At the beginning of my career, I was encouraged to make a name for myself by trying different professional approaches, exploring various departments and seizing all opportunities presented to me. Many people receive the same advice, but I was prescribed a nuance by the deliverer of the message: That caveat was to fail quickly.
Many times, we find ourselves trapped in sunk cost bias—meaning that we are proceeding for the sake of not disrupting consensus. This leads me to list two reasons why you might not be a successful hotelier.
1. You don’t care as much as you think.
The immediate response to that statement is to jump on the defensive and list the number of times you worked a sixth day or the frequency at which you work more than 50 hours a week.
However, appearing for work and completing your assigned tasks simply meets expectations. Do you care about the industry? When was the last time you took your team, or yourself, on a site visit of a property in your competitive set? Are you engaged in any industry associations?
For some people, the worst thing that ever happened to them in hospitality was their first two promotions. This cemented their “career” in this industry, and they became a hotelier by osmosis. This should not imply that working your way up and discovering a passion is bad.
However, working your way up because a promotion was offered does not equate to passion. Your passion will lead to natural curiosity and hours upon hours of researching the industry for understanding of your competition and your brand. Do you ever stay in hotels outside your brand for vacation, short trips or a staycation? Your passion will lead you to commit yourself to the progression of your profession through associations. Your passion will lead to your desire to groom, coach and mentor the next generation of leadership.
2. You have lost focus on your internal guest.
Many hospitality companies have a culture that speaks to the service profit chain. You take care of the employee, who then takes care of the guest, and your happy guests produce revenues and ultimately profits.
We all know that by signing up for a job in hotel operations you are sacrificing traditional work hours, a predictable schedule, and you’ll undoubtedly receive an occasional verbal lashing from a disgruntled guest. However, as leaders we have been there. Just as we encourage our staff to use empathy with that guest who is being walked, do the same for the employee who had to walk the guest.
Have you bought your housekeeping doughnuts after the cheerleaders checked out? Did you acknowledge your night auditors graceful walking execution? You might have only gotten a pat on the back when you did it, but you can break the cycle of undervaluing your human capital. Your unhappy team is showing it through their service or lack thereof. Some of these people are hurting your scores, your hotels and your brands. Recognition is a powerful tool that can result in developing alliances.
By no means am I insisting that everybody gets a hug (clearly an HR disaster) or that it is all smiles all the time. Career coaching involves moving out your bad apples also, and that is truly focusing on your internal customer. There are many things that are out of our control in the hotel industry, such as weather delays and cancelations, rambunctious groups, power outages and a myriad of other calamites.
We read our customer service surveys and then often enter service recovery mode. A proactive approach is to start with the two concepts above and then work from within to have an impact on your work environment.
Omari is a Corporate Strategic Relationship Manager with American Public University System and the 2014 Chair for the AH&LA Under 30 Gateway Council. As a seasoned hotel operator he held leadership positions with Gaylord Entertainment, Hyatt Hotels and Fairmont as well as membership in the National Association of Black Hotel Owners Operators and Developers. His signature workshop entitled H.e.l.p., Hospitality Egos Logos Pathos, has helped him reach fellow millennials and has become a sought after professional development tool at various universities and corporations.
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