Why One Hotel GM Refused to Skip Her QA Inspection

Glenn: [00:00:00] Your hospitality friend Glenn, here at the My Place Hotels of Americas Conference. I got Bruce Sneller with me and he’s the VP of leadership, engagement, development, development. I’m having one of those days. You know why? Because we’re near the end of a conference. And if you know anything about conferences, they’re tiring. They mess with your brain, even if you’re having a great time. So you’re out there.

Bruce: [00:00:20] So you gave me my excuse. My brain messes up. It’s the conference.

Glenn: [00:00:23] Exactly.

Bruce: [00:00:23] I did it for you, Bruce. Right, I appreciate it. Yeah.

Glenn: [00:00:27] So I love that we have leadership development, right? What does that really mean to you? And I think it’s super important because this brand is growing and you’re getting more places every single month, right?

Bruce: [00:00:40] I think the most important part of it is with our brand, we get a lot of first time gems, right? And some of them the first time in the hospitality business. Wow, goodness.

Glenn: [00:00:51] So that’s a, that’s a lot to learn.

Bruce: [00:00:53] It is a lot to learn. And that’s where we come in. Yeah. You know, my team, we go through, you know, straight from the beginning with a five day intensive training in Aberdeen, South Dakota, to really go through the basics of it. And then that supplemented by our online training that we have developed and then reviewed and checked through our quality assurance program. And that’s the biggest thing. And one of the things that we do differently with our quality assurance department is it’s not going in and telling you what’s wrong, and then we leave. It is more about going in, highlighting things. I mean, there is that aspect of it.

Glenn: [00:01:29] It doesn’t sound like it’s you’re wrong. It sounds like you’ve never done this job before. And you may not have known that this is the way to do it. And here’s how we can help you be more successful for those first time.

Bruce: [00:01:41] Ms.. That’s very true. But even for the existing ones that have been at the property for a while, you know, we’re that next set of eyes, right? But we take it a little bit further and really spend more time on the property. And we go through training on what we just observed and how we can make corrections.

Glenn: [00:01:56] So how do you approach it? Because I think people just feel nervous. Right? So how do you make them really understand that it’s to help them. It’s not against them.

Bruce: [00:02:08] Yeah. I mean, that’s, you know, regardless of what hotel company. Exactly. That’s quality.

Glenn: [00:02:12] We’re just talking basic human being stuff.

Bruce: [00:02:15] Exactly. I mean, it’s the fear and it’s the police. And they’re here to catch me and something, right? And we really try to alleviate that by the relationships that we build with our team. And I’m very lucky that the people I have on my team that are actually doing most of the QAS, they really develop relationships with them. And I’ve got one GM. It was so funny. We have a program called QA elite for our top performers, and they actually get to skip a QA because we need to focus our time on hotels that need it. And you know, she got her QA elite. She goes, I don’t want it. And I’m like, what do you mean you don’t want it? And she said, I don’t want to skip a QA. We look forward to your visits. Who says that? Right? Yeah.

Glenn: [00:02:56] Nobody in my life.

Bruce: [00:02:59] So, you know, by being able to to build those. And that’s one of the benefits of. Yeah. You know, a smaller company and smaller hotels. Yeah. That we can really take those relationships to a different level.

Glenn: [00:03:11] Give me, give me one story of someone that developed as a leader that you’re particularly proud of. Didn’t necessarily think it would.

Bruce: [00:03:18] Work so easy.

Glenn: [00:03:19] Yeah. Good.

Bruce: [00:03:19] Well, I won’t say that. I didn’t think it would work out right.

Glenn: [00:03:22] Okay. Thank you for clarifying that. Because that individual. No, know it’s about them, I suspect. Yeah.

Bruce: [00:03:25] Yeah. We had a GM that went to a hotel that had been struggling. Their past, their QAS they were failing and all this sort of stuff. And just so happened when we get a hotel that is struggling, I usually will go do at least one QA just to see what the problem is. Right. And I met with this kid. I mean, he’s younger and I was like, I think he’s got it. You know, I think that he’s got the potential. And so we go through. Well, last night we awarded him with the QA Elite wonderful for the year. Wow. He took that hotel from running in the 70s to running in the 90% range for QA. And I mean, he was just, you know, he got the training from us, so he knew what to expect from the brand. He was he’s just a little superstar. Yeah. And I always tell him every time I see him or I see a good Medallia review or when I get his QA scores, you know, I’ll call him or send an email. It’s like, I’m really proud of you.

Glenn: [00:04:18] Yeah.

Bruce: [00:04:18] That’s wonderful. You’re living through what I did. And the next night here at conference, I’d seen the first night and I said, you know, I’m so proud of you. And then the next day he said something to me. I’m like, I’m not proud of you anymore.

Glenn: [00:04:29] Right.

Bruce: [00:04:30] And he goes, well, you know, last night after you said that to me, I went home and I called my wife and told her I was so excited about it. She said, now I have to call her and tell her you’re not proud. But that was just watching someone really develop as they’ve gone through the time.

Glenn: [00:04:43] So I absolutely love it. How what’s it like being able to identify people that you feel have a good opportunity to grow within the company?

Bruce: [00:04:51] It’s I mean, it’s, you know, you’re always looking for that next talent. And, you know, I’m not a spring chicken anymore. So, you know, even my head trainer, she, you know, is like, my job is to train the next generation. And that’s kind of the way we all look at it. Yeah. You know, and it’s and it’s different, you know. I mean, the workforce today is different. It is what it is. You know, I guess every generation is different. But, you know, to be able to take those people and really stress to them what you know. Yeah, there’s technology, there’s all these things you got to do, but it’s hospitality at the end of the day. That’s right. And that’s where I think it’s important.

Glenn: [00:05:25] Yeah. Well, I love it. Are you training people making sure people stay people? Such a people driven business. I love it. He’s. Bruce. I’m Glenn. Thank you so much for watching. Be sure to like, share, subscribe, all of that kind of good stuff. And thanks for being with us. See you next time. Bye.