Beyond Expectations
Part Two: Hospitality is a Team Sport
Like a professional sports team, the employees of Eleven Madison Park (EMP) gather daily before every opening for a “pre-game” meeting. This meeting is a time to review expectations, discuss strategy, and inspire team members to offer their best to the guests in the evening ahead.
To achieve the level of service expected from a restaurant named the “World’s Best,” all employees must be engaged, understand their roles, and be focused on the goal of providing their guests with an exceptional dining experience.
The success of any team, in sports or business, relies heavily on the performance of its individual members. Each “player” or employee must perform their responsibilities effectively in order for the entire organization to function at the highest level.
Practicing Hospitality with Your Employees
Before reading Unreasonable Hospitality, I had never considered that business leaders could practice hospitality with their employees. I was familiar, as you might be, with buzzwords like company culture, team building, boosting employee morale, and employee development.
Though a little over-used at times, these terms seemed to cover the main areas a business should focus on to keep their employees engaged and growing. Will Guidara offers a new way to look at these concepts by expanding the idea of unreasonable hospitality to your own employees.
I cannot imagine a better way to influence your team than to extend to them the same generosity of spirit you expect them to show to your customers.
Unreasonable Hospitality in Action
Business leaders are responsible for putting the very best team on the field every day to ensure the success of their company. Guidara’s experience managing the staff at EMP offers a wealth of guidance that can be applied to all types of businesses.
Building Your Team:
- Put the right team in place.
Be as unreasonable in how you build your team as you are in how you build your product or experience.
- Hire for attitude, not just skills.
When hiring, prioritize the person, even if their resume doesn’t check all the boxes. Skills can be taught, but desire and attitude are more important than experience.
- Surround “A” players with other “A” players.
The best way to respect and reward top performers is to surround them with other top performers. This is how you attract more “A” players.
Boosting Morale:
- Make it cool to care.
From the top of the organization, be unapologetically enthusiastic and committed to your purpose. Positive attitudes and enthusiasm are contagious. Employees want to come to work when they’re having fun!
- Create ownership opportunities.
Give employees ownership of something they are naturally passionate about. Allow them to express their abilities to benefit your business.
Employee Development:
- Clarify responsibilities.
Team members need to understand and know their roles. Employee expectations should be clearly laid out and explained. Your team cannot be excellent if you’re not holding them accountable to the standards you’ve set for your company.
- Present feedback hospitably.
Criticize the behavior, not the person. Praise in public, correct in private. Praise with emotion, criticize without emotion. There is no better way to show someone you care than by being willing to offer a correction. Praise is affirmation, but criticism is investment.
- Offer responsibility early.
Often, the perfect moment to give someone more responsibility is before they’re ready. Presenting opportunities to employees prematurely shows your confidence in them and commitment to their growth.
Practicing Hospitality with your Employees – a Winning Strategy
Following Guidara’s advice will help you create a company culture where employees are more likely to be engaged, focused, and committed to the success of the business. Adding thoughtfulness, inclusiveness, and generosity toward your team members to the company playbook is sure to be a WIN!
The Westlark Advisors team is committed to building trusted and mutually beneficial relationships with our energy industry clients. One of the ways we do this is through sharing our analysis of the market, industry, and general business best practices. We want our clients to know that we have their best interests at heart. Check back over the next few weeks as we explore the benefits of practicing hospitality with yourself!
Beyond Expectations – Part Two: Hospitality is a Team Sport
By Tina Schmitt
