Achieving Excellence in the Hotel
Industry
How to Run a Great Hotel
Enda Larkin
Focus of Today
THEME 1
DEFINE DIRECTION
What are you trying to
achieve?
THEME 2
THEME 4
CAPTIVATE YOUR CUSTOMERS
Are you truly customer
focused?
Drivers of
Excellence
THEME 3
ENGAGE YOUR EMPLOYEES
Are your employees fully
engaged?
LEAD TO SUCCEED
How effective is Leadership at
all levels within your hotel?
“Everything should be made as simple as
possible, but not simpler.”
Albert Einstein
Principles of Excellence
Review
Think
Do
Why Bother Striving for Excellence?
Impact of the Drive for Excellence
 One definitive study – presented by the British Quality
Foundation - examined performance in nearly 600 award
winning companies.
 Looked at a period from five years before achievement of
an award to five years after the award was achieved.
British Quality Foundation Research
THEME 1
DEFINE DIRECTION
What are you trying to
achieve?
Direction Always Matters
Direction Can/Must Change
Direction won’t cure all ills . . . But
can make a massive difference
Delphi Mountain
Resort, Connemara
The Shelbourne
Hotel, Dublin
Basic Questions
What
How
Who
Why
Having a ‘Why’
- Foundation of Business Success
Stakeholder Focused
Stakeholders
Primary Stakeholders
Owners/
Investors
Customers
Employees
Hotel
Community
Government
Suppliers
Secondary Stakeholders
The Strategic Map
Stakeholder Focused
Where
are we
Now?
Current
Position
Where do we
want to be?
Vision
&
Mission
Goals
How will we
get there?
Strategy
Annual
Plan
How will
we know
we are
getting
there?
Measure
Progress
Continuous Improvement
Where are we now?
Stakeholder Focused
Where
are we
Now?
Current
Position
Where are we now?
Means truly understanding your current position by conducting
research and preparing a fact-based SWOT analysis:
 The current internal Strengths and Weaknesses of your
hotel - which in essence helps you to answer where are we
now?
 The Opportunities and Threats you face in the external
business environment which will later influence how you
answer where do we want to be?
Where do we want to be?
Stakeholder Focused
Where
are we
Now?
Current
Position
Where do we
want to be?
Vision
&
Mission
Vision
Vision
To become the leading independent 4* hotel in London
providing excellent products and services at reasonable prices
to every customer, every time
Mission
Mission
Our customers are our priority and we will provide them with
a quality experience which is second to none.
We recognise the importance of our employees in achieving
this and we will create a positive working environment
which encourages their loyalty, commitment and hard
work.
We strive to be excellent leaders and will undertake all our
business activities in an honest and ethical manner to
provide a fair return on our investment
The Strategic Map
Stakeholder Focused
Where
are we
Now?
Current
Position
Where do we
want to be?
Vision
&
Mission
Goals
From Mission to Goals
Goals
Mission
Our customers
are our priority
and we will
provide them
with a quality
experience which
is second to
none.
• To increase the number of
repeat customers to 40%
within three years
• To increase Customer
Satisfaction levels to 90%
within two years
• To continuously increase
our scores on internal and
external quality audits
From Mission to Goals
Mission
We recognise the
importance of our
employees in
achieving this and
we will create a
positive working
environment which
encourages their
loyalty, commitment
and hard work.
Goals
• To reduce employee
turnover to 20% within three
years
• To achieve an average rating
of 75% from employee
engagement surveys
• To introduce a bonus
scheme for all employees
within three years
From Mission to Goals
Mission
We strive to be
excellent leaders
and will undertake
all our business
activities in an
honest and ethical
manner to provide a
fair return on our
investment
Goals
• To increase net profit to 15%
of sales within two years
• To increase RevPar by 5%
annually
• To increase restaurant
throughput to 1500 covers per
week within two years
• To reduce labour costs to 40%
within two years
The Strategic Map
Stakeholder Focused
Where
are we
Now?
Current
Position
Where do we
want to be?
Vision
&
Mission
Goals
How will we
get there?
Strategy
Annual
Plan
How will
we know
we are
getting
there?
Measure
Progress
Continuous Improvement
Funnel Approach
Vision
Mission
Goals
Strategy
Annual Plan
Results
Increasing
the amount of
detail at each
level
THEME 2
LEAD TO SUCCEED
How effective is
Leadership at all levels
within your hotel?
Leadership Concerns. . .
What you want to achieve
The
What




Goals & Objectives
Targets
Plans
Outcomes
How the work is done
Who does the work
 Processes
 Procedures
 Employees
Dimensions
of Work
The
How
The
Who
The Human Equation
The Who
Engaged
Employees
Employees
Lead
to
The How
The What
Productivity,
efficiency and
quality
Outcomes
Achieved &
Satisfied
Stakeholders
Processes
Results
in
Results
Engaged employees deliver better results. Effective
leadership engages employees!
The Great Debate Lead or Manage?
