A Survey of Your Industry Peers

In August, 2007, several hundred hospitality industry professionals were surveyed and asked the following three questions:

1) When you consider your guest contact employees, what are the three most important behaviors you'd like them to exhibit?

2) Now, consider your management employees, what are the three most important behaviors you'd like them to exhibit?

3) Lastly, what was the best business book you read during the past two years?

Survey responses were then categorized as either: abilities, awareness, or attitudes. In order for us to have the same working definitions of these terms, consider the following:

• Ability: competence in an activity or occupation because of one's skill, training, or other qualification: the ability to converse with others
• Awareness: having knowledge; conscious; cognizant: aware of the guest's frustration
• Attitude: manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, esp. of the mind: a servant's attitude toward helping others

Of those who participated, here are the top five responses in each category to the question:

1) When you consider your guest contact employees, what are the three most important behaviors you'd like them to exhibit?

Here are the top five survey responses in each category to the question:

2) Consider your management employees, what are the three most important behaviors you'd like them to exhibit?

Clearly, the challenge is to create an environment (i.e., culture) in which these abilities, awareness, and attitudes are learned, reinforced, and thrive. While it would be nice to think that existing recruiting practices will identify these attributes in advance and effectively screen out those who do not possess them, the reality is that human beings are far too complex and singular to neatly accommodate sophisticated selection systems. And then there is your existing workforce—that includes legacy employees who underwent an entirely different hiring process altogether.

Peter Drucker said "The best way to predict the future is to create it." The same applies to your company's culture. If you are hoping to build and sustain a culture that is renowned for service, diversity, consistency, enthusiasm—whatever your priority—then the best way to realize it in the future is to create it now.

Would it benefit your company's culture to have:

• Managers who recognize their individual responsibility to model and sustain enthusiasm for customers?
• Front-line employees who recognize their individual responsibility to generate authentic enthusiasm for their customers in ways that transform typical, bland, and ordinary transactions into refreshing, unique, and memorable service experiences?
• Customers who recognize that they are being treated differently, leading to positive perceptions of your company, repeat business, less price resistance, more referrals, etc.?
• A reputation for enthusiastic hospitality?

If so, I would enjoy speaking with you about how the training workshops I offer might help to support the creation and sustainability of your company's service culture. Please visit me at www.stevecurtin.com to learn more about my experience and programs.

Meanwhile, since I always enjoy hearing about the books that are being read by hospitality industry leaders, here are the top five survey responses to the question:

3) What was the best business book you read during the past two years?

You might also check out some of my personal recommendations.

If you have questions or comments about this survey, or would like to contact me directly, please do so at steve@stevecurtin.com or 303.325.1375.

I hope these findings were of interest as you seek to create and reinforce a culture of authentic, enthusiastic service in your organization.

For a more detailed look, please visit the survey findings at www.stevecurtin.com

Copyright © 2007 Steve Curtin, LLC