Washington Hospitality Magazine August 2018

WA S H I N GTO N

August 2018

MAPPING YOUR FUTURE Why You Need Strategic Planning Passing Down Your Family Business Interview with “No Vacancies” Host Glenn Haussman

Washington Hospitality Association 510 Plum Street SE Olympia, WA 98501-1587

August 2018 │ 1

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EDITORIAL STAFF Publisher, Anthony Anton Executive Editor, Lex Nepomuceno Editor-in-Chief, Marianne Scholl Art Director, Lisa Ellefson Managing Editor, Morgan Huether Copy Editor, Paul Schlienz Contributing Editors: Andy Cook, David Faro, Jillian Henze, Sheryl Jackson, Lisa Leinberger and Nicole Vukonich

Inside

August 2018

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Chair: Frank Welton, Hilton Worldwide Vice Chair: Chad Mackay, Fire & Vine Hospitality EXECUTIVE TEAM President and CEO, Anthony Anton Vice President, Teran Haase CFO, Darin Johnson Senior Director of Communications & Technology, Lex Nepomuceno Director of Local Government Affairs, John Lane Director of State Government Affairs, Julia Gorton Director of Membership, Steven Sweeney Education Foundation, Naja Hogander Incubation Senior Manager, Ken Wells Benefit Programs and Events Senior Manager, Victoria Olson

510 Plum St. SE Olympia, WA 98501-1587 T 360.956.7279 | F 360.357.9232 wahospitality.org

Features 14

Strategic Planning: What It Is and Why It Matters

18

Restaurant Success: Our Talk with Tami Kennedy

20

Talking Lodging with Glenn Haussman

22

Succession Planning for Family-owned Restaurants and Hotels

24

Our Members’ Top Challenges

26

Tips for Attracting Employees

In Every Issue 6

President and CEO

Letters are welcomed, but must be signed to be considered for publication. Please include contact information for verification.

8

News Briefs

Reproduction of articles appearing in Washington Hospitality Magazine are authorized for personal use only, with credit given to Washington Hospitality Magazine and/or the Washington Hospitality Association.

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Association News

10

Local GA Update

12

State GA Update

29

Calendar and New Members

30

Ask the Expert

Articles written by outside authors do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Washington Hospitality Association, its Boards of Directors, staff or members.

Products and services advertised in Washington Hospitality Magazine are not necessarily endorsed by the Washington Hospitality Association, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Washington Hospitality Association, its Boards of Directors, staff or members.

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Andy Cook

360.956.7279 andyc@wahospitality.org Washington Hospitality Magazine is published monthly for members. We welcome your comments and suggestions. email: news@wahospitality.org, phone: 800.225.7166.

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President and CEO

Strategic Planning: Start with the End in Mind

Your business needs your strategic thought now more than ever. In May, I started encouraging members to move from being the firefighter of your business to being the fire chief of your business.

Firefighters don’t prevent fires - they limit the negative.

Everything the firefighter does only impacts the present.

Examples of this include the front desk no-showed and your hotel needs to get the shift covered or the POS system just went down.

Putting out these immediate fires, while important, only patches today’s crisis. It doesn’t move your operations forward.

Everything the fire chief does impacts the performance of the department in a six-to-twelve-month window.

A fire chief spends the majority of his or her time identifying the upcoming risks and changes and finding strategic, conscious solutions that prevent the fire in the first place to lead to a better place for the organization.

Examples of this include purchasing scheduling software to limit the time spent dealing with scheduling fires or preparing your business to integrate with the gig economy.

If you haven’t already, now it’s time to get in fire chief mode. Delegating your firefighting duties to team members you trust will free you up to make time for strategic planning.

For successful planning, start with the end in mind: Set a goal.

Focus on the core challenge that affects or threatens your business. At the end of the day, there truly is a singular, most-important thing to your business.

Hotels may be focused on RevPar. Restaurants may be focused on labor costs. At the Washington Hospitality Association, we’re focused on delivering wins for our industry.

What’s the one thing you’re trying to accomplish? Is it the art of the plate? Increasing the value of the property?

Protecting the margin? Having enough money to put the kids through college? Creating a legacy for others to follow?

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With that nailed down, figure out what success would look like and how to track it.

One of the things the industry taught me early on is that everything is measurable.

Anthony Anton President & CEO

Years ago, I attended a leadership team meeting for a regional family restaurant chain. Its business goal was to decrease the time from order to food on the table.

Customers didn’t want to wait half an hour for food while kids were fidgeting.

The business hired a computer programmer to work with the restaurant’s systems. Measurement was a key to success. The business tracked when people sat down at the table to when they got food. Goal times were set to reduce food arrival by five minutes. Success was realized through close tracking.

I’ve heard a similar story on the lodging side. Six months of the year at a Washington property, the occupancy rate was fantastic. The two other quarters were weak by comparison. The team sought to boost an additional quarter’s occupancy rate but not at the expense of the high-performing quarters. Ideas were collected from every department with that single goal in mind. Success was realized when everyone knew the goal they were shooting for.

Here at the Association, we are setting goals and pushing for them until we can look in the rearview mirror and say, “Of course we did that.”

It is in our industry’s nature to find solutions to problems facing guests, team members and our communities.

Having clear goals and measurements in place allows plans, actions, creativity and inspiration to flow.

Determine exactly what your target is so your plan has clarity and a chance to succeed.

Start with the end in mind. Set a singular goal this year and identify three key metrics to focus on to make it happen.

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Primary Source of Information | News Briefs

Starbucks and McDonald’s team up to find recyclable and compostable cup The world’s two largest food and beverage companies are joining forces in backing an effort to develop a global recyclable and/or compostable cup solution.

McDonald’s and Starbucks are backing the NextGen Cup Challenge which launches in September and will invite innovators, entrepreneurs, industry experts, and recyclers to submit their ideas for the next generation of recyclable and/or compostable cups.

Tariffs on Chinese agricultural goods likely to impact restaurants In July, the Trump administration announced plans to impose a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in Chinese imports. This comes on top of a 25 percent tariff that has already been placed on $34 billion in goods and planned tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods.

The list of goods that already are or will be subject to tariffs includes many agricultural goods and products that would affect the hospitality industry, including seafood, meat, fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, lighting equipment and various metal inputs. A hearing on the $200 million products list will be held Aug. 20–23.

The National Restaurant Association is working to encourage Congress and the administration to negotiate trade agreements that mutually benefit all parties and avoid creating uncertainty in international and domestic markets.

