Victoria's Hospitality Operations and More!

Nickeled and Dimed at Hotels Drives Dollars but May Make Little Cents with Guests

2010-06-15T02:46:00.000-04:00

As the dust begins to settle around the hotel industry from the economic disaster that led to an overall decrease in 33% plus revenues across the country, hotels are striving to make up the losses through many marketing schemes – however, one scheme is not to my liking and is raising eyebrows to returning guests…

As people tighten their belts to travel for business or pleasure, finding great deals online may just be the easiest part until they check out of their room to find the hidden additional fees that were charged to their account. An article written by Steve Huettel for Hotel Online, described how high end hotels and resorts are tagging on “resort fees”, housekeeping fees, concierge fees and bellman fees as guests use the facilities. However, whether or not certain parts of the facilities are used, the charges are still applied. Through his investigation, high end hotel properties find an overall clientele base that is from their corporate markets where companies are paying the stipend and therefore, direct clients don’t care about the extra expense. On the contrary, as those reports start piling up, I bet someone will be questioning the padded expenses and begin booking their staff members at lesser brands in the future. For instance, more and more rooms are featuring in-room stocked bars loaded with goodies. It used to be that housekeeping would come by each day to check your in-room bar and account for the amenities used in effort to report the use of inventory for proper charges. This can be an inconvenience to guests, plus is an added labor expense to send a staff member door to door to check this. Hence, distributors are now creating a refrigerator that offers sensors. When a soda or candy bar is removed for even a minute – a charge is automatically placed on your account – even if you’ve just picked it up to look at it – which most guests do. This happened to me at a resort in Pagosa Springs of Colorado. I had to request the charge to be removed as I had not used the product, just looked at it. The front desk clerk explained that it was a common issue with most guests and kindly removed the charge. But then, how many customers check out without stopping by the front desk only to get a bill at the end of the month that shows $35 in facility fee, $25 for in-room bar fee (from gawking at all the neat stuff), parking fee of $12 and an internet fee of $21 a day. Well, the total in fees here would please any marketer when reporting the additional revenue made for the month – but will it come at a compromise? As hotels continue this practice, will they see a false growth of revenue as 5 months down the road a decline from upset guests – who may not say anything…they just won’t stay again?

As a fierce competitor myself as a hotel general manager with excellent marketing skills, I believe in old fashioned gimmicks rather than nickel and diming our guests. I would rather raise occupancy and revenue by investing into a Murder Weekend or bring a cool band on board and maybe even offer a special barbecue for guests…something that gives our guests something to do, something memorable and something with a value that can justify an added price to a guest’s experience while we draw higher revenues for our effort. Customers are smart – we can all appreciate the need to raise prices and add features to our venues in effort to run a business or improve our operations, but we also know when we’re being suckered and taken advantage of. Hotel companies must keep in mind the art of hospitality and how to incorporate creative marketing to encourage business, not drive it away.

I highly encourage any potential hotel guest to call the property directly when inquiring about possible hidden fees. If you’re willing to pay it, great. Just don’t get surprised in the end – it could mean turning a positive experience into a financial meltdown.

Great Marketing Creates Tremendous Memories and More Business!

2010-05-26T11:22:00.000-04:00

While hundreds of hotels still struggle for heads on beds, one keen marketing/sales manager and a general manager identified a cool idea in the spirit of one couples wedding anniversary. While it did not sell out their hotel, it did create a “Wow effect”, got loads of publicity and rekindled the spirit between two youngsters of 60 years. After reading the article published in the New York Daily News, the Waldorf Astoria did the unimaginable – sell one of its luxurious suites for a whopping $26.72, (a room that normally draws revenue in the amount of $600 - $800 a night). Now it’s no doubt nostalgic, sentimental and a huge wedding gift to the couple, but how many other hotels could learn from this magical evening?

I get emails frequently requesting new ideas for marketing and sale plans to increase hotel occupancy in various given locations. Every hotel has a target market. Budget, mid-scale, up-scale, luxury, small, large, European, Bed-n-Breakfast, lodge, branded, non-branded, urban, metro, downtown, highway, secluded, suburb, city, mountain, shoreline … the list goes on. And in that broad spectrum, we develop our customers from different segments such as group business, associations, corporate, travel and leisure all encompassing of local, in state, out of state and of foreign origin. Ideas can do a lot to draw attention to your crowd and raise potential business. In the case of Waldorf, a couple who had stayed there 60 years ago used the event and celebration to draw such a wonderful marketing piece.

How many Sales Directors or General Managers look through the guest history to find guests who had stayed just one or two nights, call and discover they came for a special event – or to simply invite them back? Now finding guests that stayed over 20 years ago, may not apply or be practical – they may not even show up in your guest history for that matter or your property may only be 7-10 years old. But, it seems that most sales efforts place a lot of focus on new and recent business, which I highly encourage. On the other hand, there’s a good chance hotels are missing the customers that stayed one night for that 20 year reunion, or graduation, the birth of a grand-baby, or the marriage that started a life of bliss. A tremendous way to market is to search and conquer those customers who have been to your property and help them find an upcoming event or celebration that you could help in making another memorable experience. Waldorf could have charged the couple normal rates for the suite or provide a reduced rate for a more standard room, but identified the true marketability in helping the couple re-kindle an event, plus received great publicity for it.

