Hotel keeps ‘em checked in
It continues to amaze me how so many employers don’t grasp the simple fact that if you listen to your employees and treat them with respect, they will stick around longer. People don’t like or want to change jobs, but for many the job market is such that if their employer doesn’t treat them well, it’s too easy to move on.
This is especially true in the hotel and restaurant industry. Case in point, the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco. Housekeeper Anita Lum claims she can tell a lot about the management of her hotel by the vacuum she uses.
Former management at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco didn’t like to replace aging vacuums, despite staff complaints. After Joie de Vivre Hospitality Inc. took over operations in 2003, the new manager bought a vacuum for each of the 15 housekeepers — and replaces them every year.
The new vacuums make a big difference to employees — in performance and morale, said Ms. Lum, a 16-year Carlton veteran. “It seems that this company cares about us more,” she said. “They try to do what we say.”
Sex, alcohol, and the business trip; a lesson in avoidance
The other day a friend of mine, we’ll call him Joe, told me about a recent business trip and how he had narrowly sidestepped a major HR landmine. Joe manages a team of people, both men and women, many of them married. Recently they were all called together for quarterly meetings/training. During an evening event the alcohol flowed and everyone enjoyed themselves. At the end of the evening Joe went back to his hotel room, shortly after, his phone rang (do you see what’s coming?), it was a woman from his team, let’s call her Wendy. Wendy had called to tell Joe that she really needed to speak with him. Joe, not having been born yesterday was hesitant, but agreed. A few minutes later Wendy knocked on Joe’s door, Joe stepped out into the hall where Wendy (married, 4 kids) proceeded to tell Joe how she’d had a crush on him for sometime, blah, blah blah. They spoke for a few minutes and then Wendy suggested they go into Joe’s room as she was uncomfortable having thier conversation in the hallway. Against his better judgment Joe agreed, and then spent 15 minutes setting her straight and getting her out of his room.
The Daddy Wars
As the father of two, I am well aware of the challenges facing today’s career dad’s. Over the years we’ve seen the rights of working mothers expanded and rightfully so. However, with more women climbing the corporate ranks, more men are taking a more active role at home. I think this is the result of many factors. Partly out of necessity, but I also think it’s partly generational. Many of us late Boomers or Gen Xer’s were raised in homes where dad was gone much of the time and we’re determined to do better by our kids. From my own experience my dad was gone a fair part of the time or worked late as was the norm. As a result I go out of my way to make time for my kids. Whether that’s attending their sporting events, picking them from school or daycare or just being the one give them a bath, I know any time I can spend with them is of great value.
Yesterday, USA Today, did a great piece on the ‘Daddy Wars’ and the tension it can cause in the workplace. The tension is primarily between ‘career focused’ dads and ‘family focused’ dads. Career focused dads, as you might imagine are the old school. They arrive early, stay late, and work weekends, generally they put career first. While family focused dads leave by 5pm, take time out of the day to take kids to the Dr, and rarely work weekends. Nothing necessarily wrong with either model, but as you might imagine career focused dads, especially those in management are sometimes at odds with dads who put family ahead of career.
