“When I know a VIP or a regular guest is checking in, I have an alert on my laptop, so when he’s checking in I personally come to the lobby to welcome him back. Or, if a regular guest is staying with us on his birthday, we go to his room with a bottle of sparkling and wish him happy birthday. It’s a personal touch, and it works. Regular guests can expect this level of personal service and we are only a mid-scale hotel,” he adds.
Zein realises that training is vital to make sure the hotel’s service standards stay top notch. As well as the usual role-specific training, a whole host of more generalised coaching and instruction is offered on a continuous basis.
“We invest a lot in training, both internally and from external suppliers. We have training on our brand concepts, on how to delight our guests and drive the business, but – because we have over 40 nationalities on staff – we also offer Arabic and English lessons. We also do computer courses, teaching basic skills like email and Facebook.”
| Advertisement |
Additional training programmes make staff feel happy and valued, says Zein.
“If you make the staff happy they will stay and deliver,” he says. “We have what we call internal climate analysis, and my score has been above 85[%] for the last four years. When I do the tour of the house every morning, I say good morning and shake hands with every single member of staff I see. The personal touch goes a long way with staff, as well as with guests.”
Showing staff that career progression is obtainable within the company also helps to breed loyalty. “I have staff that started at the bottom and who are now heads of department. It promotes loyalty and everybody can see there is a future for them within the hotel,” comments Zein.
“If I can’t promote someone internally, I can help them to get promoted to a sister hotel within the Park Inn brand – I would prefer talent stays in the company, rather than going to the competition, even if I can’t keep it at my hotel,” he adds.
This strategy seems to be working as staff turnover is low, and at least 80% of the staff have been at the hotel for four years or more, according to Zein. However, with new hotels opening all the time, employee appreciation is crucial.
“We must make sure our staff are happy with us. Sometimes there are things we can do to make staff stay, but if a new hotel comes and they offer a very big salary, we can’t do anything about that. But it’s not only about money, it’s about job satisfaction as well. Some people prefer to be told ‘thank you’ and ‘good job’, more than if you were to give them $1000. It makes people feel appreciated.”
He concludes: “I think it’s about being very visible, approachable and open – that’s it. There is no trick to it.”
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
