SHOOTING OURSELVES IN THE FOOT EVERY SEVEN YEARS. WHEN WILL WE LEARN THAT THE TOES DON'T GROW BACK.
It is not unusual in the hotel industry to be faced with a downswing. What is unusual is that there are so many industry leaders panicking. Is this for the shareholders' benefit or do they really believe what they are doing is right.
Are these industry leaders the same ones that panicked the last time we had a downswing? No! Why? Because most of them were in other industries then, so they do not really understand the big picture, and many of them are driven by the share price factor.
There are a few things that one should do but many more things that one should not do. As usual, many leading companies immediately focus on the things that they should not do and then do them.
As an industry veteran, my colleagues and I have been very much a part of that state of panic in which decisions are taken out of context, action plans are developed and implemented and number crunchers are called in to count the dead and weigh their carcasses. Fear and fright is the menu du jour with heaps of CYA for dessert.
What is rarely done is prepare rationally for the days in which "S__T happens"!
-
There will be rainy days, if not the umbrella manufacturers would be out of business.
-
There will be people who might drown in the pool, if not life-rings would not be made.
-
There will be people who cut themselves, hence a first aid kit is generally available (but often empty).
Why do we not prepare for financial downswings in the same way? Why do we set aside funds to replace the carpet every few years? Why do we not just throw them out and learn to live without them when they become unusable?
In a day and at a time when our industry is faced with a global employee shortage of 12- 15 million people, why do we decide that those that we have, are dispensable. Who are we disposing of?
-
Newcomers who just started to work for us. It may have taken us years to attract them. We may well lose them to the industry forever.
-
Mature industry loyalists who are sent into unexpected early retirement before they wanted. Many would have stayed on beyond their retirement years.
-
Middle management, so we can flatten the hierarchy. All are the senior managers of the future.
-
Senior management who cost the most. Leaders, strategic planners, loyal brand spokespeople.
Carnage, every seven years! Decimation of the rank and file and uncertainty amongst those that remain.
Perhaps we need a line item in the Management Contract equal to the ratio for FF&E Replacement in which we set aside a Development Fund in which future down-swings will result not only in no 'downsizing' but a marked increase in development of new talent that we attract from other industries that are downsizing. A fund that says,
- We are an industry that you can trust.
- We are an industry that treasures our talent at all levels.
- We are in need of a lot of new talent.
- We will train you in our new, exciting, reliable industry.
This is not the US Auto industry that has been hi-jacked by more efficient Japanese or German manufacturers. This is not the Manufacturing industry that has been beaten by the Chinese or the Mexicans. These are jobs that stay in the community...... come hell or high water.
Let's get creative with how this mess that we created can get fixed. Let's put an end to the ways in which we make it all worse.
We need a handbook for the next generation of hotel leaders who are getting ready to run our companies. Yes the ones in the Auto industry, the brand managers and the investment bankers. They must be oriented to the differences between our industry and theirs. They can not make these mistakes time and time again.
They 'know our industry' because they have stayed in our hotels. They do not 'know our challenges' yet, nor do they know how they should be fixed. Apparently we don't either!
For assistance on putting your financial disaster plan into place, contact your CEO, your VP Human Resources and your VP Development, if you still have one.......... or contact, [email protected]
Recent Comments