Editor’s Note:  The following blog was written by Joe Hayes, Overnight Manager at Grand Hyatt New York, and is part of an ongoing series for HotelsMagazine.com

The more people know about something, the more value is either added or subtracted from it. Agreed? Now think about your staff. Think about your co-workers in other departments — from the GM to the part-time seasonal associates.

Now …

Ask yourself, how much do they really know about YOUR job? Maybe they know quite a bit, but it’s quite possible they know very little. Our professional environments (if you work on property) are extremely interdependent, yet there is a noticeable seclusion.

How many of your sales managers can name five housekeepers by name? If you ask your convention services manager the name of the housemen who set up events could he or she tell you? Can your front desk manager tell you how much a certain site visit is worth to the property?

A lot of time, effort and hard work go into a successful property, but it’s no secret that this is a group effort, so maybe we should understand the group dynamic more thoroughly. The best part about the corporate management training program I entered out of college was the chance to experience every aspect of the hotel. I did a full rotation, from accounting to stewarding and everything in-between. Working in these different departments made me so much more knowledgeable about how this massive and complex operation I work in continues to run successfully. This knowledge added value to my job. Now that I know how my job affects other departments, I am more inclined to put myself in their shoes during certain situations. Not only that, it offered me an opportunity to meet a lot of people I may not have met if I had only concentrated in the rooms division.

Tip for all the young hoteliers out there: Get to know the associates and managers in other departments well. Trust me — sooner or later, you will need a favor. It’s much easier to ask a friend than a stranger. Also, it’s nice to be the go-to person in your department for others if they need something. It builds trust, develops relationships and expands networks.

We all want to add value to our respective properties, but we tend to only focus on the external value that comes in (money). Creating a stronger internal value can change the way people think and perform, adding internal value and driving that external value we all seek.

Take a look at your orientation schedule and see if adding a hotel-wide shadowing rotation is feasible. Maybe invite different managers from other departments to your pre-shift meetings to introduce themselves and give some background on what they do. Offer employees who are interested in learning about other departments the opportunity to do just that.

The following piece was written by Joe Hayes, a former Corporate Management Trainee and current Overnight Manager at the Grand Hyatt New York.   “The Young Hotelier” is an ongoing series Joe writes for HotelsMag.com

I’m in a constant battle with myself about going back to college for my master’s degree. The idea of going back to college sounds amazing, but I know post-grad is NOTHING like undergrad. Even if it was exactly like it, I’m not sure I could handle another four years of that kind of that lifestyle, as awesome as it was.

This internal debate has been going on since well before I even graduated undergrad (granted, that was only a little less than two years ago). I’ve broken it down to the following options:

•Suck it up. Go to school. Go to work. It’ll be tough, but just do it.

•Take a year off from work and get it over with.

It’s just daunting to picture how my life would be if I had school on top of all the hours I put into my property. I know I would do it because I would have to, but do I really want to spend a very prime year or two of my life being a stressed-out student on top of being a stressed-out operations manager? The question to that is easy: “No!” What you have to look at is the ROI. Would the years following be that much more prosperous? Would I look back and say, “Wow! That was really worth it.” I’m thinking probably. Then again, it’s never the afterthought that prevents you from doing something.

Another question to ponder is, “Do I really want to go into more debt?” Another obvious answer: “No!” But once again, what about the ROI? Will the money I earn from having my master’s even out the debt I will initially incur?

To ease my way into the process, I’m taking a professional development course in hotel real estate and asset management from Cornell University (I’m shooting for a master’s in real estate development if I take that route). It’s extremely flexible, and although I’m not sure of the course load, I believe this will give me a good grasp on how I manage school and work.

Time management has always been an issue with me. I’ve become much more efficient with my time, but I have the tendency to jump from project to project without finishing the initial task at hand. If you ever interview me, there’s my “Where is your opportunity for growth?” answer.

One of the benefits of this blog is the opportunity to reach out for feedback and advice, which I am always grateful for. Maybe some of the hotel vets out there can weigh in on my dilemma? I’d also love to hear from the younger hoteliers who have gone through this process and can offer some insight.