In a recent email to members, the NRA stated “We believe that American trade law must be enforced, but the administration’s latest tariff proposal, and potential retaliatory actions from China, could further escalate a trade war between the United States and China that will have far-reaching impacts on our nation’s restaurants and the millions of customers they serve.”

For more information, please contact Laura Abshire, NRA’s director of food and sustainability policy, at labshire@Restaurant.org.

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Awardees will receive acceleration funding up to $1 million based on key milestones. Up to seven of the awardees will enter a six-month accelerator program to help scale their solutions.

NextGen is considered a critical step in the development of a global end-to-end solution that will potentially allow the 600 billion cups globally to be diverted from landfills and given a second life.

It is being convened by Closed Loop Partners, an investment platform that invests in sustainable consumer goods, recycling and the development of the circular economy. McDonald’s has committed $5 million to the effort, bringing the total funds dedicated to the Challenge to $10 million.

Both McDonald’s and Starbucks are already leaders in adopting sustainable practices. In July, Starbucks announced it will eliminate plastic straws globally by 2010. In January, McDonald’s announced that 100 percent of its packaging come from renewable, recycled, or certified sources by 2025.

It has also set a goal of recycling guest packaging in 100 percent of McDonald’s restaurants by 2025. In addition, McDonald’s has been working on sustainability initiatives related to fish, chicken and greenhouse gas emissions.

For more details on the NextGen Challenge or the partnership, visit www.nextgencup.com.

Primary Source of Information | Association News

Association’s Convention expands beyond lodging to all hospitality Washington Hospitality Association has carried on the tradition of an annual lodging convention since the Washington Lodging Association and the Washington Restaurant Association joined forces in 2016. This year, that convention is expanding to meet the information and training needs of the entire hospitality industry and all members are invited and encouraged to attend.

Anthony Anton, Washington Hospitality members appointed to Tourism Marketing Authority Board In July, Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Washington Hospitality Association President & CEO Anthony Anton to the new nine-member Washington Tourism Marketing Authority Board along with Association members Vijay Patel of A1 Hospitality, Tiffany Turner of Adrift Hotels, Inc., and Jodi Kayler of the Spokane Sports Commission.

The Washington Hospitality Convention takes place Nov. 11–13 at the beautiful new Hyatt Regency Lake Washington at Seattle’s Southport. Putting the people, process and procedures in place will be the focus, and keynote and breakout sessions will bring value to hoteliers, restaurateurs and other hospitality industry professionals.

After the state tourism office closed its doors in 2011 due to a lack of funding, a multi-year effort was launched by stakeholders and the hospitality industry to bring funding back to marketing Washington state to tourists. This year, legislation reinvesting in a statewide tourism marketing program was passed unanimously in the Legislature and signed by the Governor in March.

“Our members, especially hotels, told us that they wanted all of hospitality at the table, so this year we have built a great program full of speakers and workshops that addresses concerns at every level of the industry. You bet restaurants are invited!” said Ken Wells, the Association’s senior programs development manager.

Nominations from the tourism industry for the ninemember board were given to the Governor by the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House in the spring. Each nominee needed to have experience in the tourism industry and represent a distinct geographic area of the state.

Register at www.wahospitalityconvention.com

“It is an honor to be selected for the Washington Tourism Marketing Authority Board, which will oversee a new fund to promote tourism in Washington state,” said Anton. “It is in the hospitality industry’s nature to find solutions to problems facing our communities. This fund will generate beneficial economic development, a chance to prove the benefits of tourism in rural and economically distressed regions of Washington and generate tax dollars from outof-state interests to fund other state priorities. I’m proud to be part of this win.”

Golf Tournament tickets moving fast Golf FORE! Education is our annual golf tournament that supports the Washington Hospitality Association Education Foundation and takes place this year on Sept. 11.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Golf FORE! Education will again be held at the Washington National Golf Club, the course where the UW golf team practices, and features great games, food trucks, prizes and a delicious dinner.

Registration is open now and tickets are going fast. Don’t miss out on the fun.

Visit golf.wahospitality.org to register and for more specific details.

The new board members will serve four-year terms effective immediately with the option to be re-appointed at the end of their term. The Washington Tourism Marketing Authority Board will be housed within the state Department of Commerce.

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Government Affairs | Local GA Update officials and engages members like you in the process. When appropriate, the LGA Team or members provide testimony.

HOW IT WORKS: Short-term rental legislation, for example, is an issue our hotel members have identified as a priority. When local municipalities address this issue, our team is engaged in the debate.

Our strategic focus on local issues

Your Washington Hospitality Association Local Government Affairs Team works hard to stay connected in communities across the state. Members like you helped guide the Association’s decision to focus more of our efforts at the local level, and we now have an entire government affairs team dedicated to local issues.

In many regions, we have delivered testimony, worked with hoteliers who wanted to participate in the discussion and offered guidance when possible. This resulted in wins in Seattle, Walla Walla and elsewhere where a variety of local ordinances now ensure guest safety, levy applicable taxes and have reduced the number of commercial operators running illegal hotels. Discussions are still in progress at varying stages in Tacoma, Spokane, Bellingham, College Place, Chelan County, Clallam County and Walla Walla County.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: You can help our team deliver wins by reaching out if you hear about something that will impact our industry. If there is an issue our team should know about, here is who to contact:

OUR STRATEGY: Our LGA Team members listen to you on what issues to pursue at the local level. They also build relationships with city and county councils to keep a close eye on possible regulations that could impact the hospitality industry.

Director of Local GA – John Lane at johnl@wahospitality.org

When the team hears through those council connections or from engaged members about new policies that matter to our industry, we take action. The team gathers information, develops talking points, meets with elected

Western Washington – Joe Bushnell at joeb@wahospitality.org

Seattle/King County – Anna Boone at annab@wahospitality.org

Eastern Washington – Tobby Hatley at tobbyh@wahospitality.org

SHA annual golf tournament raises money for education

The Seattle Hotel Association will hold its annual golf tournament and fundraiser on Aug. 29 at The Golf Club at Newcastle in Auburn. The tournament supports the Chief Sealth International High School’s Academy of Hospitality & Tourism, in association with Seattle Academies Foundation.

Many SHA members are actively engaged in the academy, which connects high school students with the world of hospitality and tourism and offers a curriculum that covers travel, tourism, marketing, entertainment, entrepreneurship, culinary arts, sports and event management and customer service, among other topics.

Help support SHA’s efforts and hospitality education by registering a twosome or a foursome for the tournament. Hotel managers, executive staff, Seattle Hotel Association board members, hospitality and tourism industry members, and destination and city organizers are invited to attend. Sponsorship opportunities are also still available. Register today at seattlehotelassociation.org. For more information or sponsorship inquiries, email Chris Tudor at chris@tudorholdingsllc.com.

