May 2014

This month, our Blog and our Newsletter have similar themes: ‘Staff Education’ and ‘Management Leadership’. These are important issues that all hospitality companies need to be aware of as each is directly related to meaningful success and growth. Your staff deals with your revenue generating customers daily. As an owner/manager, are you certain these customers are being ‘managed’ for your continued ‘success’?. You know how to perform in order to maintain repeat business and grow new business. Have you ‘armed’ your staff with the freedom and knowledge necessary for them to ‘manage’ your customers as you would? A sense of freedom, albeit a controlled sense of freedom, comes with respect. Knowledge comes from leadership.

You want staff you respect ‘managing’ your customers. Staff’s knowledge for ‘managing’ your customers comes from you, your attitudes, and your actions. Knowledge together with that controlled sense of freedom allows for prompt, courteous, and meaningful interactions between your staff and your revenue generating customers. Such interaction is critical for success and growth. What this all comes down to is YOU… you need to be informed, respected, and show respect: Informed about your business and industry, respected by your staff, and have respect for your staff.

You may want to read “Blue Ocean Leadership”-HBR May 2014. It promotes the idea that an employee can be viewed as a ‘customer’ for supervisors (management); an interesting way to view staff-management interaction, but one that reinforces the critical nature of this interaction for success and growth.