overall health and well-being. The heart's dominance inside the body is now clearly demonstrated. Thinking clearly with your brain is useful, but feeling positively from your heart provides an amazing boost to health and creativity.
Showing and experiencing love, or briefly re-experiencing a cherished memory, creates synchronization in your heart rhythm in mere seconds. This increases the release of healthy, energizing hormones, while at the same time decreasing levels of damaging stress hormones. At the same time your immune system is strengthened, blood pressure decreases, and health and focus increase.
Feelings of compassion, love, care, and appreciation produce a smoothly rolling coherent heart rhythm. A different heart rhythm leads to other chemical and electrical - even neurological - reactions in the body.
When people experience love, they not only feel happy and joyful, but they also produce, for example, the hormone that prevents aging, and which gives us feelings of youthful vitality. Also, a loving body absorbs less cholesterol, thereby preventing arteries from clogging, and blood pressure stabilizes. Positive feelings, like love, generate health. Creating a truly memorable guest experience infused with the spirit of love is not only going to make hotels more money, but it will improve the health of the employees and guests. Surely the Sales and Marketing people can make use of this.
But there's more. Studies show that the electromagnetic field of the heart can be measured from between two and three metres from the body. If someone has a coherent heart rhythm, it has a demonstrably positive effect on other people in close proximity to him or her.
The implications of this for the hotel industry are very big, I feel. For a start, it makes completely obsolete the chain hotel approach to creating an essentially similar and uniform guest experience throughout a brand or the group. Why would anyone want to continue doing this?
It would be a great shame if the owners of the huge land and underwater hotel projects in the UAE, for example, spent a fortune creating a unique design and a multitude of facilities for their projects, and then installed an SOP/CS culture. What a waste of money and loss of revenue that would be, especially if a competitor group decided to break its traditional ties with Normalville!
In this concept of guest experience there is really no chance for uniformity and standardization anymore. Even with the same SOPs, the guest experience will be different in warmth and appearance in every hotel - sometimes with the comparative warmth of a 500 watt bulb, sometimes 3,000 watts, and sometimes even 10,000 watts or more. There is no limit either. The disturbing point for traditionalists is that if you try to create it by shackling the 7 core values and elements with the SOP/CS structure, the more you will discover that you cannot create the experience. The winds of change can indeed be frightening!
The area of competition for hotels will become the spiritual aspect of the guest experience; not the material grandeur of a property. The hotels and hotel groups that will become preferred will be those which have the more effective approach to developing the core spiritual values in the employees and guest experience; which have the more effective deepening programme; and which are willing to align all of the hotel's systems and procedures with the nature of the new guest experience. The traditional Human Resources Department will have to succumb to the witches' cauldrons, of course.
The SOP/CS culture will surely die at the 4-star and 5-star level because more and more hotels will try to create an alternative guest experience based on the experience described above. Independent hotels and small luxury resort groups will adopt it, and then the chain hotels will become undesirable in comparison. Why on earth would anyone want to stay at a hotel with an SOP/CS culture when you can stay at a hotel where the staff create a personalized memorable experience infused with love, care, warmth, and empathy, with intuition, creativity, and mystery, and where the warmth is so great and can be increased continuously? Incidentally, other spiritual values are actually developed too, such as compassion, but I cannot go into those here.
The ability to create such a guest experience will also surely become a major factor for choosing a management company. This kind of experience cannot be created in the key card manner of the SOP/CS culture. Hotels and hotel groups will have to experiment and this will take time. I have been doing this for over two years and I am still learning and discovering new ideas and ways.
A year from now hotels will wish they had started now. The speed at which they learn will be directly related to their willingness to break away from ideas and approaches that have become synonymous with organizational development and staff training & development in the age of the SOP/CS culture.
Hotels and hotel groups that don't like change will like irrelevance even less as the hotel industry changes direction and their shareholder value declines. I believe that in the future people will choose a hotel, especially at the 4-star and 5-star levels, according to the infusion in the hotel's guest experience of the 7 spiritual values and elements above. This will be where the money will be made. Meanwhile, ... the SOP/CS culture diehards will do just that.
About the Author
Peter McAlpine is the Senior Consultant at Renaissance Consulting Ltd. in Bangkok. The company specializes in pre-opening 5-star city hotels and resorts at the level of creating truly memorable experiences; upgrading customer service to this level; and inspiring hotel staff.
Contact
Renaissance Consulting Ltd.
99/192 Mubahn Place and Park,
Soi 90, Tanon Pracha Uthit,
Ampheur Prasamuthchedi,
Samuthprakarn, Thailand
Tel/Fax: +66-2-461-5164; +66-7-054-8813
E-mail: info@renaissanceconsultingltd.com
Does nobody see anything obsolete about the tendency of hotels to copy each other's guest experience, while the chains clone theirs throughout the hotel group? It's high time to move on from this practice. I would like hotels to understand that they can create a far more loving and caring guest experience that cannot be copied; one that increases the happiness and well-being of the staff and guests; and which puts the pervasive SOP/Customer Satisfaction (SOP/CS) guest experience in the shadows. This article explains why it is superior and why it cannot be replicated.
There are, however, some major implications for the hotel industry that the SOP/CS culture diehards and hotel groups that clone their SOP/CS guest experience will not like. Although they may not realize it yet, the time will come when the hotels and hotel groups that learn how to create it will reap the benefits over those that prefer to stick stubbornly to the well-worn path.
The scenario nowadays is basically this. When a new independent hotel opens, it uses many of the P&Ps, systems, and operational manuals 'borrowed' from the chain hotel groups. Similarly, when a chain hotel group opens or takes over another hotel, the corporate office fills it with basically the same P&Ps, systems and operating manuals used in all of the other hundreds of properties in the brand or Group. The result is a guest experience that is so similar wherever you go, especially in chain hotels where standardization and uniformity are treasured. This may be 'normal', but does nobody realize that the thinking behind it is now obsolete and that it merely confines you within the town limits of Normalville where every hotel's guest experience is basically the same?
Worse still, to facilitate the guest experience cloning process, the new hotels also install the same old Human Resources Department concept, which defies all pesticides and witches' cauldrons, and refuses to die. With the HR Department comes the service training, courtesy of the same Wonder Care customer satisfaction programme that has been doing the rounds in the Group for years with the occasional update. Cloneable customer satisfaction continues to 'rule, OK!', even if nobody dares to use these words anymore.
This approach has been great for the shareholders and financiers, but very uninspiring for the guests and staff as the guest experience basically stays the same. On the one hand, it enables the chains to open many new hotels each day or week very quickly and efficiently. But as long as the concept of service remains embedded in the SOP/CS culture mentality (100% efficiency in the SOPs), a hotel's service concept can be copied very easily by any hotel anywhere.
It must have occurred to people that with this cloneable concept of service, you eventually hit the ceiling of progress. Once every employee is performing the SOPs at 100% efficiency, how do you improve the guest experience except by focusing on the material aspects of a guest's stay. You can only become a maximum of 100% efficient, and you cannot use the same old concept to move to a higher level of guest experience. You cannot reach the stars on rocket fuel technology.