Other ideas to raise occupancy would be to throw a celebration of your own, like an “open house” party, inviting old guests, new guests, chamber members, the mayor, news reporters, city employees, all to stay at your property where you throw in music, special foods, a BBQ, and goody bags with local vendor samples of interesting stuff … creativity goes a long way. A cool and interesting read with plenty of ideas is located online “Hotels Book Unusual Events to Draw in the Public” by Julie Weed, at www.ehotelier.com.

So, take a page from Waldorf Astoria and get crackin’ on new ideas that are sure to improve your occupancy, revenue and marketability. Have a fantastic week!

Our Role in Leadership - How it Affects Society...

2010-05-12T15:48:00.000-04:00

It’s time to talk about leadership and how our roles affect the outcomes of our protégé’s. I read an article a little more than a week ago that left a sour note in my head, a tainted taste on my tongue and a perception of thought that left me thinking…do we follow policies to the “nth” degree for the sake of following directions or have we allowed policies to cloud our judgments?

Some of you may have caught the issue – Sprint fired two employees from engaging in the act of helping a fellow employee/teammate to catch a thief within a business environment that all three shared. (1) The place was Denver’s Cherry Creek Mall. The crime – a shoplifter from a nearby store who was making his “get away”. The hero was the Mall Security Guard in pursuit, but having trouble catching the thief. The guard recognized two employees who were on their break and displayed both a physical and verbal need for help. The two employees obliged immediately, in the spirit of teamwork, the duty of catching a criminal, and the motivation of pure and natural behavior of helping a fellow man do the right thing. The two employees worked for Sprint and the big corporate guy pulled his side arm and said – “You can’t do that” sighting policy and fired the two workers. Now, generally, the policy protects employees from harm and its company from liability. An employee who engages a shoplifter or thief raises a risk to being pushed, shoved, and thrown or for that matter shot. Even in such cases, shoplifters who get tagged in a crime, tender fines and receive jail time may still come out ahead in money with millions of dollars from liability law suits if they too are harmed when getting “caught”. Because of this, the corporate giants take all precautionary measures to prevent security losses by incorporating a common policy of “don’t get involved”. Here I question, is the corporate giant also sending a message and training people in society to not get involved for liability issues that spreads out and beyond the business doors? Whatever happened to the Golden Rule? The Golden Rule is an ethical code that basically states that one has a right to “just” treatment and a “responsibility” to ensure justice for others. (2) Or better yet, what about making a citizen’s arrest? Have we forgone the common law as shown by case Ex parte Sherwood, (29 Tex. App. 334, 15 S.W. 812) which defines the common law as "The apprehending or detaining of a person in order to be forthcoming to answer an alleged or suspected crime"? (3) Or, when we’re “on the clock” are we suddenly subjected to waiving our rights as citizens and have to turn our eyes away from criminal acts whereas we can now tout “not my job, man”.

I have heard of similar stories whereas a patient who got shot, makes it to the hospital entrance, but not through the door, falls to the sidewalk and dies in front of hospital staff members who failed to help the potential patient due to administrative policy of “no interference” unless he/she is inside the facility or the recent story I wrote about whereas a homeless man tried to help a lady victim in NY, got stabbed and regular people walked over him, passed him and just gawked at him, without lifting a finger to help the dying man. (4)

Those of us in executive roles play a huge part in not just driving the company’s profit and loss, strategic defenses and offenses, or build upon its market potential, but in the eyes of the community, state, nation and even global perspectives, executives and their decisions set standards for all to follow. We are the role models of society where not just staff, but everyday people extract motivation, ideas, debate and yes, where even laws become effective from various case issues. Executives whether in large or small companies maintain a role to society – a very large ethical role and a powerful one at that. As we all know, with great power comes a great responsibility.

In this case alone, I will say for certain that Sprint should not have fired these two employees, rather, conduct a counseling review and use the incident as an opportunity to set up an in-person training day of the best ways to handle security losses, theft and how to strengthen relations within the mall as such employees do business every day with external staff “internally”. I will be the first executive to say that “policy” is a guide and should not be followed blindly. Every incident, circumstance, element and environment contributes to how we must operate internally and externally. Our effects, affect our staff, our customers and quite frankly, our world. Policies should be followed by staff and management alike, but when it comes to discipline; all must be considered before the gavel is lowered. It’s important to drive consistency and high standards, but with an ethical prowess that makes logical sense. Make your leadership the best it can be. Maybe it’s time to review your current policies and have a few discussions of your own with your own staff to clear up any misnomers that may become an issue later. Have a great week ahead!

Footnotes: (1) Sprint Article; (2) Golden Rule; (3) Citizen's Arrest; (4) Homeless Good Samaritan

GM to GM - A Discussion That Will Help You Succeed!

