The Benefits of Creating Sub-Committees
on Hotel Properties
By Adam
Zembruski
Background
The term
"guru" has been used and possibly overused in all industries. Though, don't let the cliché tag cloud your
vision of what the term truly means.
Religious meanings aside, a guru is a leader in a particular field. When people need answers, they seek gurus of
all types, i.e. Doctors, Attorneys, Professors, etc.
Large hotel
corporations, ownership and management companies have "committees" that are
charged with researching, presenting and making recommendations to executive
leadership, i.e. Compensation Committee, Investment Committee, etc. The committees are filled with gurus.
A hotel runs
similarly to any corporation; each with a leader (GM), department heads, supervisors,
and line level employees. So, why
shouldn't every hotel have "committees" just like the corporation that owns or
manages the hotel?
The Need
General
Managers have many "customers", all of which have expectations and the GM is
charged with meeting or exceeding every one of them. These customers are Brand reps, Management
Company support teams, direct supervisors, asset managers, employees, quality
assurance reps, individual guests, online communities and review sites, large
room-night generating clients, health/fire/building inspectors, community and
political leaders, and several more.
The GM can
NOT meet or exceed the expectations of all of these customers without a lot of
help and involvement from the people on property. Along with producing an immense value,
committees will develop employees, create synergies, align the interests of
team members and give birth to several "gurus" that can help the hotel achieve what
was previously viewed as impossible or extremely difficult.
Examples of Committees
Take for
example the budget "season". Many Sales
Directors and GMs close the door during budgeting season. Open up that door and invite a Budgeting Committee to share the
load. Give them the direct task of
researching ways the housekeeping or food and beverage department can work more
efficiently and become more profitable, and ask them to detail the results
month by month for the next year. You
will be amazed with the results. Not
only will you have a blueprint for higher profitability, you will have created
synergies within your hotel that can last for years.
Another
example would be a Q.A.-Ready Every Day
Committee. This committee can meet
for one hour per week to discuss 4 or 5 Quality Assurance issues and is
empowered to implement solutions. This
will eliminate last minute, frenetic preparations when a brand Q.A. review/exam
is imminent, reducing stress for everyone and creating a healthy balance and
operating finesse.
Also
consider a Continuous Improvement
Committee. This committee simply
observes a particular task, such as cleaning a guestroom bathroom, and then reports
the findings and makes recommendations to the Housekeeping Manager that can
improve efficiencies, make the housekeeper happier or save a few dollars.
None of
these examples involve the General Manager.
The GM is there to simply listen to recommendations and make final
decisions if needed. The GM should offer
full empowerment to these committees. Even
if a particular committee makes no implementable recommendations, then you're
still coming out on top, because the team is working together, creating
memories and developing themselves into lifetime hoteliers.
How to start a committee?
Simple, but
the GM needs to be willing to let go. The
first step is to identify one of your best employees, one that is always
willing to help, has a great attitude and has expressed an interest in doing
more. Task this person with starting the
first committee. Give that person the
title such as Budgeting Committee Chairperson and then give them the first
task, suggest a deadline for its first recommendation, let go and watch the miracle happen.
Letting go
is often difficult for most General Managers because the best GMs are "hands
on". Just try it. The committees are forever evolving. If the GM consistently empowers the
committees, they will eventually act independently without supervision or
direction, allowing the GM to focus on exceeding the expectations of his many
customers, only now he is doing it with an army behind him.
Adam Zembruski is
the Chief Hotel Operations Officer for Pharos Hospitality (www.pharoshospitality.com), a
Charlotte, NC-based hotel investment platform explicitly designed to acquire,
own and operate franchised upscale select service hotels. Adam oversees
all operating entities at Pharos, including Property Assessments and Takeover,
Sales and Marketing, Revenue Management, Human Resources and Culture
Development, System Implementation, Financial Analysis, and Talent/Performance
Management. Adam can be reached at 704-333-1818, ext. 12, or via email at
azembruski@pharoshospitality.com
Letting go is often difficult for most General Managers because the best GMs are "hands on". Just try it. The committees are forever evolving. If the GM consistently empowers the committees, they will eventually act independently without supervision or direction, allowing the GM to focus on exceeding the expectations of his many customers, only now he is doing it with an army behind him.