You can, however, change all this by creating a higher level of guest experience that cannot be reached by the SOP/CS culture hotels and which cannot be copied. The way to create a guest experience that cannot be copied is to completely change the focus and balance of the guest experience. You cannot create it with current thinking, which is very limiting.
Instead of basing the guest experience on performing the SOPs as close to 100% efficiency as you can, flavoured with a few dollops of that Wonder Care programme, hotels should base the experience on the main spiritual values and elements of service, namely, love, warmth, care (from the heart and not the SOP/CS kind), empathy, intuition, creativity, and mystery. When the focus is on creating a guest experience infused with these spiritual values and elements, you actually create something that cannot be copied or cloned, unlike the SOP/CS guest experience.
You have to change the emphasis from 100% focus on the standards to creating a guest experience in which the standards are saturated with love, warmth, care, empathy, intuition, creativity, and mystery. The more you saturate it with each one, the more the guest experience evolves. I find that these 7 create the synergy to take the service continuously to higher levels of guest experience. There is no ceiling unlike in the SOP/CS service culture, and this is one part of the beauty of it. The whole guest experience changes and can change in many ways.
This will sound laughable and idealistic in an industry where left-brain thinking still predominates, but the catalyst of this new guest experience is love. Assuming that you know how to do it correctly, the more you deepen the employees in this core value alone, the greater becomes the desire to want to show love to the guests; and as this spirit increases, the manner in which it is shown changes, and the guest experience changes. The spirit impacts the whole guest experience.
This is not theory. I have observed it happen several times. I started off in the hotel industry copying the SOP/CS guest experience like seemingly everyone else, but I always felt that something was missing. Eventually, I worked out that it is the spiritual element that is missing. Then I found a way to work through the heart to infuse the SOP/CS guest experience with love, care, warmth, and empathy to start off with before moving beyond this. I observed how the guest experience changed, and it even changed differently in different departments. People applied the spirit of love in a different way when creating the guest experience, and the synergy of the employees in one department created a different guest experience than in another department.
Then I observed how the same kind of guest experience differed greatly not just in different hotels, but also in different countries because of cultural influences. The SOPs were the same, but even with the same workshop content and the same extensive follow-up deepening programme in the 7 core values & elements, the guest experience turned out differently. By 'differently' I mean that the guest experience was stronger in certain core values and elements and so the staff did things differently. The emotional level also varied. Sometimes the guest experience was incredibly strong in love, care, and warmth, and sometimes less, but stronger in creativity, empathy, or mystery, for example. It could not be replicated because the spirit of love was at a different level. The spirit created affected everything.
So far I have just mentioned the effect of developing one core value, namely, love. Let's now add empathy. When you develop empathy, you change the guest experience further, and distance it even further from the SOP/CS guest experience, which in comparison becomes the relation everyone is embarrassed to talk about.
Empathy is an important quality to develop in the employees because the guest experience of tomorrow will require employees to be able to read and understand the guests intuitively, and to show that they are in-tune with them. In regard to the guest experience, empathy is a feeling an employee has of a guest's true emotions to a point where the employee can relate to that guest by sensing true feelings that run deeper than those portrayed on the surface. People often hide their true feelings with a mask, but an employee strong in empathy can sense the truth behind the mask and will act compassionately to help them express themselves, thus making them feel at ease and not so desperately alone. It is as though the employee truly understands, and indeed may do through personal firsthand experience.
When you develop empathy in the employees so that they are highly sensitive to the emotions and feelings of the guests and then act compassionately, considerately, and with understanding, the guest experience becomes truly wonderful - especially when you develop empathy by touching the heart and in combination with certain other core values and music.
The guest experience changes according to the development of empathy in the employees. The deepening programme will help the employees to increase their susceptibility to the emotion, as well as their desire to show it, but every employee will develop differently and practise it to a different degree. While the emotional level of empathy in the hotel will increase with the deepening programme, the intensity will differ between hotels, thereby resulting in more differences in the guest experience.
You can change the guest experience even more by developing the power of intuition of the employees. Why hotels don't develop this in the employees is a mystery to me. Everyone is born with intuition. Intuition enables us to have those moments of insight when we see a situation clearly and know precisely what to do. It creates those 'gut feelings' about a person or situation that turn out to be true. Unfortunately, many of us have been conditioned to distrust or ignore these direct experiences of clarity and insight, and to look at the facts instead.
Developing the intuition of the employees supports the development of empathy, and is a very important part of service at the level of creating truly memorable experiences and beyond because it increases the employee's feeling about the guests, and enables them to know what they should do to make each guest happy. By developing their intuition and by encouraging employees to use it, to act upon their feelings, and to show empathy with compassion, they will create more varied memorable experiences.
To summarize this, you can change the guest experience by the way you develop each of the 7 spiritual values and elements of the guest experience. When you develop one core value, it impacts the others, and this in turn creates a different guest experience. They are all interrelated. For example, the more you develop the intuition of the employees, the more it will impact the way they show empathy and the degree to which they want to show empathy. The more you develop love, the greater the effect you will have on the way empathy is shown and intuition is used. And so on.
When you add the element of mystery, the guest experience becomes even more impossible to clone. Mystery is an element that is seemingly little known in the hotel industry, but one day I am sure that it will be a normal feature. In short, mystery is when you leave even first-time guests asking themselves, 'How did she know ... that this is my favourite drink / fruit / food / music / etc. / or that I wanted to buy a Gucci handbag / that I want to go on a desert safari?' I haven't told her or anyone yet.' (There are ways!)
Mystery is something chain hotels will find very hard to create because you cannot make an SOP for it, and as soon as you try to standardize it, the mystery vanishes. The same actually applies to the other 6 core values and elements once you try to standardize them with SOPs and P&Ps. This point should not be taken lightly. Some of the current ways to create a guest experience will not work at the higher levels.
The level of mystery depends to a large extent on how the employees are deepened in the other core values because those other core values create the spirit and desire in the employees to want to create a guest experience filled with mystery. You can hand a hotel a list of 10 ways to create mystery, but the level of mystery created will depend on the synergy of all the core values being developed, and the level each individual employee has reached as a result of the deepening programme. Again, love is the catalyst that creates a truly memorable guest experience with mystery.
Let's add another of the core values, namely, care (genuine care from the heart as opposed to SOP/CS care), and the guest experience becomes even more impossible to copy or clone. In the SOP/CS culture caring service is mainly about providing guests with what they want and need in a material sense. Most hotels focus on ways to care for the guests and they have numerous manuals on how to do this; even going to the extent in one hotel group of having an SOP on how to smile. Generally, these manuals are full of procedures and standards that are written in a cold and emotionless language, seemingly by people from whose heart the spirit of loving and caring hospitality had been banished long ago.
In contrast, caring service at the level of creating a truly memorable guest experience is much deeper and closely linked to love. Truly caring service stems from love for fellow human beings and a genuine desire from the heart to make other people happy. How to develop this spirit of love goes beyond the article, but the spirit is very different from SOP/CS culture caring service where caring service usually feels like it is being provided because it is a duty to do so.