Thank you!

The following blog appeared in HOTELSMag.com and features our own Joseph Hayes, a former Corporate Management Trainee in the Rooms Division at the Grand Hyatt New York and current Assistant Front Office Manager.

My buddy and I were recently discussing a vacation he took in which he stayed at a Hyatt property on the West Coast. Naturally I asked him how everything went, and everything was great. He then went on to say he actually just received an e-mail asking him to fill out a survey about his experience. When I asked whether he filled it out, he replied, “No, nobody reads those things anyway.”

I’m not kidding when I tell you my first reaction was anger. After explaining (almost yelling) how important surveys are to us, he was shocked. I explained to him how we go over every survey and discuss in detail the strengths and the opportunities each highlights. We have competitions both within the hotel and within the company over who can receive the best scores in certain areas. We are ranked by our scores, and much of the success of the property is derived from these findings. People’s careers depend a lot on those surveys, and a lot of our guests don’t understand that.

Guests can go into so much detail about a vacation with their friends and family, but when the actual property inquires about it, they tend to shrug it off. Why is this? My guess is that it feels like an inconvenience to them or that it’s just not worth the time. Maybe the surveys are not engaging enough. I’ll be honest — I don’t remember the last time I finished a survey and was blown away by the delivery. How does a company go about making these surveys a better experience for guests? I’ve seen an incentive placed on surveys (coupons or discounts, for example) but is this the only way to make people want to fill these out? Plus, when you attach monetary incentives to a survey, the individual tends to fill them out for the wrong reasons.

At my property, we receive a batch of surveys daily. I often see contradictions, which are pretty infuriating to say the least. For example, I read a survey that stated, “Service was impeccable.” Guess the score we received on customer service. It was a 1 (1 being the worst, 5 being the best.) This was obviously a mistake, but this mistake causes a drop in our scores.

I recall another situation when I was in a very well-known department store during Christmas season. I went to check out, and the associate pointed out a survey opportunity on the receipt. This was fine, but the way they asked me to fill it out wasn’t. It went something like this: “Go to this link for an opportunity to rate your experience today; please keep in mind anything under ‘extremely satisfied’ means we fail.” To me, that was extremely off putting. The monotone, unenthusiastic voice didn’t help much either. Now, our surveys work the same way, but if I ever heard a co-worker of mine explain our surveys like that, I would be mortified.

So, how do we go about projecting to our guests how important these surveys are, and more importantly, what can we do to make them more engaging?

The following blog appeared in HOTELSMag.com and features our own Joseph Hayes, a former Corporate Management Trainee in the Rooms Division at the Grand Hyatt New York and current Assistant Front Office Manager.

Does anyone else feel it should be mandated that every person works in a service-related field as a prerequisite for life? It can’t be just me … and everyone else I’ve ever posed that question to.

I must say, nothing bothers me more than when a person is looked down upon because of their profession. This happens a lot in the service industry, and it’s unfortunate, because we truly work our butts off. A lot of our jobs require long shifts, short breaks (if any), working holidays, limited time off and obscure hours.

Plus, our jobs are not brainless by any means. Whether someone is a server, agent, reservationist or manager, a constant thought process is occurring to ensure the operation runs smoothly. We thrive in fast-paced environments, where decisions have to be made quickly, people must be managed properly, inventory requires constant maintenance, finances call for checking and guest satisfaction remains a top priority. All this, and we make it look easy!

Now listen, I’m not a sensitive person by any means. I’m naturally easygoing, and a number of years in the hospitality industry creates pretty tough skin. If you are a highly sensitive person this probably isn’t the industry for you, at least when it comes to operations.

I must say, though, being looked at as intellectually void is pretty infuriating. This doesn’t happen often to me since being at my current position, but there was a time when it occurred almost daily. I was a guest services rep at a very well-known budget hotel chain in Greenville, North Carolina. Mind you, this was my first position at a hotel. I didn’t expect a multitude of riveting conversations about politics and finances, but I also didn’t expect to get treated as if I were a moron. This was the case, though.

