Mr. Bermingham

Human Resources, Recruitment & Training

Six Keys to Attracting and Retaining Top-Performing Associates

By James Bermingham, Vice President, Montage Hotels & Resorts

A passion for excellence pervasive in a hotel's service culture makes stunning settings, beautiful architecture or the physical attributes of a great hotel only secondary to the overall experience. It is the staff and their extraordinary skills that personalize the guest experience by delivering signature care and facilitating every aspect of a hotel’s passion to please.

The best hotels focus on hiring people with great character and a desire to create phenomenal experiences, not just for guests, but for their fellow Associates as well. This is most effective when programs are in place that drive Associate satisfaction.

At Montage Hotels & Resorts, we operate on the principle that there’s a direct connection between how Associates feel about the company and the effort and passion they will provide to deliver exceptional service. In other words, the better they feel the greater the lengths they’ll go to in order to please our guests.

It’s simply good business practice to promote an environment in which Associates can excel. These six key components are significant in creating a richly rewarding, and profitable workplace.

1. Foster Opportunities to Grow

We have found that Associates need and deserve to feel a personal sense of momentum and achievement, whether it involves working toward a goal they’ve set for themselves or those that management has established. For a growth company like Montage, developing internal talent is a priority. Preparing Associates for their next assignment in a new hotel or to replace a colleague in their existing hotel is necessary to ensure the brand and culture can grow consistently and stronger with each new opening. Training is an important step in creating opportunities for growth however it is most successful when it is combined with mentoring. We will typically assign a more experienced professional that will guide and direct the Associate's development and in doing so turn their training into learning. Once they are ready for their next opportunity it is critical to have one available. Key to retaining talented professionals is ensuring a robust business development pipeline. This allows a company to meet the needs of the ambitious Associates by creating additional positions to allow them to grow.

It is equally important to support those Associates who want to grow in their current positions. For example, if a concierge wants to become a certified sommelier, we do our best to allow them to participate in the courses we provide for our food & beverage Associates. In fac,t we encourage all Associates to do so as long as they commit to complete the course work. The result is that almost 100 Associates, including spa therapists, administrative assistants, concierges and reservation agents, are certified sommeliers. No surprise our wine sales are off the charts high.

It always pays to help Associates reach their personal and career goals. The dividends often translate to extraordinary performance, increased job satisfaction and retention.

2. Mistakes Really Are Permitted

While superior performance should be continually encouraged, Associates will sometimes miss their mark. But as they say, "to err is only human". At Montage Hotels & Resorts, we know that while perfection is our goal, it is an objective our staff steadily strives for. We have created an environment in which mistakes are shared and used as learning opportunities. This confidence in sharing mistakes generates a collective urgency to recover, which often leads to enhanced guest experiences -- the objective. Very often the best relationships great hoteliers have with their guests begin when a mistake is made. It is usually when something goes wrong that hoteliers work their hardest to recover, and in doing so will gain a deeper understanding of their guests expectations and make every effort to exceed them. This effort is both recognized and appreciated, and often results in a deeper lasting relationship with a guest.

Seeing every guest service failure as an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with a guest is reason enough to encourage sharing the mistakes we all make. It also builds trust between Associates and their leaders which improves working relationships and ensures a collective commitment to continuous improvement. There is another compelling reason to make it part of your culture. It gives Associates the confidence to be empowered and the security of knowing it is safe to do so even if they get it wrong.

3. Empower Staff to Make Decisions

In general, people like to be involved in the decision-making process in the workplace. At Montage, we prepare and empower our Associates to do just that -- to think beyond the status quo and to embrace the opportunity to make decisions that can improve both the work environment and the guest experience.

It’s crucial of course, not only to encourage the freedom to think “on their feet”, but to impart the importance of why they are asked to do so: ultimately they bear the responsibility of exceeding guest expectations. Our Associates know how powerful they are in every guest interaction and it is critical they feel empowered to create a successful outcome. The more talented the Associate is, the more he or she will appreciate the confidence we entrust them with.

We find that Associates who bear responsibility for making the right decisions are happier, perform at higher levels and are more productive.

The hotel/resort benefits from this heightened state of attentiveness, because Associates are able to perform at higher levels of business as a result, serving guests who are accustomed to the very best.

4. Encouraging Feedback

Workplace feedback can help streamline operations, improve guest services and heighten morale. It’s important to ensure that Associate interactions are respectful, gracious, and filled with the utmost integrity. That always means encouraging staff to speak their minds, as well as learning to listen well and implement workplace changes when they’re needed.

Hoteliers know their guest expectations, how they are being met and how their business is performing. Great hoteliers understand that Associates are closer to their guests on a daily basis, have firsthand experience of operating standards, and as a result have a wealth of knowledge that, if regularly shared, can have a profound impact on performance. In my experience, every Associate has an important contribution to share and always values the opportunity to do so.

Good open communication is vital to a smooth-running hotel operation and should be integral to its culture. Associates must know that management is really listening, that the staff’s concerns are heeded and appropriate changes are implemented. Truly listening helps to foster a respectful workplace environment in which trust governs responsible Associate behavior and a highly responsive hotel culture. This ensures a motivated team that will go to greater effort to exceed guest expectations.

5. Valuing Continuous Education

Hotels and resorts that attract and retain top-level talent excel at two basic things: preparing staff to be successful at what they do, and empowering them to perform at extraordinary levels.

For example, great spas empower spa therapists by promoting intensive training. The minimum requirement is of course professional licensing. At Spa Montage, we exceed these standards by putting therapists through extensive additional postgraduate training, including certification programs, to develop complete mastery of a variety of techniques.

Therapists often go to great lengths to become technically proficient, and often brilliant, at what they do. When they reach this level of ability, it’s important to allow them to continue their training, so they can develop every ounce of their potential. We believe learning never stops. The proof is in the asking. When guests share their experience at Spa Montage it always includes the quality of the therapist and therapy.

Familiarity is vital in this business. When you build a brand around personalized experiences, then having Associates who know our guests -- who are at the hotel/resort when the guest returns, and who are prepared and empowered -- can create a positive impact on repeat business.

6. Promoting a Character-Intensive Culture

Character-intensive cultures thrive on the highest standards for guests, Associates and management. Superior-level performance is expected, and how staff treats one another has a great deal to do with how they treat guests. In this type of work environment, it’s important to be supportive of one another.

A significant component of what drives success at Montage is the result of our culture -- how we interact with one another as we pursue extraordinary performance. Creating this culture begins with recruitment. The selection criteria for new Associates is carefully structured according to the guiding principles used for Associate interactions: integrity, kindness, respect, etc. Behavioral questions are used to identify these guiding principles to ensure a candidate has the characteristics to be successful at Montage.

To ensure that the culture is always developing, we have instituted measurement systems to gauge how Associates perform in accordance with this aspect of our culture. It is an important focus for continuous improvement and is a significant part of every performance review at every level of the organization

These six best practices have resulted in a committed, passionate team of hoteliers that I am privileged to work with every day.

James Bermingham is Vice President of Montage Hotels & Resorts and Managing Director of Montage Laguna Beach. In his roles, Mr. Bermingham oversees Montage Laguna Beach, Montage Beverly Hills, Montage Deer Valley, and Montage Residences Corporation. In addition, he supervises the management company in sales, human resources, culture development and training, and supports the development team. The veteran hotelier has been the Managing Director at Montage Laguna Beach from its opening in 2003, and has played an integral role in guiding the team that has helped Montage achieve significant industry and public acclaim. Mr. Bermingham can be contacted at 949-715-6000 or jbermingham@montagehotels.com Extended Bio...

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