The more this core value is developed in the employees, the greater the impact it will have on the guest experience. The spiritual level of care in the guest experience is directly related to the degree to which the employees are deepened in love and empathy, and definitely not by training or techniques that increase or redefine efficiency. In turn, the more each of these core values is developed, the more they will impact the creativity and mystery in the guest experience because the more they are developed, the greater becomes the desire to be creative and to create mystery.
Everyone develops at a different speed. Some employees are so moved by the spirit and deepening programme that they are soon creating a guest experience that is infused with love, care, warmth, empathy, intuition, creativity and mystery. Others develop more slowly. Different departments develop at different speeds as well. Hotels as a whole follow the same pattern.
The guest experience cannot be copied because to a large extent it is created by the spirit of love, and this will vary from hotel to hotel. As the spirit grows, the experience will change. With deepening, the levels of love, care, warmth, empathy, intuition, creativity, and mystery increase, and as they increase the staff do different things for the guests, which they did not do before. The increase in emotion can be compared to turning up a dimmer switch to make a light brighter. Unlike in the SOP/CS culture, there is no limit to how far the dimmer switch can be turned.
This is what makes the guest experience grow and change in different ways. It is no longer restricted by the SOP manuals. With the gradual development of the core values and elements, the guest experience not only feels different, but new and different things also happen. Once a guest experiences it, s/he will never be happy again with an SOP/CS culture hotel.
Apart from the obvious financial benefits of moving on from the cloneable SOP/CS culture, there is another enormous benefit of creating such a guest experience, namely the health benefits of a truly memorable guest experience that is infused with love, care, warmth, empathy, intuition, creativity, and mystery.
Heart research over the years has proved that health starts with love, and that love can reduce stress. Research also shows that emotions work much faster and are more powerful for our well-being than thoughts; and also that the heart is much more important than the brain to overall health and well-being. The heart's dominance inside the body is now clearly demonstrated. Thinking clearly with your brain is useful, but feeling positively from your heart provides an amazing boost to health and creativity.
Showing and experiencing love, or briefly re-experiencing a cherished memory, creates synchronization in your heart rhythm in mere seconds. This increases the release of healthy, energizing hormones, while at the same time decreasing levels of damaging stress hormones. At the same time your immune system is strengthened, blood pressure decreases, and health and focus increase.
Feelings of compassion, love, care, and appreciation produce a smoothly rolling coherent heart rhythm. A different heart rhythm leads to other chemical and electrical - even neurological - reactions in the body.
When people experience love, they not only feel happy and joyful, but they also produce, for example, the hormone that prevents aging, and which gives us feelings of youthful vitality. Also, a loving body absorbs less cholesterol, thereby preventing arteries from clogging, and blood pressure stabilizes. Positive feelings, like love, generate health. Creating a truly memorable guest experience infused with the spirit of love is not only going to make hotels more money, but it will improve the health of the employees and guests. Surely the Sales and Marketing people can make use of this.
But there's more. Studies show that the electromagnetic field of the heart can be measured from between two and three metres from the body. If someone has a coherent heart rhythm, it has a demonstrably positive effect on other people in close proximity to him or her.
The implications of this for the hotel industry are very big, I feel. For a start, it makes completely obsolete the chain hotel approach to creating an essentially similar and uniform guest experience throughout a brand or the group. Why would anyone want to continue doing this?
It would be a great shame if the owners of the huge land and underwater hotel projects in the UAE, for example, spent a fortune creating a unique design and a multitude of facilities for their projects, and then installed an SOP/CS culture. What a waste of money and loss of revenue that would be, especially if a competitor group decided to break its traditional ties with Normalville!
In this concept of guest experience there is really no chance for uniformity and standardization anymore. Even with the same SOPs, the guest experience will be different in warmth and appearance in every hotel - sometimes with the comparative warmth of a 500 watt bulb, sometimes 3,000 watts, and sometimes even 10,000 watts or more. There is no limit either. The disturbing point for traditionalists is that if you try to create it by shackling the 7 core values and elements with the SOP/CS structure, the more you will discover that you cannot create the experience. The winds of change can indeed be frightening!
The area of competition for hotels will become the spiritual aspect of the guest experience; not the material grandeur of a property. The hotels and hotel groups that will become preferred will be those which have the more effective approach to developing the core spiritual values in the employees and guest experience; which have the more effective deepening programme; and which are willing to align all of the hotel's systems and procedures with the nature of the new guest experience. The traditional Human Resources Department will have to succumb to the witches' cauldrons, of course.
The SOP/CS culture will surely die at the 4-star and 5-star level because more and more hotels will try to create an alternative guest experience based on the experience described above. Independent hotels and small luxury resort groups will adopt it, and then the chain hotels will become undesirable in comparison. Why on earth would anyone want to stay at a hotel with an SOP/CS culture when you can stay at a hotel where the staff create a personalized memorable experience infused with love, care, warmth, and empathy, with intuition, creativity, and mystery, and where the warmth is so great and can be increased continuously? Incidentally, other spiritual values are actually developed too, such as compassion, but I cannot go into those here.
The ability to create such a guest experience will also surely become a major factor for choosing a management company. This kind of experience cannot be created in the key card manner of the SOP/CS culture. Hotels and hotel groups will have to experiment and this will take time. I have been doing this for over two years and I am still learning and discovering new ideas and ways.
A year from now hotels will wish they had started now. The speed at which they learn will be directly related to their willingness to break away from ideas and approaches that have become synonymous with organizational development and staff training & development in the age of the SOP/CS culture.
Hotels and hotel groups that don't like change will like irrelevance even less as the hotel industry changes direction and their shareholder value declines. I believe that in the future people will choose a hotel, especially at the 4-star and 5-star levels, according to the infusion in the hotel's guest experience of the 7 spiritual values and elements above. This will be where the money will be made. Meanwhile, ... the SOP/CS culture diehards will do just that.
About the Author
Peter McAlpine is the Senior Consultant at Renaissance Consulting Ltd. in Bangkok. The company specializes in pre-opening 5-star city hotels and resorts at the level of creating truly memorable experiences; upgrading customer service to this level; and inspiring hotel staff.
Contact
Renaissance Consulting Ltd.
99/192 Mubahn Place and Park,
Soi 90, Tanon Pracha Uthit,
Ampheur Prasamuthchedi,
Samuthprakarn, Thailand
Tel/Fax: +66-2-461-5164; +66-7-054-8813
E-mail: info@renaissanceconsultingltd.com
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Employment Interview - How Hard Can It Be.
By Dr. Rick Johnson
Monday, 28th May 2007
Interviewing a new job candidate sounds easy; After all you are in control; You have something to offer; You can select anyone you choose to select - Right?
That sounds good but in reality interviewing a person to fill a job opening is one of the more difficult tasks you may face as a manager. It does require specific skills to do it right and increase your chance of hiring the ideal person for the job; the person that will stay and fit in with the culture of your company.
