Mr. Holthouser

Human Resources, Recruitment & Training

Key Ingredients in Effective Employment Programs for Your Hotel Brand

By Jim Holthouser, Senior Vice President Brand Management, Embassy Suites Hotels

I believe there are two key ingredients for any successful employment program in our industry. First, the program must reflect and reinforce the basic concept of hospitality. A hotel is not a factory; we’re here to open doors, not produce doorknobs. There’s a very important difference between the two, and therefore fostering a sense of hospitality in everything we do is essential. Second, to be truly effective, it has to be more than just a program. “Program” implies rigidity and a specified regimen of instruction. If the program is to thrive, it has to be organic. People have to actually live it and believe in it. And it must be modeled vibrantly in every level of the organization.

Make a Difference

To this end, though Embassy Suites is a highly differentiated product, at a certain point, we realized that our service was neither entirely consistent nor reflective of that uniqueness. Make a Difference was born of the desire to grow a special and sincere service culture that is as distinctive as our hotels. It is based on the Embassy Suites Service Statement: “Gracious, engaging and caring... making a difference in the lives of others – in ways both big and small.” From the beginning, we recognized that it had to be a grass roots approach. It needed to be cultivated and spread by team members rather than a program dictated top down. We wanted it to be uncomplicated and integrated both within the scope of our jobs as well as our lives outside the business so that it would have true relevance. A year into Make a Difference, we provided hotels with Recharge Kits containing decals with service-centric messages that reinforce the tenets of Make a Difference, as well as a special four-ounce silver and enamel medallion emblazoned with Embassy Suites’ service statement. By spotlighting team members who truly make a difference, the medal is passed from person to person in staff meetings for special recognition of exceptional effort and performance. The “service culture” idea also encompasses community service, often organized and participated in by whole property teams.

The Circle of Leadership

The Circle of Leadership is a general manager initiative which started with the idea that our leaders deserve and require as much support and recognition as their teams. If they are to inspire a gracious, engaging and caring service culture in their hotel, how do we continue to motivate them? General Managers within the Circle are working with professional trainers and coaches to further develop their leadership skills. For everyone else, membership in the Circle is an achievement and reward to which they can all aspire.

In the end, both programs represent strategic approaches to making a sustainable impact in the lives of our team members which inspires them to escalate their performance. What has resulted, and continues to develop, is an atmosphere of accountability, recognition and appreciation. And our guests have taken notice. Since beginning the Make a Difference initiative in 2007, our post-stay guest survey results indicate an overall lift of three points in our service score and our customer loyalty index has improved by six points! That’s an outstanding achievement of which we’re exceedingly proud.

There’s an upside for employers as well. The Hay Group, a leading global management consulting firm, found that offices with engaged employees were up to 43 percent more productive. The group also found a nearly 52 percent gap in operating incomes between companies with highly engaged employees and companies whose employees have low engagement scores, showing a strong correlation between productivity and work environment.

This being noted, you can’t draw water from a dry well. Similarly, hotel employers can’t deliver great service from untrained and under-appreciated team members. These programs address the basic human need for renewal and recognition. For Embassy Suites, Make a Difference is about seeking ways to positively impact the lives of others. Circle of Leadership is about rewarding excellence. In both cases, the recipients respond in magnificent and inspirational ways. It’s a beautiful progression appropriate in every hotel department and market tier of our industry.

The Economic Development Act 2009/2010 report has indicated that building bench strength is the most critical need for businesses. Make a Difference rewards team members at all levels and encourages their continued development and embodiment of the program, helping to ensure that ever-important bench strength as well as a dynamic brain trust which continues to pay forward through leadership and mentorship. And ultimately, superior guest service is genuine, spontaneous and personal; not false, or in any way forced or rehearsed.

So yes, there are revenue-based reasons for employers to invest in their employees, but continuing education programs and positive work cultures are also effective ways to ensure employee dedication to first, guests, and second, the success of the brand. From an employer’s point of view, the organization’s most valuable asset is its human resource, in turn making any investment in that area a solid one. From a team member’s perspective, there may be opportunities in one’s career to make changes for the sake of salary, but committed professionals appreciate that their satisfaction is about more than just money. Compensation takes many forms and salary is certainly one of them, but it’s not the only one.

