A red carpet attitude starts from the top

Within the Corporate world, company loyalty needs to be cultivated. Our parents taught us that ‘trust needs to be earned’, the same applies to employees – we need to earn their trust and loyalty. In my over three decades of active involvement in the hospitality industry, I have had the opportunity to talk to managers and supervisors at all levels in several hotels and I can generally tell which company is healthy and which is not! The healthy ones are where the employees take pride in their work and are committed towards its success. They become a part of the company’s DNA and this is reflected in the manner in which they treat their guests. The truth of the matter is that management sets the tone for a hotel, a chain, a company, for the entire industry.

Two photographs that recently appeared in the same newspaper made me recall what Eleanor Roosevelt said, and I quote; ‘It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself’, unquote. Both photographs related to two different 5-star hotels in the city, one welcoming a visiting cricket team and the other, two musical artistes to their hotel. The General Manager, Sales Manager and the Assistant Sales Manager of Hotel A, were all smartly attired in dark suits, with jackets buttoned as they posed with the members of the arriving cricket team. Hotel B which re-opened after a change in ownership and after major refurbishment, had its Director Operations, the Head of Marketing and Sales and the Front Office Manager striking a pose with their VIP arrivals in the hotel lobby. The Director Operations wore a dark grey suit with jacket unbuttoned; the Head of S & M was in shirt and tie attire, whilst the FOM wore a dark suit with buttoned jacket. The contrasting disciplines in attire exhibited between hotel A and hotel B tell a story.

Hotel A has a standard that permeates all levels of uniformed staff, cascading from top-to-bottom, in terms of a ‘code of attire’. The leader at this hotel demonstrates that a red carpet attitude starts from the top. Here is an example of leadership which exudes clarity of vision, standards, expectations, and motivates staff to follow. It starts by leading through example. If you expect your staff to be smartly dressed, then you need to ensure that your own dress and department are beyond reproach. Most of us are aware that desired behaviors will only take place when each leader and their respective managers and supervisors start modeling these behaviors to those they manage. When employees see their leaders actually leading by example, they feel good about their work, embrace the laid out standards and are motivated to satisfy their guests.  

In all probability, Hotel A has Standards of Operation that are kept alive. The attitude and service spirit of any organization absolutely reflects management's philosophy and actions. It is important for Hotel B to remember that the styles in discipline or indiscipline that senior managers’ exhibit is in turn subsequently emulated by their employees. Hotel B’s leadership had yet to grasp this.

Shafeek Wahab

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