Ehlite, the magazine of creativity and innovation published by the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne/ September 2003 / #4

In today's world economy hoteliers are struggling to maintain profitability. The signs indicate that a miracle turnaround is not in the immediate future. However, the heavy emphasis on price reduction has, in some respects, suppressed profitability and set the stage for potential commoditization of the industry. But, some in the industry have been able to maintain their profitability in spite of the market conditions. What we have learned from them is that quality of service is the key differential factor in retaining customers and strengthening long-term loyalty. The quality of service depends on the kind of experience being delivered to the guests at every touch point with the staff, services and the facilities.

Hotels that fail to deliver the kind of guest experience that instills loyalty will continually bear the expense of having to attract new customers with discounted rates, advertising, or special packages, further driving the market to commodity and eroding profitability.

ACROSS THE BOARD COST CUTS MANY TIMES
LEAVE GUESTS LOOKING ELSEWHERE

But, how can establishments deliver the quality of service that meets or exceeds guest expectations while still managing their bottom line? This dilemma is frequently approached from a pure cost-reduction standpoint. Labour costs looked too high, so a directive goes out to reduce costs across the board. This approach simply does not work anymore - if the reduction has a negative impact on service quality, the guest can easily search for a better experience elsewhere. Labour management must first focus on right staffing to ensure that guests' expectations are met. Also, with right staffing comes a productivity gain due to the proper allocation of resources to attain expected levels of service. It is clear that hoteliers need management tools that truly focus on the customer experience at every touch point.

MANAGEMENT TOOLS THAT SHREWDLY CUT COSTS AND MAINTAIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

It is here that technology has begun to play a key role. the combination of more sophisticated and cost-effective labour scheduling technology, coupled with ever expanding corporate and public networks make it feasible for an operation to implement systems that measurably help management plan and schedule their most expensive resource, labour. Short-term forecast accuracy, (for example, the number of breakfast guests next Thursday in the main dining room) can now be exacted with these new systems. Even revenue yield can be better addressed with the new technologies. Labour standards can be more accurate, thereby improving the allocation of required resources to deliver successful guest experiences. The latest management tools, when used to address customer satisfaction and maximize the bottom line, yield measurable results. Not only have organizations been able to reduce labour costs by 5 to 15 per cent, depending on the size of the operation and the accuracy of labour standards, they have also seen measurable increases in guest satisfaction, in the range of four to five points. This obviously converts to higher occupancy and/or average rate, both of which contribute to improved net operating income and asset value.

In summary, labour management systems along with guest satisfaction measurement systems help to bridge the gap between customer loyalty and bottom line performance. If fact, Fred Reichheld, director emeritus of Bain & Company, has been quoted as saying, "Business leaders who are serious about improving growth must measure and manage loyalty just as carefully as they do profits." UniFocus has been focusing on these issues since its inception. The company's products and services are geared to provide solutions in three key areas:

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS THAT DRIVE ENTERPRISE VALUE

FOCUSEDScorecard™ is a guest satisfaction measurement and knowledge-management tool. Using 'predictive intelligence', our clients can make critical enhancements that will have a positive effect on their profits. UniFocus helps clients tap into key information sources through its spectrum of tools designed to assess performance. The FOCUSEDScorecard combines guest surveys,

The combination of more sophisticated and cost-effective labour scheduling technology, coupled with ever expanding corporate and public networks make it feasible for an operation to implement systems that measurably help management plan and schedule their most expensive resource, labour. From cost to opportunity? Read ahead for more…

PROFIT PROTECTION

UniFocus' Watson, RM(tm) Software systems ease the management process. Because a business' most valuable asset, its people, is also its largest investment, it is essential that companies are able to manage labour effectively, while controlling the associated costs. Watson, RM is the most capable and powerful resource available for serious cost-management practices. It allows companies to establish legitimate cost goals while ensuring consistent service quality. Watson, RM also functions to synchronize expenses with service volume and demand through improved short-term forecasting, staffing plans based on specific operating standards, flexible scheduling and variable budget analysis.

SKILLS TRANSFERENCE

UniFocus' organizational improvement services combine creativity with reality. Because UniFocus gets to know a client's business, it is able to provide solutions that are completely aligned with the client's goals. Supported by exhaustive experience and armed with the right mix of tools, UniFocus ventures deep into the operational fabric of its clients' organizations to evaluate operation efficiency to gain the maximum improvement in cost structure while maintaining the guest experience.

Recent innovations within UniFocus' divisions and product lines include the following:

Meeting planner relationship management; MEETING Scope™ is the first comprehensive online survey system for meeting planners. It helps evaluate every meeting in greater detail than ever before. Key features include: analysis of strengths and weaknesses; the ability to highlight department and organisation trends; and a process for identifying and recording the meeting planner's key success criteria. MEETINGScope takes the meeting planner from the planning stage through the final evaluation and allows the company to receive ongoing feedback. No paper survey provides the ease of access and scope of data that MEETINGScope offers.

Industry performance benchmarking: In 2002, the SIRV Monitor was distributed to all GUESTScope™ clients. The responses so far have been very positive. The SIRV Monitor Corporate Report is an exciting new offering that can provide comparisons of guest satisfaction by rate paid across the five rate segments. This will provide data that will help develop better strategies to improve service and revenue.

Actionable team member information: UniFocus had tremendous success in 2002 combining its guest-satisfaction and employee-attitude surveys into a comprehensive study. The information is presented through a series of correlation reports that highlight the impact a department's attitudes have on customer satisfaction. The information directs management energies to improving those aspects of employee attitudes that will have a direct impact on customer satisfaction.

Integrated management tools: The latest version of the Watson,RM Forecaster/Planner/Scheduler now rotates desired days off among a designated staff, lets the operator assign workstations to employees and provides consolidated reporting for any time frame selected. At a time when managing labour costs is more important than ever, no program lets you manage the process as effectively.