Creativity and distinction in the hotel business is essential to success. Hotel designers around the world have discovered the growing need for individuality in hotel spaces. Every day, hotel owners are ...
Hospitality Style's editor Mary Scoviak talks tactics for the downturn with Cauhaus Design's Toby Schermerhorn.
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It would have been nice to launch this blog with a Champagne toast. But, with consultants including PKF and Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels predicting an even tougher year than expected for the North American hotel industry, a celebration seemed out of step. At least it did until I talked to some design veterans and up and comers. It's not that anyone's putting his/her head in the sand and ignoring the numbers. Rather, designers, architects, operators and purchasing agents are getting on with renovating their business models to make them work until the cycle powers up.
As Toby Schermerhorn, principal with Cauhaus Design, reminded me, "I have lived and worked through the last three major economic slowdowns. I expect that just like all the other downturns, this one will eventually end, and we will live long enough to survive a few more shake-ups. If downturns have taught us anything, it is that we should remember to stay lean, stay focused and stay fresh."
When she says "lean," she's not talking staff ratios. She means making cautious decisions, only buying what you can really afford or need, not maxing out credit. She's enlisting employees' assistance in taking steps to survive the downturn and empowering them to move quickly from ideas to action. "Everyone in our firm does everything. No task is beneath any of us. We challenge our staff to make suggestions that don't impact cost or schedule," she says. In return, the principals are open with employees about the health of the firm. "Staff members have responsibilities of their own, and keeping them in the dark only makes them worry more. We support telecommuting, so that they can spend more time with their families, less money on gas, and be less stressed. Happy workers are productive workers," she says.
--Mary Scoviak, editor, Hospitality Style
For more survival strategies, share some of designer Cheryl Rowley's best practices at http://hospitalitystyle.com/content/people-profile-cheryl-rowley
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