The JourneyPresented by Linda Martin

Hospitality Assured is about excellence and truly excellent organisations are measured by their ability to achieve and sustain outstanding results for their stakeholders.

What is Hospitality Assured?

The rewards far outweigh the effort

• Business Planning – Delivers a clear focus for the future and a comprehensive development plan for improving all aspects of your business.

• Communications – Greatly increases everyone’s involvement in the business and improves communication within the organisation. A benefit to staff and customers.

• Team – Greater openness results in closer teamwork and involvement of staff in both change and improvement within the business. Many of the activities lend themselves to implementation by team working.

• Customer Satisfaction – Better awareness of your customers’ needs means major improvements in customer service.

• Leadership – Develops motivation and confidence among decision makers. The scheme specifically addresses the importance of leadership skills.

• Networking – The experience offers a valuable opportunity to meet with like minded people, exchange ideas and work together to mutual benefit.

The Quality Map

The CustomerPromiseCustomer

ResearchBusinessPlanning

OperationalPlanning

StandardsOf

Performance

Resources

Training &Development

ServiceDelivery

Service Recovery

CustomerSatisfaction

Improvement

Service Excellence, what do the best do

• Focus on communication skills and practice what you preach

• Empower front line staff to act and provide responsive service

• Build in reward and recognition schemes that recognise excellent performance

• Make clear organisation’s values in respect of service and recruit for attitude

Service Profit Chain

• Customer loyalty drives profitability and growth• Customer satisfaction drives customer loyalty• Perceived value drives customer satisfaction• Employee productivity drives value• Employee loyalty drives employee satisfaction• Internal quality drives employee satisfaction• Leadership underlies chain’s success

The Importance of Detail

• Excellence in service requires a robust customer management process

• Customer details and history

• Customer collaboration and listening points

• Identification of what customer information will be useful

Why State an Organisation’s Values?

Declared values can be a useful means of generating employee and supplier commitment

“Never knowingly undersold”

Customer Research

• Who are your customers• How well do you know your customers• How well does your service offer meet

with your customers requirements• How do you will you meet your

customers needs in the future• How do you collect and analyse and

evaluate feedback from your customers

Milestone for Customer Research

• Identification of key stakeholders and their requirements

• Evidence of client and customer liaison

• Review of competition and performance comparison

• Pro-active in seeking feedback

The Customer Promise

• How do you let your customers know about your service and products

• What service promise do you make to your customers

• How do you ensure you meet those promises

• How do you let the customer know about service improvements

Milestone for the Customer Promise

• Service Policy and Service Level Agreements in place

• Service promise clearly stated in relevant communication media and understood by all staff and applied in all customer interactions

• Policies and procedures aligned to the promise• Service reviewed against the promise• Process for regularly reviewing service and

looking for improvements• Well defined service principles

Business planning and direction

• What activities do you undertake to review your business

• How do you monitor business performance• What does the organisation have to be good in

to perform well• What customer targets have you in place• How do you communicate goals and results• What are your plans for the future and why have

you chosen this path

Milestone for Business Planning

• Business plan in place• Regular review of Business Plan

objectives• Targets to include financial,

operational, employee and customer related activities

• Clear link between strategy and operations

Operational Planning

• How do you ensure people know how to perform their role to the best of their abilities

• How do you ensure service is right first time and meets the expectations of the customer

Milestone for Operational Planning

• Service delivery plans in place

• All employees clear about their role and responsibilities

• Purchasing procedures in place

• Effective communication processes across teams and with customer

Standards of Performance

• How do you ensure that tasks are carried out in an efficient and effective manner

• How do you let people know the standards of performance required

• How do you ensure that Leadership sets the right service environment

Milestone for Standards of performance

• Compliance with relevant legislative and statutory requirements

• Accessible standards of performance, that are reviewed and involve wide range of people in development

• Values and Leadership style, congruent with service promise

• Effective auditing

Resources

• How do you allocate resources and ensure people have the right equipment and materials to do their job effectively

• How do you make use of technology to deliver the best possible service

Milestone for resources

• Robust budgeting process• Rationale for how resources are

allocated and support desired service standards

• Maintenance programme• Application of technology that supports

service delivery requirements and efficient working

• Supplier contracts in place

Training & Development

• How do you identify training needs

• How do you provide a range of learning and development opportunities that will support a range of different learners

• How do you measure the impact of training and development

• How do you introduce your people to the workplace

Milestone for Training & Development

• Well –defined induction for all staff• Statutory training undertaken• Performance reviews for all staff• Range of on and off job training activities

to support individual development and organisation’s ability to undertake core business activities

• Reward and recognition programme in place

Service Delivery

• How do you ensure the best possible service at all times

• How do you monitor service performance

• How do you measure customer satisfaction

• Can you say that every service experience is one of excellence

• How can you demonstrate you meet and exceed stakeholders expectations

Milestone for Service Delivery

• Customer satisfaction targets in place and customer feedback mechanism, with analysis of feedback and communication of satisfaction ratings

• Service auditing procedure• CSR policy, to include strategy on

diversity and energy management

Service Recovery

How do you retrieve a service situation when things go round

What procedures do you have in place to ensure complaints are resolved efficiently

Milestone for Service Recovery

• Complaints procedure in place, outlining all staffs accountabilities and responsibilities for handling complaints

• Tracking of complaints and trend analysis

• Targets in place to reduce level of complaints

• Recording of near-misses

Customer Satisfaction Improvement

• How do you measure customer satisfaction

• How do you raise the bar each year and improve customer satisfaction ratings

Milestone for Customer Satisfaction Improvement

• Customer satisfaction survey in place• Targets for customer satisfaction ratings

in place, with on-going measurement• Basic benchmarking activities

undertaken• Active review of service experience, with

feedback for improvements sought from clients, customers and staff

Some Final Thoughts

“If there is one lesson for us, it’s that we have to stay with the customer. In fact, it’s not one lesson but a whole series of lessons. Whenever we forget that we get a solid whack and we are brought back to reality”

Managing Director of Singapore Airlines