2009 3 ocom 310 tp lori avery

8/11/2019 2009 3 Ocom 310 Tp Lori Avery

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Leading the Way at Hilton Hotels Corporation

Lori Avery

Professor Peter Ashley

Spring Term Paper OCOM 31!

Mar"h 11# $%


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Leading the Way at Hilton Hotels Corporation

& had the pleas're of (or)ing for Hilton Hotels Corporation *HHC+ d'ring the early

nineties and (as so impressed (ith the leadership of the "orporation , from Hilton "orporate to

the fran"hise o(ner# from the general manager do(n thro'gh all phases of management at the

lo"al level- .or the p'rpose of this paper# & (ill /e dis"'ssing the leadership at HHC and

in"orporate the vario's "omm'ni"ation styles of leadership# dis"'ss sit'ational leadership and

revie( the "hara"teristi"s of a transformational leader as they relate to HHC -

Conrad Hilton p'r"hased his first hotel in 1%$0 (ith the philosophy to al(ays /e

hospita/le and to o(n and manage a s'""essf'l "hain of hotels- He (anted every g'est to

immediately feel spe"ial (hen they entered any Hilton Hotel lo//y , (hether in Teas#

California# or a/road- & /egan my 2o'rney (ith Hilton in 1%%1 as the Sales Coordinator for the

Hilton arden &nn in Lan"aster# Pennsylvania- At that time# the arden &nn (as a ne( "on"ept

for /'siness travelers a small /'siness hotel (ith the amenities of a large hotel- When yo'

(al) into a Hilton yo' immediately feel at home and are (el"omed /y the staff all staff-

4efore going to (or) for the Hilton arden &nn# & (as a "'stomer of the property /oo)ing

/'siness events at the hotel and (as al(ays impressed /y this very (el"oming "on"ept-

At HHC# yo' learn d'ring yo'r first (ee) that yo' are selling an eperien"e there is

nothing tangi/le for the hotel g'est to ta)e (ith them (hen they "he"),o't- 5veryone employed

/y HHC (as epe"ted to ta)e a ten (ee) g'est satisfa"tion "lass- The "lass#Priority One,

provided vario's s"enarios of ho( a g'est sho'ld /e treated in "ertain sit'ations- &t (as a

mandatory training for all employees , from the general manager to a ho'se)eeper to the

lifeg'ard and food and /everage staff- The "'rri"'l'm tea"hes that o'r g'ests are o'r most

important assets , not the lo//y f'rnit're or fl'ffy pillo(s , they are only amenities# g'ests are


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val'ed "'stomers- O'r role# regardless of salary# ten're# or title (as to give ea"h g'est a positive

eperien"e-

&n any organi6ation# it is important to have proper lines of "omm'ni"ation for employees-

&n Chapter t(o# (e read a/o't three vario's "omm'ni"ation styles of leaders , democratic#

authoritarian# andLaissez-Faire- While most of the day to day leaders at HHC "omm'ni"ated in

a demo"rati" style# there (ere some managers (ho "omm'ni"ated (ith their individ'al teams in

an a'thoritarian style# mostly d'e to the (or)ing environment- .or eample# the ho'se)eeping

manger and her team ran a very tight s"hed'le in order to a"hieve "lean rooms /y "he"),in at

37 p-m- ea"h day- O'r property had 100 rooms# so 8'ite possi/ly the hotel "o'ld /e sold o't

for several nights in a ro(- &n order to a"hieve "lean rooms in a timely fashion# the ho'se)eeping

manager needed to "omm'ni"ate in a very a'thoritarian style- Many of the ho'se)eeping team

mem/ers (ere at the lo(est of the pay s"ale (ithin the hotel9 there (ere often lang'age /arriers

and a great varian"e in age and eperien"e among the team- Ho(ever# they (ere all a(are of the

standards for defining a "lean room- The ho'se)eeping manager managed from top do(n (ith

her team and on most days (al)ed the property to "he") in (ith staff to ens're they (ere

(or)ing to(ards meeting the day:s demanding deadlines- This manager also gave dire"tives in

order to "omplete the tas)s at,hand- &n this parti"'lar area# offering re(ards to team mem/ers

(ho finished their se"tions early and properly (as great in"entive for employees-

Those (ho "omm'ni"ated in a demo"rati" style (ere the general manager and the lo"al

fran"hise o(ner- Together# they (or)ed hand,in,hand to set goals (ith ea"h of their sets of

follo(ers- They also engaged in "omm'ni"ation (ith all levels of employees and offered

positive feed/a") (hen appli"a/le-

&n my opinion# theLaissez-Faire "omm'ni"ation style (o'ld not (or) in a servi"e


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ind'stry environment and & never (itnessed this type of style d'ring my time (ith HHC- The

hotel environment is very m'"h a team orientated environment , having a leader or manger that

might avoid intera"tion or have his or her o(n agenda in mind (o'ld not /e a s'""essf'l

