Small hotel owners know that every bit of material waste, every unoccupied room, every inefficient process, and every negative guest experience has a direct impact on the bottom line. While some owners are involved in managing the hotel on a daily basis, others rely almost solely on their managers and employees to operate the hotels around the clock. In the owner's absence, it becomes incumbent upon the onsite manager and hotel employees to carry the ownership flag - you trust them to share your values, implement best practices, and conduct themselves in a manner that creates the best guest experience. Undoubtedly, your hotel employees play the most visible role in making or breaking a positive guest experience, and in turn, making or breaking your profitability.

In short, you need your employees to think like you do. Below, I've listed what I believe to be the 10 most important reasons why you want your employees to think like an owner, and a few tips on how to get them thinking that way.

1) Your employees make the difference, good or bad, from the hotel next door. Employees who take pride of ownership will go that extra mile for your guests, and as we ...