That being said, I personally don’t know of one company that has a formal program to train their managers on how to conduct an interview. Interview training is much the same as training managers how to conduct a performance review. It is a rarity to find a company that actually does it. Recruitment, retention, interviewing and performance reviews are not just a “Human Resource” (HR) thing. They are a basic responsibility of all managers.
You can interview candidates for hours, do profile testing and have multiple team interviews and still not know for sure if they are the right person for the job and the right fit for the company. An effective job interview is one that will allow the employer to select an employee who will not only be able to perform the job, but who will stay on the job for an extended period of time. Turnover which requires rehiring and retraining are expensive for a company.
The Questions
Asking the right questions is not as easy as it sounds but questions that determine skill level and experience are fairly straightforward. The more difficult objective for any manager conducting an interview is to select the applicant who will fit in, work well in a team environment, be a contributor, enjoy, respect and promote the company’s image.
Selecting an individual that can not only do the job but one that will be so happy working for the company that they will stay can be a real challenge. Facing that challenge requires asking the right questions.
Let’s explore the interview process in more detail utilizing excerpts from CEO Strategists “Lead Wolf Interview Guide”
AN INTERVIEW IS:
A FACE-TO-FACE ORAL COMMUNICATION:
1. Between an applicant and an interview team
2. Initiated for a specific purpose
3. Focused on very specific subjects
Please note – individual one on one interviews in addition to and subsequent to team interviews are acceptable and sometimes preferred after identifying the final candidates.
SPECIFIC INTERVIEW OBJECTIVES:
1. To clarify data on the application form - - looking for apparent inconsistencies, time gaps or other missing information.
2. To obtain additional information not contained in the application.
3. To test to a degree, the applicant’s truthfulness regarding information on the application.
4. To obtain information from the candidate which will help appraise his personality, character, motivation and skills/knowledge.
5. To inform the candidate about the job, its requirements and the company.
CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEW
After you have conducted the necessary introductions and addressed work history, begin to focus more on probing for data you need to assess from the candidate in reference to the specific job requirements.
Avoid asking questions which can be answered yes or no. Ask open-ended questions which call for lengthier answers, for answers which give candidate’s opinion. If your questions begin with HOW, WHEN, WHY, they’re probably open-ended. Don’t ask leading questions which suggest a particular answer; the candidate will give you the answer he thinks you’re looking for.
Regarding work history, for example, try leading with a question like, “Tell me about your job at the XYZ Company”. The way he answers this question will indicate what he considers important. If he is slow to get going, ask him WHAT he LIKED and DISLIKED about the job; WHY he was interested in that job when he took it.
Then you can probe more deeply into:
1. Level and complexity of work
2. Extent of responsibilities
3. Motivation
4. Attitude and feelings
5. Effectiveness on prior jobs
6. Achievements
7. Interpersonal relationships
8. Level of accountability & authority
Here are some useful questions to ask in these areas. Don’t go down the list asking everyone in order. That would seem like an interrogation …. But these questions do suggest some useful approaches:
Level and Complexity of Work
“What did your job at XYZ Company consist of?”
“Could you describe a typical day at work?”
“What sort of things took up most of your time on this job?”
“What kind of decisions did you typically make on this job?”
Extent of Job Responsibilities
“Explain how you fit into that organization.”
“Tell me a little bit about your former boss.”
“What were his/her responsibilities?”
“How much contact did you typically have with your boss?”
“Describe some of your interactions with your boss.”
“Were you empowered to get your job done? How?”
“What kind of decisions did your boss expect you to make?”
Motivation
“How did you get into that field originally?”
“What attracts you to this industry?”
“When did you first think of leaving your former job?”
“Why did you decide to make a change?”
“What were some of the things that you really liked about that job?”
“What were some of the things that you liked about that company?”
“Describe the best boss you have ever worked for.”
“Describe the worst boss you ever worked for.”
“What is the worst thing a former boss ever did to you?”
“What is the best thing a former boss ever did?
Attitudes and Feelings
“What did you like best about your last job?”
“What kinds of things did you dislike?”
“What was most satisfying about your last job?”
“Did you like your boss?”
“How did you feel about the company as a whole?”
“What was the one thing you really liked about the company?”
“If you could have changed one thing – what is it?”
“How would you describe the culture of the company you worked at?”
“How much of a challenge was your former job?” How?”
“Do you feel you met your personal goals at your job, personally?”
Job Effectiveness
“Did you receive any awards or commendations?”
“To what extent were you able to increase your earnings?”
“What aspects of the job challenged you the most?”
“What did your boss say during your last performance review with regard to job specifics?”
“Did you agree with your boss’s assessment of your performance?”
Academic Achievements
“How well did you do in school – GPA?”
“What were the courses you did the best in?” Why?”
“What courses did you have trouble with? Why?”
“What courses did you get the most out of?”
“How have you applied any of the academics to your real world job performance?”
“How do you feel about the school you attended?”
“What did you like the most about school?”
Personal Goals & Objectives
This should include a discussion about what the applicant is aiming toward in terms of both the immediate job opening and their long range objectives. This is often a good way to develop insight concerning their ambitions and motivation.
“Could you explain exactly what you are looking for in a job change at this time?”
“If you had the opportunity, how would you write the job description for this job?”
“What values/standards would you desire in the company you would like to end your career at.”
“If you had to start all over again would you still be doing this type of work?
Outside Interests
A person has more freedom of choice in outside activities so these can be particularly revealing. Note how varied or restricted the outside activities are.
Note whether they are solitary in nature, family in nature or group type activities. Solitary activities might indicate that a person may be a loner. Extensive group activities could indicate an outgoing nature and an aptitude for leadership. Extensive participation in sports could indicate a high energy level and good physical health.
It could also indicate an ability to work closely with others in a team environment. Of course, all these observations can be backed up with personality profile testing. There are numerous tests available that can be used.
“Tell me about how you spend your free time.”
“What sorts of things interest you outside of work?”
“What takes up most of your free time?”
“What kind of things do you like to do best?”
“What activities outside of work give you the most satisfaction?”
“How did you get interested in…..?”
“Do you participate in any type of sports?”
“Did you play organized sports in school?” Intramural?”
Personal References
Don’t rule out references that are personal friends or family. Although a candidate is highly unlikely to put someone down as a reference that won’t say glowing things about them, sometimes they are not all plants. This is particularly true for young workers who have only one or two work references.
Personal references become necessary in these cases. However, try to uncover some names of other people and former work associates that are not on the reference list. Call them and ask about the candidate. These people are likely to give a reference that is less biased.
“Tell me about some of your co-workers and how they performed their job.”
“What about other supervisors at your last job. Who were they? How did you interact with them?”
“Who is the one person you didn’t get along well with at your former job?”
“Which family member do you have the most difficulty understanding?”
“What kind of reference would they give you?”
“Do you mind if we call them?”
Let’s face it. Conducting an interview and hiring the right person is no easy task. Getting the wrong person on board can be a very expensive and damaging proposition. This isn’t something to take lightly or just leave up to the Human Resource department.
