How Did That Guest Complaint Happen?

This article was originally published by Hotel Business Review. See link below for full article. 

Everyone faces an array of forces-from social media, traveler reviews on TripAdvisor, Yelp, Booking.com, Orbitz, Expedia, and a host of others-waiting to pounce with bad-good-better-best experiences to be told, starred, retold, or forgotten. Now, more than ever, our industry and our performance are under a microscope. In this environment, how do we avoid the, “How did that happen?” moments? Further, what measures can we take to ensure that the guest has a consistently great experience every time?

You Get What You Create – Accountability

When organizational leaders fail to clearly identify what they want to have happen in terms of specific, crucial outcomes, they make it much more difficult for the people in their organizations to hold each other accountable; to see opportunities, own problems, find solutions, and achieve the outcomes that matter most. Here’s how leaders in one highly respected company stay focused on what they want to have happen.

Berkshire Hathaway, who has some large investments in the hospitality space, places a premium on performance-and in doing so, consistently perform at a high level. The company is #3 (up from #4) on [Fortune’s 2015 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies]. What’s the company’s secret? There is no doubt whatsoever about what matters most to the company: beating the S&P index by investing in the right businesses and trusting talented management with operating decisions. Berkshire Hathaway owns a diverse range of businesses, including hospitality, foodservice, manufacturing, retailing, distribution, insurance, media, finance, engineering-the list goes on. So what allows the company to enjoy successes across so many industries and business sectors?

        Read full article at Hotel Business Review  – “How Did That Guest Complaint Happen?”