PERSONALITIES
wants to have a leadership conference at the new property in Santa Fe . “ A celebration of being together and surviving this is going to be extremely important .”
Doing the right thing by team members , and not just senior management but anyone who plays an important role , is the key to success , Reid says . “ Do the right thing . Be seen to be doing the right thing because it ’ s become easy to find people . The issue is not finding people , the issue is getting people to blossom , and you ’ ve got to do the right thing … They judge , we ’ re judged every single day by our actions . And in all this distraction or scrambling , recalibrating , it all starts with taking care of the rank and file . For these companies that have had to cull 40 % of the people , you ’ ve got to reinvest in creating a sense of confidence and explain why it was a one-time phenomenon versus a way of doing business .”
THE HEARTFELT PIECE As for how Auberge treats its guests going forward in a COVID-informed world , Reid believes sincerity in service is critical . “ What you don ’ t want is to be seen as doing it because it ’ s fashionable . People will see right through the lack of sincerity ,” he says .
To that end , Auberge has an internal acronym called ENRICH to get teams excited about their roles . The “ E ” stands for excellence and the “ H ” is for heartfelt . “ I felt right at the beginning that it was important to start with an E — that we ’ re in the business of creating excellence ,” Reid says . “ And yet I think what the team needed more than anything else is the sense of the heartfelt approach to everything we do . And I would say today that the balance is going back to heartfelt . Our guests , when they stay at the hotel they pick up on that , that heartfelt piece .”
For example , to convey even a bit of sincerity today , when cars arrive at the entrance to Auberge properties , staff members will quickly drop their mask , smile and say welcome before guests exit their vehicles . Simple but effective today .
WHAT YOU DON ’ T WANT TO DO IS DROWN THE CREATIVE VOICES . OUR HOTELS HAVE TO BE VERY EXPRESSIVE . THEY MUST HAVE MORE OF A THEATRICAL APPROACH TO THE DELIVERY OF SERVICE , AND THE MORE YOU INSTITUTIONALIZE , THE MORE YOU SUFFOCATE THAT .”
– CRAIG REID
Auberge also is not marketing its sanitation programming , as Reid feels it doesn ’ t resonate enough with their customers and should be perceived as a given .
“ We spent a lot of time coaching the team on the whole idea of asking the guests what they would prefer ,” he says . “ Having said that , we wanted to make sure that we didn ’ t put employees in harm ’ s way . So , we asked our employees to sign off on the level of sanitation and the protocols that they were going to observe . There is a lot of hand washing , sanitation stations everywhere and very strict adherence to mask wearing — even during breaks .”
But as it pertains to the guests , Auberge leadership doesn ’ t want them to
Rendering of Bishop ' s Lodge in Santa Fe , New Mexico , scheduled to open this spring feel as though they are staying in a hospital-type environment . “ We want them to feel that they ’ re in a country home ,” Reid says . “ We ’ re able to set up vignettes . We came up with tables for two in the woods , or the option of sitting on the deck amongst all the other tables . Guess where most people wanted to be ? They wanted to be on the deck . They wanted a bit of a social vibrancy , but they wanted it to be very spaced .”
SEEDING THE FUTURE Looking ahead , Reid says he is very optimistic about Auberge ’ s position in the market because of the growing demand for bespoke services .
He is also at a stage in his career where he is more focused on growing his team and preparing Auberge for its next generation of leadership . “ In fact , one of the things Dan [ Friedkin ] said is ‘ build this company for my children .’ I met his kids and they were all in their 20s , and now their 20s and 30s . And one of the things I did is seed the company with very senior executives in their 30s , as well as a couple of us who are longer in the tooth , had gone through a crisis or two . It ’ s all been very , very gratifying .”
It ’ s been so gratifying that as Reid stops to reflect , he says , “ I equate it to having spent all my life driving Mercedes sedans and now I have a little convertible , a Morgan Roadster , and I ’ m on the Island of Capri .”
14 hotelsmag . com January / February 2021