Obviously, if you have an HR department, they will pay a very important specific role. But, the final hiring decision is generally left up to the manager of the department where the new employee will work. Train your managers on how to conduct an effective interview and what is involved in the selection process.
Remember, in spite of all the support from HR, in spite of all the testing that is available, in spite of the numerous team interviews and opinions, getting the right person in any given situation is still a gamble. However, you can dramatically improve your odds for success through preparation and training.
Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com. Don’t forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business.
www.ceostrategist.com
Monday, 28th May 2007
Interviewing a new job candidate sounds easy; After all you are in control; You have something to offer; You can select anyone you choose to select - Right?
That sounds good but in reality interviewing a person to fill a job opening is one of the more difficult tasks you may face as a manager. It does require specific skills to do it right and increase your chance of hiring the ideal person for the job; the person that will stay and fit in with the culture of your company.
That being said, I personally don’t know of one company that has a formal program to train their managers on how to conduct an interview. Interview training is much the same as training managers how to conduct a performance review. It is a rarity to find a company that actually does it. Recruitment, retention, interviewing and performance reviews are not just a “Human Resource” (HR) thing. They are a basic responsibility of all managers.
You can interview candidates for hours, do profile testing and have multiple team interviews and still not know for sure if they are the right person for the job and the right fit for the company. An effective job interview is one that will allow the employer to select an employee who will not only be able to perform the job, but who will stay on the job for an extended period of time. Turnover which requires rehiring and retraining are expensive for a company.
The Questions
Asking the right questions is not as easy as it sounds but questions that determine skill level and experience are fairly straightforward. The more difficult objective for any manager conducting an interview is to select the applicant who will fit in, work well in a team environment, be a contributor, enjoy, respect and promote the company’s image.
Selecting an individual that can not only do the job but one that will be so happy working for the company that they will stay can be a real challenge. Facing that challenge requires asking the right questions.
Let’s explore the interview process in more detail utilizing excerpts from CEO Strategists “Lead Wolf Interview Guide”
AN INTERVIEW IS:
A FACE-TO-FACE ORAL COMMUNICATION:
1. Between an applicant and an interview team
2. Initiated for a specific purpose
3. Focused on very specific subjects
Please note – individual one on one interviews in addition to and subsequent to team interviews are acceptable and sometimes preferred after identifying the final candidates.
SPECIFIC INTERVIEW OBJECTIVES:
1. To clarify data on the application form - - looking for apparent inconsistencies, time gaps or other missing information.
2. To obtain additional information not contained in the application.
3. To test to a degree, the applicant’s truthfulness regarding information on the application.
4. To obtain information from the candidate which will help appraise his personality, character, motivation and skills/knowledge.
5. To inform the candidate about the job, its requirements and the company.
CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEW
After you have conducted the necessary introductions and addressed work history, begin to focus more on probing for data you need to assess from the candidate in reference to the specific job requirements.
Avoid asking questions which can be answered yes or no. Ask open-ended questions which call for lengthier answers, for answers which give candidate’s opinion. If your questions begin with HOW, WHEN, WHY, they’re probably open-ended. Don’t ask leading questions which suggest a particular answer; the candidate will give you the answer he thinks you’re looking for.
Regarding work history, for example, try leading with a question like, “Tell me about your job at the XYZ Company”. The way he answers this question will indicate what he considers important. If he is slow to get going, ask him WHAT he LIKED and DISLIKED about the job; WHY he was interested in that job when he took it.
Then you can probe more deeply into:
1. Level and complexity of work
2. Extent of responsibilities
3. Motivation
4. Attitude and feelings
5. Effectiveness on prior jobs
6. Achievements
7. Interpersonal relationships
8. Level of accountability & authority
Here are some useful questions to ask in these areas. Don’t go down the list asking everyone in order. That would seem like an interrogation …. But these questions do suggest some useful approaches:
Level and Complexity of Work
“What did your job at XYZ Company consist of?”
“Could you describe a typical day at work?”
“What sort of things took up most of your time on this job?”
“What kind of decisions did you typically make on this job?”
Extent of Job Responsibilities
“Explain how you fit into that organization.”
“Tell me a little bit about your former boss.”
“What were his/her responsibilities?”
“How much contact did you typically have with your boss?”
“Describe some of your interactions with your boss.”
“Were you empowered to get your job done? How?”
“What kind of decisions did your boss expect you to make?”
Motivation
“How did you get into that field originally?”
“What attracts you to this industry?”
“When did you first think of leaving your former job?”
“Why did you decide to make a change?”
“What were some of the things that you really liked about that job?”
“What were some of the things that you liked about that company?”
“Describe the best boss you have ever worked for.”
“Describe the worst boss you ever worked for.”
“What is the worst thing a former boss ever did to you?”
“What is the best thing a former boss ever did?
Attitudes and Feelings
“What did you like best about your last job?”
“What kinds of things did you dislike?”
“What was most satisfying about your last job?”
“Did you like your boss?”
“How did you feel about the company as a whole?”
“What was the one thing you really liked about the company?”
“If you could have changed one thing – what is it?”
“How would you describe the culture of the company you worked at?”
“How much of a challenge was your former job?” How?”
“Do you feel you met your personal goals at your job, personally?”
Job Effectiveness
“Did you receive any awards or commendations?”
“To what extent were you able to increase your earnings?”
“What aspects of the job challenged you the most?”
“What did your boss say during your last performance review with regard to job specifics?”
“Did you agree with your boss’s assessment of your performance?”
Academic Achievements
“How well did you do in school – GPA?”
“What were the courses you did the best in?” Why?”
“What courses did you have trouble with? Why?”
“What courses did you get the most out of?”
“How have you applied any of the academics to your real world job performance?”
“How do you feel about the school you attended?”
“What did you like the most about school?”
Personal Goals & Objectives
This should include a discussion about what the applicant is aiming toward in terms of both the immediate job opening and their long range objectives. This is often a good way to develop insight concerning their ambitions and motivation.
“Could you explain exactly what you are looking for in a job change at this time?”
“If you had the opportunity, how would you write the job description for this job?”
“What values/standards would you desire in the company you would like to end your career at.”
“If you had to start all over again would you still be doing this type of work?
Outside Interests
A person has more freedom of choice in outside activities so these can be particularly revealing. Note how varied or restricted the outside activities are.
Note whether they are solitary in nature, family in nature or group type activities. Solitary activities might indicate that a person may be a loner. Extensive group activities could indicate an outgoing nature and an aptitude for leadership. Extensive participation in sports could indicate a high energy level and good physical health.
It could also indicate an ability to work closely with others in a team environment. Of course, all these observations can be backed up with personality profile testing. There are numerous tests available that can be used.
“Tell me about how you spend your free time.”
“What sorts of things interest you outside of work?”
“What takes up most of your free time?”
“What kind of things do you like to do best?”
“What activities outside of work give you the most satisfaction?”
“How did you get interested in…..?”
“Do you participate in any type of sports?”
“Did you play organized sports in school?” Intramural?”
Personal References
Don’t rule out references that are personal friends or family. Although a candidate is highly unlikely to put someone down as a reference that won’t say glowing things about them, sometimes they are not all plants. This is particularly true for young workers who have only one or two work references.