I was patronized and demeaned often. This usually stopped when someone heard my New York accent or found out I was actually in a reputable university. I thought this to be so unfortunate, because so many people walk into hotels with this mentality.

The worst experience I ever had was when I was working a night shift by myself at this hotel and a lady came to the desk and asked me to help her turn the lights off on her rental car. I reluctantly said yes, being that I was the only one to cover the operation, but we were slow, and I figured I would do something nice. After I did this, which only took about two minutes, she thanked me, and I went back inside. Minutes later she came storming back to the desk demanding I give her cell phone back. I was confused and asked for her to elaborate. She stated that her cell phone was in the car when I went in to turn her lights off and now it was gone. I obviously denied this, which started her on a rant about how she was a doctor and “people like me” steal from “people like her.”

Oh man, I could not believe what I was hearing. She went as far as to threaten to call the police, so I just went ahead and called the police for her, being that this situation was getting beyond ridiculous, and I couldn’t convince her that I, in fact, did not steal her cell phone. To make a long story less long, the police got there, heard both sides of the story and went to the guestroom to look for the cell phone before launching an all-out investigation. Lo and behold, they found the cell phone, which fell behind her nightstand. I must say the look on her face and the officer’s face was just priceless! I, of course, smiled, and said that it was an honest mistake. Ah, the masks we wear in the name of service.

Like I said, this is not something I see often in my current property, but I do see it happen to my staff on occasion, and I cannot help but feel the need to protect them from such insinuations. If I see a situation escalating to a point where it is getting personal, I want to be the first to step in and either diffuse it or take the brunt of it.

I encourage new managers entering the field to not only take pride in what you do, but take pride in the people you work with. Let staffers know how vital they are and how essential their jobs are to a successful operation. I’m lucky to work with exciting, bright and unique people who I become more and more intrigued by every day, and I hope when you take a look around you feel the same way.

The following blog appeared in HOTELSMag.com and features our own Joseph Hayes, a former Corporate Management Trainee in the Rooms Division at the Grand Hyatt New York and current Assistant Front Office Manager.

First of all, where is this box, and why is nobody looking inside of it? When it comes to service, I think we should be looking inside this box. We are an industry that provides the simplest thing in its most authentic form: service. This is not something that can be purchased or attained; it is something that we all possess. We possess the power to provide excellent service. Some are more gifted at the delivery than others, but it is something we all CAN do. We generally don’t like complicated things, so why make service complicated? Just do it! Authentic Hospitality (our company mission) is what brings people to our hotels. Just like the clothes and the jewelry that our guests wear are not their greatest assets, our flat-screen TVs and fancy restaurants are not ours. Our people and our guests are our greatest assets.

Hospitality starts with the basics of human emotion. I feel that the people who go far and the companies that succeed understand that. Sure, thinking “outside the box” is great, and by no means am I knocking creativity, but creativity needs to stem from somewhere. In our morning meeting last week our assistant rooms exec said it best: “We need to get back to basics.”

We need to get our customer service surveys and contact the people who respond to them and ask why they scored us the way they did. What could we have done better? At a recent training I attended, our instructor read some guest surveys with negative comments relating to our facilities. To our surprise, the guest still gave us 5s (the highest rating) on customer service. Even though things went wrong, we provided excellent service, which results in delighted guests. Sure, not everybody will like their room, but we have the opportunity for everyone to enjoy their service.

Try thinking back to something that was your best — your best pizza, vacation, flight, anything. What made it your best? My best burger was not in an upscale restaurant — it was in a hole-in-the-wall Irish pub. My best steak was not at Ruth’s Chris — my father made it. My best vacation was Beaches Turks and Caicos when I was 10 years old. It was the most amazing place I have ever visited. Besides the natural beauty, I could not believe how genuinely kind everyone was. Yes, I noticed this at age 10. They were delighted to help you with anything at any time. Can I tell you what the room looked like? No. Do you see my point? Simplicity is underrated.

So, next time you’re looking for the next best service initiative, try starting inside the box, and see what you find.