One day, early in my career, I passed by an exhausted-looking housekeeper sitting alone, taking a break. I stopped and asked how she was doing. “Everything’s good,” she responded mechanically. Then, after a pause, she said something I have never forgotten. “We spend all day making people feel cared for. Sometimes I wish somebody remembered to care for us, too.”
Expecting someone to make guests feel cared for when they’re not being cared for themselves is, ultimately, an unsustainable situation. Giving great guest service requires your associates to remain patient under pressure, create calm for anxious guests, absorb frustration gracefully, regulate their own emotions and make strangers feel comfortable, particularly, but not exclusively, in the luxury sector in which I have built my career.
LUXURY IS EMOTIONAL LABOR
A burned-out team will have a hard time creating an atmosphere of calm. A fearful team will have a hard time evoking warmth. An exhausted team will eventually stop noticing the little details, like whether the flowers are wilting, and so forth. A disengaged team is unlikely to focus on each and every guest, as luxury service requires. The experience of the employee eventually leaks into the experience of the guest.
RECOGNITION IS OPERATIONAL FUEL
One of the most effective leadership tools is a simple one: providing recognition. Not performative recognition. Not generic employee-of-the-month posters. Specific recognition. Thoughtful recognition. You will improve your success as a leader and of the company if you take the time to celebrate when employees show effort, personal and skills-related growth, emotional generosity, attentiveness and quiet professionalism. This kind of recognition replenishes emotional energy and doesn’t cost anything except time and awareness.
…BUT IMPROVING EMPLOYEE LIVES REQUIRES MORE THAN RECOGNITION
If the food in the breakroom is stingily apportioned and poorly presented, this speaks louder than words. If the coffee maker there has been on the fritz for a month, and nobody has bothered to replace or fix it, this speaks louder than words. If you skimp on benefits, this speaks much louder than words. If you are inflexible in scheduling, this also speaks much louder than words.
THE MYTH OF DISPOSABLE LABOR
One of the most damaging ideas in modern business is the assumption that employees are easily replaceable. Every time an organization normalizes excessive turnover, it weakens the emotional consistency customers experience. Long-term employees carry memory, intuition, judgment and operational wisdom, and that accumulated attentiveness becomes part of the luxury experience itself.
TOUGH LOVE
With some employees, performance is never going to reach the level that operating a luxury hotel requires. Or it will get there and then slip again over time. A successful reaction to this may involve some tough love. If an employee has a drinking problem, for instance, supporting them in bringing their “authentic self” (authentically hung over) isn’t going to cut it. This and other root-cause problems need to be addressed at the root, or improvement will never happen.
The perspective I’ve shared may sound unrealistic when you’re faced with making payroll and keeping costs under control. If you’re wondering, “How am I going to accomplish this?” take a deep breath: Most things that improve the employee experience aren’t expensive. Recognition, understanding, flexibility are all places to start that won’t drain the bottom line and, in time, will improve that bottom line. Because a workforce that is giving its best is an essential part of an exceptional guest experience.
Story contributed by Daniel Hostettler, president & CEO, The Boca Raton.