Personal references become necessary in these cases. However, try to uncover some names of other people and former work associates that are not on the reference list. Call them and ask about the candidate. These people are likely to give a reference that is less biased.
“Tell me about some of your co-workers and how they performed their job.”
“What about other supervisors at your last job. Who were they? How did you interact with them?”
“Who is the one person you didn’t get along well with at your former job?”
“Which family member do you have the most difficulty understanding?”
“What kind of reference would they give you?”
“Do you mind if we call them?”
Let’s face it. Conducting an interview and hiring the right person is no easy task. Getting the wrong person on board can be a very expensive and damaging proposition. This isn’t something to take lightly or just leave up to the Human Resource department.
Obviously, if you have an HR department, they will pay a very important specific role. But, the final hiring decision is generally left up to the manager of the department where the new employee will work. Train your managers on how to conduct an effective interview and what is involved in the selection process.
Remember, in spite of all the support from HR, in spite of all the testing that is available, in spite of the numerous team interviews and opinions, getting the right person in any given situation is still a gamble. However, you can dramatically improve your odds for success through preparation and training.
Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com. Don’t forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business.
www.ceostrategist.com
Monday, May 28, 2007
Foodservice Design - The Simplest Kitchen On Earth - By Lee Simon
Last summer, my family and I spent a week vacationing in the Rocky Mountain resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado. After a long day's journey, my children, then six and two years of age, were exhausted. They woke early, tolerated two planes that carried them half way across the United States, and then finally endured a ninety minute car ride before we reached our destination. We quickly dropped off our luggage and immediately left in search of somewhere to eat. We needed something simple and quick. The kids were fading fast.
Witness to an Operations Miracle
We found a local restaurant on main street called Rasta Pasta. They had a variety of pasta dishes. The restaurant is small, about 60 seats, but the menu seemed to offer a few dishes that were kid friendly and we were not in the mood for a restaurant scavenger hunt. Just as we had finished reviewing the menu posted outside, it started to rain. We headed inside and were seated in the restaurant which was a little less than one-third full at the time. But with the rain came an onslaught of patrons. By my estimation, there were about thirty people who were seated at the same time. I began to cringe.
There I was with a tired family in a small restaurant. Thirty patrons seated simultaneously. A very small kitchen. Only two servers were on the floor. For those of you with hospitality experience, you can appreciate the mental math that was going through my head. I could not figure out how they were going to pull this off, and to be honest I did not give them very good odds of doing so. I braced for the worst, keeping the kids entertained to the best of my ability, and then hoped for the best as I watched the two servers go to work.
Our salads and garlic bread arrived quickly, as they were prepared in advance. That helped to keep the grumbling tummies in order for a few minutes. With the kids content, my attention began to shift more towards the actions of the two servers and two cooks. The servers moved through the restaurant with incredible precision, while the cooks were busy but not out of control. My attention bounced from family to restaurant staff, back and forth. Within just ten minutes, our food had arrived. I thought we were fortunate to get our meals first, but when I scanned the restaurant, nearly every patron already had their entrée. It truly was an operational miracle, or was it?
Dissecting a Miracle
When our server had delivered food to all of her tables, she checked back to ask us 'so, how is everything. Is there anything I can get you?' My response caught her off guard. 'That was a thing of beauty,' I told her. I then had to explain my hospitality background and congratulate her and the rest of the restaurant's staff on their recently completed performance. And a fine performance it was. Thirty people fed in just over ten minutes in an a la carte, full service restaurant.
Before leaving, I took a closer look at the 'kitchen.' This was the piece of the puzzle that pushed my astonishment over the top. The entire equipment package consisted of two countertop six burner ranges, a single six-foot refrigerated preparation table, and a conveyor toaster. That was it. End of story. Being the sick, hospitality geek that I am, I arranged a time to return the following day to the restaurant, during off-peak hours, and interview the manager to find out just how they did it. I wanted to know how they made it work.
The interview was great and incredibly enlightening, because the system was so simple. They had implemented terrific menu planning and cross utilization of product. They had developed a menu of hot entrées that could all be prepared in a similar manner - by sauté on the range. They prepared cold entrée salads from the same refrigerated preparation table used to support the hot a la carte station. The salads were pre-made and the garlic bread was run constantly. With just three pieces of cooking equipment and a refrigerator on the line, they were able to offer incredible service.
And not to be overlooked, I believed that the attitude of the staff played an essential role in the restaurant's ability to perform. Let me give you one quick example. During my interview with the restaurant manager, I asked what they did when the single conveyor toaster went down. How would they produce their garlic bread? He said that they were pretty fortunate. The toaster was extremely reliable and did not go down much - maybe once or twice in a season. Usually, he shared, damage to the toaster was a result of an impatient server poking the conveyor to try and get their bread out quickly and, in the process, destroying one of the heating elements. 'What would you do then?' I asked as a follow up question. I was then informed by the manager that there were three simple steps to remedy the situation. First, he would berate the server (half jokingly, half seriously) for being so impatient. Second, he would take an unused sheet pan and throw it on top of the back burners, which were raised, on one of the countertop ranges. Finally, when the shift was over, he would spend thirty minutes unsuccessfully trying to find the element he ordered before season for an event such as this before giving up and calling a service technician to repair the unit. I think you see what I mean by attitude playing an important role. The staff all took their jobs seriously enough, but not too seriously.
Lessons from the Miracle
So what can we learn from this dining experience? Plenty. But there are two primary lessons that I derived. Let's start with the menu planning. The restaurant featured a menu and an equipment mix, despite being limited, that worked well together in total harmony. Both cooks could work on hot or cold entrées at the same time. The method of production was similar for most dishes. The cross utilization of food ingredients had been well conceived. When the menu and the equipment mix are not in harmony, seamless production is a near impossibility.
The next lesson has to do with the planning process as well - planning and design of the restaurant. What helped their success was thinking through the operation during the initial restaurant planning process, but not over-thinking. Some of the clients I have worked with in the past insist that the kitchen will 'never work' unless they have every single piece of equipment they can conceive in exactly the right place. I am not sure I agree with this, as kitchens always evolve, and often do so between the time the design is completed and the time the restaurant opens. Then, I have had other clients that have not thought through their operation enough before engaging in the planning and design of their facilities. This is not good either. I do not mean to sound like Goldie Locks, but the level of planning needs to be just right. Think through the operation, but don't over-think. Keep things simple and logical. Whether in a quick service environment or a five star luxury resort, just the right amount of planning will increase the likelihood for success exponentially.
About the author
Lee Simon is an award winning foodservice designer with The General Group. Lee is also the author of The Restaurant Dream?, a new book offering an inside look at restaurant development from concept to reality. As a practicing designer, Lee uses his operational experience on a daily basis to assist his clients with the planning of new and renovated foodservice facilities. His past projects, located domestically and internationally, include all types of foodservice operations. For questions or information, log on to www.thegeneralgroup.com or e-mail info@thegeneralgroup.com.
