“We have therapists who will come in on a
day off to provide a service for a guest that
they know from prior visits.”
— GLORIA AH SAM, Spa Director, The Kahala Hotel and Resort
Kahala's Legendary Service Awards foster a guest-centric culture.
Data-Driven Culture
The idea of company culture may seem “soft;” that is,
difficult to quantify. yet Silverado resort & Spa, tucked into
the hills of napa, california, takes a data-driven approach to
monitoring its culture.
according to Spa Director Suzy Bordeaux-Johlfs, every
employee is given an “associate Engagement Survey,” which
is administered once a year by the resort’s human resources
staff. The surveys contain ten open-ended questions; for
instance, “Do you feel like we could better recognize
employees? What does that recognition
look like to you?” after scores and comments are compiled,
reports are distributed to the resort’s department heads,
who then create action plans to address problem areas.
Bordeaux-Johlfs says that these reports help them
discover what parts of their culture can be improved: “Since
a spa is a place of care, it’s fitting to care for your team…
We create ‘Smart Plans’, which are targeted improvement
plans that address the top two areas.” Both communi-
cation and recognition are often named as areas that could
be improved, and Bordeaux-Johlfs sees the overall process
as a blessing, saying “feedback is a gift that can help your
department run optimally, for the benefit of everyone
involved.”
When her department scores low in an area of the
survey, Bordeaux-Johlfs takes time to speak to her
employees one-on-one about their work life and “how
they’re doing” in a general sense. often times, she says,
something occurring beyond the workplace is negatively
impacting the attitude they bring to work, and, therefore,
the overall workplace culture. “i ask if there’s anything i
can do for them,” comments Bordeaux-Johlfs. “you have to
approach it from a place of good intention, showing that
you care and are concerned.”
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