Weekly briefing: Retention, Remington CEO on culture, and more

with Sloan Dean, Eleanor Erickson, and Jason Freed

Author

Josiah Mackenzie
April 02, 2023

“Retention is the keyword for 2023.”

- Adam Glickman, VP Strategy, Actabl

This was my biggest takeaway from the California Hotel Conference this past week. Adam Glickman leads strategy for Actabl, a technology firm that provides hotel operations software, and shared some fascinating data on what’s happening with staffing in the San Francisco Bay Area. (He also offered to share regionally specific information with you as a reader of this newsletter - which you can request here.)

In today’s briefing, we’re learning about how to encourage retention through culture - and technology. Read on for:

  • Sloan Dean on how he created the “Room to Thrive” culture at Remington Hotels

  • Eleanor Erickson on what Hampton Inn did so well when it came to building culture (and how it motivated her to be a GM with the brand for 20+ years!)

  • Jason Freed on what he learned interviewing hoteliers for his latest guide on automation

  • Bonus: Chris Cano and I discuss what you need to know about AI for hotel operations and innovation

With Sloan Dean, CEO, Remington Hotels

Job to be done: Reduce turnover, especially in leadership positions.

How they approached this: A listening tour, SWOT analysis, new employer brand, and making sure they had “the right people on the bus.”

In their words: “The brand and culture stand above any individual. But individuals feed the culture. If you do enough bad hiring over time and don’t have great individuals, the culture itself gets eroded. Both matter and you have to constantly work to improve your culture.”

With Eleanor Erickson, Culture Coach and Former General Manager, Hampton Inn by Hilton

Job to be done: Build and scale culture across a brand.

How they approached this: Created “Hamptonality University” to structure training and mentorship throughout the brand.

In their words: “In each city, we would have each of our properties send people to participate. It wasn’t just managers. We had housekeepers and breakfast attendants and engineers take part as well. It was a big opportunity for us to bring Hamptonality alive in a face-to-face environment with team members at all levels of the company. Once you experience this, you become an ambassador of the brand, and you remain an ambassador.”

Sponsored by myDigitalOffice

With Jason Freed

Jason Freed interviewed a number of operations leaders, including Chris Green at Remington Hotels, Rob Smith at Crescent Hotels and Resorts, and Scott Curran at Reneson Hotels to create a special report, Adopting Automation to Improve Operational Efficiency.

A conversation with Chris Cano

Artificial Intelligence is here, and Chris and I recorded a 30-minute overview of what you need to know, with practical uses for hospitality from housekeeping to sustainability to revenue management.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

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