Lead
Manage
Lead and Manage
Engage
Achieve
Engaging People to ensure their
commitment, competence and motivation
(The Who)
Focusing on Process to ensure productivity,
efficiency and quality, in order to achieve the
Performance and results required
(The What and How)
The
‘leading’
part
The
‘managing’
part
Developing a Leadership Competence Model
Clarifying what your Leaders ‘Do’
Clarifying the ‘What’
– Process Mapping
Monitor & Review
Food & Beverage
Service
Effectiveness
Ensure Full Legal
Compliance
Support Marketing
& Promotion
Efforts
Food & Beverage
Service
Prepare for
Service
Manage the Quality
of the Customer
Experience
Manage HR
Activities
Optimise use
of IT Resources
Manage
Facilities
Complete
Financial
Duties
Clarifying the ‘What’ – Process
Mapping
Handling
Reservations
Gather Feedback
according
to agreed
procedures
Manage the Quality
of the Customer
Experience
Deal with
complaints/problems
(SOPs)
Greeting &
Seating
(SOPs)
Deliver high quality
service
(SOPs)
Handle Billing &
Payment
Clarifying what your Leaders must ‘Achieve’
Leadership Competence Model
The What
Possible Targets
 Meet revenue targets
 Achieve cost percentages
Expected
 Increase customer satisfaction ratings for
Results – What their area
they must
Achieve
 Lower employee turnover in their area
 Reduce number of accidents in their area
 Meet the requirements for training hours
provided to staff
Page 57
Leadership Competence Model
The How
Possible Criteria
 Effectively plan and organise the workload in
their department
Expectations
in relation to
how the
workload is
managed
 Manage resources to achieve the objectives
agreed for their area
 Provide clear direction and guidance to their
employees
 Ensure that work in their area is consistently
carried out to the standard required
 Constantly strive to improve overall quality
and promote continuous improvement in their
area
Leadership Competence Model
The Who
Possible Criteria
 Demonstrate high levels of energy,
enthusiasm and professionalism
Expectations  Show concern for their team members and
regarding how interact with them in a positive manner
they lead
(Engage)
 Treat all team members equally and fairly
 Apply flexible leadership styles and regularly
show an ability to adjust their approach to deal
with different people and situations
 Communicate in a structured and effective
manner with their team
THEME 3
ENGAGE YOUR
EMPLOYEES
Are your employees fully
engaged?
Some Evidence
Gallup Q 12 Survey
The Three Types of Employees
Engaged – employees work with
passion and feel a profound connection
to their company
29%
Not Engaged – employees are essentially
‘Checked Out’. Sleepwalking through their
working day
55%
Actively Disengaged – employees aren’t just
unhappy at work, they’re busy acting out their
unhappiness
16%
Some Evidence
CIPD
Employee Engagement Survey
Actively Engaged
35%
Moderately Engaged
57%
Actively Disengaged
8%
CIPD Survey
 Only 37% of employees had confidence in their senior
management team
 Only 34% trusted their senior managers
 42% didn’t feel they were kept well informed about
what’s going on in their organization
 30% indicate that their manager rarely or never gives
feedback on their performance
 25% felt completely undervalued
 Only 50% of employees feel that their senior managers
have a clear vision of where the organisation is going
Benefits of Employee Engagement
- Towers Martin Research
Research
 Organisations with highly engaged employees achieve twice
the annual net income of organisations whose employees lag
on engagement. (Kenexa Research Institute - WorkTrends
Report, 2008)
 Organisations with high levels of employee engagement have
2.6 times the earnings per share (EPS) growth rate compared
to organizations with lower engagement in the same industry.
(Gallup - Engagement Study)
 Highly engaged employees miss 20 percent fewer days of work
and are almost 80 percent more likely to be top performers.
(Towers Watson)
Framework for Employee
Engagement
Culture
Composition
Change
Compensation
Conflict
Clarity
Effective
Leadership
Competence
Challenge
Cooperation
Communication
Control
THEME 4
CAPTIVATE YOUR
CUSTOMERS
Are your truly customer
focused?
Achieving Consistency (S)
The Route to Service Excellence
Expectations
Experience
Physical
What are your
customers’
common and
specific
expectations?
How do you define
them?
Products
People
Procedures
Evaluation
How does the
experience you
offer rate against
the quality
continuum?
Are you exceeding
your customers’
expectations?
How do you know?
Quality Continuum
Below
Expectations
Meets
Expectations
S-1
S
Exceeds
Expectations
S+1
Cultural Change
S-1
S
S+1
Inconsistent
Delivery
Consistent
Delivery
Responsive
Anticipative
Low Quality
High Quality
Reactive Service
Proactive Service
Internal
Focus
Customer
Focus
Impersonal
Personal
Inefficient
Efficient
Achieving S + 1
 Adding value through providing +1s for customers.
 +1s may be relevant to physical, product, people or
procedural elements within the customer experience.
 They can be designed to meet specific customer
expectations identified from your interactions with your key
customer groups.
 Most of the time though, the +1s are common sense and
can be very simply applied, such as the little things that
your employees say or do to make your customers feel
special.
Thank You