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Sept. 11, 2018 SIGN UP: GOLf.WAhospitality.org

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Government Affairs | State GA Update A Plan for All Seasons Strategic planning, or mapping the next moves, is a specialty of the State Government Affairs Team. The ability to think ahead, anticipate changes and propose solutions to problems are some of the skills that make it successful and able to deliver wins for the hospitality industry and Washington Hospitality Association members.

Like many hospitality businesses, the State Government Affairs Team has a high season. That busy season is during Washington’s legislative session, which kicks off in January and lasts into the spring or some years into early summer.

Every three years, the State Government Affairs Team comes up with a long-range plan that serves as the roadmap for the team. It also acts as the barometer to measure progress every quarter. While the State Government Affairs Team may deviate slightly from the anticipated activities depending on the issues at stake, there is a State Government Affairs plan for all seasons.

Summer This is the time of year when the State Government Affairs team is busy working with stakeholders and agencies who are engaged in rulemaking activities. Once a law is passed in the Legislature, there may be Washington Administrative Code (WAC) rules that need to be created to implement and achieve the original intent of the law. For example, this summer, the State GA team has been very involved in rulemaking for the implementation of the Paid Family & Medical Leave Act, which was a major win for hospitality when it was passed into law in 2017. Engaging in rulemaking is another way the State GA Team represents the hospitality industry. We are also busy building relationships with legislators and legislative candidates on their campaigns.

Fall During the fall, the focus shifts to regional meetings with members and updating the legislative priorities issues matrix. The issues matrix created by the Government Affairs Committee is what guides the State GA team during the legislative session. In the Fall, we travel across the state to meet with members for regional meetings.

In addition to continuing rulemaking activities, the state team also continues to meet with legislators and legislative campaigns. The general elections in November are very important because they determine the makeup of the next Legislature.

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Winter The winter begins with a very busy December as elections are finalized and preparations for the January legislative session, and the Association’s Hill Climb, go into full swing.

When the legislative session opens on the second Monday in January, the high season begins. Later in the month we host Hill Climb and members gather in Olympia to meet with their legislators to talk about our industry’s legislative priorities. This event is a critical part of how we secure legislative victories during the session. (Keep Jan. 28, 2019, open for next year’s Hill Climb!)

The State GA Team is on the Hill nearly all day, every day during session testifying and tracking bills, creating changes, finding solutions and delivering wins for the industry. In odd-numbered years, the session is 105 days long, and in even years it is 60 days long. In some cases, the session can be extended by 30-day special sessions if the work of the Legislature is not finished. In a long legislative session, the State Team’s high season will not wrap up until the end of April, if not later. In 2019 legislators will be busy creating a two-year budget for the state, and the session is expected to end at 105 days.

Spring When a legislative session ends, the rest of the spring is spent working on follow up from session, rulemaking activities, continuing relationship building with legislators, stakeholders and agencies, and meeting with candidates.

The filing deadline for legislative candidates in mid-May tells the State Team who will be running for office in each legislative district or for statewide positions. Spring then is also the season when the State GA Team schedules endorsement meetings with the candidates. The candidates and endorsements are presented to the Government Affairs Committee at the end of June. The summer is then in full swing, and the annual cycle of representing the hospitality industry and delivering wins on behalf of you, our members, begins again.

The activities outlined above represent a high-level overview of what the State GA Team works on through the year. Of course, we are engaged in a lot of other ways to deliver wins as the year advances. If you have any questions about any of the activities mentioned or would like to participate, please contact the State GA Team at 800.225.7166.

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What It Is and Why It Matters

By Paul Schlienz

Strategic planning.

We’ve all heard about it, but how many of us practice it or even really know what it means?

Much more than a buzzword, strategic planning is an important process that is useful for leaders of any organization they want to maintain and grow.

“You can’t get where you want to go unless you know where that is,” said Ann Farrell, organizational warrior, leadership coach and 35-year veteran of the hospitality industry. Her family has Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza in the South Puget Sound region and she runs her own firm, Align & Unify 2 Thrive.

According to authors James Mintzberg and James B. Quinn, strategic planning is a process through which organizations define their strategy or direction, leading to decisions to allocate the organization’s resources in the interest of pursuing that strategy. It may also extend to controlling mechanisms for guiding the implementation of the strategy.

Strategy, as they write in their 1996 classic “The Strategy Process: Concepts, Contexts, Cases,” generally involves setting goals and determining and describing how those goals will be achieved utilizing the resources at hand. An organization’s senior leadership generally determines strategy, which can either be planned or can emerge as an organization adapts to its environment or competition.

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“For me, strategic planning is taking that step back to look at how we can improve via both intended and emergent strategies,” said Brian Moreno, owner of a McDonald’s franchise in Othello.

Get started “Most restaurants aren’t doing strategic planning,” said restaurant consultant Kathy Chaffee Groff.

“Many smaller restaurants think you don’t need to go through the process, but it really is critical to have an annual plan.”

Her professional recommendation: Get together with your key people and discuss what you want to do next for two years with staffing and marketing. Ask questions like “Are we going to make changes to our restaurant concept?” or “What do you want to do with marketing?”

“Talk through each aspect of the business,” she said. “Nail down what you want to do.”

One of the first questions that comes to people’s minds when facing the prospect of strategic planning is how often key people in an organization should get together to plan.

“It depends on the size of your company,” said Groff.

“Corporations have five or 10-year plans. My recommendation is to have a planning session at least once a year. A mid-year assessment that takes half a day works well.”

But planning should not be just an annual event.

There should be regular check ins to evaluate how you are performing against the goals you’ve set. As Groff suggests, “Once you’ve set your goals, measures and parameters, stick with them. Identify key components and keep in touch with how they’re doing.”

This regular follow up will allow you to stay in touch with your numbers and your goals.

Moreno’s leadership team finds meeting quarterly is important to their success.

“Given the fast-changing landscape in hospitality, we’ve adopted quarterly leadership meetings inside our organization to evaluate our performance relative to longterm success measurements,” he said.

“This helps us get tactical and either make adjustments or reaffirm a course of action. We also have an annual meeting to look at long-term success measurements and the business plan with quarterly meetings to track performance or make adjustments.”

And it is also entirely acceptable to have even more frequent planning sessions if the circumstances demand it.

Others find more frequent check-ins critical.

“We have weekly meetings,” said Warren Beach, general manager at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Everett and vice president of SMI hospitality which has three hotels in western Washington. “It’s a constant, changing environment. Management looks at every week because the environment is so fluid and changing.”

