Is 'The Peter Principle' Alive and Well In Our Industry?

Is 'The Peter Principle' Alive and Well In Our Industry? 

by Lizz Chambers, CHA, CHE
 

 

Lisa sat in front of me wringing her hands and looking very uncomfortable. This once confident, driven, and passionate operations person was disappearing before my eyes. It was only two months ago that we had promoted her to Director of Sales for a select service hotel. Since then her performance had begun to slip. Her sales reports were never on time and getting her out of the office to make a sales call was like asking her to walk unarmed on to a battle field. I had never seen such fear and apprehension. I was at a loss.

Lisa had always excelled in guest service. She was outgoing, could convert a reservation inquiry with the best of them. In fact, her Mystery Shop scores were never below a perfect ten (10)! Over the front desk she was the ultimate sales person. She had been the Guest Service Manager for five years and excelled. We had felt that she should be rewarded and being the Director of Sales seemed to be the logical choice. When we asked her about the position, although she was initially hesitant, she accepted and seemed pleased that we had selected her. What happened?

When I asked Lisa to compare her current job performance with what she knew our expectations were of a Director of Sales, she began to cry; no, not just cry, she sobbed. She was well aware that she was not performing to standard and she absolutely "hated sales." She could not transfer her love of selling over the front desk and over the phone (when people called the hotel wanting what we had to offer) to telephone prospecting or offsite sales calls. We had promoted her to her level of incompetence. It wasn't that the position was 'more difficult'—it was simply that the position was different from the Guest Service Manager position in which she excelled. It required different skills and a different temperament both of which she did not possess. Does any of this sound familiar?

Knowing what we know as managers, why do we still convince ourselves that our best housekeeper will make an outstanding Executive Housekeeper or an outgoing Guest Service Associate will make a great outside sales person?

Is it that we truly believe that this person is our best candidate? Do we also find comfort in the fact that this person actually knows our company and there is a level of trust? Or is it simply an easy fix? The first option makes sense, as long as we have groomed this person to move up. The latter is unforgivable. Not only can you cost the company in lost profits…you can destroy a human being's self-confidence and possibly their career in the process.

What is the answer?

How do we keep Peter and his Principle from rearing its ugly head in our hotels? The answer is…Succession Planning. Succession Planning allows us to identify potential candidates within our hotels based on their traits and competencies. It allows us to develop a training schedule and assures us that once this person is promoted we are placing the right person in the right position. I know from experience that an effective Succession Plan is not easy to start or to maintain. However, once the plan is in place and a system for review and maintenance is devised the results are well worth the time and effort.

How do you start this process?

The following is a brief outline of questions you must ask prior to developing a Succession Plan:

• What positions do you want to include in your plan?
• Who are the key people on each property designated for succeeding to higher positions?
• What is their current level of experience?
• Who is able to relocate and who wants to move up within the same hotel?
• What was their ranking on their last review?
• What other candidates can you identify, either for future needs or to replace people who may have been included in your plan and left the company or did not work out as expected?

Design your Succession Plan to fit your Vision Statement.

Where do you want your Succession Plan 'Vision' to take your organization in two to five years, taking into consideration your current strategic plan?

• What will your organization look like in three to five years and what will your key people be doing then?
• What positions will you need to fill due to attrition, promotion, or expansion?
• What new competencies may the company require, and how will you train to ensure your candidates are ready for the challenge?

How will you get from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow?

• Who will be involved and what will each person be doing?
• When candidates enter the program, when will the process end and how will you judge their progress?
• What criteria will be used to determine each candidate's ongoing development and their readiness for promotion?
• How will you determine if a candidate is demonstrating progress toward meeting the requirements you have established?
• How will you determine if someone is not progressing, and what will you do to help that person continue their development?
• What will you offer those who do not meet the expectations within the program?

To be successful in this process you must establish goals, select candidates, establish training schedules, and monitor development. I am sorry to say that this program will not run itself once developed you must continually update your status, review your initial ideas about where you plan to go and how you plan to get there, and it may be necessary to modify your strategies and action plans.

Will you get it right 100% of the time?

It is not likely. But, you will get better as you complete this process on a regular basis. And hopefully the Lisa's of the world will not be crying in your office and instead be on their way to a successful career in operations where their passions and their abilities will benefit all.

I will be happy to share a few of our tools for Succession Planning if you email at the address below. After all, we are all in this together.

 

 

[Lizz Chambers conducts in-house training and training assistance for all properties managed by Newport Hospitality Group. She coordinates and conducts supervisory skills workshops to prepare supervisors to earn their certification through AH&LA's Educational Institute.]