The Spirit to Serve - Marriott's Way

 Review by: Jeff Wright

I had seen the red and white paperback in hotel night stand drawers many times before but on one particular trip several years ago I decided to take the time to open it and begin reading. It was longer then the newer version I have seen in Marriott hotels since, this book was longer then I could read on the short business trip so I asked and received permission to take it home with me. This little volume was packed with Marriott history and stories describing the Marriott way of doing business. The book was good enough that it found a home on the library shelves of the professional development library at work. The lessons are transferable so the following short summary was written and distributed to colleagues (fellow consultants) so they could benefit from the “The Spirit to Serve - Marriott’s Way”.

This book discusses the Marriott’s philosophy and how important it has proven in building organizational success. The Marriott empire had its share of hard times and is not perfect, but it has indeed been able to deal rather effectively with the hurdles that have been faced. Marriott has never directly won a “Baldrige National Quality Award” for performance excellence, but it appears from this book that they certainly could meet the stringent requirements. Ritz Carlton hotels, owned by Marriott, has won a Baldrige award in large part because of doing business the Marriott way.

A quote from Jim Collins, bestselling author of “Good to Great”, illustrates the axis on which the Marriott world turns; he says

“There can be no distinction between a company’s core values and the core values of its leadership”.

As each of us considers how this statement relates to our own world of work, we must ask ourselves if our respective organization’s core values are internalized within its leaders.   

I would like to highlight another quote from the first pages of the opening section of Marriott’s book that describes some of the activities and progression that are so important to Marriott and other successful organizations.

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there”.

Will Rogers

The Marriott’s opened their first business, an A&W franchise in Washington DC, in 1927. Later, hot food was introduced and the term “Hot Shoppe” was adopted, in time other locations were added. The following story is told by Bill Marriott Jr.

“Back in the heyday of Hot Shoppes, the daily menu had more then 300 items on it. My Father insisted that every selection be available--and fresh--at all times. Naturally, this is virtually impossible in the restaurant business, but Dad would not hear otherwise. If he went into a Hot Shoppe and they were out of something, he’d raise the roof. After a few such instances, the managers took matters into their own hands. When my Dad showed up at a shop and ordered something that was not available, the kitchen would call the next nearest Hot Shoppe to see if they had it. If they did, runners from the two restaurants would meet in the middle to rush the order back to my unsuspecting father”.

In 1929 Hot Shoppes Inc. was formed and Marriott stepped into the airline catering business. Following several years of growth, in 1955 Marriott opened their first motor hotel beginning the enterprise that exists now. Over the years there have been hurdles, division of product lines, the buying of new companies and selling of less profitable ones. They even took a shot at theme parks with a Marriott’s Great America Park in Illinois and one in Santa Clara, CA. but eventually the parks were bought by Paramount. Marriott took some time testing the waters in other businesses but eventually decided to stick with those things that it does best. Regarding sales, Bill Marriott says

“what we’re really selling is our expertise in managing the process that makes those sales possible. And that expertise rests firmly on our mastery of thousands of operational details.”

Initially Marriott owned most of its hotels and earned a solid reputation for smooth operations and exceptional service. Marriott now focuses on hotel branding and management with many properties being owned independently. The book I read is several years old but as of the late 80’s Marriott managed 7% of all hotel rooms in north America and 2% in the world, however, Marriott owned just 1 in 10 of those rooms. There has obviously been incredible growth since then. The percentage of hotel rooms managed by Marriott has grown significantly, and there has certainly been an increase in the number of properties that they own.

Marriott does a phenomenal job with the aspects in Baldrige category 5, which is titled “Workforce Focus”.

“As important as companywide recognition programs are, it’s even more critical to make associate appreciation a daily, ongoing, bone-deep philosophy”

- Bill Marriott Jr.

Large customer based operations, like hotels, have very large support operations that go on behind the scenes, Marriott refers to the location of this support as “the heart of the house”.