Be sure to check out Lee's new book The Restaurant Dream?
Witness to an Operations Miracle
We found a local restaurant on main street called Rasta Pasta. They had a variety of pasta dishes. The restaurant is small, about 60 seats, but the menu seemed to offer a few dishes that were kid friendly and we were not in the mood for a restaurant scavenger hunt. Just as we had finished reviewing the menu posted outside, it started to rain. We headed inside and were seated in the restaurant which was a little less than one-third full at the time. But with the rain came an onslaught of patrons. By my estimation, there were about thirty people who were seated at the same time. I began to cringe.
There I was with a tired family in a small restaurant. Thirty patrons seated simultaneously. A very small kitchen. Only two servers were on the floor. For those of you with hospitality experience, you can appreciate the mental math that was going through my head. I could not figure out how they were going to pull this off, and to be honest I did not give them very good odds of doing so. I braced for the worst, keeping the kids entertained to the best of my ability, and then hoped for the best as I watched the two servers go to work.
Our salads and garlic bread arrived quickly, as they were prepared in advance. That helped to keep the grumbling tummies in order for a few minutes. With the kids content, my attention began to shift more towards the actions of the two servers and two cooks. The servers moved through the restaurant with incredible precision, while the cooks were busy but not out of control. My attention bounced from family to restaurant staff, back and forth. Within just ten minutes, our food had arrived. I thought we were fortunate to get our meals first, but when I scanned the restaurant, nearly every patron already had their entrée. It truly was an operational miracle, or was it?
Dissecting a Miracle
When our server had delivered food to all of her tables, she checked back to ask us 'so, how is everything. Is there anything I can get you?' My response caught her off guard. 'That was a thing of beauty,' I told her. I then had to explain my hospitality background and congratulate her and the rest of the restaurant's staff on their recently completed performance. And a fine performance it was. Thirty people fed in just over ten minutes in an a la carte, full service restaurant.
Before leaving, I took a closer look at the 'kitchen.' This was the piece of the puzzle that pushed my astonishment over the top. The entire equipment package consisted of two countertop six burner ranges, a single six-foot refrigerated preparation table, and a conveyor toaster. That was it. End of story. Being the sick, hospitality geek that I am, I arranged a time to return the following day to the restaurant, during off-peak hours, and interview the manager to find out just how they did it. I wanted to know how they made it work.
The interview was great and incredibly enlightening, because the system was so simple. They had implemented terrific menu planning and cross utilization of product. They had developed a menu of hot entrées that could all be prepared in a similar manner - by sauté on the range. They prepared cold entrée salads from the same refrigerated preparation table used to support the hot a la carte station. The salads were pre-made and the garlic bread was run constantly. With just three pieces of cooking equipment and a refrigerator on the line, they were able to offer incredible service.
And not to be overlooked, I believed that the attitude of the staff played an essential role in the restaurant's ability to perform. Let me give you one quick example. During my interview with the restaurant manager, I asked what they did when the single conveyor toaster went down. How would they produce their garlic bread? He said that they were pretty fortunate. The toaster was extremely reliable and did not go down much - maybe once or twice in a season. Usually, he shared, damage to the toaster was a result of an impatient server poking the conveyor to try and get their bread out quickly and, in the process, destroying one of the heating elements. 'What would you do then?' I asked as a follow up question. I was then informed by the manager that there were three simple steps to remedy the situation. First, he would berate the server (half jokingly, half seriously) for being so impatient. Second, he would take an unused sheet pan and throw it on top of the back burners, which were raised, on one of the countertop ranges. Finally, when the shift was over, he would spend thirty minutes unsuccessfully trying to find the element he ordered before season for an event such as this before giving up and calling a service technician to repair the unit. I think you see what I mean by attitude playing an important role. The staff all took their jobs seriously enough, but not too seriously.
Lessons from the Miracle
So what can we learn from this dining experience? Plenty. But there are two primary lessons that I derived. Let's start with the menu planning. The restaurant featured a menu and an equipment mix, despite being limited, that worked well together in total harmony. Both cooks could work on hot or cold entrées at the same time. The method of production was similar for most dishes. The cross utilization of food ingredients had been well conceived. When the menu and the equipment mix are not in harmony, seamless production is a near impossibility.
The next lesson has to do with the planning process as well - planning and design of the restaurant. What helped their success was thinking through the operation during the initial restaurant planning process, but not over-thinking. Some of the clients I have worked with in the past insist that the kitchen will 'never work' unless they have every single piece of equipment they can conceive in exactly the right place. I am not sure I agree with this, as kitchens always evolve, and often do so between the time the design is completed and the time the restaurant opens. Then, I have had other clients that have not thought through their operation enough before engaging in the planning and design of their facilities. This is not good either. I do not mean to sound like Goldie Locks, but the level of planning needs to be just right. Think through the operation, but don't over-think. Keep things simple and logical. Whether in a quick service environment or a five star luxury resort, just the right amount of planning will increase the likelihood for success exponentially.
About the author
Lee Simon is an award winning foodservice designer with The General Group. Lee is also the author of The Restaurant Dream?, a new book offering an inside look at restaurant development from concept to reality. As a practicing designer, Lee uses his operational experience on a daily basis to assist his clients with the planning of new and renovated foodservice facilities. His past projects, located domestically and internationally, include all types of foodservice operations. For questions or information, log on to www.thegeneralgroup.com or e-mail info@thegeneralgroup.com.
Be sure to check out Lee's new book The Restaurant Dream?
Friday, May 25, 2007
The Difference Between a Leader and a Manager
By Dr. Rick Johnson
Wednesday, 23rd May 2007
Make no mistake - to maximize your own effectiveness you have to be able to function both as a leader and as a manager.
The trick is to know precisely when to go into the manager mode and when to become that servant type leader. I once read a quote on the difference between a manager and a leader that stated:
"A Manager "does the thing right" and a Leader "does the right thing."
How Do You Become a Who?
I don’t know who said that but it is quite a simplification. First of all, a manager doesn’t always do the thing right and conversely leaders don’t always do the right thing.
Oh sure, most leaders do the right thing most of the time, but what the “right thing is can cause quite a debate and who gets to decide what the right thing really is?
And who decides who and what is actually right. How does one get to become a who?
Doing the Right Thing
Doing the right thing doesn’t sound very complex for a person of character and integrity but think about this for a second.
During my ten years as a turn-a-round specialists there were several occasions when I had to sacrifice the jobs of many to save a company and the jobs of others. Was that the right thing to do in the eyes of those that lost their job, their income, their security?
If you were the wife, the husband or the child of one of those employees that were sacrificed for the sake of survival of the company would you think that it was “the right” thing to do? We are not talking about malcontents, under performers and employees with issues. We’re talking about pure innocent sacrifice here.
All of a sudden, “the right thing” gets a little more complicated. That’s why I quit being a Turn-A-Round specialist after ten years. I got tired of being the “Darth Vadar of Distribution”.
Leaders Inspire Others to Greatness
True leaders inspire others to greatness. In spite of what may seem the contrary, being a true leader in times of sacrifice and turbulence is even more important than in normal times?