2010-04-26T11:28:00.000-04:00

If you’re in charge of a hotel, this article is targeted to you. I have met some really cool general managers throughout my career – some were my boss, others fellow colleagues and new ones are developing relations on the horizon. Each one of us has a unique job to do, depending on the property and the owner’s direction of business. I want to touch base this week on your purpose as the hotel’s leader.
While I’m not about to judge whether you’re a good GM or a bad GM, I am hoping to give some insight to the direction of your impact while you operate your facility. I have seen circumstances where GM’s work a fairly tight schedule coming in at 8AM to leave by 5PM and aren’t heard of till next business day. I know from first hand we, as GM’s, have a lot “to do” each day, but I question how we are truly impacting the business and its internal and external operations and I question if our efforts are just blowing sunshine up someone’s tush. While we no doubt, remain “busy”, are we contributing to the overall development of the business or just making ourselves look like we are. In this, I want to define priorities, planning, goal setting, communications, delegating, and the “take action” where needed.

First, take a reflective look at why your owners hired you. Are you turning a property around? Is their goal to make improvements to make it more marketable to sell? Are you a task-force manager who would solely focus on cutting all unnecessary waste, labor and services to prepare the property for a major overhaul? Are you charged in improving its performance and expected to grow it over future years? The answer to these questions will help define your role. Most owners don’t know what they want, other than to make money off their investment. If you did not establish their purpose with the property before you took the job, then you need to know as soon as possible. Let’s hypothesize that you are to improve its performance in effort for the investment to start making money.

In getting started, do you have a budget to work with? If not, develop one. You have to know whether your revenues outweigh your costs before you can determine where to prioritize. I’m going to assume you know how to create a budget. Now, let’s say your costs are 60% of your revenue. Now look at your labor…there will no doubt be an off-balance of labor where you will discover you are over in some areas and under in others. Identify your labor and decide if you need to consolidate jobs, re-position people or determine if there’s just simply too much overtime being spent (this shows people are being held accountable). Fix it. Next, establish your expectations to ensure consistency will be upheld at every level of discipline and performance with your staff.

While reviewing your budget, identify administrative and operation costs that are dragging down the bottom line. First places to look is usage of chemicals in housekeeping, maintaining an improper par level (too low an inventory will cause your housekeeping department to work harder at cleaning or too high – where inventory should be sold off), look at food costs (products could be bought at better prices, too much food is being prepared and not meeting the volume of business, improper food storage leads to waste and line cooks are carelessly cooking improper orders), front desk is comping rooms when they shouldn’t or giving huge discounts without guidance, maintenance is a department of chaos where staff can’t find tools and equipment or materials to fix issues causing them to constantly buy more. Once these issues are addressed look at your revenue. I bet you’ll find old accounts that are driving down your room revenue – 'cause someone made a deal just to get the business. Change it. It is not worth making a deal with a construction company who is going to pay $40 a night for three guys to stay in one room while you’re only getting maybe 10 room nights a month. At the current going rates (even for today) your ADR should be somewhere around $75/night. (This does not speak to budgeted properties where the ADR is typically $40) If you’re a mid-scale property, there should be no excuse why your ADR is not near $75. I’m not talking RevPar. If your occupancy is low, your RevPar would reflect approximately $55/night based on a $75/night rate when your occupancy struggles around 40%. Your job here is to drive the sales.

Beyond your old accounts, it’s important to develop your market plan when you review your revenues. First question here is, do you have a market plan and/or when was the last plan developed? If you don’t have a market plan in place, create it now. By using your revenue reports, you can determine where your revenue is coming from, which market segments are apparent and identify where you are lacking. Identify your services, rooms, features and geographical location when identifying your market nitch. Who are your competitors? Are you a mid-scale property competing with a four diamond property? Make sure your comp-set is properly being reported and well designed. Put the plan in place and start developing your sales from that.

Next, identify with your staff – do you have an employee, whether a manager, supervisor of line-level who shows complacency, constantly unmotivated or a member who does not contribute to the team? Get rid of them. There is no room for lack luster performance when you’ve given an opportunity after applying leadership, expectations and having set goals; such performance will only continue to drag down your operations.

Now, apply yourself – don’t waste your planning efforts to watch the numbers change while sitting behind the desk. Get involved and participate with your staff. It is essential to work alongside of your staff where you gain so much – you’re a motivator, you will be able to identify issues quicker, you will be a presence to the operations that will ultimately prevent problems from occurring. Just as importantly you must be a presence in the community for both corporate and residential needs. You haven’t met the mayor yet? Then today’s the day. You don’t know who’s in charge of the local high school event planning? Call them today! You don’t know who your chamber director is? For shame! It is essential to meet and greet local leaders to understand your market as well as to build your business.

Be an “involved” GM … don’t leave at 5pm to not return. For that matter, take off at 3pm and come back around 6:30pm. A lot of guests check in during this time and it’s your chance to meet them, help your staff and be available when an issue arises. (Notice I said “when” an issue arises, not “if”. I’ve been in this business too long to know better that in the world of hotels, you must always be prepared. Even a great planner, who has covered all preventable issues, has the opportunity for something to back fire).

Lastly, invest into your staff…spend your time, energy and creative juices in motivating them, giving them direction and a lot of “at a boys”. If you have monetary resources, use that too, but do so sparingly as your job is to raise the bottom line, not spend it. Staff loves extra money – but on a more continuous basis, they will choose recognition and promotion far more than a few meager bucks that don’t truly contribute to their overall growth.

