Concept and investment
Achieving the IIP Silver accreditation required meeting 76 standards on top of the 36 the hotel had reached in gaining foundation IIP status. The financial investment involved in setting up the framework with Investors in People was “minimal” but the hotel did commit to a huge investment in terms of time.
As the hotel’s staff are mainly expats with different cultural backgrounds and needs, its aim was to understand what IIP meant to each colleague and bridge any differences between colleagues working in different sectors of the business, while ensuring they understood the overall strategy of the company and how they, as important members of the team, could contribute to its success.
This was achieved by interviewing every team member; a top-to-bottom approach as Audrain calls it.
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“Within 12 months we had the highest score on an opinion survey the hotel had ever experienced, which jumped by 8-9 points and was evidential by colleagues telling us they felt happy and engaged,” he says.
“We set a succession plan not just for the hotel’s top management but for all colleagues in the hotel. Each succession plan outlined colleagues’ aspirations and put steps in place to help them achieve those goals.”
In Practice
Collaboration and communication were key to the hotel’s IIP strategy. “IIP is essentially a communication process that everyone understands,” says Audrain. “This meant communicating from the top-to-the-bottom and then from bottom-up again, because often it’s in the middle of that chain where things can become misunderstood.”
As such, the hotel took steps to communicate its aims on a daily basis. “We ensured each colleague understood what we were trying to achieve as a business, why we had those aims and, ultimately, what was in it for each of them," Audrain adds.
Basic measurements were established to record and quantify the hotel’s progress, including customer service matrix scores and hotel retention figures.
The hotel also implemented town hall meetings and a ‘colleague of the month’ to motivate the team as well as establishing an IIP meeting. In addition, fun social engagement activities such as the team’s Winter Olympics were organised as part of the IIP strategy, which also contributed to the hotel’s CSR commitments.
The Results to Date
In total 58 colleagues, including managers, EXCOM and colleagues made up the sample percentage interviewed by IIP, which lead to Dusit Thani Dubai’s Silver Accreditation.
According to Audrain, meeting the Silver standard has allowed the hotel to achieve staff retention rates of 10-12%, which he estimates is one of the lowest turnover rates in the hospitality sector, resulting in cost savings, “that run into the hundreds of thousands”.
The implementation of the framework has also delivered a rise in employee satisfaction and helped the property meet all its financial and hotel key performance indicators (KPIs) for 2012.
The hotel is now working towards achieving IIP Gold accreditation, which Audrain confirms is the target within the next year.
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