The top 10 interview questions about the Hotel's finances for a General Manager and the best answers

Interviews are tricky, for both the candidate and the interviewer. A GM’s job interview is a challenge for the incumbent because they need to be ready for just about anything. This is especially true as it relates to the financial picture of the business as seen through the interviewer’s eyes. The opposite is also true as many times the person doing the grilling does not have a broad base of experience relating to the daily inner workings and nuances of the hotel world. Here is a list of common questions and good answers as well as a few bonus questions you can ask the person doing your audition.

1. What makes you qualified to be the person in charge of the financial direction and health of my hotel?This is a wide open and leading question. Wide open because the health of the hotel is like your body and every inch counts and needs to be properly looked after because it all adds up. Leading because it’s designed to catch up the fair weather GM’s that think the finances are the Controllers baby. The best answer here is: as the GM, my job is to lead all aspects of the hotel. The finances are what I consider to be one of the three pillars of our business. The guests, the colleagues and the money are all what I come to work to manage every day.
2. Who in your opinion is ultimately responsible for the finances in this hotel? Again, this is a leading question. The inexperienced answer is: the Controller or Director of Finance is responsible for the numbers since they run the accounting department and produce the financials. The correct answer is: as the General Manager I am ultimately responsible for all aspects of the business and in this case “especially the numbers.”
3. As the GM what is the most important thing you will do to ensure the hotel is a financial success?This is a pinpointed question and there are several good answers. The one that I like the best is: as the GM, my job is ultimately to ensure each department in the hotel has their financial plan. I am also responsible to ensure the plan is executed on a consistent basis with a high level of success.
4. What exactly does each hotel department head need to do to be successful with their financial plan and how will you ensure this happens during your tenure?This is a vision and planning question. You already laid out the vision for the departmental finances in your answer to question 3, and the best plan is to ensure each manager is trained to F TAR W on a consistent monthly basis. That is – Forecast Track, Adjust, Review and Write. For my complete F TAR W recipe read my article at http://hotelfinancialcoach.com/f-tar-w-the-secret-recipe-for-creating-financial-leadership-in-your-hotel/
5. Under your tenure as the GM what are each manager’s financial responsibilities?This is a wide-open question that cries out for a Cracker Jack answer. Exactly what is it you will be asking each leader to accomplish with their financials? The best answer is: there are sometimes three things, but always at least two for which each manager is accountable to me. These are departmental revenues in some cases, but always their payroll and expenses. The answer is simple, but most people miss this because they don’t see the effective strategy of having each person on the team charged with their own piece. Many fumble this one with mumbo-jumbo about the Controller and director/divisional organization; the simple and effective method and the response is if someone does the schedule or orders the supplies for their area, they are the ones with whom we will organize and create agreements on the necessary financial responsibilities.

To be continued

David Lund – The hotel financial coach

Contact David at (415) 696-9593
Email: david@hotelfinancialcoach.com

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