And Owners…if you’re reading this, please note: if you insist on being a “hands on owner” apply the same rules. Your ownership does not give you special privilege to run your operation any way you want at any given time, just because it’s your property. If you want to see your operation succeed and you feel you need to be the GM too, then play the role of GM, not owner. On the flip side, I encourage owners to let the specialist run your business. This is why we have property owners and General Managers. The GM’s are the specialist. If your GM is not doing their job after you’ve given them the knowledge, tools and autonomy needed, then it’s time to get a new one. And owners, if you do have a GM, but you still remain “hands on” I’m going to say this as Tough Love – take your hands off the wheel. When we drive our car, we can only have one driver at a time. Two drivers is an accident looking to happen.

Do you feel you could use some extra tips, ideas or guidance for your operations? Don’t hesitate to contact me! Have a tremendously productive week; get out there and acquire new business, build new relations, participate with your staff and hold your staff accountable! When you apply these simple rules, you will see the improved numbers in no time flat. And one last tip: Keep your Go-Go Juice nearby at all times – it will keep your engines running! Cheers…

Getting Rid of the Hum-Drums of Employee Morale...

2010-04-22T11:20:00.000-04:00

OK – you’re the boss. On a typical day, you pull up to work, park in the same spot as usual, grab belongings and make your way into the building, nodding to staff, saying hello, good morning, and how ‘ya doin’ as you make your way to your office. Upon setting up and booting up the box, it begins. The phone is blinking messages, it rings, a staff member pops their head in to bring up a need and looking on your board you have 5 deadlines to meet that week. At this point, you prioritize the needs, look over prior day messages, and decide to grab a cup of coffee and walk the building, inspecting walls, floors, uniforms, common areas, ceilings, taking note of projects that should have started, need attention, and to be a presence among the staff. Throughout the day, you make three staff meetings designed to hone in on specific issues, departments or areas of operations. You are pulled in twenty directions as the day grinds and you notice there’s a lack of morale among the staff. What do you do? Every leader has a unique approach and method of motivating a team. However, if you have found yourself banging your head up against a wall and find your efforts don’t make an impact, try these ideas:

First, recognize that as the leader, your mood, energy and means of working each day will affect the staff. So, be sure you begin each day with a set of goals, a great attitude and a basket full of motivating words and encouragement that you can distribute to your workers as you meet and greet and show your enthusiasm to support their effort in getting a job done and done well.

Second, along the lines of everyday motivators, work alongside your staff. If you work in a hotel, take about an hour or more each day to help out each department. Check out housekeepers working in rooms and help by stripping linens and terry or ridding the trash. Look over their maid cart to see how you can help stock it. Ask a housekeeper or supervisor if they have something they feel could benefit from your participation and labor. Go to your restaurant and bus tables, dawn on an apron and clean dishes, clean the pass bar, stock the reach-in coolers or help with the change-over of dressings and salad toppings from the salad bar. Take a few minutes to meet and greet guests in the restaurant – great opportunity to identify, learn and make an impression.

Third, set up specific staff days where the focus is on them! This can be done for all staff at once or in minimal settings where you meet with various departments. I would hold a monthly staff recognition day whereas the restaurant fixed something fancy and tasty for the staff, we would give out awards and it would be an opportune time for me to share ideas that would improve operations, test the staff’s knowledge of the product for which they work around and build an overall team spirit.

Forth, ensure you have a training and development program in place. Whether you spend money to hire a third party to implement it or save the cost, do the research and implement it yourself, it’s not just a wise idea to train staff and their skills, but it raises motivation when you show how you care enough to invest the time and energy into building their skills.

Fifth, set individual and team goals for your staff. Once goals are achieved, there should be some form of a reward. This does not have to be monetary, but the recognition alone goes a long way. You could set contests that focus on productivity, increased sales, raise sales leads; smart ideas that reduce costs, ideas that reduce hazardous conditions or that improve the workplace environment. Start up an in-house employment newsletter and put a staff member in charge.

Sixth, make opportunities for internal promotions. Moreover, line level employees excel and perform at higher standards when they see opportunity to learn more, do more and make more money. When staff members are neglected, they become complacent and performance is shot out the window.

Motivation is a critical to your operation as making money is to keeping it afloat. There are tons of ideas that can raise your productivity, performance and overall success when the motivation at the business level is well maintained and consistently driven.

If you are interested, I offer both motivational speaking and can execute a variety of motivational events for your staff to help you achieve these goals. Write me today to find out more! And, when you find your own motivation getting low, join me daily for a cup of Go-Go Juice to rev up your engines. Have a fantastic day!

Consistency Does Not Replace Complacency...

2010-04-12T07:22:00.000-04:00

Consistency is a word I hear consistently by employers who want more of it. Where there is discrepancy, irregularity, or even contradiction to business, service or presentation, employers want it fixed. How do we fix it? Well, we make it consistent – but is that a good enough answer? No. We have to first understand what is unraveled and how to ball it up in effort to create uniformity.

Consistency is defined by Miriam Webster’s Online Dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consistency) as 1) degree of firmness, density, viscosity, or resistance to movement or separation of constituent particles 2 a : agreement or harmony of parts or features to one another or a whole : correspondence; specifically : ability to be asserted together without contradiction b : harmony of conduct or practice with profession.

