“ I thInk you have to have the courage of convIctIon to ultImately remove somebody from the organIzatIon If you really don ’ t feel a change Is possIble , because I thInk It ’ s amazIng how quIckly somebody can really dIsrupt the organIzatIon .”
“ when you look at the future , It all starts wIth management to really walk the talk of what the culture Is and lead In that effort .”
Special RepoRt : Company Culture
“ I thInk you have to have the courage of convIctIon to ultImately remove somebody from the organIzatIon If you really don ’ t feel a change Is possIble , because I thInk It ’ s amazIng how quIckly somebody can really dIsrupt the organIzatIon .”
– Lindsey Ueberroth
we ’ ve had to take people who fundamentally have a great heart and passion for the business but have been brought up in a different brand or in a different environment . You just need to do what ’ s best for that person at that time .
KnOwLES : We have a list of behaviors that we try and live by , and one of them is that talent is no excuse for bad behavior . But we definitely made a misstep early on . We had a line-level member who wasn ’ t performing . We were having conversations about whether or not we should be terminating , but in the meantime , they did something pretty egregious , so the people director terminated them that day . Unfortunately , it was the day Sir Richard Branson was visiting , and he wrote a blog post about it on Virgin . com , and this disgruntled employee was the first comment underneath that blog post . It got a lot of negative feedback for us .
So , sometimes you have to take a step back and say , timing-wise , is this the right decision ?
What is your next big challenge when it comes to your company culture ?
MOubayEd : We have to be very thoughtful as we grow internationally to say , how does Kimpton — which really does work very well in North America — work in Singapore , or London , or Brazil ? Can we make that experience cross-cultural and make people feel the same way ?
wEbb : If you are sitting in Beijing , we don ’ t want you to think you ’ re in Orlando . We want you to experience where you are . But there ’ s also an aspect of it that ’ s , I think , common to Hyatt . I think the caring is common , the way that you do it . We want to be culturally relevant in that area or even in that neighborhood , but it ’ s all through people . That ’ s why people are talking about culture — because it ’ s really almost the last potential differentiator that exists .
uEbErrOTH : Our offices around the globe have such a personality , and this one is very corporate . I want to dismantle walls in the middle of the night and tell people to take the headphones off . It drives me crazy when people are on conference calls where they ’ re in the same office , and they ’ re in their [ individual ] offices . You ’ re like , get up ! Go sit in a room together .
PETruS : I think a lot of this comes down to how we make people feel good about coming to work . I think a lot of it starts with being sure that the management teams in our organizations understand the role of being explainers , motivators , energizers and focus on that , because ultimately , that makes people feel good about where they ’ re spending their eight to 10 hours a day . When you look at the future , it all starts with management to really walk the talk of what the culture is and lead in that effort .
“ when you look at the future , It all starts wIth management to really walk the talk of what the culture Is and lead In that effort .”
– Jim PetrUs
38 HOTELS September 2015 www . hotelsmag . com