The Practical Cloud: Lancaster Landmark Hotel Group.

The Lancaster Landmark Hotel Group has improved staff retention and customer service using SuccessFactor’s Cloud-based business execution software.

The Group has three high-end London hotels, each managed independently and catering for different types of customers, making it difficult to accurately compare staff performance between the hotels.

Three years ago, it implemented SuccessFactors’ performance and goal management suites in a bid to recruit, develop and retain employees with the right attitude and behaviours vital for an industry where customer service must be top-notch.

Will Newbigging, director of organisational development at the Lancaster Landmark Hotel Group, explains:

“ We’re a hospitality company and it’s all about behaviours. You can train people to follow standards - like answer the phone in three rings - but it doesn’t show whether they have a hospitable behaviour. So we needed something to identify behaviours we all agree on. We already had a performance review system in place, but like most companies, it was paper based and paper-based systems are often things that are to done only once a year. Obviously, that makes it hard to see what people got out of them. ”

Staff now fill in details online rather than on paper. They rate themselves on a scoring system of 1 to 5 for behaviours and goals, where 3 is proper behaviour and 5 is role model material. These are discussed and agreed between manager and the individual, and reasons and examples are needed to back up the rating. This makes it easier for the hotel group to compare performance of departments, individuals or hotels using the same agreed criteria. Says Newbigging:

“ If you don’t have a standard way of measuring people or scoring, then it becomes very subjective. If you want to change the culture then you can assess everything on a the same level playing field. ”

Since implementation, the hotel has carried out four performance reviews and each time scores have improved, not only because staff have upped their game, but because those people with low scores have chosen to work in other professions. Newbigging notes:

“ It means you start getting the right people in the door. We’ve seen scores go up because we’ve all got far more used to singing from the same song sheet. ”

The main challenge with the new system was giving staff, not all of whom were internet savvy, the encouragement and support to use it. Says Newbigging:

“ Just getting people in the company to be inspired to use it is a challenge - this happens with all performance management, but Cloud is an added challenge. ”

Newbigging believes that using SuccessFactors has not only influenced the way it evaluates current staff, but the way it recruits too. He says:

“ It’s changed things in significant ways. The way we recruit is now based around five behaviours and so it has affected the way we write job descriptions. It’s had an impact on all aspects of business. In harder financial times you have to be clear what acceptable performance is and reward people much more fairly. ”

Newbigging has found it far more effective to hire people with the right attitudes and train the skills than the other way round. With the right attitude, people are better equipped and willing to go the extra mile for customers, and are likely to stay longer with the company. This helps reduce staff churn - a major problem for the hotel industry. Ultimately, better staff performance means better customer service, and this is directly hitting the bottom line. As Newbigging concludes:

“ We’ve seen service levels go up and also felt that financially we have managed to weather the current recession. ”