Managing Mayhem

Contingency plans guide hoteliers through unimaginable crises.

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 7/1/1999

The only certainty about Y2K is that no one knows for

certain what to expect when the clock strikes midnight

at the end of 1999. Systems might remain unaffected,

or an endless cycle of crises could ensue, spawning one

catastrophe after another. Hoteliers have made countless

contingency plans, plotting flowcharts for handling every

conceivable system failure. Here, in HOTELS' second look

at contingency planning, we help hoteliers develop contingency

plans for unimaginable mayhem.

Consider The Consequences

"The consequences are so great that people typically

don't want to take a chance on it," says Y2K expert

Jeff Randolph, senior manager, real estate and hospitality

consulting practice, KPMG, New York. So operators have

mastered their systems, learning what failures are probable,

and considering any that are possible. They have developed

contingencies for each type of error, clearly indicating

the types of workarounds available for floundering devices

and the authority figure responsible for instituting

emergency measures.

Still, no plan is complete unless it acknowledges that

ultimately, no one knows what serenity or strife will

pervade the eve of the new millennium, and chances may

have to be taken. Unpredictable disasters could strike.

And for those, hoteliers must set in place a plan that

not only provides solutions to predictable, fixable problems

but that also details protocol for handling previously

unfathomable failures.

Of course, virtually every challenge

that could present itself to the hotel's staff should

be planned for in advance. This includes such gross

operational impediments as water shortages, rioting

in the streets and power outages. "Nobody really knows if there will be big

water and power problems," Randolph says. But not

knowing is all the more reason to put a plan in place.

Keep It Simple

The disaster plan can be fairly

simple. After all, it serves only to delegate responsibilities,

designate authority figures, place limits on spending

and achieve a common understanding of how the organization

feels it is appropriate to respond in crisis situations. "It comes down

to a conversation on what might happen with the correct

parties," Randolph says. "Understanding areas

of responsibility is the core of it."

To achieve this, Randolph recommends getting property

managers and corporate executives together to discuss

how hypothetical situations might be handled. In the

event of a water shortage, staff may be forced to pay

top dollar to maintain an adequate supply. If Y2K bugs

cause power outages, disrupting electronically operated

locking, fire detection and surveillance systems, managers

may have to decide whether they can remain open without

compromising guest safety. In both situations, the financial

ramifications of the manager's decisions are huge.

Ideally, a property manager would

be in close communication with a regional manager who

could act as a mentor during the crisis. But Y2K problems

might include difficulties with phone connections and

could interfere with the manager's ability to seek

guidance. The property manager, then, would be forced

to make countless decisions under stressful conditions

without input. "The property manager

takes a lot of risks professionally, and could be risking

his job and taking on liability for the company," Randolph

says.

No contingency plan can address every nuance of crisis

situations. But a discussion about such situations should

eradicate risk by helping managers and executives come

to common understandings concerning how the organization

should react, what circumstances are grave enough to

require closing the hotel, what remedies are too expensive,

and what situations deserve solutions regardless of cost.

It is important, Randolph says, to avoid too much bureaucracy.

Split-second decisions may have to be made, and key players

must have the authority act. Senior-level contingency

control center managers should be brought onto a site

if it is a high-occupancy location and company officials

don't have the faith that a property manager can handle

a crisis alone. Of course, hopefully no one will have

to handle a crisis at all, and contingency plans will

be all for nothing.