Use, Honor Your Best Resources

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 5/1/2006

One of the keys to providing exceptional customer service is creating a work environment that fosters a low rate of employee turnover. Staff members who have been on the job for years better understand customers and their needs, while repeat guests feel a sense of comfort and security when they return to find familiar faces. No one knows this better than 35-year industry leader Carlos Lopes, managing director of the Hotel Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, California.

Lopes recently spoke to HOTELS magazine about two employee-focused programs that he says allows him to boast a turnover rate that is less than 10% and an average tenure of more than 14 years. More importantly, these number lead to enhanced guest service, significant cost savings and, ultimately, a better bottom line.

Carlos Lopes, Managing Director, Hotel Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Employee Council

About four years ago, Lopes started the Employee Council, where representatives from each department sit down with Lopes and the hotel’s human resources director about every six weeks armed with ideas to improve the work environment, look for ways to reduce waste and redundancies and enhance the guest experience. Within a week after the meeting, a memo is sent to all employees in attendance listing planned initiatives resulting from the 90-minute meeting. Implemented ideas that lead to the creation of new revenue or savings are honored with cash bonuses.

“It is the most successful program I have been associated with in my hotel career,” says Lopes. “Ideas need to be fostered by asking the people who perform all of the functions time and time again. And it is valuable because the employees feel they have a say and then feel even more proprietary about their positions. They feel a great sense of pride when their ideas are implemented, and we back it up with a bonus when their ideas are implemented.”

Among the most memorable ideas generated through the council came from a reservations agent who noticed two rooms at the south end of the hotel offered particularly beautiful sunlight. At the same time, these rooms were among the least desired because they did not have outdoor space. When the agent suggested patios be specially built to highlight the natural light, Lopes commissioned the construction of patio areas with adjoining outdoor fireplaces. Today, these two rooms are among the most demanded by guests and the rate has jumped about US$80 a night to US$450 and the construction will pay for itself in three to four months, according to Lopes.

Another employee

suggestion led to significant savings in the food and beverage department. When expensive dinner plates were turning up chipped, no one could figure out why. An employee at the council meeting finally brought to the attention of management that a misaligned dishwasher rack was the culprit, solving the mystery and saving the hotel thousands of dollars in replacement china.

“I could site so many more examples,” says Lopes. “But the point is managers are here to manage and improve the product, and ideas need to be fostered by talking to the people who perform the most important functions time and time again. It is even more valuable to the hotel because employees feel they have a say. They feel very proprietary about working here when they know their ideas are implemented.”

Fostering Commitment About two years ago, Lopes convinced his owners that money saved by the hotel’s low turnover rate should be used to establish scholarships for children of employees. While this is not a new idea for big hotel chains, the ability of an independent hotel to offer such an initiative is not so common.

For employees who have been with the hotel for at least five years, their children are eligible to apply for one of 10 scholarships awarded each year, ranging from US$500 to US$5,000 per person. Requirements include a 3.4 grade point average and demonstrating clearly defined objectives for the future. To date, the hotel has awarded 11 students a total of US$30,000 in scholarship.

“We did this in part because it enables me to keep my younger employees,” says Lopes. “They know they have good benefits and that their employer goes to great lengths to honor their contributions.”

Lopes also shares service and financial objectives with all staff and holds two staff parties to further show his appreciation. “You have to hold on to them after going to great extent to train and develop them. After all, they are the ones who know our client base the best and how to best take care of them.”