The workplace and workforce are in the midst of a generational shift – that is not news. As companies are challenged to entice their workforce to return to the office, they must evolve and rethink what the “work from work” environment consists of. Many of the leading companies are leaning on hospitality experts to help them create a welcoming and hospitality driven experience. The tech industry has long led the way in developing perks for their employees working in the office with a seemingly unlimited budget and imagination to match. From in-house free childcare to celebrity chef meals, there seemed to be no end to what they would provide their employees to keep them engaged and more importantly keep them focused on their job.
Unfortunately, the majority of companies do not have the budgets of these tech firms, so they have to be a little more creative when developing an environment and culture that welcomes their employees back to the office. That’s where Hospitality comes in.
The first step in this process is to ensure that the company adopts (if not already in place) a culture of welcome and hospitality. For those of us that have grown up in the service industry, this comes easily to us – the way we greet people with a nod at 10 feet and a hello at 5 feet but not everyone is wired this way. My natural state is to always ask “How you are doing?” and “What can I help you with?” That’s just the way I am after 35 years of working in hotels and providing service to my guests. So as you start the journey with your teams coming back, keep a service minded attitude in place when welcoming the teams back to the office and this can take many forms – from a simple “Lobby Lizard” type program where the senior leaders spend time in the office lobby area greeting employees in the morning to full blown employee recognition programs.
Once you have decided that this thought of Hospitality in the Workplace has merit, I recommend spending time to develop a strategic plan and budget (just as you would with any other business initiative) to start the process of ensuring a wonderful working environment for the people returning to the office. A couple things to keep in mind – have a diverse group of the team in the planning sessions so that all areas are represented and at all levels – this alone will demonstrate to the employees that senior leadership is serious about providing a welcome and inviting work environment. Be sure to keep an open mind and walk through all ideas that come up from the brainstorming session with the group. You must understand what the employees are passionate about – what are they giving up by returning to the office and what can the company do to help make those parts of the transition back to the office easier for everyone.
Having a hospitality minded moderator and/or advisor to lead these sessions is always a great way to further demonstrate your commitment and ensure that the process moves along at a good pace. This idea stems from the belief that we, as Hospitality Experts, can assist with helping your company adopt the culture that your employees should be treated like we treat our guests – for example: How can you adapt the role of a Hotel Concierge into the role of an Employee Concierge to assist your team members?
As you agree on what programs and initiatives to undertake, put together teams to fine tune them prior to rolling them out. Which brings up a key area that needs to be well thought out – “How to Communicate” the programs and initiatives to all levels of the company. Having a current and contemporary Internal Communications plan that reaches all employees will greatly determine how successful the kickoff of the program will be. This initiative cannot be the best kept secret in the company…
Of course, no program or initiative will be successful if you don’t truly believe in the concept or manage it like you would any revenue generating idea. Create regularly scheduled check ins with the teams leading the programs, try to develop measurements to gage the success and/or impact of the initiatives and seek out honest and open feedback from all employee levels.
So remember, a great workplace environment is more than an office with a cool design and a pool table, more than a hip barista with gourmet coffee – it is an environment where the employees are appreciated, where employees feel welcome and where the employees feel like they can make an impact.
Brian Proctor is the CEO and Founder of Leeds Hospitality Group, LLC and the Host of the Gratitude Centered podcast, Tuesday’s Thanks where he interviews Senior Corporate Leaders about their journey and provides them a platform to Thank those who have helped them along the way.
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