04/01/2024
In the later years of working for a large international hotel company, Paul Downing oversaw a hotel getting ready to open in Ghana. As VP of Operations, he’d usually do site visits solo, meeting with the owners, architects, and local interior designers to check on progress. But on one trip, he was joined by corporate architects and interior designers representing the brand that was being franchised.
Paul knew the hotel owner's wife was very involved with the interior design and gave the corporate team a heads up, hoping they’d keep this in mind when providing feedback on the current designs. But someone didn’t take heed.
“Somebody basically did not hold any punches and really laid in to part of the interior design, which really created a terrible atmosphere. There are various ways you can get things done, this was not one of them.” The owner's wife walked out and the meeting was over. The owner was so furious he was ready to pull the entire franchise contract.
In a one-to-one meeting, Paul tried to reassure the owner that the interior designers were only going to be involved in this early part of the process and wouldn’t interfere with the day-to-day running of the hotel. Operations had more tact.
But he also knew that there was a balance to be found. While owners have much to say about their property, and have every right to reflect the local culture in the design, franchise design guides also had to be considered, to ensure the hotel met the brand standards. Really, the point was not what had been said in the meeting, but how.
“Whenever you are trying to get a message across, then you do it in the most kind and friendly way, without making that person feel bad. That's everywhere you go. It doesn't matter which country you're in. It's a sign of respect, trying to get them to understand that, yes, we appreciate what you're trying to do, what you're saying. You need to respect the culture where you're going to be working. Even though something might be different than what you're used to, you need to appreciate the fact that it's different and respect that that's the way they do things. But they also need to respect the company culture.”
This meeting in Ghana was at the latter end of a long global career in hospitality for Paul, starting in the kitchen, and finishing as an in-demand consultant taking care of luxury hotels all over the world. Having lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the U.S., Southeast Asia, and in the UK, he gained a vast amount of experience working with many different cultures.
For more advice from Paul, check out episode 5 of The Lead Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts and other podcast platforms. Or find it here: https://theleadstory.buzzsprout.com
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