In partnership with Bliss Hotels 24


GEORGIAN HOUSE In a nutshell A privately owned, luxury B&B hotel


Location St George’s Drive, London SW1 Employees 49 Average staff turnover 18% Annual sales turnover £2.8m


Georgian House


Hotel Southport. To keep employees onside and informed, Bliss recruited a team of eight change champions from all departments to attend regular meetings on issues such as new systems, culture, and so on. This groundforce kicked off with a brain- storming session in February to draw up a new mission and vision statement that employees could buy into. They then share the ongoing changes with their colleagues, rather than policies being dictated from the top. Last October also saw implementation of


the Workplace by Facebook tool to facilitate communication across shifts and depart- ments. Regular monitoring shows a promis- ing 92% of employees use it every week to, for instance, send messages after a shift. A quick peek reveals comments such as “Thank you Barbara and Tomas for your support today”. Recruitment of locals is a priority, and to prevent talent from disappearing off to the bright lights of Liverpool and Manchester, the company has launched an online BlissLife webpage to highlight what’s on offer to Bliss employees – an ice-skating night is just one example. The page is also linked to internal job advertisements and has prompted a num- ber of job enquiries. Bliss Hotels may be new, but 62% of its Best Place to Work respondents would “always” recommend this hotel as a good place to work – well above the 47% benchmark.


23


THE AMPERSAND HOTEL In a nutshell A chic privately owned, 111-bedroom hotel, opened in 2012


Location Harrington Road, London Employees 60-65 Average staff turnover 4-5% (or less) a month Annual sales turnover £9m


From the moment this beautifully designed luxury hotel opened, general manager Roberto Pajaras has put significant emphasis on creat- ing an “own and deliver” culture. He explains:


www.thecaterer.com


“With guest satisfaction at the Ampersand’s heart and the freedom to make decisions and gets things done… it’s what our customers say about us that really counts.”


This is a positive work environment – one in


five recruits are recommended through refer- rals from other members of the team. “We have a hands-on approach to everything we do, which clearly works for us,” says HR direc- tor Bushra Masood, “and our people are what makes this a truly nice place to work.” There is certainly tangible evidence that staff are very well treated. Not only are they treated to shoulder and back massages from professionals to keep stress at bay, but last year the health and wellbeing programme was expanded to include chiropody sessions to help staff to relax at the end of a long shift. This employer believes it’s the small things that make the most difference. That’s why staff are also able to take the day off on their birth- day to spend with friends and family. No wonder employees really want to do a good job here, with 84% of respondents (against a Best Places to Work benchmark of 76%) showing their commitment, and more than 90% feeling well treated by the company.


The Ampersand


Since taking over in 1987, Serena von der Heyde has transformed a two-star, 28-bed- room guest house into a 63-bedroom boutique B&B with a five-star guest accommodation award from Visit England. To do that as successfully as she has, she has constantly invested in motivating her team. Last year, she introduced an employee benefits service to make it easier to reward and moti- vate staff. In previous years, she set up a staff committee to give the team ownership of staff welfare and events as well as to ease commu- nication between staff and management. This is clearly working, as 89% of Georgian House respondents to the Best Places to Work survey say there is great two-way communication – a notable result for this category.


Always looking for ways to improve staff


welfare, the business has this year introduced Hospitality Action’s employee assistance programme to provide the team with further support and advice on health, wellbeing and personal challenges. General manager Adam Rowledge reports:


“We have had a positive reaction to the programme, and the advice and information provided by it has encouraged many of the team to adopt a healthier lifestyle.” Clearly staff don’t feel burned out, either, with good work-life balance scoring 92%, well above the 68% benchmark. “They are very good with my flexible hours, and they care,” says one employee.


25


ST ERMIN’S HOTEL In a nutshell A 331-bed property, part of the Autograph


Collection – Marriott International’s portfolio of upscale, independent hotels Location Westminster, London Employees 186 Average staff turnover 46% (down from 52%) Annual sales turnover £26m


St Ermin’s has a small team of experienced senior managers, so when director of people and development Simon Evans joined the hotel last year, he set out to nurture a complemen- tary level of expertise among junior managers. “Our supervisors are impacting our team


27 April 2018 | The Caterer | 45


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