The cloak of invisibility
In the Harry Potter universe, the Cloak of Invisibility is a magical artifact that renders the wearer completely invisible. One of a kind, the Invisibility Cloak was handed down from generation to generation in Harry Potter's family, and in that cosmos, there's only one true invisibility cloak. This cloak is special because its invisibility is permanent and not the result of a charm that fades over time.
However, in today’s World of Hospitality, blurring the lines between fiction and fact, there appears to be multiple invisibility cloaks, worn all over the world by a growing number of hotel managers…and the cloak’s magic doesn’t fade away either - it gets stronger and keeps growing.
In many countries a Fair Works commission or authority has a ‘disconnect rule’ that allows an employer to contact an employee outside working hours, whilst at the same time enabling the employee a right to refuse to respond to the contact if doing so is unreasonable.
In the hotel landscape though, it seems that many hotel managers tend to apply that ‘disconnect rule’ to their customers or resident guests, even during normal everyday working hours. Truth be told, the contactless manager has existed long before the advent of the contactless pre-check-in and guest registration technological innovation.
What I fail to grasp is the countless number of hours hotel managers spend on average per week behind the scenes on administrative tasks and at meetings. Hotel managers do have a wide range of responsibilities; including financial management, strategic and operational oversight, staff training, etc. Additionally, hoteliers will have to participate in meetings at some point in their lives in hotels, and many of us do on a regular basis. But to total abandon guest interactions as a non-priority, is beyond comprehension.
While the world in which we live has changed beyond recognition, the internal structures of hotels haven’t really changed at all. Hotels are still fairly hierarchical organisations with GMs in overall charge. Today’s GMs however, no longer the lobby and restaurant-swarming type, work most of the time, ‘behind the scenes’.
In the past, the GM’s role was similar to a circus 5-ball juggling act. The five ‘juggling balls’ were the owner/s, the brand/management company, the guests, the staff and lastly, and the most often dropped ball – the GM’s own private life. Sadly very few GMs can juggle all five balls without over-playing one, under-satisfying the other, and underestimating the changing circumstances in today’s highly personalised service-driven hotel world.
Hence, unable to meet the challenging 5-ball juggling act, they don the cloak of invisibility, preferring to juggle the 3- balls belonging to the owner/s, the brand/management company and their own private life, whilst delegating power to their ‘direct reports’ (department managers considered as experts in their field and good leaders) to juggle the balls representing guests and staff. And that’s where the problem exists - because finding the right ‘direct reports’ to support a GM is no easy task.
Nowadays, It’s increasingly difficult to find ‘direct reports’ who have both technical and leadership skills to make proper decisions. More insidiously, many of the ‘direct reports’ who are delegated the task of staying connected with guests and staff, are quietly slipping on the cloak of invisibility themselves!
Extracts from Andre Priebs’s intriguingly well written blog “The silent killer of guest experience: The invisible manager” succinctly says it all, “An invisible manager creates an invisible standard. Guest experience doesn’t live in SOPs. It lives in moments. And moments need leaders. When leaders show up, the team steps up. And when the team steps up — guests feel it. Don’t let your brand be haunted by invisible managers. Start leading where service actually happens”.
Wow…how true Andre.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Motivational Speaker, Ex-Hotelier
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