I think we can clearly say that when an employer says he/she wants more consistency, they’re stating they want to see more uniformity among the issues at hand. Does that mean if one department out of 5 is 40% higher in labor costs, then the other 4 departments need to raise their cost as well? Ok – in one sense, yes, but we have to anticipate that the employer doesn’t want high labor costs either. So, in the end no, we don’t want to raise the other 4 departments. But the concept is the same. As a hotel GM and Consultant, I see consistency issues frequently. Issues are common in housekeeping, front desk, and restaurant and in HR (for discipline and training).

When I inspect rooms, I want to see the same amount of hangers in each closet, facing the same direction. I want to see the coffee and condiments displayed the same way in each room with printed packets turned right side up so customers can read them, I want to see the beds made the same way, I want to see the same décor in each room displayed the same way in each room (unless it’s a themed resort with specifically designed rooms for rent), the drapes or blinds are all either open, closed or partially vented, and the bedside complimentary note pads/pens are offered in the same fashion in each room. The department of Housekeeping offers an array of subjects and areas in need of consistency measures taken, but I will remain brief for purpose of this topic.

When I look over a restaurant, either every guest gets a basket of bread with salad and soup or they don’t (not just the favorite customers), each line cook prepares a Shrimp Cocktail with proper portioning of shrimp and sauce the same way at each order or the server doesn’t serve it, either drop the toast with eggs and bacon with the breakfast at the time of delivering or take it off the menu, and good lord, don’t take your customer a cup of hot water, a hot cocoa packet, a spoon and slap the Redi-whip whip cream on the table for the customer to “make their own” unless that’s the theme. (I recognize this is also a training issue). Each shift has to mimic the last shift when it comes to cleaning duties. The kitchen floors have to be swept and mopped every day after every shift and not just by the guys trying to win one over the boss.

The front desk has specific job duties during each shift based on guests checking in or checking out, but each shift share common tasks that need to remain consistent with each other….everyone writes in the daily guest needs log, everyone answers the phone in the same manner, everyone meets and greets in the same manner, everyone wears their uniforms in the same manner (and, that includes “tuck it in”). Which guest receives special food & beverage coupons? Figure it out and keep it that way.

Let’s look at discipline…how many manager’s out there face chaos when it comes to dealing with staff? I’m used to the 3-strikes you’re out rule. Usually companies adopt the same, but few managers or supervisors follow it. When a staff member (no matter what department) has made an error against a rule or policy, someone with authority from their department plus a witness should sit down with that staff member and first discuss the issue at hand. In my book, this is called a “Counseling Review”. The matter or issue is discussed and ideas for corrections are given. The staff member is given a certain time period to correct his/her error and it is documented. During that “probationary period” should the staff member make another error, they are given a formal written warning and the “probation period is extended”. If another error is made, they are usually terminated – however, some states allow for “suspension with/without pay” depending on the infraction of the error. Please note, in some states, this is not allowed unless the employee is going to be investigated internally whereas the employee has a right to remain in job, but be on suspension without pay and if such investigation render a favorable decision for the employee, the employee goes back on schedule and receives back owed compensation for time lost. The problem we have with consistency is that it remains an issue for managers to be consistent when dishing out discipline. Oh – it’s very easy when you’re the manager and you have a staff member who drives you up the wall and you want to see them bleed – but sorry to say, this falls into favoritism. Those members who keep their nose clean for the most part, do not see counseling reviews – they just get a “heads up” from their boss as a quick means to say “hey – you screwed up – fix it and we’re ok”. Yet, nothing goes into their file to show that such employee had even a burp of an issue. We can’t accept this in HR. Even the slightest burp can show patterns with the best of employees that may need to be addressed later down the road.

Consistency is critical in any business people. No doubt you would agree with me that as a consumer, you too want to be treated with consistent behavior – I’m sure you can share a story where your phone bill once had charges to numbers that you did not place and called Customer Service on more than one occasion. One representative takes the charges off, while another does not. How would that frustrate you in their lack of either consistent policy or consistent employee training?

The message here is get consistent with your business. Whether in customer service, tasks jobs or overall – set up goals and priorities and lay out how you want the consistency to raise. Specify how you want something to look or behave or render service….be sure each staff member has been given the opportunity to learn, understand and trained to do the same. Then follow up with each department or manager who implements this. When consistency falls, identify why – short staffed, lack of training, lack of planning, lack of priority, lack of supervision, and/or lack of follow through. And, are you ensuring motivation to get people to be consistent? A lot can be said to being complacent (and it’s usually not good), but to be complacent consistently will not improve your operations either. Contact me if you would like me to help you raise the consistency in your operations. I am always here to help. I hope you have a terrific and productive week ahead.

Human Resources - It's Time For a Tune UP!

2010-04-06T00:12:00.000-04:00

Ok – you have your business in place with staff, goals, mission statement, products and services for sale, management to guide, sales to promote and a target market of people to sell to. And through it all, for the sake of day to day operations, issues arise, jobs become available, health insurance questions are raised, workman’s comp comes into question, wages change, and payroll becomes a headache. In most companies, there are talented multitasking individuals who are quite skilled at juggling these tedious tasks. They are well known as the infamous HR people or the people of Human Resources. Now, some companies and businesses do not have a formal HR department or representative for public or internal staff to turn to. Generally speaking, most businesses with less than 150 personnel may not have such department or representative. However, the specific issues regarding day-to-day operations still continue and are usually dealt with by the General Manager/Store Manager of the business. However, my topic relating to Human Resources for this week, targets businesses who DO HAVE this department and one or more representatives of the department. The suggestions herein, can still benefit those manager’s who must multitask and wear the HR Hat for the sake of not having such a department.