However, it’s equally important to adapt to the role of manager as well when sacrifice is necessary. I often talk about compassion as both a strength and a weakness when it comes to individual leadership models. I have met numerous CEOs that boast of long tenure employees.
However, there are some that earn that tenure simply due to the compassion of ownership. Certainly compassion for people is a strength but it can become a weakness if it stands in the way of accountability and maximizing the effectiveness of the organization.
The Balance of Compassion and Performance
So how does an effective leader balance compassion with performance and accountability? A leader must demonstrate the need for maximizing performance to the team. This is communicated more by action than words. Tolerance for the lack of excellence or sub par performance sends a distinct message. The wrong message.
A leader must lead by example whereas a manager uses direction and enforcement of policy and procedure to accomplish specific tasks. Of course, a manager must also be able to lead as well.
Sound confusing? It is……… There is a fine line between leadership and management. A line that is often shifting according to circumstance. If you are going to maximize growth and profitability in your organization that means that every manager must become an effective leader.
A leader encourages, leads by example, cares about the team and gives regular feedback. People need to be recognized and praised. A leader influences and inspires others to believe in themselves and to follow a vision for the future.
Communication is essential, knowing when to go into the manager mode and become less a servant is also necessary. This mode should be the exception but it does exist for even the greatest leaders and it is necessary at times. In fact, a true test of an effective leader is knowing when to go into the manager mode. Effective communication can stir emotions and emotions can become a powerful motivator.
Confidence, Self Esteem or Ego?
We all have egos but effective leaders control their own egos and understand how to utilize their understanding of people to inspire peak performance. They are confident and have high self esteem without demonstrating arrogance. Leadership can not be ego driven but good leaders command a presence when they walk into the room.
They are not only compassionate but they are passionate about success and they make every effort to coach and mentor their team. However, a leader can't afford to waste too much time in the minutiae of the team. In fact a functioning team will solve many of its own problems and they are expected to. This happens when the right people are on the team.
Leaders lead by example, they delegate and empower people. They also seem to have a keen sense about selecting and developing the right people. That in itself is a key difference in transcending from being just a manager to becoming an effective leader.
Selecting the right people with potential to excel and then developing those people through the coaching and mentoring process to achieve greatness is a primary responsibility of leadership. Effective leaders know precisely when to coach, when to mentor and when to manage.
So what’s the Difference?
In reality if you are going to be responsible for the actions and results of others it just isn’t good enough to be only a manager. Effectively, managing is about leadership. Personally, I believe to be really effective, there is no difference. An effective leader must be a good manager and a good manager effectively must be a good leader.
The results will speak for themselves in the long run...
E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com if you would like a copy of the “Lead Wolf Leadership Creed”.
Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com. Don’t forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business.www.ceostrategist.com
Wednesday, 23rd May 2007
Make no mistake - to maximize your own effectiveness you have to be able to function both as a leader and as a manager.
The trick is to know precisely when to go into the manager mode and when to become that servant type leader. I once read a quote on the difference between a manager and a leader that stated:
"A Manager "does the thing right" and a Leader "does the right thing."
How Do You Become a Who?
I don’t know who said that but it is quite a simplification. First of all, a manager doesn’t always do the thing right and conversely leaders don’t always do the right thing.
Oh sure, most leaders do the right thing most of the time, but what the “right thing is can cause quite a debate and who gets to decide what the right thing really is?
And who decides who and what is actually right. How does one get to become a who?
Doing the Right Thing
Doing the right thing doesn’t sound very complex for a person of character and integrity but think about this for a second.
During my ten years as a turn-a-round specialists there were several occasions when I had to sacrifice the jobs of many to save a company and the jobs of others. Was that the right thing to do in the eyes of those that lost their job, their income, their security?
If you were the wife, the husband or the child of one of those employees that were sacrificed for the sake of survival of the company would you think that it was “the right” thing to do? We are not talking about malcontents, under performers and employees with issues. We’re talking about pure innocent sacrifice here.
All of a sudden, “the right thing” gets a little more complicated. That’s why I quit being a Turn-A-Round specialist after ten years. I got tired of being the “Darth Vadar of Distribution”.
Leaders Inspire Others to Greatness
True leaders inspire others to greatness. In spite of what may seem the contrary, being a true leader in times of sacrifice and turbulence is even more important than in normal times?
However, it’s equally important to adapt to the role of manager as well when sacrifice is necessary. I often talk about compassion as both a strength and a weakness when it comes to individual leadership models. I have met numerous CEOs that boast of long tenure employees.
However, there are some that earn that tenure simply due to the compassion of ownership. Certainly compassion for people is a strength but it can become a weakness if it stands in the way of accountability and maximizing the effectiveness of the organization.
The Balance of Compassion and Performance
So how does an effective leader balance compassion with performance and accountability? A leader must demonstrate the need for maximizing performance to the team. This is communicated more by action than words. Tolerance for the lack of excellence or sub par performance sends a distinct message. The wrong message.
A leader must lead by example whereas a manager uses direction and enforcement of policy and procedure to accomplish specific tasks. Of course, a manager must also be able to lead as well.
Sound confusing? It is……… There is a fine line between leadership and management. A line that is often shifting according to circumstance. If you are going to maximize growth and profitability in your organization that means that every manager must become an effective leader.
A leader encourages, leads by example, cares about the team and gives regular feedback. People need to be recognized and praised. A leader influences and inspires others to believe in themselves and to follow a vision for the future.
Communication is essential, knowing when to go into the manager mode and become less a servant is also necessary. This mode should be the exception but it does exist for even the greatest leaders and it is necessary at times. In fact, a true test of an effective leader is knowing when to go into the manager mode. Effective communication can stir emotions and emotions can become a powerful motivator.
Confidence, Self Esteem or Ego?
We all have egos but effective leaders control their own egos and understand how to utilize their understanding of people to inspire peak performance. They are confident and have high self esteem without demonstrating arrogance. Leadership can not be ego driven but good leaders command a presence when they walk into the room.
They are not only compassionate but they are passionate about success and they make every effort to coach and mentor their team. However, a leader can't afford to waste too much time in the minutiae of the team. In fact a functioning team will solve many of its own problems and they are expected to. This happens when the right people are on the team.
Leaders lead by example, they delegate and empower people. They also seem to have a keen sense about selecting and developing the right people. That in itself is a key difference in transcending from being just a manager to becoming an effective leader.
Selecting the right people with potential to excel and then developing those people through the coaching and mentoring process to achieve greatness is a primary responsibility of leadership. Effective leaders know precisely when to coach, when to mentor and when to manage.
So what’s the Difference?
In reality if you are going to be responsible for the actions and results of others it just isn’t good enough to be only a manager. Effectively, managing is about leadership. Personally, I believe to be really effective, there is no difference. An effective leader must be a good manager and a good manager effectively must be a good leader.
The results will speak for themselves in the long run...
E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com if you would like a copy of the “Lead Wolf Leadership Creed”.
Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com. Don’t forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business.www.ceostrategist.com
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