Continuing education is also a fundamental component because it creates an atmosphere that fosters growth, and high achievers appreciate the opportunity to enhance their performance. Consider Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs where self-actualization is the highest attainment. In a career, the transcendence from deficiency to growth needs is in one way reflected by the desire for continuing education. If satisfied customers return, it makes sense that satisfied employees remain. The best part is that they also continue to contribute. With programs like Circle of Leadership, the more we give them, the more they give back – to the brand, their team and our guests.

To this point, each team member is integral to the operation of the hotel and brand in its entirety. We’re in the people business and each individual is absolutely critical to our overall success. In terms of development and recognition, who is more deserving than our heart-of-the-house team members? The General Manager certainly captains the ship, but it’s folks like our housekeepers and guest services agents who have the most, and the more direct, contact with our guests. A hotel’s reputation is built on each guest’s singular experience with individual team members. Through our training and recognition efforts, we seek to develop an appreciation and understanding that each individual action has a tremendous impact on the overall guest experience.

If a hotel’s reputation is made one interaction at a time, so too is the brand’s reputation established. Not every guest will visit every hotel, and some may visit only once. Their impression of an entire brand enterprise is based on that singular personal experience, and that’s why the positive development of distinct culture is so important. I often speak of our culture as cloth being loomed. It’s constantly in creation, and each team member adds their unique mark to its style, texture, weave and design.

Through Embassy Suites Hotels’ Make a Difference program, we have truly been able to make a difference, something I feel would be helpful for any brand or business, and fortunately, I believe many do. For us, Make a Difference has lived up to its title for our employees, and it continues to grow and expand. Our teams are extraordinarily creative when it comes to making this ideal come to life. They’ve built bikes for disadvantaged children, donated canned goods to food drives, collected gifts for Toys for Tots, volunteered at shelters and retirement homes, helped each other lose weight and improve lifestyle choices, and sponsored car washes for charity, just to name a few. And, as a brand we’re very active in the fight against cancer through a long term association with the Lance Armstrong Foundation. In fact, we have a current goal to raise $200,000 by September and it’s all being done by our team members – not soliciting from guests. As hoteliers, regardless of position, we can all reach back to that time at the start of our careers where we discovered the joy of serving others. Make a Difference reconnects our teams with that feeling and spreads a lot of good will in the process.

To make a program like this real and a vital part of one’s organization, I’d advise only that you think first about your identity and personality. Have a clear vision of who you are and what you already stand for. If your culture message resonates with that, it will be a success. Our hospitality industry is fertile ground for programs like these which celebrate individual expression, genuine concern and motivational development. There’s absolutely no limit to the applicability of recognition and reward in a service-based business model. Everyone benefits, certainly guests, but also owners, managers, team members, their families and communities. It should be noted we’re not just purporting a “feel good message.” Instead, initiatives like Make a Difference and Circle of Leadership have a real quantifiable value. Strong culture produces exceptional service. An exceptional service experience creates a satisfied customer, and a satisfied customer returns. We deliver more to the bottom line but we get there with a very clear appreciation that the art of human interaction supersedes the act of a business transaction.

Charles Gremillion co-authored this article. Mr. Gremillion is Director of Brand Culture and Internal Communications, Embassy Suites Hotels. He leads the research, development and execution of service training initiatives for the Embassy Suites Brand. As director of culture since 2009, Mr. Gremillion ensures that all components of hotel level training and communications effectively deliver and instill the brand’s key philosophies, values and the Embassy Suites Make a Difference culture. Working with all brand constituents, Mr. Gremillion develops new strategic initiatives and processes to link together existing programs and resources to ensure consistent delivery of Embassy Suites key internal brand programs, reward and recognition, and cultural/reinforcement efforts. A hospitality professional for more than 20 years, Mr. Gremillion most recently served the Embassy Suites brand for eight years as regional director of brand performance support, responsible for a portfolio of 25+ hotels, providing sales, marketing, operations and service expertise. Charles currently resides in the DC Metro area.

As the global head of brand management for Embassy Suites Hotels since 2006, Jim Holthouser leads marketing, sales, revenue management, research and development and franchise owner relations efforts for the $1.8B annual revenues brand. Mr. Holthouser also serves as global head of full service brands (Hilton, Doubletree and Embassy Suites) for Hilton Worldwide. Under Mr. Holthouser’s leadership over the last three and a half years, the Embassy Suites brand has won numerous awards for product and service quality. Mr. Holthouser can be contacted at 703-883-1000 or Maggie.Giddens@hilton.com Extended Bio...

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