News for the Hospitality Executive |
Kempinski Hotels
has a terrific reputation for extraordinary service and delivery in the
world
of five star properties. They also do some things differently, and the
Brand
has proven successful and resistant to some of the economic turmoil the
rest of
the market has experienced. COO, Duncan O’Rourke, shared some
thoughtful
approaches they have taken with Elite
Traveler. He started with three strategies within a five - six
year
period: talent, innovation and Food and Beverage. With their Food
and Beverage strategy, “We are going to move from a rooms-driven
company to
food & beverage-driven company with rooms, which fits our history
and
tradition as restaurateurs”. They hired well known chefs and other
specialists
to create workshops that are held in every hotel. New ideas and
concepts arise
and are shared all the time, as well as specialties from noted bakers
and
chocolatiers. Their innovation
strategy comes from competition within the company. Hotels, supported
by
workshops, are tasked with creating innovative ideas. These are then
presented
and voted upon at the annual Manager’s meeting. Due to the group
dynamics and
gestation period (a year), participants very much own that effort (and
idea). The third
strategy, talent, is approached quite brilliantly and certainly
differently
than many other hotel companies. Firstly, their Human Resources
hierarchy is
not traditional (as directed by a VP of HR). Instead, Kempinski has
established
three independent entities within the function: VP of Talent, VP of
Training
and Education and VP of People Administration. The need to hire
the right people is critical, so once a year they bring all the hotel
managers
and everyone who seeks employment with Kempinski (hotel schools, middle
management, and the like) together in one place. You have the talent
there, the
information is fresh and the decision makers are present. Job offers
are made
on the spot at this Career Day. As another
example of doing things differently, they have done away with annual,
written,
formalized Evaluations for Management. This effort has been replaced by
a two
hour conversation with department heads. No boxes, no matrices, just
dialogue –
quite a deviation from what most of us do. Kempinski Hotels
seems to always be in a refresh mode, being creative in their
operations and
organization. They know their place and how to present that Brand. As
Mr.
O’Rourke noted, “Kempinski is the oldest luxury hotel brand,
established in
1897, and we have decided to align the number of hotels with our age,
so
eventually we will have around 120-122 hotels, but that is it”. So many
other
companies run from “top down”, are captured by the “numbers”,
scrambling to
bring the most properties on-line. It is good to see a hotel company
sufficiently confident to try another track yet remain quite
distinctive and
still deliver on the Guest
Experience. http://www.aguywalksin.com/blog/2013/3/9/kempinski-hotels-dare-to-do-things-differently-by-john-hendr.html ______________ About the Author: John Hendrie, is a customer experience representative for LRA Worldwide, Inc. (www.LRAWorldwide.com), and is author of the A Guy Walks In blog. About LRA Worldwide LRA Worldwide is a leading research and consulting company in the emerging discipline of Customer Experience Management (CEM). We work with our clients to help them design and deliver consistently exceptional customer experiences in order to drive customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy, and company growth and profitability. In LRA’s 30-year history, we have grown from a provider of customized quality assurance evaluation programs for the hospitality industry, to a leading CEM consulting company offering a variety of client solutions. The evolution has been driven by our clients asking us one question – "How do we get better?" In response, we have built a range of performance measurement, research, training and consulting solutions to help them do so. Today, we are a growing company operating in more than 120 countries throughout the world, helping clients such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Hyatt Hotels International, Anantara Hotels & Resorts and InterContinental Hotels Group deliver exceptional customer experiences. Every touch. Every time. For more information, visit us at www.LRAworldwide.com. |
Contact: John R. Hendrie Your Customer Experience Resource (W): 978 346-4367 www.LRAworldwide.com |
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Have it Your Way – Design of the Personal Guest Experience / John Hendrie / August 2010 |