what we ’ re doing . Owners will want to come back and people want to grow their career with us , and without all those things we can ’ t grow .”
The senior management teams ( about 35 people ) of the two companies actually came together just as the merger was announced , first holding separate dinners in side-by-side rooms and then together for a day to further align initiatives . Cabañas said it was a little weird and awkward , but the process actually worked out great because neither of the companies had any opportunities to celebrate in the previous 18 months . “ And what happened in that room ? Warren and I got kicked out for half the time , which is probably appropriate ,” Cabañas said . “ It was transformational … There were 17 people from each side and a lot of people from two relatively mature organizations didn ’ t know each other . We were only 14 and 15 days in , and not all leadership decisions had been made . So , lots of people were saying , ‘ what ’ s in it for me ’ and there were all kinds of reasons for that to be ok . And the day was a step forward – it was a triple jump forward with people realizing we ’ re actually a lot more the same than we are different . We have similar core values and what we believe in is very similar , if not identical . Now the combined business is learning to work together and align in the best interest of the company .”
In fact , since the deal was in motion for almost 12 months , an integration team was in place for the last six months to make sure there was no lack of communication , the one detriment that could lead to failure in a new organization . “ There ’ s absolute clarity about our vision , and alignment of our investors is a huge piece of why this is working ,” Fields says .
The newly formed organization has already been working on all the quick wins , such as insurance premiums , OTA contracts , connecting systems such as talent acquisition .
“ We are already integrating a lot of our data at the parent company level , using Pyramid ’ s incredible intelligence platform ,” Cabañas says . “ Success is where we keep growing the business but growing in the right way . And more than anything , it ’ s about retaining the current team and current owners … We don ’ t want to lose sight of the business , so part of the integration effort has been not to burden the properties at all .”
MORE OPPORTUNITIES
Further on the development front , the two new business partners were not offering particulars on growth plans or expectations , but Fields adds , “ We should be in the conversation for a lot more things together than we were singularly ,” he adds .
When asked about the potential of a portfolio deal , Fields says if the right opportunity showed up , they ’ d certainly entertain it , but there was nothing imminent in October . “ There ’ s a lot of upside with the two organizations that we have right now ,” he says .
That upside includes the backing by each company ’ s respective longtime investment partners , Gencom and TZP Group , led by Karim Alibhai and Sam Katz , respectively . Serving as co-chairs are Pyramid Hotel Group co-founder Rick Kelleher and Benchmark founder Burt Cabañas . Former Ritz-Carlton chief Simon Cooper also sits on the new company board . “ We feel really good about the senior executives of our board and how they can help us ,” Fields adds .
To make sure all parties come together and succeed , Fields says Benchmark Pyramid must empower employees and associates at every level . “ If we fail to empower our employees and associates at every level , if we don ’ t allow people to fail by attempting to do the right thing , there ’ s the act of omission … We have to create an environment where people are willing to take a little bit of risk , where they ’ re willing to ask for forgiveness , not for permission … The only potential weakness I see is us looking in the mirror and not trying to do the right thing .”
That is why Fields and Cabañas say they are spending a lot of time and money to bring people together in the right settings , while at the same time staying focused on the job at hand . “ Another bit of an inside joke has been ‘ everything is different but little has changed ,’” Fields says .
Boston Harbor Hotel was part of the Pyramid Hotel collection
Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii was part of Benchmark ’ s portfolio