“Every Marriott property has its own way of thanking and recognizing associates, but one of my favorites is the Hospitality Gold Star program at one of our vacation resorts. Each week, three guests are selected at random and asked to identify the Marriott associate who has been most helpful during their stay. Each guest receives a beach towel as a gift for helping out. The associates who are identified by the guests receive a monetary award, plus gold stars to wear on their uniforms. Simple enough, right? But there’s a twist. The three winning associates are then asked to identify three associates in the heart of the house who have been most helpful to them during the week. That trio of associates likewise receives monetary awards and gold stars. Why the second round of awards? The GM at the property knows that the folks on the front lines could not do their jobs and win guest plaudits and gold stars without the support of the people working behind the scenes. The second three awards make sure that heart of the house contributions don’t go unrecognized or unrewarded simply because they’re invisible to most guests”

The description of the “Hospitality Gold Star Program” exemplifies the overall message of this book. The sprit to serve is not just about serving customers, it also includes a critical element of positive leadership, serving those who serve the customers.

   

Jeff Wright

ref: The Spirit to Serve – Marriott’s Way

J.W. Marriott, Jr., and Kathi Ann Brown
Marriott's Way PDF

The Goose V

When you see geese flying in a “V formation, you might be interested in knowing what scientists have discovered about why they fly that way. It’s been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in “V” formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range then if each bird flew on its own.

Basic Truth #1: Like geese, people who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling using the power of one another.

Whenever a goose falls out of formation it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.

Basic Truth #2: There is strength and power in numbers when traveling in the same direction as others with whom we share a common goal. Those elements that help guide our direction don’t do any good unless they are communicated. Communication is not just putting information out, it’s about facilitating and ensuring that the information is heard and understood.

When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates to the back of the “V” formation and another goose flies point.

Basic Truth #3: It pays to take turns doing hard jobs – with people or with geese flying. In order to truly help and support our co-workers, it’s important to understand their function and responsibility. Some of the more specific skills and abilities may not be common to all team members but some are and the values that guide our direction are. Become curious about other functions within your office and the organization. Learn things that will enable you to help others fly.

 

The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Basic Truth #4: Those who are exercising leadership need to be remembered with our active support and praise. Recognition is not just for those that are following. Encourage from behind. Let our leaders know that their efforts are appreciated. Encourage all that are helping us to keep up the speed because at some point it’s going to be our turn and we might need that encouragement ourselves.

Achieve Your Goals

Make this the time that your organizational plans and personal dreams come true! Setting realistic, measurable goals will help you achieve these things. Not sure how to start? Here are some tips to set achievable goals.

Think Big

Based on a vision of the future or an overall objective, what is one thing that would improve your life or the organization’s effectiveness dramatically? Whether it pertains to getting healthy, ridding yourself of debt or improving organizational performance, think of one key thing that would give the biggest boost and then make that your goal.

Analyze habits and behaviors

Organizations and people have bad habits and behaviors; don’t let them sabotage hard work. Once you’ve thought of a goal, ask yourself these questions:

• What current habits or behaviors will help reach the goal?

• What current habits or behaviors will impede efforts?

For example, if your goal is to run a marathon and you’re already running or working out a few times a week, your current fitness habits will help you reach your goal. However, if the last time you ran was during an elementary school field day, you’ll have to make running a habit so that you can achieve your goal.

Write it down

A goal not written down is only a wish. Many studies have taken place showing that writing down a goal improves the chances of achieving it.

• Be specific. The more specific the goal the better. Instead of saying “I will lose weight”, say “I will lose 20 pounds and drop two pants sizes”
• Document indicators. How will you know that you are making progress toward the goal? For organizational goals, this is the measurement piece.

Break it down

Sports fans should be able to understand that there are several things that happen in order to reach a goal. For instance, in football the overall objective and vision may be to win the game but those yellow posts in the end zones are the goal. To reach it plays are executed that move us closer to the goal one down at a time. A play takes performing little tasks that all combine over time to successful execution.

Seek out support

Especially with personal goals, remember that you don’t have to do this on your own. You certainly should not be the only one to know about your goal and efforts. Sharing your goals with someone else can be motivating and add an element of accountability. There are likely people around you who can play a significant part in helping you achieve your goals. Returning to the sports analogy, for both personal and organizational goals, there might be other players on your team that can give an assist.

Jeff Wright

Organizational Performance Consultant

Achieve your goals