Beach stresses the importance of data in strategic thinking.

“Be in touch with your data,” he said. “Engage with it

continually. Look daily at what needs to be done. It isn’t about what you’re set to do, it’s about the market. Do a broad analysis of strengths, opportunities and threats.”

Input Planning is impossible without gathering data and analyzing it, and there are numerous methods for finding the information you need to help you create a road map for your business.

“We use qualitative and quantitative data that is not only customer-facing, but also includes our internal customers and business objectives,” said Moreno. “We want to make sure that no single metric is evaluated in a vacuum but incorporates the holistic health of the entire organization.”

Hotelier Beach uses revenue reports from his company’s management team, STR reports that dial in on key performance metrics by region and travel reports.

“A lot of the data we use to develop our plans is in travel reports,” he said. “We ask each week where we fall. Did we get a 100 percent index on available rooms?”

Insight Strategic planning involves more than data and goal setting. It also involves taking a serious look at your organization to evaluate what is working, what challenges are coming and what isn’t working well and should be changed.

Often this information is gathered in day-long “SWOT” sessions where members of an organization review, often at a department level, evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

August 2018 │ 15

A variation on this is a “SOAR,” an acronym for strengths, opportunities, aspirations and results. Like a SWOT, a SOAR seeks to understand an organization’s whole system by including the voices of relevant stakeholders, but its focus is different.

According to Anne T. Coghlan, Hallie Preskill and Tessie Tzavaras Catsambas who developed the approach in 2003, it is an evaluation process that “inquires into, identifies, and further develops the best of what is in an organization in order to create a better future.”

All the planning in the world means absolutely nothing if you can’t get your staff on board.

“Share the information,” advises Groff.

“Your managers need to take it back to hourly staff. Measure goals weekly against your plan. Ask for staff’s input.

Getting the buy-in is sharing the vision.

Treat people as a team. It’s amazing how sharp your staff can be. Have everyone moving to the same vision.”

“We avoid top-down management and have embraced the Kaizen philosophy of leading from the front,” said Moreno. “We involve front-line team members in the process and make sure their perspectives are included when determining effective strategies.”

“SOAR gives an organization or department the opportunity to take a hard, constructive, critical look at itself,” said Farrell, who has facilitated SOAR sessions at organizations ranging from credit unions to the Port of Tacoma to the Washington Hospitality Association.

“Make sure you have the right people in place,” added Beach. “If they’re not totally engaged and just collecting a paycheck, it’s not going to work.

The best managers have great people around that they mentor. Avoid micromanagement.”

No matter what you do, get specific about your goals.

Moreno also urges business owners to educate themselves on strategic planning.

Buy-in So, you’ve gone through the process of strategic planning and have a great road map for your organization to follow. What now?

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PLANNING RESOURCES

Engaging the staff is key.

In other words, a SOAR is a more strength-based system than a SWOT, focusing on getting desired results rather than on identifying gaps within the organization. It is considered an “appreciative inquiry.”

“Having specific and measurable targets is key to tracking a plan’s success,” said Moreno.

“Without being able to compare numbers to plan, we would be in the dark as to whether our tactics were the right fit for the plan.”

STRATEGIC

“Become a student of strategic planning,” Moreno said.

“Michael Porter, who’s written extensively on strategic planning, points out that operational effectiveness is not inextricably tied to being great planners. It takes a different set of skills to look at the business from a high-level, incorporate front-line perspectives, and marry that information to data in order to set the path for your firm’s future.”

AMP Services, LLC Restaurant Accounting and Professional Services 206.596.7400 ampservices.com (See Rick Braa’s column on page 30.)

Ann Farrell, Organizational Warrior & Leadership Coach 253.226.9847 Ann.Farrell@alignunifythrive.com

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Restaurant Success:

Our Talk with Tami Kennedy

By Morgan Huether and Lisa Leinberger

Our team caught up with Tami Kennedy, general manager of the Spokane branch of Bargreen Ellingson Restaurant Supply, to hear her perspective on what it takes to succeed in today’s restaurant industry. Bargreen Ellingson is the eighth largest dealership and distributor of food service equipment and supplies in the country, and Kennedy was recognized last year by the company for her exemplary leadership.

Washington Hospitality: What do you enjoy about your job and working in the hospitality industry?

Tami Kennedy: The variety of different things I get to do each day. No two days feel the same, and there’s never an opportunity to get bored. I like helping people realize their dreams. I love doing design builds with independent restaurants that are creating a new location or second store or maybe it’s their first foray and I get the opportunity to educate them about what they’re really getting into.

W: What’s the hardest thing you do?

K: The hardest thing that I do is to sometimes have to tell people that they don’t have enough money to get into the industry. It’s really hard when somebody comes in with all these dreams and hopes and whatnot, but they just haven’t factored in all of the elements that come into play in order to have a successful restaurant.

W: What do you think is the most important thing business owners and operators should do to be successful?

K: They need to become masters of flexibility. The hospitality industry is ever-moving, and there’s lots of things that can go wrong. There’s lots of things that can go right.

There’s lots of opportunities that can be taken advantage of. There’s all kinds of different personalities involved, and

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a successful operator not only is good at being flexible, they enjoy the ever-changing dynamics of what the industry’s all about.

W: What technology trends in the restaurant industry are you most excited about?

K: I like the iPads coming in as the POS station and the POS mechanism. I think that there is unlimited possibility with those.

They can not only be used as an order entry point, they can be used by the customer as well as the operator. They’re a great tool for gathering data and they have a very small footprint. I think that the tablet technology coming in is a real asset to helping operators have a nicer environment that’s more customer-focused.

I think the way we’re designing restaurants now is more with an idea that there’s huge flexibility. We used to have layouts that were for this menu and pretty much this menu only, this many seats only, this many entrees prepared daily only and now we’re designing to have a scalable format with the possibility of Uber Eats pick ups and making sure we have space for an expanded to-go station.

Operators are getting very creative about making sure they can do more than just take care of the customers who come into the restaurant and sit down.

W: In your opinion, what are the emergent disruptors people should look out for in the restaurant and hospitality industry?

K: I think delivery services are disruptors. I also think that the meal-in-a-box services are having an impact. People are experimenting with the idea that they can cook more at home in a specialty way, and cooking is becoming more of a social event for everybody. The social side of eating has been largely held by restaurants, and now we’re seeing people thinking outside of the box and different ways to bring community together.

If restaurants in today’s market can capitalize on those changes and be forward-thinking about them, I think that they will increase their bottom line significantly. But if they stick their head in the sand and try to keep doing it the same way we’ve always done it, they’re going to have a real problem.