"omm'ni"ation style in this ind'stry-

My se"ond "on"ept to eplore is Situational Leadership(hi"h (as dis"'ssed in Chapter

3- The sit'ational approa"h is /ased 'pon the "'rrent setting or environment of the leader-

Hersey and 4lan"hard:s Situational Leadership Theory is a great theory to dis"'ss and pro"ess as

it relates to the hotel ind'stry- The hotel ind'stry or any servi"e,related ind'stry employs team

mem/ers on all levels , from the high s"hool st'dent raising money to go to "ollege to a father of

fo'r (or)ing as the maintenan"e manager to someone (ho is retired and has ret'rned to (or) in

a ho'se)eeping role for the hotel to earn etra in"ome- Leaders in any setting "an infl'en"e the

s'""ess their staff- This theory is /ased on the readiness level of follo(ers and in"orporates the

a/ility and the (illingness of those follo(ers into a (or) environment- .or eample# Readiness

Level One ,Low ability/low willingness , is defined /y a follo(er that la")s s)ills and

motivation- This "o'ld des"ri/e a high s"hool st'dent (ho is (or)ing for the first time in the

food and /everage department-


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"ommitted to the organi6ation- At HHC# leadership al(ays offers training s'pport to those

employees (ho (ant to improve their s)ill sets- The front des) area of the hotel is /'siest d'ring

morning "he"),o't and again d'ring the afternoon "he"),in time- &f someone has great

motivation and is pleasant to the g'ests# /'t is over(helmed d'ring these high traffi" times#

mista)es (ill o""'r- HHC offered vario's levels of front des) training that "o'ld /e 'sed to

enhan"e the "'rrent s)ill set of the employee and on"e familiar (ith the system# "o'ld /e

assigned a "he"),in station of their o(n-

Readiness Level Three ,igh ability/low willingness , sometimes this o""'rs (hen an

employee has /een (ith an organi6ation for some time and feels a sense of entitlement to the

position- While they may have ten're# the individ'al may not /e (illing to try ne( things- &n

these "ases# the employee does (hat needs to /e done d'ring their shift and nothing more- At

HHC (e re"eived "'stomer feed/a") from g'est satisfa"tion s'rveys- This (as a great in"entive

that (as 'sed to spar) friendly "ompetition among departments and 'sed as personal in"entives#

as (ell- 4y engaging the 'nmotivated employee into a friendly "ompetition and offer re(ards to

them for their good (or)# hopef'lly# they (ill re,engage (ith their role and see themselves as a

via/le team mem/er- Also# this is a great (ay to sho( that leading /y eample "an have positive

res'lts-

Readiness Level Four , high ability/high willingness , many opport'nities are availa/le

for this type of employee- Ho(ever# the leader m'st /e (illing to delegate pro2e"ts to this

employee- 4y doing so# the leader m'st also /e (illing to >let go? and 'se this time to develop

and enhan"e the follo(er:s s)ill sets to prepare them for f't're a")no(ledgements and

promotions (ithin the organi6ation-

.inally# & (o'ld li)e to des"ri/e the "hara"teristi"s of a transformational leader- At the


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end of the day# the day,to,day leader at the hotel (as the general manager- To /e the general

manager of a hotel# yo' have to /e a/le to manage the daily operations and have very for(ard

thin)ing (ith ho( yo' are going to "ontin'e to offer five,star servi"e and in"rease sales- At any

given time# yo' also m'st /e a/le to handle any g'est iss'es that may o""'r in"l'ding an irate

g'est# a po(er o'tage# or (el"oming a /'s to'r into yo'r hotel /e"a'se their reservations (ere

in"orre"t at the hotel do(n the street- This ta)es a "ertain amo'nt of s)ill and "harisma- We

)no( from Chapter .o'r that a transformational leader has five "hara"teristi"s7 "reative#

intera"tive# visionary# empo(ering# and passion-

4eing "reative in this transformational role re8'ires o'tside of the /o thin)ing# someone

(ho is striving for "ontin'o's improvement# and someone (ho "an learn from their mista)es and

move for(ard- There (as a time (hen the resta'rant sales (ere do(n- O'r general manager

had the idea of /a)ing "oo)ies right at "he"),in time , offering freshly /a)ed "oo)ies as g'ests

arrived- This raised 8'estions among the g'ests, (hat time does yo'r resta'rant open Bo yo'

serve dinner Can & order t(o do6en of these "oo)ies to ta)e to a /'siness meeting tomorro(

While this (as a simple endeavor# it in"reased a(areness that (e had a resta'rant and g'ests

/egan to 'tili6e the resta'rant for their /'siness needs-

4eing intera"tive and having e"ellent "omm'ni"ation s)ills is )ey to /eing a s'""essf'l

leader- A good leader m'st really get to )no( his=her employees- The general manager at the

