for Wi-Fi today is really signaling that it ’ s old school and that they have yesterday ’ s news . Wi-Fi is as natural as hot water and it is as important as air to breathe . Charging for this shows that you don ’ t understood that … I don ’ t know if it drives business , but I think it ’ s detrimental to business if you charge . H : What ’ s the solution or way forward now with distribution ? FF : The only thing hotel companies can do now is ensure they understand how they can gain digital competitiveness and communicate with customers in the best digital way . We are putting in a lot of resources for a company our size into acquiring digital competitiveness and making sure that we stay ahead of the game and that we continue to be the hotel company in the Nordics that has our own distribution . Today , 75 % of all reservations that come into Scandic come through own channels , and we are very keen to make sure that this continues . H : Why so much attention on Millennials ? FF : No business can survive without being close to changing customer preferences and requirements . So , of course , the Millennials will be a focus of ours . But that is nothing new – we want to be close to any upcoming segment . The challenge is to keep up with the rapid change and manage the perception of your business in this transparent world . H : What does the big sustainability effort do for Scandic ? FF : At Scandic , we have seriously worked with sustainability since the late 90s and when nobody had that on the radar . You can say sustainability is so deeply ingrained in our DNA that we seldom talk about it . We just never make any move that would not support that heritage . We push this every day very , very hard because we believe that it is good for business . It is also a matter of employer branding . To attract good young people today you need to look at the bigger and broader picture .
H : What is the most important thing Scandic is doing to grow its people and create leaders ?
FF : First , creating an exciting , changing and rewarding culture . Culture is the biggest component that keeps us together as a tribe . People want to work in a positive , exciting culture . I think we do a lot of stuff now in the Nordics that characterizes a leader . We are generally recognized in the media and in the industry as the leader , and that creates a momentum that people want to be part of . We display these visibly strong examples of success and make people feel that Scandic is a good place for personal development .
I personally today interview all candidates for general manager positions with Scandic as he or she is the most important cultural ambassador in the hotel .
I really think it is about culture more than just a paycheck . Younger staff want to be part of something that is a little bigger . They want to be part of a story or a journey .
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