W: How do you keep your team happy and what are your go-to strategies for finding great new talent?

K: I believe that it’s a complete team approach. None of us can be successful unless all of us are successful.

I manage my branch with that being the first and foremost rule of thumb. We make decisions based on what’s going to make all of us successful. It’s not just my team, it’s my customers as well. The customer’s success is imperative to our success.

If we’re all forward-thinking about what we do every day, how we communicate and how we provide services, it’s going to benefit that customer. If we strive always to make sure that there is a benefit to the customer, then we’re naturally going to be successful. But recognizing that it takes every person in the building in one form or another to pull that off and to do it well is what keeps my team happy.

Probably the greatest assets I have to attract new talent is the satisfaction that my current team has with their jobs.

W: How can restaurants use data to improve their operations?

K: I think we’re seeing more and more use of data. Data just really came on the scene in the last few years. I think right now we have this data and we’re trying to decide the smartest way to use it to build a better, stronger business.

I think operators are sometimes challenged with applying the information data can give them to do just that. It’s great to have it, but knowing how to apply it sometimes can be challenging.

W: Have you seen anybody using data well?

K: I think there are some operators that apply it extremely well. We can look at what chains have done in the past.

They have had data a lot longer than your average mom and pop restaurant or independent operator. I think if we look to them for some examples, some wisdom on how to use it and how not to use it, it is probably going to be a good path for us. Even some of the smaller chains focus in on the data that’s available to them as they consider expansion or menu changes and things like that.

They’re pulling together all the information from all their operations to make better decisions and better choices going forward.

W: What retention strategies do your employees seem the most receptive to?

K: Education. We work really hard to keep all of our staff educated on the latest and greatest and on growing their skills and their knowledge of the trends in the industry and different products that are coming into the industry.

We also keep them well-connected, not only with the changes and the knowledge but also with the people who are instrumental in affecting those changes and putting out that knowledge. It’s all about building relationships.

We have to recognize that we’re working off of a threelegged stool – we have to take care of our manufacturers, we have to take care of our customers and we have to take care of our people. As long as all three of those legs are on the stool and given equal balance, things go well.

W: How do you receive feedback from your team members?

K: I have an open-door policy. They can call me 24/7, 365 if they have an issue or a problem. Our hours on the door may say 8-5, but internally we’re often on the phone as late as 10 or 11 o’clock at night working through whatever we need to work through to make sure the customer is taken care of.

Customers also call each individual sales person, the person with whom they have a relationship, at all times of the day and night. It’s about keeping the communication channels open and addressing situations, challenges, success, immediately.

This interview was shortened and edited for clarity.

August 2018 │ 19

Talking Lodging with Glenn Haussman

By Morgan Huether and Andy Cook

Glenn Haussman, lodging trends expert and host of the “No Vacancies” Podcast, pays close attention to what is happening in hospitality. Last year, he was the keynote speaker at the Washington Lodging Convention and he is regularly quoted in consumer publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post. We spoke to him about trends in the industry, emerging tech and what successful hoteliers all have in common.

Washington Hospitality: Give us an idea of your integration with the hospitality industry.

Glenn Haussman: I started in the hotel industry more than 20 years ago now, and it’s hard to admit that I’ve been around for that long. I started out on the journalism side and over time moved my way to more of the commentary side. I see myself now as more of the podcaster, keynote speaker and content creator than a journalist. It feels like I’ve been working side by side with (hospitality professionals) all these years.

W: What’s the hardest thing you do?

H: Honestly, I think the most difficult thing is keeping energy up constantly and always having to meet deadlines.

That can be challenging after a while. While it sounds like it’s a lot of fun, travelling all over the world and meeting new people and getting the chance to speak in front of audiences and interview amazing folks, it really does become exhausting after a while.

W: What does keeping your energy up look like for you?

What’s your strategy, especially when you’re customerfacing?

H: I think now it’s just more switchable. I can kind of turn it 20 │ wahospitality.org

on and off as needed. Over the years I developed a system of you just got to focus on what you’re doing, be in the moment and bring every fiber of your being to the experience you’re in right now and worry about everything else later.

W: What do you think is the most important thing business owners and operators should do to be successful and what do successful hoteliers have in common?

H: I think all successful hoteliers have love and respect for the folks that work within their organization. I truly believe that if you empower your staff they’re going to empower the customer experience, which is going to bring you lots of profits.

It’s about treating people with dignity and respect and also giving them the pathway to improve their career.

I’m a fundamental believer that a lot of people enter the hospitality industry thinking it’s a job, but then they realize that it’s a career. And if you’re a smart hotelier, you’re going to recognize those people that are great at what they do and give them some chances to succeed and give them some wiggle room to fail and constantly encourage them and help them be better professionals.

If we all treat each other with respect and give each other the room to be successful, I think then we all will be successful.

I think there’s a disconnect sometimes when people don’t realize we can all be in this together. We can all be successful, and if we all team up we’re all going to be great at what we do instead of fighting against each other.

I see this every day when I’m out in the hospitality world.

The major hotel brand franchise guys, they’re all friends even though they work for different brands. I also saw that when I was on the editorial side of the business. All my competitors were friends because we all knew we would all be successful or maybe everyone thought, I might need a job at that company someday. Either way, it works out to the same thing.

W: What new technology trends in hospitality are you most excited about?

H: I think the biggest trend that’s hot, upcoming and exciting, but also pretty darn scary, is the whole idea of voicepowered rooms with artificial intelligence. The whole notion of talking to “Alexa.” I’m scared of it because, societally speaking, that thing is listening to you the entire time. But I also think as time goes on that will become more normal in our lives, and we’re going to want that sort of thing.

There’s something highly appealing to hoteliers and to customers about being able to say, “Hey Alexa, send my room more towels,” as opposed to having to pick up the phone and have more interactions with people.

W: Are there trends you think are just passing fads?

H: I think someone might say a passing fad might be brand loyalty. Younger generations in particular are not as focused on staying with the same brand, they’re more experienceconscious than brand-focused.

It’s not just the whole brand, you can get loyalty at your individual hotel by creating real experiences and having meaningful connections with customers.

I think you see with Gen Xers and the way Millennials behave, and now as Gen Z starts to come to the market, that it’s all about the value of the experience as opposed to blind loyalty to a brand that the Baby Boomer generation may have espoused.

programs for them. When you look at data you have to look at data in a lot of different categories. I think that the category that is most relevant at this time is data that gets you to understand what your customer wants before your customer even realizes that’s what they want and then serving up the right type of experiences at the right type of price point at the right time of month, day or year that really connects with them.

