A few years ago I assisted a property who were looking to reposition themselves in the market through investment. The strategy being to increase rates and move from being a mid range three star to strong 4 star product, and in doing so open up new market segments – Spa, C&B etc. Rationalising the potential planned £multi-million project, the board had created the primary list of strategies below as their investment plan and the the best way forward.
1. Soft refurb of bedrooms.
2. Hard refurb of bedrooms.
3. Soft refurb all public areas.
4. Hard refurb all public areas.
5. Soft refurb all leisure facilities.
6. Hard refurb all leisure facilities.
7. Hard or soft refurb all C&B facilities.
8. New chef/kitchen and dining concept.
9. Capital Project extension of any area.
10. IT/Systems infrastructure upgrade.
This list looked all fine and what you might expect, except for the absence of the 11th point below which I felt obliged to add.
11. Change the capability of your team.
This point required as much of a complex plan as points 1-10 as it dawned on the leadership of this hotel that the service levels required for a 4 star hotel were quite different to that required for a 3 Star hotel.
The absence of manning consideration, along with increased costs is a common oversight in hotels that sometimes assume the work force will magically adapt to change, increase skill levels and be expected to operate with sharper focus. For all of these things to happen however, a critical plan is required.
The plan involves three stages of passionate team/leader enegagement that relied on the following:
Constant Teaching + Constant Learning + Constant Evaluation
The key to this model is the word ‘Constant’, and even more important is that the provision of Teaching, Learning and Evaluation isn’t just a HR process, but is a process that sets out with the very real expectation of engaging real change capability with those staff within the process. Within the photosynthesis model these three key elements represent your SUNSHINE. To what extent you provide this SUNSHINE will determine your ability for transition, profitability and growth.
If, as in this business transition model cited at the top of this article, the leadership function of the hotel were expecting maximum growth from next to zero SUNSHINE.
One advantage hotels have over nature in relation to photosynthesis, is that with the right approach YOU can actually set and predict the operational weather for your people.
Have a great day! 🌞
