Mr. Boles

Guest Service / Customer Experience Mgmt

Using Standards of Performance to Improve Service Levels

By Jesse Boles, Executive Director of Operations, FreemanGroup

“The standard is the standard.” This refrain was heard repeatedly during the most recent Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers used it to communicate that whether you were on the field as a full-time starter or filling in due to injury, the performance expectation was the same. It is difficult to argue with the results of the philosophy, as the Steelers have won more Super Bowls (six) than any other team in league history. It’s also worth noting that the Steelers were defeated that day by a Green Bay Packer team that had been ravaged by injury. Watching the game, it was quite obvious that the Packers had adopted a similar philosophy.

In the NFL, many teams run very similar plays, and while some players are more gifted then others, the differences between players are actually so small that they are often measured by hundredths of a second. What repeatedly separates success from failure is the execution of the standards. Success doesn’t have so much to do with the play you call, but how you run it. The same is true of successful hospitality businesses. Success doesn’t have so much to do with the standards you set, but how those standards are implemented.

If you were to check in at your most successful competitor’s hotel, it is unlikely that you would see a procedure or behavior that makes you ask, “Why didn’t I think of that?” More often than not, you will find that another hotel is using the same type of game plan that is being used by your hotel, and that the differences between your properties have more to do with the execution of the plan. We all know the star/diamond standards; we all preach them to our staff, and, in many cases, perform regular audits to assess how well we are executing them. Why do some properties execute game plans with higher levels of skill, urgency, and efficiency than others?

One big reason we don’t always achieve our service goals is that we provide our staff with standards that apply to the outcomes only. That’s really what the star/diamond standards are: outcomes that provide no really useful indications of how to achieve them. Despite this, we often state them to our teams and think that somehow, achievement will naturally follow. This is akin to setting a bar four feet high and telling people to jump over it without explaining the techniques required to do it. Are you really surprised when they trip and fall?

If we want our teams to be successful, we need to establish and communicate standards for the processes as well as the outcomes. If a valet attendant is told he needs to be in motion as the vehicle approaches to open car doors immediately upon arrival, he will also need to be told where to be positioned and how to coordinate his activities with those of other co-workers, etc. In general, standards will vary in conjunction with the number of people on staff and time of day. They will also vary according to location or from one hotel to the next. Desired outcomes may be the same, but processes should differ or accommodate sensibly according to variables.

There is a good amount of work involved in writing standards of performance for your staff, but it is work well worth doing. Fortunately, there are starter kits out there to get you started, so in all likelihood—and for a small investment—you shouldn’t have to develop all of your standards from scratch.

What is an Effective Standard?

Before looking at what the standards should be, it would be a good idea to look at what makes a standard effective in the first place. Standards should provide clear performance expectations to the staff, and should also act as a measurement tool that leaders can use to compare actual performance against. They should be much like star/diamond standards: specific and measurable. It should be very easy to observe an interaction and know whether a standard was met or not. Furthermore, any two reasonable people should be able to observe the same interaction and come to the same conclusions.

I cringe a little each time I hear a leader tell an employee to be more friendly. What does “friendly” mean? Instead of asking an employee to be friendly, describe in detail the precise behaviors you want to see. Tell them to smile and make eye contact with a guest when the guest is within ten feet. Let them know that when a guest is at a distance of five feet, you expect them to provide a greeting appropriate for the time of day, welcome the guest to the hotel, and introduce themselves.

In addition to being specific, each standard you create should be challenging, but reasonable. The standard should not be so low as to be meaningless, but not be so high as to be unreachable under normal conditions. Saying all phones should be answered within three rings, for example, is reasonable and meaningful. It satisfies guest desires and is a standard that can be met during normal call volumes. However, when you deliver this standard to an employee, you should make it known that you understand that during unusually high call volumes, the standard may not always be met.

Often, leaders will ask how many standards should be put in place. Most service leaders have been working in hospitality for some time, and have acquired a great deal of expertise in the field; most employees have not. They don’t come pre-packaged with the innate knowledge that leaders have been able to glean over the course of their careers. In the majority of cases, they are not nearly as interested in service, either. As leaders, we can try to cram all we have learned about service into their minds, but eventually, we will reach a point of diminishing returns. It is better to determine what is most important to our business and make sure that the critical items get done right first. You could have 1,000 standards for a check-in, but the odds of the employee prioritizing these properly are pretty low. Give them 10 standards and make sure they understand why they are important, and you’ll have a much better chance of seeing positive results.

How to Determine the Standards of Performance

To determine your standards of performance, first determine who owns each department or position. In charge of each department’s drafting of standards should be a manager who has experience and shows commitment, and is able to take input from a wide range of people and consolidate it into a comprehensible whole.

If you were going to ask your managers to write a book on how to achieve your hotel’s service goals, the best way to do it would be to have them tap into your greatest source: your staff. Managers have a golden opportunity to engage your team and involve them in the decision-making process. If you want your door persons to introduce all guests to the front desk agent, suggest that your managers ask your door people how they think they could best accomplish such a task. Front-line staff members already know all of the scenarios and complications that can occur, and can suggest multiple solutions. If they come up with different solutions than what you and your managers had in mind, give one or two of them a try. Your staff will likely be motivated to prove they work and therefore work harder to ensure they do. Even if their solutions are not the best solutions, the personal capital you will gain by trying them out should make it easier to install any solutions you and your managers choose to implement later on.

Determining standards of performance also gives you an opportunity to address interdepartmental issues. Some disputes may arise and need to be addressed by senior leadership, but keep in mind that once they are addressed, they can be resolved.

Once standards have been drafted, they must be agreed upon by leadership at all levels, so you will need to have an approval process in place. If each level and branch of your organization is comfortable with your standards, you will stand a much better chance of having them be met.

The act of establishing standards won’t ensure that they will be implemented automatically or successfully, but without a clear picture of how to achieve your service goals, progress will be slow and reversals will be frequent. What standards do is form the backbone of a training program capable of delivering success. To implement your standards, a group of leaders with the skills and abilities to get the plays run the right way will be required. I will discuss some techniques for doing just that in my next HotelExecutive.com article, “Incorporating Hospitality Standards into Daily Routines.”

Jesse Boles joined FreemanGroup in 2007, and assumed the role of Executive Director of Operations in November 2008. He is currently responsible for FreemanGroup’s training and measurement divisions, heading projects in conjunction with some of the hospitality industry’s leading service providers. Mr. Boles has worked with leadership teams to develop brand service cultures at both existing and new properties for Las Vegas casinos and luxury hotels. He has been integral in the set up and execution of brand-specific measurement programs for Wyndham Hotel Group, Hard Rock International, Delaware North Companies, and MGM Resorts International. Mr. Boles can be contacted at 972-479-1345 or jboles@freemangroup.org Extended Bio...

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