W: What disruptors are going to change the way we’re doing business in the hospitality industry?

H: I think it goes back to that technology issue. As amazing as technology is, it puts up barriers between the guest and the hotel operator and the people servicing the hotels because it’s taking away from some of the touchpoints they have.

It’s great for a customer to be able to get a room key on their phone but then they skip the front desk and they miss out on what has been a very critical touchpoint.

Going forward, in order to really connect with guests, we’ve got to find ways to enhance existing touchpoints.

Find different ways to relate with the guest one on one, on the human level. That’s why I think in the future it’s all going to come down to the bartender and the person serving you at the table.

W: Have you talked to any hoteliers who have created that touchpoint experience, that one-off that makes a difference in the guest experience?

H: It’s all about having someone available to talk to at all times to address concerns. For example, at a select service hotel, there aren’t many opportunities to connect with guests, so if the general manager is in the breakfast room talking to people, learning from those people, asking, “What do you think of the hotel? What can I do to make your stay better? How did you learn about our hotel?” you’re going to get amazing intelligence from that. You might even find new revenue-generating streams that you were unaware of until you had the opportunity to speak with people one on one.

W: Any other advice?

W: Alexa exists to capture data. Hotels are starting to use data to improve their operations. Can you expand on that topic?

H: Get out there. Try new things. Don’t be afraid to fail.

I think fear of failure is what prevents us from ultimately finding success. You’ll never find a successful person out there who hasn’t failed an awful lot. But when you do fail, recognize it as failing and stop and try something else.

H: You can really capture data especially through this whole notion of machine learning to really get to understand what your customer is all about and to be able to create

This interview was shortened and edited for clarity. You can listen to the full interview on a Dine NW podcast at bit.ly/DineNW. August 2018 │ 21

for Family-owned Restaurants and Hotels

By Julie Eisenhauer, CPA

Many successful restaurants in Washington state are owned by families – Dick’s Drive-Ins, Schwartz Brothers, Tom Douglas, Duke’s Seafood & Chowder and Anthony’s Restaurants - to name a few. The same is true for hotels, motels and inns, although few carry the family name.

While family-owned restaurants and lodgings often have excellent success, keeping them in the family can be a challenge. Research has found that only 30 percent of family businesses transition successfully to the second generation, 12 percent to the third generation and 3 percent to the fourth generation.

The biggest challenge occurs during the transition from one generation of owners to the next. How does one generation transfer knowledge, ownership and leadership to the next generation without disrupting the security of the business or employees?

As a family business advisor, I often provide consultations on maintaining family harmony as the family successfully transitions the business from one generation to the next. All businesses 22 │ wahospitality.org

have challenges that need to be addressed to ensure continued growth and sustainability. When you add the complexity of family dynamics to the mix, the risks are higher.

Anticipating these challenges before they arise and proactively developing written guidance or procedures to resolve them sets up for success.

Addressing the issues of governance, timelines, funding the owners’ retirement, and how to financially make a transition happen will help owners in the hospitality industry avoid pitfalls that can get in the way of a successful transition. Here are some things to consider.

Governance Governance is the system of rules, practices, and processes that direct and control a company. The way a family addresses governance could cause conflict if leaders don’t have the same vision of what the business looks like, how family members get along and who owns what.

Family hospitality businesses should implement a governance structure to:

Effectively balance the interests of the many stakeholders (owners, management and family members).

Ensure the continuity of the business.

Promote family harmony.

Many business owners understand governance as the board of director’s fiduciary responsibility to represent the interests of shareholders. In a family business, however, the family is a key stakeholder and should not be ignored.

Good governance provides clarity on roles, rights and responsibilities for all stakeholders, encourages family members, business management and owners to act responsibly, and regulates appropriate familyand-owner inclusion in business discussions. Businesses managed by either a board of directors, stockholders or family members should implement a governance system.

Timeline Ideally, businesses should start thinking about and planning for

succession 10 years in advance. At the very least, they should start working toward a transition three to five years before they’d like to see it happen.

It’s important to prepare both the business and the outgoing business leader for such a transition. The business will want to shore up its finances and help the retiring leader with financial and estate planning.

And the next generation must be prepared to take over and lead the business forward.

The more prepared a successor is – and the healthier the business is – the shorter the time that will be needed to plan for a succession. If the next generation doesn’t want to take over, outside leaders must be found–or perhaps the business should be sold.

When preparing the business for transition, I encourage leaders to look at their strategic plan, set key financial and organizational goals and create a leadership development plan to help the next generation of leaders achieve success.

It’s also important to prepare employees and clients on the business’ succession plan through good communication. While 10 years may seem like a long time, if there is not an obvious heir apparent, this much time may be needed.

sale of their business to fund their retirement.

The owners must consider several factors that may create challenges for them to obtain the value they need for retirement. For example: How much of the value in the business is tied up in the owner?

Are market conditions strong enough to support the ability of buyers to obtain financing?

Will the retiring owners get enough money from the sale of the business to support them their whole life?

I recommend that business owners review their personal financial plan several years before retirement. This plan will provide them with insight into their future financial state and assist in developing financial goals.

How to financially make a transition The next generation may need to secure outside financing on their own to buy the business – perhaps through a traditional bank loan or home equity line of credit. Or, they can borrow from the business and pay for their shares over time, say five years.

Another way to financially make the transition is to give bonuses to future leaders, who then use the bonuses to acquire shares. Each scenario should be analyzed by modeling the financial effect on the business. How will each scenario affect operating cash flows?

Can the business meet its current operating needs while investing in the future? Will the business be able to continue to meet financial debt covenants required by lenders?

plan. They would conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis and define the direction of the company over the next several years. Among the discussion points would be how they would communicate with family shareholders who are not actively involved in the operations of the business.

Now, let’s say the third generation was owed a substantial cash outlay for the redemption of their shares of stock at retirement, but through the financial analysis they also realized that this would make it difficult for the fourth generation to grow and invest in the business. Because the family planned for this transition several years in advance, the third and fourth generations would be able to revise the terms of the shareholder agreement to extend the stock redemption payment over several years. This would allow the third generation to retire gracefully as the fourth generation worked hard to grow and expand the business.

The hospitality business is tough.

People work hard and are passionate about the service they provide. It’s important to continue that hard work as the business transitions from one generation to the next to make sure the business continues to stand well into the future. Professional advisors – accountants and attorneys – can help make that transition smooth and successful for everyone involved.

The good news is that there are many options.

Funding the owners’ retirement Funding the owners’ retirement may be the biggest challenge because it’s likely he or she has all or most of their assets tied up in the business.

