Cousu Main at Full Speed

The Annual Cousu Main Celebration is anchored on enhancing a

In line with the objective of the annual Cousu Main celebration

culture of service among our ambassadors - a brand of service

which started in 2013, this year’s activities gave our

that is distinctively Sofitel. It takes a lot of determination to

ambassadors the chance to feel what the guest will feel if such

uphold our service culture and by organizing a yearly celebration

brand of service was afforded to them. It was an opportune time

across the hotel; we aspire to reinforce Cousu Main.

We hope

that ambassadors had the prospects of Sharing, Encouraging,

that our ambassadors have a deeper understanding of what

Motivating and Inspiring their fellow ambassadors on the

it is all about and in the end cultivate a unique and valuable

philosophy of Cousu Main in a fun-packed month of friendly

experience thus improving our guests’ emotional loyalty to our

competition. For one to understand the purpose of Cousu Main,

Hotel.

one must first feel and experience what is it all about.

This year’s theme is “Cousu Main at Full Speed”, a month long activity with different challenges each week wherein the 11 teams performed during the prescribed week. The weekly friendly games mainly focused on the 4 elements of Cousu Main: (1) Open your heart; (2) Serve from your heart; (3) Create emotions; and (4) Inspire others, all geared towards getting ready for Cousu Main Day last April 15, 2015.

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WEEK ONE CHALLENGE: OPEN YOUR HEART (MARCH 23 TO MARCH 29) Cousu Main at Full Speed opened to an exciting week with three challenges of varying difficulty wherein the teams had the option to accomplish all of them in order to get the full 35 points or settle for a lesser score.

As the challenges revolved around “Open your Heart”, the teams took photos with a red heart during their briefing wherein they were tasked to share a Cousu Main story in order to get 5 points. From donning a heart-shaped mask, enclosing themselves inside a cage shape like a heart to top view shot of the team formed in a heart with some wearing red shirts, the toughest part of the week was how to invite three Excom members to join them during this photo shoot for the much coveted 20 points. This week’s challenges made Sofitel Manila’s General Manager, Mr. Adam Laker, the most sought-after and photographed personality of the Hotel.

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GENERAL STAFF ASSEMBLY – COUSU MAIN DAY (April 15, 2015) The culmination of the month-long activities was held last April 15, 2015 at the Hotel’s Mindanao ballroom which was attended by a great number of ambassadors all eager to waive the checkered flag as they wait for the announcement of the Cousu Main at Full Speed top team finisher. The event coincided with the monthly Ambassador Communique wherein outstanding ambassadors for the month of March were acknowledged and awarded the Model Ambassador trophy. The best Cousu Main story shared during the first week of the Cousu Main at Full Speed event was also recognized, all of these geared toward the fourth element of Cousu Main – “Inspire Others”.

Two teams finished on the top spot, Spa/Vietura and Accounting/GM’s office. In order to break the tie, both teams were asked to send two representatives for a tie-breaking game. Earlier during the program, Mr. Laker discussed about Cousu Main, its history, meaning and elements. Three tie breaking questions were taken from the GM’s speech to test the team’s attention to detail which is an important component in creating a Cousu Main experience. After three rounds of Q&A, Spa and Vietura came out as the winner by answering two of the three questions. Housekeeping and Laundry took the third prize, Accounting and GM’s Office as second placer and both teams were presented a trophy. The Spa and Vietura team was announced as the Cousu Main at Full Speed top finisher and was awarded a trophy and a check worth PhP10,000.

The event was capped with a sumptuous meal which everyone in attendance enjoyed while watching the replay of the videos of the flash mobs and music videos of different birthday songs.

2 WEEK TWO CHALLENGE: SERVE FROM YOUR HEART (MARCH 30 TO APRIL 5) The second week of the event was a test of the teams’ resourcefulness and creativity. In order to gain 5 points, teams must greet a guest who is celebrating his/her birthday during that particular week with red heart-shaped balloons.

For an additional 10 points, they must create a personalized birthday card for a colleague from another department celebrating his/her birthday during the week of March 30 to April 5. Like in any other car race, the teams were met with a speed bump: these tasks were not to be conveyed to the same guest or colleague!

The announcement of the speed bump spurred the teams to a mad rush to find and get to the guests and their colleagues first in order to secure the needed points and avoid the speed bump. True to the event’s theme, guests and ambassadors alike were made to understand Sofitel’s Cousu Main service when they were treated with the birthday surprise by making them feel and experience Cousu Main first hand.

Another leg of the second week challenge puts one of Accor values – Imagination – in action which will merit each team 20 points. With the team’s ingenuity, they were tasked to compose a 45-second original birthday song which must be sung by at least 5 ambassadors. Most of the team were able to submit their lyrics and videos, but one team has taken the challenge to another level with an alloriginal rap version birthday song coupled with a music video starred by the team’s young bloods.