Hilton arden &nn 'sed to s"hed'le time in ea"h department in order to get to )no( the

employees and the pro"esses- While /eing intera"tive on a daily /asis is important# it is also very

"riti"al that someone in a leadership role "omm'ni"ates effe"tively d'ring a time of "risis- .or

eample# o'r general manager had to respond to an internal %11 "all from a g'est- While "riti"al

team mem/ers (ere trained in CP=.irst Aid# no one ever )ne( (hen those s)ills (o'ld /e p't


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to the test- The general manager 8'i")ly responded and gave e"ellent dire"tions to those

s'rro'nding him at the time-

4eing a visionary leader means "omm'ni"ating the "orporate vision to employees at all

levels- O'r vision and tagline at HHC (as >so nice to come home to? , a ni"e (ay to say , yo'

are o'r g'est at Hilton9 (e (ant yo' to feel li)e this is yo'r home a(ay from home- Eno(ing

and 'nderstanding yo'r vision and the "ompany:s vision are t(o )ey elements (hen

"omm'ni"ating the message to follo(ers- The message m'st /e "lear and dire"t and presented in

a fashion so that everyone 'nderstands the information- &f everyone# leaders and follo(ers# are

on the same page# yo' (ill have a s'""essf'l team-

A transformational leader m'st also /e empo(ering- Having the a/ility to empo(er

follo(ers in order for them to (al) (ith yo' , not a(ay from yo' provides the sense of a team

and provides great /alan"e among "o,(or)ers- 4y providing empo(erment# yo' are allo(ing

yo'r team mem/ers to gro( and develop into their o(n s'""essf'l role (ithin the organi6ation-

4eing passionate a/o't yo'r role (ithin the organi6ation is so vital not only to yo'r

s'""ess# /'t for the s'""ess of the operation- Fo' have to /e a/le to share yo'r passion for the

organi6ation (ith others , not only follo(ers# /'t those in the "omm'nity# "ompetitors# vendors#

et"- & "an re"all leaving a "lient meeting and having someone say to me >!ow" #ou must really

lo$e what you do at the ilton %arden &nn - you are always so positi$e"'&t (as tr'e# & (as happy

, & )ne( o'r prod'"t# & respe"ted those in leadership positions and & )ne( that other hotels

(anted to )no( o'r se"rets- When really# there (asnGt a se"ret# it (as simply doing good (or)#

/eing professional# and al(ays p'tting o'r "'stomers first-

&n the /eginning of his "areer# Conrad Hilton set very high standards for his hotels and his


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employees- Those high standards are (hy HHC is so s'""essf'l today- C'rrently# HHC o(ns

and operates more than 3# hotels (ith 130# employees (orld,(ide- HHC instills that ea"h

employee provide the /est g'est servi"e at their 8'ality line of hotels- The leadership at HHC

"ontin'es to see) ne( opport'nities# engages "omm'ni"ation (ith g'ests and employees# and

also gives /a") to the "omm'nities (ith (hi"h Hilton Hotels are lo"ated- B'ring my three years

(ith the "ompany# my vie( of g'est and "'stomer satisfa"tion dramati"ally "hanged-

Thro'gho't my "areer# & have 'sed the /asi" information that & gained d'ring my first (ee) at

the Hilton arden &nn and & have implemented those strategies (ith ho( & have dealt (ith

"'stomers in the for,profit ind'stry to ho( & handle my intera"tions (ith donors in the non,profit

(orld- & learned to al(ays ma)e time to spea) to everyone , from fello( "o,(or)ers to the

fra66led g'est at the front des)- & (as very pro'd to (or) for HHC and developed a very strong

(or) ethi" d'ring my three years (ith the "orporation- B'e to the vario's types of leadership &

(itnessed (ith HHC# & )no( (hat "hara"teristi"s to loo) for (hen & am /eginning a ne( pro2e"t

or loo)ing for a ne( partner in a /'siness setting- As Conrad Hilton on"e said# >achie$ement

seems to be connected with action( Successful men and women )eep mo$ing, they ma)e

mista)es, but they don*t +uit(' Today# leaders "ome in many different forms and "an /e fo'nd in

vario's arenas# /'t those (ho are s'""essf'l are the ones (ho )eep moving for(ard-


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References

Ha")man# Mi"hael I- J Craig 5- Kohnson- *1%%1+- Leadership .ommunication Perspecti$e-Long rove# &llinois7 Waveland Press# &n"-

(((-finest8'otes-"ometrieved on .e/r'ary $3# $%

(((-Hiltonhotels-"om etrieved on .e/r'ary $3# $%
http://www.finestquotes.com/http://www.finestquotes.com/

2009 3 ocom 310 tp lori avery

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