These owners are counting on the

Planning and financial analysis are key to every one of them. Here’s an example of how this could play out.

Let’s say a family-owned hospitality business wishes to transition from the third to the fourth generation. Ideally, the family would start with a facilitated strategic retreat to develop a strategic

Julie Eisenhauer, CPA, is a shareholder with Clark Nuber, P.S., in Bellevue, Wash.

Reach her at jeisenhauer@clarknuber.com or 425-454-4919.

August 2018 │ 23

Costs and Staffing are Members’ Top Challenges In the recently completed 2018 membership survey, Washington Hospitality Association members identified the greatest challenges facing their businesses. For both restaurants and lodging, the biggest challenges all have to do with labor – the cost of wages and benefits, and the difficulty of finding, training, and retaining employees.

Costs of all kinds were mentioned by 51 percent of restaurants and 40 percent of lodging respondents. Among restaurants, full-service mentioned costs the most (57 percent). Among lodging respondents, cost was mentioned more often as a top challenge by full-service hotels (50 percent) and larger hotels (46 percent).

Identifying top challenges is an important step in the strategic planning process. The Washington Hospitality Association conducts its membership survey every two years to better understand the issues impacting members and to evaluate how well it is delivering value to members.

Your Biggest Business Challenges

Total

Restaurant

Lodging

COST NET

50%

51%

40%

Cost of Labor (wages & benefits)

40%

40%

35%

Cost of Taxes, Permits, and Fees

10%

10%

10%

Cost of Food, Goods and Supplies

8%

9%

2%

Cost of Paid Sick Leave

4%

4%

6%

Cost of Insurance (all kinds)

2%

2%

0%

Other Costs

8%

8%

2%

STAFFING

43%

44%

38%

Finding and/or Retaining Good Staff

40%

41%

37%

Lack of Skills / Different Attitude to Work

6%

6%

4%

Employee Training & Management

3%

3%

2%

Shrinking Margins / Trying to Survive

15%

15%

15%

Understanding and Complying with Regulations, Unfair Regulations, and Local Issues

9%

9%

13%

Marketing / Finding Customers / Competition

7%

6%

21%

Other Business Challenges

7%

7%

6%

Tip Issue: Tip Credit, Tip Sharing with BOH / Unfair

2%

2%

2%

OTHER

24 │ wahospitality.org

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Tips for Attracting Employees to Your Business

By David Faro

Imagination and creativity are the tools the best organizations use to solve problems. Good planning, goal setting and project management round out the toolkit, but without a focus on originality and inventiveness, an organization risks dulling its competitive edge.

the workforce development partners we met, and we were connected with a terrific manager who assists in managing summer operations for The Islander.”

This year, Washington Hospitality Association’s member survey indicates that finding a solid labor pool to sustain operations is proving even more difficult for hospitality employers now than it was two years ago when we last conducted our member survey.

“It isn’t traditionally how we have found employees, but the creativity of these hospitality hiring events worked,” he reported.

Despite the challenges, solid employees are out there looking for work. You’re going to have to get creative about finding them.

Tom Diller, owner and operator of The Lopez Islander Resort, says that finding good labor in an isolated market like the San Juan Islands can be difficult.

“The demand for employees across the state is significantly higher than the supply,” Diller says.

“We took advantage of some introductions that were made at Association hiring events, we followed up with some of

26 │ wahospitality.org

Tom now understands.

His property got inspired, reached out to their professional networks, leveraged their Association membership, and solved their labor problem for the summer. You can, too.

Mine your network.

Partnerships and networking are critical tools for finding the employees you need to fill the positions you have right now.

It’s August, and if you have hiring issues they are very likely immediate and serious.

“It’s actually a lot of fun, and handing out $50 bills is personally rewarding,” he said.

Retention might also be an issue for you right now if the great employees that you hired in June just decided to spend the rest of the summer in the Olympics jumping off rocks instead of manning the line. So now they are gone, and you need a replacement yesterday.

“My summer retention plan cost me a few steak dinners and four hundred dollars cash. It was nothing compared to the cost of losing, hiring and retraining one new server mid-summer. I am going to do this every year from now on.

We just needed a simple, inventive solution, and this seems to be it.”

Get creative. Stephanie Schoo, marketing and communications director for FareStart, invites people to consider her organization when addressing labor problems.

“Call FareStart the day that you need assistance,” she urges.

“We will partner with you for creative solutions that help move real people into real positions.”

After employees complete FareStart’s Adult Culinary Program, 90 percent find employment in the first week after graduating and more than three quarters of employees are still in place after six months.

It’s a creative program that works and has a consistent stream of excellently trained employees graduating all year.

Many employers forget as well that their team members are one of the best labor recruiting sources they have.

Incentivizing staff to introduce new employees and motivating them to encourage retention has worked for more than a few organizations.

One manager at a fullservice restaurant in the South Sound has a simple plan that came from outside the box.

“I told my staff that if they brought me a new employee and I hired them, I would buy them a steak dinner.

I followed that up by telling them that if their friend stayed for six months, the recommending employee would get a $50 bill on the anniversary of employment,” he said.

He quickly filled out his staff with eight extra servers at the beginning of peak season, and all of them are on track to stay the whole summer. Even better, if there are issues, the referring friend now keeps on the new hire because they now have a vested interest in their friend’s success.

Always be hiring. Never stop. If the right employee walks in on Oct. 7? It doesn’t matter if it’s a down time. Try to make it work to hire this great fit. If you don’t hire them, someone else soon will.

Look everywhere!

Participate in job fairs, reach out to technical schools, post an ad in local newspapers and on job boards. There’s more to the skilled candidate search than Craigslist, and if you limit yourself to the free digital classifieds, you’ll end up short in skilled labor.

Let people know what makes you special. Whether it’s an outstanding safety record, a kitchen equipped with the latest equipment and technology solutions, possible training and advanced education opportunities, or even competitive compensation, spotlight the aspects of your business that set you apart from the other people competing for employees. It is those things that make you a great employer.

Call the Education Foundation. Washington Hospitality’s EF brings a large number of resources to the table to help members find, train and retain great employees. Check out the website at whaef.org or call 800.225.7166 to learn more.

With these recruiting tips, you’ll have some tools to navigate the skilled labor shortage and stay ahead of the competition. Most importantly, always remember: Never stop. You must always be on the lookout for talent. Also, remember, every time you bring a new person onto your team, the whole team changes. Hire wisely, plan ahead, and build your dream team step by step. Your prize lineup is out there and ready to work. Go get ’em!

