Business Management Skills

As I work with managers who want to develop a workplace environment that fosters loyalty in the staff and great service for the customer, I usually start by visiting with various members of the team. When I ask each person how they like working there, one of the top answers is usually along the lines of: “Its okay” or “I don’t mind it much”. As I begin to dig deeper I usually find that most people are in their jobs to simply avoid pain. They chose their job because of the benefits package, retirement plan, etc. So, they view their job as something they “have to do” to get the paycheck and associated benefits. They are working because they have to and not because they want to. They do not understand their importance in the overall scheme of things and they’re unable to reconcile their true value with the larger picture.

Your attitude towards your work is tied largely to how you perceive the importance of what you do. If you are not looking past the immediate tasks at hand, you will never (and I do mean never) find true purpose in your work. If, however, you allow yourself to gain perspective on how you fit into the big picture, you will begin to add value to yourself and your company as well.

I once had an employee (I’ll call her Susan) who had moved to our city, stayed in our hotel and eventually came to work for us. Our brand was known as a preferred option for folks who needed a place to stay for more than a few days, so we naturally attracted people who were relocating. Having spent several weeks as a customer, Susan had a very unique perspective on our operation. One day she approached me with the idea of allowing employees to “adopt” a relocating guest and become a personalized source of information and assistance. We implemented the program immediately and it was a roaring success! But here’s the bonus: this program not only provided great service to the customer; it also added a feeling of importance and esteem for the employees. The staff members who participated in this program improved their performance, attitude and general sense of accomplishment because they were able to recognize the importance of their position in the overall scheme of things. Susan revolutionized the way we approached our business by operating in her natural strengths: a fresh perspective that the rest of us were blind to and her sensitivity to the needs of families moving to the area.

There are talented people with unique perspectives in every business. Unfortunately, these valuable resources often go untapped. The best managers are those who hire the right people for the right job, based on their individual strengths, and then allow them to exercise those strengths for the good of the organization. The true test of a secure, well grounded manager is when they can hire someone who is stronger than they are in a certain area, and feel confident in their ability to let that person shine.

By Craig Kitch

Craig KitchLevel: BasicCraig began his professional life as a broadcaster, where he learned the power of the spoken word. He took those skills with him into the …

Craig Kitch works with managers to reduce conflict and improve communication so that everyone can stay focused on their jobs. He began his professional life as a broadcaster, where he learned the power of the spoken word. He took those skills with him into the hospitality industry where he had a very successful career for over 20 years. Working in management, Craig developed the skills necessary to pull teams of people together and lead them to accomplish ambitious goals. He eventually became a “turn around specialist”, using those skills to remedy problematic properties.

Today Craig runs his own business, Kitch and Associates, and is dedicated to improving the lives of managers. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Nashville Hotel and Lodging Association and he is President of the National Speakers Association for the State of Tennessee.

For more information go to http://www.CraigKitch.com or call 615-378-0120.

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