Now, as a listed member of Linked-In, I’ve seen an outburst of frustrated consumers directly targeting negative connotations at those in Human Resources. I must admit, I happen to be one of them. In all fairness, the demand of Human Resources has increased tenfold as businesses and their means of operating and maintaining personnel has changed over the past 20 years. In fact, Human Resources across the board has incorporated the job task of not just maintaining employees, but also the job of maintaining departmental ordinances, permits, and operating licenses. Let’s face it; HR has a lot of responsibility. However, as the demand increases, the means to adjust how HR implements its programs must also bend with the times and see how its role in the public view has an impact on operations as well. Since the demands of HR increased, so has the means to tighten and revise rules, regulations and policies. HR has become the enforcer of these rules as they protect the assets of the company. Because of this, HR has developed a very rigid personality. Many companies allow their HR department to operate as the policing environment not realizing how they’re impacting both internal and external customers. Hence, if you follow what I write on discussions in Linked-In, you’ll see that I refer to HR people as policy spewing drones. HR has developed into a world all its own with representatives so stuck in ensuring that “I’s” are dotted and “T’s” are crossed, they’ve missed their value and impact within the “real world”. While the focus has been on tightening rules and regulations, so has the need to draw new sales, reinforce training and development and capitalize on new trends and ideas that increase the motivation in the workplace. Here are my tips to improving the department of HR and giving its presentation a makeover:

- HR stands for Human Resources and therefore must be Humane within their operations and be the trust of humans when called upon for their “resources”. Therefore they’re disposition should not enforce fear, rather envelope a welcoming environment.

- HR people are also PR people. Human Resources have their thumb on the pulse of operations at all times and therefore communicate with almost every living being that comes in contact with them. This is a prime opportunity to develop solid positive relations both internally and externally. The impression derived from HR will be a lasting impression. People within this department must follow a “guest service” mentality realizing that they are not just a representative of a department, but also a representative of a company who has every opportunity to set the mood and be the example of how staff members and potential employees should behave.

- HR should remain very organized in terms of driving consistency among staff members. Consistency plays a key role in ridding favoritism in the workplace. HR should define a disciplinary method that can be held for every employee within the organization. Plus, HR needs to enforce the standard with all management to ensure line level staff members receive the same discipline method across the board. To ensure this, HR should hold regular meetings with department heads and identify specific issues that may be of concern in effort to hold a department head accountable for his/her own disciplinary implementations.

- Annual reviews should be organized by people within HR – and done by personnel’s anniversary date. In addition, if your company or organization ties pay raises to annual reviews (which is highly recommended), then the reviews should be tied to a score board that can be applied to all personnel.

- HR should conduct regular on-site visits with various departments in effort to familiarize themselves with the ongoing operations. This way, people within HR have an improved understanding to operations when issues arise and can contribute preventive ideas to improve the given workplace environment.

- HR people need to identify and implement training and development plans with department heads to ensure employees at every level are given the opportunity to improve his/her performance. This includes working out budgets with department heads when the time comes to submit expectations to the company’s controller for review either quarterly or annually.

- Upon recruiting, HR needs to run more effective campaigns. Rule of thumb should be: weed through internal candidates for a specified period of time first before spending company budgets on expensive public ads. Once the period is over and a selection is not made, then the position should become closed to internal candidates while the position roles over to the public for view. Schedule campaign with hiring manager’s schedule – don’t run an ad just to collect resumes that will ultimately collect dust since the hiring manager took off on a two week vacation. Make sure hiring managers are prepared to interview before going public or specify to public when to expect interviews to start.

- Brighten up the HR office with motivational and encouraging messages with bright colors. There’s nothing more depressing to get the message of “you’re not welcomed” when walking into an HR office to see a bunch of black and white papers lining the wall that read, “don’ts”, “no’s”, “not allowed’s”, and “can not’s”. If you’re doing this to staff and potential candidates, then you might as well do this to your customers too at the main entrance.

These are just a few of the ideas that pop out at me when I deal with HR both as a potential candidate and as a director in charge.

