I recently chimed in on a conversation about the value of a corporate office...let me know your thoughts.
My 2 cents on Corporate Offices...the great ones do five things really well:
- Talent- They
hire the brightest, most passionate people they can afford. And, ones they
can trust. Great companies understand you can't really teach passion,
personality and caring...all a big part of delivering a meaningful
hospitality experience. So, they focus on recruiting people who are great
at this naturally.
- What, not How-
They, along with these passionate people, develop and agree on the BHAG
(big, hairy, audacious goals...borrowed from Jim Collins). They focus on
the objective, not how to get there (those really smart people they hired
figure that out). They don't worry about the minutiae, like precisely what
to say to each guest at the front door. Rather, they focus on the
big stuff, like guest satisfaction of 90% or greater, etc.
- Support- They
give people the tools and training to do the technical part of the job.
The mechanics of service can be taught (how and when to retrieve luggage
from a vehicle).
- Value Driven-
They stay out of the way (of the smart people), offering support, not
necessarily guidance. Rather than control every move, they allow people to
prosper and add value to the organization.
- Care- They put
people first, the business second.
After reading that list
again, it really boils down to hiring passionate, competent people who you can
trust...and who are generally interested in the same things you are.