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.