Service quality is crucial
Outstanding quality in all areas is a must for luxury hotel guests. This is in terms of equipment, furnishings, design, food and facilities. From exquisite bed linen to fine tableware, the guest experience must be consistently characterized by the highest of standards. However, it is the quality of service that makes the real difference. The smallest gestures can make the greatest difference to the guest experience. Spontaneous human interaction is not easily reproducible and creates a truly unique, authentic and memorable experience for guests.
Consistency of service is also crucial. Only those luxury hotels able to provide the highest level of immaterial service components, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are regarded for years, and often decades, as truly the best.
A human approach makes the character of a hotel distinct and unmistakable
When it comes to providing services in luxury hotels, it is not, as often falsely assumed, absolute perfection, but rather a matter of conveying a sense of perfection to the guest. There will always be room for small errors. However, it is the way in which a hotel responds to and resolves these that is crucial for the luxury perception of the guest.
In order to provide an almost perfect service, hotels need people who not only truly understand and are interested in the needs of the guests, but are extremely passionate about taking care of and responding to these individual needs. It is about having the right attitude, the willingness to live the company culture and ultimately to be innovative, caring, passionate, dedicated and "human". Employees that embody these intuitive characteristics are like gold dust, as these traits cannot be achieved by targeted training from the company alone.
Trust is the key to success
Happy employees do more than just their job. Not because they are paid for it, but because they really want to do it. It is exactly this character trait that distinguishes an outstanding luxury hotel from competitors and ultimately justifies the higher price that can be achieved and is accepted by the market.
But how do you get your employees to do more than just their job? Among many different factors, the basis is definitely to create a culture of trust in which employees are empowered to make decisions by themselves. Such a culture creates optimal conditions that motivate employees to express their talents and ideas, and enables open and effective communication. This guarantees transparency and leads to an increased level of trust in the management. The proof is in the pudding - hotels with an established trust culture experience staff turnover rates well below the average as well as exponentially increasing business results.
Best practice example: the Hotel Ritz Paris
The Hotel Ritz Paris took a different approach to many hotels in 2016, after a renovation that kept its doors shut for nearly four years. Instead of employing a new and cheaper workforce once the refurbishment was completed, the company took a strategic decision to retain over 200 former employees despite incurring a significantly higher cost structure. The management consciously opted for the former hotel staff, as they had the necessary knowledge, the sound training and valuable experience the hotel needed to succeed. These characteristics were and are crucial to the Hotel Ritz Paris in order to maintain the outstanding quality and guarantee the prestigious personal service and the absolute consistency in the service provision.
The management of the Hotel Ritz Paris recognized the long-term value of their staff recruitment approach as they appreciated the importance of familiarity and consistency of staff and service to their many regular guests. Maintaining the human component has been attributed to ensuring the character and soul of the Hotel Ritz Paris remained, as well as ensuring the long-term economic success of the hotel.
Finally, our MAdvice to hoteliers
Gaining the confidence and trust of your employees is crucial to success – both economically and in terms of the guest experience. This process requires change, rethinking and buy-in from the corporate management. Happy employees live the corporate culture, the DNA and the spirit of the hotel every single day. Their service style, which is based on the corporate value and service philosophy of the hotel, defines the culture of the hotel and forms the character and soul of the hotel.
Ongoing employee training and education is also key to customer satisfaction and ultimately to financial success. However, maximum success can never be achieved unless employees are entrusted and can truly "serve", in an authentic, genuine and human way.
In this spirit, we advise you all to learn from successful entrepreneurs and to treat your employees not only good but very well. In order to win in the long-term, employees no longer have to be seen as the biggest cost factor and saving potential, but as the biggest and most important guarantor to long-term business success.
We look forward to hearing from you and as always feel free to share this blog post.
Thank you and all the best with putting employees at the heart of your hotel!
Your MA people
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