Pulse January / February 2024 | Page 41

that helps attract job candidates . Getting the right people is critical , but that ’ s just day one . It ’ s how we take these great candidates and what happens next that creates our culture .

When you first come on board , you learn about your role . The next part is how your role interacts with everybody within the property to make a seamless guest experience . It takes a village , not just your immediate supervisor , to be able to provide that experience .

During the first 90 days , we have check-ins to make sure everything ’ s going well . New employees have a buddy assigned , so they ’ ve got a peer they can go to . As we progress , Four Seasons has us do self-evaluations . The employees who are looking for growth really benefit from this structure and support . It ’ s a great opportunity to identify where you want further training or to gain more skills . And , for me , it ’ s a great opportunity to hear what my employees need and to help us formulate a plan with action steps .

We might pull out five or 10 things to work on . Based on this , we ’ ll set time aside in your schedule to spend with

someone else that can coach you or train you . The process doesn ’ t have to be self-identifying , but it does have to be self-driven . Once those skill sets have been achieved , we look for opportunities . When our senior managers meet , we go through our employees on a regular basis and advocate for their next roles . Our goal is to grow generations of team members fulfilling their own career goals . Hopefully , it ’ s within Four Seasons , but sometimes it ’ s supporting them as they move forward in their lives outside of our properties .

Pulse : Many of our readers come from boutique resorts or stand-alone spas . How do you see this being applied in a smaller setting ? VN : I think there ’ s two big takeaways that apply even if you ’ re in a smaller environment . Number one is to have your employees cross-trained as much as possible so they know all that ’ s on offer in their own location . Working with a small team of people every day , it ’ s easy to get

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Reference Profiles

WHEN I WAS DOING WORK in a reservation center , we were having trouble with staff turnover and wanted to figure out why the job wasn ’ t working for some people . So , we decided to use an assessment tool to help us out .

We took our best two best performers and figured out some characteristics that would drive them to be ideal salespeople . When hiring , we used their profiles and compared them against anybody new applying for the job . If they matched up in about 80 percent of these two profiles , then we were successful in not only keeping and retaining them , but they also turned into some of the best salespeople we have had . There were also times when we would go against the tool profile , where they didn ’ t match up to those ideal profiles , but they had a great resume and seemed perfect . Well , maybe it took three or six months , but they eventually left . They just weren ’ t right for the job .

Guiding Personal Growth

I ALSO THINK IT ’ S GOOD for college kids to look at their assessment profiles . I recently had my stepdaughter take one . She was going into nursing and wanted to see if she would be a fit and , essentially , just learn more about herself . You learn not only about your own behaviors , but about people around you . So , if somebody ’ s more introverted , and you ’ re extroverted , you might think they ’ re ignoring you . But they ’ re not really ignoring you : It ’ s just their personality . It is also a great tool for any manager . They can learn the best way to communicate with you and what is going to motivate you and demotivate you .

CAROL STRATFORD is managing director , consulting , for Arch Amenities Group .

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