Now for some fun, if you are used to hiring people – I thought I would add but a few funny things that was posted by Catherine Bergerat on one my groups in Linked In. The topic to the discussion was: “What do Job seekers do, that get’s you really upset?” For brevity purposes, ½ the answers are here. If you wish to read the rest, email me and I will send them to you. Enjoy…

1. what time is break
2. where is the bathroom
3. how many times a week can i go home early and come in late
4. hey do you want to car pool with me
5. how many drinks are we allowed to have at lunch
6. when can i take my first sick day
7. when can i take my first vacation day
8. if you get fired will they make me the boss
9. is my parking space close to the door
10. will there be cable TV in my cubical
11. when do i get to meet your family
12. what is your definition of casual day, do you want to hear mine?
13. are the bathrooms co-ed
14. are there any rules about violence at work
15. what if i know that i am smarter than you, is it OK to refer to as hey dummy in meetings
16. i know what you drive and where you park
17. do you mean convictions or just allegations
18. so for the drug test what kind of drugs do i get to take
19. so do i get a check every day or are you one of those places that makes people wait.
20. so where do you keep the beer at
21. where can my kids hang out when I bring them to work?
22. i see you have a gym, but i would prefer a fully stocked comp bar instead
23. so when you are not here, your office is mine. mi casa su casa!
24. You guys don't drug test, right?
25. if you see the police come and talk with me, don't be alarmed
26. do you have a no underwear day?
27. so where is the vault at, i might need a loan this week.
28. if you are stuck on an island what book would you want to read? the book that gets me off the stupid island!!
29. I see stupid people...then say there is one sitting in your chair!
30. i have people watching you

Have a great week and join me next Monday for more helpful operational tips.

Improve Your Sales! My TEN-TOP Tips and Ideas to Increase Performance!

2010-03-29T10:50:00.000-04:00

How many businesses and industries struggle with sales? Many! The common issues? Lack of leadership, lack of organization, lack of track records, not enough closure methods used, too much behind the desk and not enough field work, lack of concise goals, performance not tied to revenues, outdated contracts, old accounts, no sales strategy (and for that matter, lack of market strategy), lack of action plans and lack of consistency. Now honestly, if your not conducting sales to include it's associated tasks, then you can not expect improved sales performance. Pretty simple. Yet, many shy away or become complacent in the arena of all the "to-dos" of this department. Being in hotels, I can recall many situations where I've had to "tune up" the department. No doubt, in some cases, a sales performance may require a full "overhaul", however most cases are not that severe. This weeks topic will focus on my TEN-TOP Tips and ideas that should raise your sales performance with some minor touch up work.

First: Look at your department as a whole. If it is managed by multiple individuals, be sure the "head" of the department is pulling their weight in creating sales leads, following up on leads, closing deals and ensuring their staff is doing the same.

Second: Review your contracts...are they tied to revenue? Are there consequences that hold both parties accountable for breech of agreement? Are the comps tied to revenue? Is a clause built in to protect the company from client who does not result in original sale purchase?

Third: Hold weekly meetings to review performances creating action tasks that hold staff accountable to reaching quotas.

Fourth: Conduct random training sessions to help sales staff hone skills at qualifying, opening and closing new business.

Fifth: Follow up with clients after a sale and try to create another sale in doing so.

Sixth: Get out into the field! Be a presence within the community and business sectors. Host a speaking engagement, be a speaker on a topic of your field, attend chamber mixers, civic organizations and various clubs. Be sure to bring business brochures and cards - always be prepared to showcase and sell.

Seventh: Use technology at every opportunity - find social websites to increase sales potentials and draw new leads. Follow through with targeted RFP's at every level.

Eighth: Don't keep it easy - if sales appears too good, then make it challenging. Go after business and markets that are not using your product or service. It is likely that market strategies have not reached a potential market, therefore, new sale opportunities can be found.

Ninth: Sales is not a 9AM - 5PM job!!! Mix it up through the week and weekends! Start days earlier, later, and find opportunities where clients are available during weekends. The opportunity to sell never ends.

Tenth: Never say, "Sales is not my job". Any staff member within an organization, provided position deals with outside influences whether on the phone or in person, is a likely employee to sell or not sell your business. In hotels, excellent staff members to use for additional "sale activities/tasks" include, Front Desk, Housekeeping, Food Server, Bartender, PBX Operator, Night Auditor, Concierge. Other job titles of other industries include Desk Operator, Front Office Manager, Phone Clerk, Desk Clerk, Volunteer, Guest Service Conductor, the list goes on. Use the opportunity of other staff members to increase sales potential by including them with sales efforts.

Even if you're a "one-man-band", you should be minimally performing the above on a regular basis. Now, given our economy and struggles, take the above and get creative with your industry and target market. New packages could be in need...you may want to muddle in the thought of merging with associated goods or services of other businesses to reduce costs, yet increase sales potentials. However, here's one word of advice you can not go wrong with...Sitting idle and expecting business to come to you, will drive your business into the ground! So, make this week a productive one and get moving! I hope this helps. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have a specific issue that I can be of help with. Have a great week ahead!

Cutting Labor to Make Revenue Does Not Make Cents!

