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| With regard to... Snippets |
--By Jerry Sikes, RRP/CHA
"To base thought only on speech is to try nailing whispers to the
wall.
Writing freezes thought and offers it up for inspection."
- Jack Rosenthal -
(New York Times Magazine)
Not long after Rod and Andrea Hackman began publishing The Timeshare Beat they
afforded me the opportunity to express my philosophies within those pages. I have shared many of those thoughts
in the column entitled 'With Regard'. In fact the 'Beat' archives contain over 160 columns and I thought
that it would be interesting to review some of those early thoughts and see how many would apply today.
With Regard to Planning:
'Planning is the place to begin and is the most important responsibility of management, the mechanism that gives
direction to all the other management functions. Planning is predominantly collecting and sorting date from various
sources, analyzing that data and then arriving at a course of action. The data provides a history of needs, wants
and expectations and the historical demands they place on the resources available to management. Those resources
are such things as; Time, Energy, Money, Manpower, Tools, Facilities, Supplies, and Equipment.
It has long been assumed that planning was the exclusive territory of Management and only they have the knowledge
and experience to accomplish this most important task. The fact is that the most effective plan is one that originates
at much lower levels in the organizational structure. If those whose duty is to carry out the plan are not involved
in its development, the chances that they will own the plan and carry it out are greatly diminished.'
With Regard to Visible Support:
'Managers and leaders who understand the sharing of power concept know that they must offer support in two ways.
They must (1) draw attention to themselves through a constant and apparent display of a willingness to share the
power which they have gained and, (2) do everything possible to ensure that the members of their staff are highly
visible and that they, individually and as a group get noticed and recognized.
Managers are generally proficient at getting the job done; otherwise they may never have achieved that status.
If we are content to remain managers we will concentrate on those things that will assist us in maintaining that
status. If we aspire to reach beyond, to achieve true professionalism and maybe leadership, we must find ways to
shine the spotlight on the achievement of others rather than on our own accomplishments.
With Regard to The Art of Management:
'The Art of Management is in the doing. Professionals not only excel in the doing, they lead others into the achievement
of quality as role models.
As there is no single answer to the question "What is art?" The theory and practice of management is
different in every situation. Management practices and operating procedures reflect the environment in which they
function.
Factory workers labor on inert, manufactured products and to a certain degree without the necessity of being concerned
with relationships. Hospitality industry employees' work under completely different conditions. The product of
their work is a satisfied guest. The introduction of the guest, the third party, creates a unique situation that
could be described as a matrix. Webster's defines a matrix as "something within which something else originates
or develops".'
WEEK TEN
With Regard to Leadership I:
'One of the first steps along the path from manager to leadership is to stop over managing and under leading. The
leader will never be the one who always decides and will always be the one who facilitates. The leader is the one
who is able to shepherd a group of tough, competitive, and successful individuals through a mission which most
of them did not want to be involved in and were unwilling to accept a dictated answer to. Fact is, the measure
of leadership is the caliber of the individuals who choose to follow.
Along this same path those who would be leaders must develop and maintain three primary traits in balance.
- Constructive Ambition
- Competent Expertise
- Consistent Values
The leader will never have gained that status on the backs of others. Reality is that those currently in the
position of follower will remain followers only as long as those who lead maintain ambitions that are inclusive
and constructive.'
With Regard to Staffing:
'Managers don't usually fail because they lack the technical skills to manage. Many of them do fail because they
haven't learned how to select the right people during the staffing process and match them to the opportunities
presented in the workplace. In fact, selecting the right people for the hospitality business requires more skills
than most other situations. The qualities necessary for the new hire to become an outstanding service associate
are friendliness, creativity, risk-taking, values, and flexibility that are intangible and often missed in the
initial stages of the interview.
With Regard to New Technology:
'One of the most common forms of communications directed toward Timeshare or Vacation Ownership Resorts is an incoming
call. This is also an area where we have one of the best opportunities to demonstrate our attitude about our occupation.
Most of you have noticed that these calls always come at the most inopportune time, are unwelcome interruptions
and are always from people who want something from you. Most of you have learned that the best way to deal with
such calls is to redirect the calls to someone else, which allows you to get back to more important stuff. If that
does not work, you have learned the trick of putting the caller on hold (with loud music of course) and never getting
back to them.
Many of your resorts have invested in some of the current telephone technology which eliminates the need to train
your staff on the proper way to avoid these undesired interruptions, to stop the incessant ringing and to automatically
redirect these calls to someone else. Many of you have expanded this new technology to include a device named caller
ID, which alerts you to the caller what you really don't want to talk to. Many more resorts have gone to a system,
which not only automatically redirect calls but also provides automatic answering at the other end.
With Regard to Organizations:
'When we arrange our staffs into a coherent unit or functioning whole in order to achieve the mission of the enterprise,
we create an organization. The part of that organization by which authority and responsibility is distributed and
where the various recipients of it are linked together is called the formal organization. Historically, the formal
organization has taken on a look similar to that depicted below:
Many, if not most, of these historical organizations and the management principles on which they were founded
are outdated in relationship to the establishment of an effective organization for today's Hospitality (which includes
Timesharing and Vacation Ownership) Industry operation. The need for a formal flow of communication exist, however
new considerations must be given to the flow of authority. Some would suggest that today's organization should
look similar to the illustration presented below:
The Managers becomes the provider of resources to the Department Heads so that they may be able to facilitate
those resources necessary for the Supervisors to support the Service Staff
In today's topsy-turvy world of Timesharing, in all its various forms, it behooves Management to come up with an
organization structure which most effectively meets the needs of the Service Staffs.'
With Regard to Motivation:
'Management cannot create positive attitudes. Attitude is the predisposition or tendency of a person to react in
a preset way toward an object, situation, person or value. Attitudes are usually accompanied by feelings and emotions.
An individual's personality and attitudes begin to develop early in life and are influenced by hereditary and environmental
factors. By the time an individual reaches the age of employment, his/her attitudes are probably quite set. Management
is faced with the task of leading people "who are what they are".
Rarely can management develop a brand new attitude in employees however, management can provide a workplace environment,
which can encourage or promote a positive attitude. One of the better ways to achieve this is to insure that all
associates fully understand what is the expected behavior. If expected behavior is clear to both management and
associates, rewards will have the effect of bringing out the best in employees. They will display good attitudes
about work when they find that desirable and valuable rewards accompany the correct performance.'
FINAL THOUGHT … for this Week 164
The final thought is actually an age-old question. Was it as good for you as it was for me? I hope so because I
am going to send Snippets (2) your way next week. It will feature some of my Pop's philosophies that I have claimed
as my own and passed on to you in previous With Regards …
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