Recently our company held three day management conference focusing primarily on several items which we felt were our biggest competitive edge if they were more fully developed. The four primary items were Creative Recruiting, Interviewing and Hiring the Right People, Training the Trainer, and Giving Exceptional Customer Service.

We felt that if we could improve these four things our hotels would be more profitable. All our hotels experience some degree of employee turnover. Without exception our general mangers (GMs) claim to be in uniquely difficult labor markets. It is hard to believe everyone's situation is unique simply because by definition, "being the only one of its kind" (The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary) you can't have more than one with the same problems! We felt that by giving our GMs more tools to use and training them how to use them we would start gaining a competitive edge over time.

Creative Recruiting 

The Creative Recruiting sessions were built around the Educational Institute (E.I.) of the American Hotel & Motel Association's (AH&MA) video and other materials by the same name. While these materials do not have all the answers they are an excellent start. 

We built on them by having a round table discussion where we all exchanged ideas. It was clear that in addition to doing the traditional things we needed to do more. An idea which surfaced as one with great potential was inviting people in retail, fast food and other businesses who were observed to be the kind of employee we wanted to come in for an interview and get acquainted. It was generally agreed that doing that to your competitors would be damaging in the long run and that there were plenty of other industries to recruit among. Compared to many industries ours has a lot to offer. After all, would some one rather have a discount on yogurt or a discount at thousands of hotels with king beds and hot tubs?

A significant part of the discussion centered on ideas for improving retention of our best employees. Another key was the idea of planned replacement of under-performing employees who were not showing improvement with coaching as soon as better ones were found.

Interviewing and Hiring 

The session on How to Interview & Hire the Right People was built around materials written by Stephen Carline and published by CareerTrack, Inc. (Boulder, CO, 1-800-334-1018). While on the surface one might have thought the materials did not always apply to interviewing room attendants, the fact is the materials did not always apply to improving one's interviewing and hiring skills at all levels. Here are a few lists from the workbook which are noteworthy:

"The Three Critical Factors in Selecting Candidates: Does the candidate have the core skills?; Can the candidate thrive in the corporate hotel culture?; Does the job and the culture meet the candidate's needs?" We feel that if a job applicant doesn't have the core skills then the question becomes, "Is that person a trainable person?"

The author also provides a list of reasons why interviews fail. The interviewer 

• Fails to gain enough information by running out of time or questions.
• Does not match the candidate with the job because he does not understand the true job description. 
• Fails to evaluate the resume by overlooking key factors that could provide information about the candidate. 
• Settles for a superficial, rehearsed answer by not probing past the answers for additional information. 
• Is only concerned with skills rather than personality. 

Several of our GMs disputed that statement as it relates to level line positions. After a little discussion it was generally agreed that an applicant coming to an interview not caring whether he is hired, as many of our applicants who are covered by society's safety nets feel, are mentally better prepared for the interview. 

Without exception our GMs and Supervisors felt the ideas and procedures put forth on the tape and in the workbook would be helpful to them. 

Train the Trainer 

Our Train the Trainer sessions were built around the E.I.'s series of video tapes. The titles we used were: Preparing for Training, Conducting One-on-One Training, Leading Group Training, and How to Train with Video. These all come with appropriate collateral materials to help the trainer.

In our hotels we use all three methods covered by these videos, particularly video. It was important to us that our GMs and Supervisors be as effective as possible in using these training techniques. We are following up with detailed task breakdowns which will be used as training checklists. There is no question in my mind that in addition to good leadership qualities one needs to be an excellent trainer in order to excel in the hospitality industry.

Customer Service 

The final session in this series was based on materials by Lisa Ford titled How to Give Exceptional Customer Service. This series of four videotapes and workbooks is also published by CareerTrack. This program started with identifying customers, both internal and external to the operation. Subsequently, time was spent on people's perceptions and expectations.

The program is broken down into four sections. The total service experience: Valuing Customers, Handling Complaints & Creating Partnerships, Delivering service with Heart, Building Rapport & Establishing Trust, Pleasing the Challenging Customer, Defusing Anger & Recovery Skills, Becoming a Service Star. A lot of the material in the last section gave us additional ideas fore recruiting, interviewing and training.

The sessions indicated to us how important customer service was.

In doing business with your organization, customers have many points of contact and at each point have a chance to form an impression. These impressions are generally good or bad. Negative examples include long waiting lines, faded signs, dirty surroundings, and forgotten promises. Positive examples include attention to details, friendliness, ownership of problems, quick solutions and clean neat surroundings.

Lisa Ford's list of what characteristics "Customer Service Stars" have was excellent. The list helped us focus on who we should be recruiting because most of these are not items that can be trained into people. Here's her list of characteristics:

• Motivated to Serve. 
• Sincerely interested in others 
• Positive Attitude 
• Energized and enthusiastic 
• They take initiative 
• They know the organization 

It was amazing how conscious all of us became of good service or poor service when confronted with it during our meetings and immediately afterwards.

A couple of anecdotes: Near our corporate office there is a jewelry store. It is a modern, well designed facility with good signage and attractive display cases. Lots of glass, special microscopes, private viewing rooms, etc. A piece of tape holds a faded, hand lettered sheet of paper under the attractive brass plate with the store's name on it on the door. The sign says, "Recording devices not permitted on these premises." My marketing sense was jolted by the unsightliness of the sign in comparison to the store. When I took a picture of the signs they got upset with me. They also left the sign up.

During the course of our meetings we had planned the American Hospitality Management Company Olympics. This included competition in bed making, toilet paper changing, sheet folding, etc. Five stopwatches were needed for two hours. I called Dick Carlson of RJ Carlson & Company and explained my problem. Even though I wasn't calling to order any products he graciously accepted the challenge. At seven the next morning we had our stop watches and the games began. That was a great example of exceptional service.

The Holiday Inn - Metrodome, managed by Scott Utley, handled our Olympic Closing Ceremonies and closing dinner. Craig in the catering department was a pleasure to deal with. I asked him to fax me dinner menus and to not bother me with the rest of his sales materials. Minutes later I had selected my menu and finished requesting a few extras rather than trying to get the price reduced. My extras included picking up our GMs at our nearby limited service hotel in the Holiday Inn's van. No problem. I wanted the place settings and service in a particular way. No problem.

When I went by early to check on things everything was promised and more. Pat, the server assigned to the function, knew just what she was to do regarding our event. The food and service were excellent, and the plate presentation was as good as those $35 - $50 average check places. The broccoli was even hot and al'dente. All this with the $14.95 breast of chicken with sun dried tomatoes!

Dick Carlson and Scott Utley exceeded our expectations and helped make our meeting a success. I want more and eventually all of our employees to be Service Stars just like Dick, Scott and his staff.