2010-03-22T15:59:00.000-04:00

We all know that labor costs should be somewhere in the range of 23% of overall revenue – but why is it when revenue lacks, we try to make revenue off the labor by reducing the cost even more? Let me explain that again – when revenues go down, it is common that managers react by cutting staff hours. Well, that makes sense – no business, no staff – but what doesn’t make cents, is that when you happen to have “some” business, staff hours are still cut causing you the risk of losing that same business to lack of service. As a consumer, how many times do you stand in line waiting to be served and see that there are not enough employees? Consumers say, “Oh – you must be short staffed” as if there’s a not enough people to hire. In reality, managers have the labor, but don’t schedule in effort to save in labor costs reducing the 23% down to 15%. Now, why would manager’s compromise service in effort to achieve revenue? Usually, because it’s easier than finding new ways to make money. Is cutting labor dollars a viable way to make money? No. When it comes down to numbers, yes, you do see an increase in money – but using the method of reducing labor truly hurts you down the road. You might as well stop furnishing bathrooms with toilet paper – that too, will raise your income potential. When any business is in need of more revenue – then it’s important to raise your sales efforts and get your creative juices going to create a new service, feature or product to generate new revenue. The lack of labor hinders business growth, raises customer complaints and generally contributes to tense workplace environments when the workload in itself is not diminished. Staff should not be doubling or tripling the output of work in effort for management to achieve bottom line goals. Are there other costs saving ideas to help that won’t cut into labor? Yes – try these ideas if you haven’t already:

Administration – ask customer if they need a receipt – reams of paper average $6 - $10 per ream depending on page weight. The average business goes through 7 reams a day. Where else can you apply paper product savings?

Payroll – how many salaried and hourly employees do you have scheduled? A lot of businesses are unbalanced in these areas – too many hourly or too many salaried. You want to watch out for labor glitches – overtime and burn out. With hourly staff members, the overtime may still save more money than a salaried person depending on compensation. However, overtime adds up quickly and certain laws will dictate a person’s position to acquire not just time and half, but double time if the hours are too many. This may cause you to want to put your salaried employee to work more labor hours – replacing the hourly employee. However, don’t overwork your salaried employee – it will lead to burn out and if they’re doing more of the labor – then you have to ask yourself if a salaried position is needed and what is your salaried person not achieving if they’re working the job of an hourly employee?

Inventory Control – are there procedures in place that maintain par levels and security of products to prevent them from walking out the door? These are procedures that must be adhered to monthly and turned into your controller or GM who can monetize your losses. Inventory is a cost to any business and if people help themselves frequently to such items, then you might as well put them on display and label them “samples”. Your inventory adds up to hundreds of dollars monthly – so watch it if you’re not.

Value versus Quantity – are you getting the best bang for your buck? My hotel restaurant had a 57% food cost – but after revamping and changing out various products and replacing vendors; my executive chef and I helped lower our food costs down to 33% and improved the quality of our food. Now there’s an achievement! Vendors are begging for your business – try changing out a few.

These and other ideas will have a tremendous impact on your bottom line. The thing is, once the change and savings have been achieved, you will reach a lull if you don’t find new revenue or build up your sales and then you will not achieve your overall goals. So – stay focused, don’t chince on labor, just be realistic or your customers will walk away…and that’s a big loss of business that you can’t afford. Speaking of sales, join me next week as I discuss the importance of driving your Sales Team and ideas to ensure Sales gets a "sale"! Hope your week is a productive one!

Raising RevPar - Getting the Most for Your Dollar!

2010-03-15T08:17:00.001-04:00

This has no doubt been a horrible economy and while we can blame our low ADR and occupancy on lack luster business, there’s no excuse for low RevPar. Heads on beds…I hear it all the time. However, I can’t impress enough that your low revenues are dependant not just on filled rooms, but all the accounts you’ve been wheelin’ and dealin’ with to get business through the door. Remember, increased volume also means increased labor – not necessarily revenue. In effort to increase your RevPar and bottom line, I highly recommend the following:

1. Reevaluate your CompSet. How you compare your property to varying competition, could produce false data. First identify where your brand of property sits with those brands listed in your CompSet report. Your property needs to be in line with those on the report. Second, compare ADR – if your competition listed has an average of $70 (or more) dollar variance above or below yours, it doesn’t belong on your CompSet. Compare features and services – all properties should be fairly similar. This does not mean – don’t steal business. Your sale’s effort should still make ongoing inquiries and try to gain business from competitors as necessary.

2. Review your accounts. I bet you’ll find at least 20 accounts that are dragging down your revenues. If you’re struggling to increase your ADR, look for accounts that are offering $30 dollar deals below ADR and see if the account has a contract for at least 20 room nights a month. If not, you’re offering too good a deal. As much as you want your clients, they must qualify in effort to get the deal. You need room nights, they need discounts. Therefore, negotiate a contract to ensure you’re getting the most room nights and that it will adjust up if their room nights fall – or that they’ll still be billed for vacant rooms. Also, as much as I love contractors from the corporate market, these accounts are vulnerable and quick to drag down your revenues. Watch your room inventory, number of guests and if you offer F&B, watch your comp breakfast coupons (great deal for guests, but at a cost to you). All of these contribute to increased or decreased funds.

3. Review and evaluate your sales contracts. Does your contracts hold your clients accountable for their end of the bargain? Remember how they came to you with inflated ideas and promises to bring in business as they reap the rewards for lower rates? Think again…most contracts do not state in the fine print that the client will be charged and accept the charge for rooms not filled. Hence, upon checkout, you’re wondering why a $5,000 account turned into $1500. Either your clients are billed for the empty rooms or the rate per room goes up when guests don’t show up or cancel. Manage your revenue and room inventory weekly.

Whether you have a team of two or more or it’s just yourself, you must identify what is causing spikes in revenues and what caused a valley of agony. When applying these ideas, you will notice your RevPar increase, ultimately impacting your bottom line. Good luck! Next week – I’m blogging about labor!