Management Lessons From A Holiday

A holiday at a globally renowned brand’s destination in India, especially after months of Covid lockdown, sets higher expectations
‒ that of fantastic accommodation, wider food options and consistently lovely food, amazing conversations especially with hotel staff you interact with during the stay, observations on culture of the new location one visits, appreciating the nature’s bounty and importantly, gratitude for being able to have such a holiday and special thanks to service staff across travel, hospitality, transportation sectors, who make such a holiday even possible.

What one gains most from travelling is not the selfies or souvenirs. It is those experiences and memories of interactions during the travel. One remembers the people, their hospitality and the way they make you feel welcome. The holiday becomes special with each of the above ingredients and can get slighted with any of them going sour. Well, in this specific holiday, it did. And very badly at that. Considering that the holiday was not even in the peak holiday season, but before, when the hotel occupancies were in low double-digits.

*Vegetating Leadership

While my family and I fretted and fumed at lack of decent vegetarian food options (considering that choice is important, especially when you are paying good money for it, in a hotel chain of repute), we realised that was not all. Even the basic hotel Standard Operating Procedures that top hotel brands are known for, failed! For example, basic cutlery needed to be sent along with food would be missing and by the time it would be brought in, the food laid out on the table would be cold. The “cold” treatment didn’t end there. Instead of offering to procure emergency medicines needed, the concierge suggested that we go to a pharmacy or use an app to order the meds. The services of the hotel doctor were not even offered.

In short, many things went awry. Despite asking to meet the hotel GM, such an ‘esteemed’ interaction did not materialise during the many days of stay. One assumed that the hotel would look at their social media handle for the complaint
‒ shockingly that particular property (as well as their global chain) seems to be in pigeon-era! Even the chain to which they belonged did not wake up to the social media tagging.

As Net Promoter Score (NPS)
‒ a measure of consumer satisfaction ‒ would point out, positive experiences attract few recommendations to friends; negative experiences push for higher number of “don’t try it” recommendations. Plugging a hotel’s shortcomings will help stem the tide of detractors, but will not reverse it. There must be at least one thing that customers can point to and say, “wow”.

In the hospitality business, guests leave digital data trails everywhere they go
‒ from the time they visit the hotel’s website for their research, through to the actual stay. The most valuable feedback source is when the guests are at the property, when they voice their appreciation, concerns or simply brood. Yet in this case, the property staff missed all the “tell” and “tell-tale” signs, as no one was simply passing the input to the relevant hierarchy.

Instead of calling the hierarchically senior friends from that hotel chain, I observed in silence. Made mental notes. Forgettable stay, but unforgettable learnings. And not surprisingly, the back-ended lessons from the front-of-house chaos at the property-on-the-backwaters are the following. 

*Own Up, Instead of Blaming Your Team 

Good leaders first calm the nerves and are quick and graceful in their apologies. They show sincerity in this and that’s what makes customers trust them again, and more. 

It is futile and even juvenile to blame one’s team for any flaws in delivering consumer expectations or low quality standards. To me, that’s first sign of something majorly going wrong in a consumer-centric business. It might even necessitate drastic leadership changes!

*Walk in Frontend & Talk to Backend 

This is a cardinal rule in any business. In a consumer business such as hospitality, it is also important to lead from the front for the guest, consumers, employees, associates to see the leadership walking the floors and taking decisions where and when needed. This not only pushes the qualitative aspects of consumer service delivery, but silently also messages the purpose of that business’ existence, i.e. “consumers”!

*Balancing Accountability with Autonomy

Accountability is “count on me”.

Autonomy is “try it; its on me”.

When accountability becomes embedded in culture, organisations are able to set purposeful goals, have their team’s buy-in, build trust through support and encouragement, learn from failures and celebrate successes together. 

Accountability is about creating a culture where people value responsibility. 

In a consumer facing industry, we need to equip all those who would interact with the guests with adequate training, without which, autonomy won’t mean much. A good culture is for the seniors to tell their juniors that they ‘have their backs’. Once such an implicit trust is built into the team culture, then it would reflect in exemplary consumer service, of which there are countless examples and case studies.

*Wrong Delegation Again, at Wrong Time

When consumer complains, instead of directly owning up, don’t blame your team or the weather. 

All of us err. It is okay to err once. But one needs graciousness to apologise from the heart, and not the perfunctory “I am sorry” email. And to bounce back, one needs to pick up the phone and talk to the complainant. Don’t hide behind someone’s shoulders (especially a junior whom you have pushed to front the issue). 

When you have been complained to, respond directly and not by delegating someone else. Some guests could see it shirking of duties or even lack of courtesy or leadership-cowardice.

*Consumers See through BS’

Consumers don’t want empty talk or sweet nothings. 

Unless you have been genuine in your apologies and until you have course-corrected your mistakes, don’t make yet another mistake
‒ of offering the guests a free stay to replace the mishap!  That’s like saying, “Hey, I messed your holiday. Trust me, it won’t happen again”.  Why should the consumer trust you? Ever, again?

Sending a so-called email acknowledgement to the complainant (after the person has been spoken to by a junior team-mate) is shallow and reeks of superiority complex. Have the gumption to pick up the phone and call the guest. Else the reply to your email would simply be an acknowledgement of the consumer’s own good manners and would simply say “thank you”. 

*Confusing Autonomy & Accountability

Employees who feel a high sense of ownership tend to be more productive, simply because they take greater pride in their work.  Creating a culture of autonomy means that you give employees the freedom to determine how to reach your company’s goals, within established boundaries. The universal truth is: can anyone feel engaged, let alone be motivated, if (s) he feels that some supervisor is always looking over her/his shoulder? 

Autonomy pushes for creativity and employee involvement in building consumer delight. If it is not balanced with accountability, it can give rise to organisational issues, including ambiguity of decisioning, politicking.

To Err is Human, to Bounce Back is Leadership

In the Taittiriya Upanishad, the Sanskrit phrase ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ translates to ‘The Guest is God’.  Atithi means ‘without a fixed calendrical time’ and is used to describe a guest’;  Devo means ‘God’ and;  Bhava means ‘to be’.  Atithi Devo Bhava is a code of conduct that Indian hospitality is known for, and on which countless management lectures, case studies have been written.

As someone who has made countless friends in this industry, and is grateful for so many memories, the biggest learning from this sector is that of their ability to smile under stress and multitask enormously. As a career, hospitality professionals even at junior levels learn to solve problems on the go; they simply don’t have time to ask for additional guidance. Instead, they need to find a solution, and quick! And they need to work together, as a team, and to deal with customers you may never have served before. Working in the hospitality industry sector teaches real-life soft skills.

The hospitality sector that prides itself in existing to serve the guests, it sure has demonstrated patience, perseverance and grace. To apply these to management practices becomes an important lesson. For each of us can err, and bounce back well. How and how much depends on our humility!  

The author is a Corporate Advisor & Independent markets commentator 

Twitter : @ssmumbai