3 WEEK THREE CHALLENGE: CREATE EMOTIONS (April 6 to April 12) As the race draws near to the finish line with some teams battling neck-to-neck for the top spot, week three challenge which focused on “creating emotions” offered the competing teams with the opportunity for fun, building camaraderie with other department and display of talent.

For the initial 5 points, the teams were tasked to make a group selfie with their Division Head and managers from the team. The group selfie must include at least 8 ambassadors and the photo must be posted and shared on Sofitel Manila’s Magnifique Facebook page.

To earn an additional 10 points, teams were charged to prepare a simple snack for 20 ambassadors from another department. From squid balls with heirloom recipe sauce, meals served on banana leaves to simple “merienda” offered during afternoon breaks, the different groups had the chance to bond and share a light moment with their fellow ambassadors.

Latin beat and modern upbeat music became a trend in Le Bistro as teams do their respective flash mob that earned them 20 points. Ambassadors having their meals at Le Bistro were caught by surprise by the sudden and unexpected performances of staff that pretended either taking their meals or just passing by the cafeteria. The showcase of dance talent was highly received and made the staff feel as if it was their annual dinner dance event already with the level of performance displayed by each team.

It was also during this week that the teams were given the chance to boost their scores in a real kart circuit race track. Each team was asked to field in their 2 fastest drivers to compete at the kart circuit that will provide an additional 30 points if they register the fastest circuit time. An extra 10 points was offered to the driver who can beat the GM’s best time. Mr. Eric Norbert from the Le Bar team registered the fastest circuit time but it was a few ticks short from beating Mr. Laker’s fastest time.

VOICE OF THE GUEST Recently, Accor has launched the system called Voice of the Guest.

How can we have a better Voice of the Guest?

From Medallia (Guest Satisfaction Survey), we have become bigger and better. Through this site we would get to hear voices

Keeping the Basics Right is the first step in making sure that

from different sources, including social media and travel agency

guests are satisfied and we get better scores in VOG.

bookers, not just from in-house guest surveys.

In addition, for every positive feedback we get from in-house What is Voice of the Guest?

guests, let us ensure that their details in Opera are complete so that they will receive the survey. And if we receive negative

It measures how many guests are EXTREMELY SATISFIED with

feedback, try to win back the guest and inform your immediate

their experience in our property. But like any number, it would

superior.

not make sense unless there are words in the voice, which is why VOG collects all reviews in our property both online and

Cousu-Main or tailor fit service sets us apart from other hotels.

offline. These feedbacks are reviewed and analyzed for the

We often define it as service from the heart and this kind of

improvement of our services. We cannot please all, but we can

service moves a passive guest to a promoter, a satisfied guest to

always make our hotel a pleasing one.

EXTREMELY SATISFIED and a staycation to a Magnifique journey!

Creating a Cousu Main experience will ensure a positive Voice of

Why did we change to Voice of the Guest?

Social Media has high influence on building a relationship with our guest and potential clients. Based on Nielsen survey, 92% of all consumers trust reviews written by their friends, 87% of users agree that TripAdvisor “help me feel more confident in my decisions� and 68% of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad scores. It is undeniable that social media plays a big role in giving feedback about our hotel and we want to use those feedbacks to our advantage.

the Guest.

Sébastien Bazin’s

MESSAGE

“To encourage compliance with the most

demanding ethical principles and reaffirm its commitments formalized in the 1990s, Accor has now expanded its “Management Ethics Guide” published in 2009 to prepare the new “Ethics and corporate social responsibility charter”. (…)

Our employees are the primary ambassadors of our values and respect for our commitments, whose related action principles are described below.”

THE NEW ACCOR ETHICS & CSR CHARTER Accor being the leading hotel operator in the world is committed

in their respective areas. Each ambassador must be aware of

in ensuring that its hotels operate in high levels of moral

our values, our code of conduct and this charter that will serve

standards and business ethics. Since 1990, the company has

as our guide in conducting our business ethically, diligently

established ethical commitments to protect its reputation. With

and with transparency. The charter also defines the Group’s

the group’s progress over the years and a much competitive

environmental stewardship and community development.

business environment, the company’s Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) charter was updated. To promote its

Keep yourself informed. A copy of the Ethics and CSR charter is

long-term development and secure its future, Accor, through the

available with your department heads.

updated Ethics and CSR charter emphasized the importance of being exemplary in its actions and behaviors in all its business dealings.

To ensure that all of Accor’s ambassadors embrace the same principles, an information session with Hotel leaders was organized.

Our Executive Committee and Department Heads

attended a 2-hour training to understand the updated Ethics and CSR charter that describes issues on sexual harassment, discrimination, confidentiality, anti-trust, misuse of company property, corruption, fraud, to name a few. Our Hotel leaders are committed to observe the charter and ensure its implementation