August 2018 │ 27

INDUSTRY CALENDAR August/September TRAINING Aug. 21

ServSafe® Manager, Kent

Aug. 27

ServSafe Manager, Everett

Sept. 11

ServSafe® Manager, Seattle

Sept. 17

ServSafe® Manager, Kent

Sept. 20

ServSafe® Manager, Tacoma

NEW MEMBERS

NEW ALLIED MEMBER

Abeja Inn & Winery, Walla Walla

Paychex, Inc. Jake Swanson jrswanson@paychex.com 20829 72nd Ave. S. Suite 400 Kent, WA 98032-1407 425.235.1112 https://locations.paychex.com/offices/washington/ kent/paychex-inc.-kent-washington-138.html

Anju Seattle LLC Bark Entertainment LLC, Spokane

®

The Collective Seattle Connect Lounge, Seattle Cosmos Bistro & Catering, Bellingham

MEETINGS

Dammad, LLC, Olympia

Aug. 8

RETRO Trustee Meeting

Aug. 9

Seattle Hotel Association Board Meeting

Aug. 14

H.I.H.I.T. Meeting

Aug. 21

Spokane Chapter Board Meeting

Sept. 4

Executive Committee Monthly Meeting

Sept. 5

Seattle Restaurant Alliance Membership Meeting

Hattaway’s on Alder, Walla Walla

Sept. 11

Board Development Committee meeting

Indaba Coffee LLC, Spokane

Sept. 12

Seattle Restaurant Alliance Board Meeting

Sept. 13

Seattle Hotel Association Board Meeting

Sept. 18

Spokane Hotel Motel Association Meeting

Sept. 18

Finance Committee Meeting

Sept. 18

Spokane Chapter Board Meeting

El Caporal Restaurant, Selah Epulo Bistro, Edmonds

Lee Management Inc., Lynnwood Marysville Holiday Inn Express My’s Vietnamese Sandwiches & Deli, Renton Red Star Taco Bar Inc., Tacoma

UPCOMING EVENTS Aug. 29

Seattle Hotel Association Golf Tournament at The Golf Club at Newcastle

Sept. 11

Golf FORE! Education at Washington National Golf Course

Nov. 1114

Washington Hospitality Convention at Hyatt Regency Lake Washington at Seattle’s Southport

Redlight, Bellingham Serj Drive Ins Washington LLC Tanglewood Grill, Gig Harbor The Pizza Press, Tacoma The Sound Hotel – A Tapestry Hotel by Hilton, Seattle

28 │ wahospitality.org

Paychex provides scalable solutions for the full employee life cycle, from hire to retire. With over 50,000 clients in the hospitality industry, Paychex understands the needs of your business. That’s why we’ve developed the most powerful combination of cloud-based and personalized HR solutions available, including the mobile app with the industry’s most robust functionality. With over 45 years of payroll and human resources expertise, Paychex provides an unparalleled combination of flexible technology and dedicated support for your changing business.

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It’s a shame for you to pay too much tax – when your competitors are paying less.

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See more of what people love about Employment-based tax credits when you email: ‘info@mckenziechase.com’

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Ask the Expert

Strategic Planning to Win

By Rick Braa, CHAE

Q:

The business landscape is changing rapidly and I’m struggling to keep up. I have a little time to figure out how to move forward but eventually we’ll be in jeopardy of having to make some difficult choices.

A:

Years pass faster than anticipated. Whether a restaurant is holidaydriven or weather-driven, there never seems to be enough time to plan and execute goals to drive a business forward. Regardless, strategic planning is perhaps the most important activity any company can execute.

While the approach to planning may be debated, there is one tell-tale sign of a strategically driven company: the amount of cash accumulated to weather a storm. Excellent cash flow and reserves are a result of a great strategy and leadership. Cash-poor companies likely make decisions out of necessity that can degrade culture, facilities, the guest experience and talent. To get to where you need to be in the future, consider the following: Set aside time to study business needs and direction. According to the Harvard Business Review, in a survey of 10,000 senior leaders, 97 percent said that being strategic was the leadership behavior most important to their organization’s success, and then 96 percent said they lacked the time for strategic thinking.

The hospitality industry is under sweeping change with intense labor shortages and intrusive government requirements, disruptors like thirdparty delivery and great technology that seems to change on a daily basis.

30 │ wahospitality.org

These and other pressures are shifting traditional restaurant models.

Take the time needed to prepare for a good strategic planning session and determine several areas in which to shift the business. Simply staying the course in today’s business environment will leave a business in the Stone Age within just five years.

Clarify the vision. Your vision may be clear in your head and you may think others know what it is, but if it’s not on paper, it’s unlikely to be achieved. All visions should include what the business stands for, why it exists (purpose and values), and an articulation of what the business aspires to become.

The vision should be out of reach, yet achievable with an incredible amount of effort. A clear vision can only come from the leader of the organization.

Input from others can be valuable, but only the leader can provide vision.

This is not a consensus-building activity, but rather the leader’s vision of a preferred future state of the business that will drive it forward into the next generation.

Build a strong hedgehog strategy. This concept was widely popularized by Jim Collins in the book “Good to Great.” It revolves around three questions: What are you deeply passionate about? At what can you be the best in the world? And what drives your economic engine?

Answering these questions with brutal honesty will produce a series of intersecting circles.

This activity is best

completed with the leadership team.

By going through this exercise, a team can understand the sum of its parts rather than various non-intersecting silos.

Set a long-range, three- to fiveyear strategy. The foundation of a clearly defining vision and a solid hedgehog will provide the ability to list out three to five strategic planks. Center these planks around employees, guests, facilities, market position and profitability.

Build a one-year plan. After completing the strategic planks, turn attention to what can be accomplished in the next 12 months. This will produce a series of plans, one for each area. For example, sales and marketing, technology, employee engagement, guest loyalty, service model, facilities, menus, financials and capex. Out of the one-year plan will come four quarterly plans to ensure delivery of the annual plan.

When considering what will drive your business forward the farthest, having a war chest of cash provides the cushion and ability to make truly strategic decisions rather than what the business can afford out of projected cash flow. Taking the time to think, then plan, will result in a strategic company able to weather any storm and thrive during turbulence.

For more information on improving profitability and driving sales, contact AMP Services at rbraa@ampservices. com. Rick Braa is the co-founder of AMP Services, an accounting and consulting firm specializing in helping companies grow profitability.

WASHINGTON

CONVENTION NOVEMBER 11-13, 2018

Hyatt Regency Lake Washington at Seattle’s Southport

PE PR O PE O PL RF CE E, O SS RM , A

N

CE

www.hospitalityconvention.com

AL L IED M EM B ER OF