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The Importance of an Esprit de Corps

One of the casualties of working remotely over the last two years has been the esprit de corps, or morale, within an organization. 65% of executives who previously traveled to their field offices say that relying exclusively on virtual meetings has impacted workplace culture. Many employees have been working in isolation, connecting with colleagues via zoom calls, which lacks the personal engagement of sharing stories, celebrating milestones, or even chatting about the antics in a favorite TV program.

While these aspects might seem trite, they are all critical to building stronger relationships within the organization, which leads to more collaboration, more innovation—and just wanting to get out of bed each day to get to work.

Gallup has shown that having a best friend at work improves employees’ engagement and generally makes them happier people who want to do more to ensure guests have a wonderful stay.[1]

You can’t force team members to make friends with each other. However, you can create an environment and facilitate situations that bring people together to create, learn, and solve problems. When work communities have shared experiences—aka a history together—they are more likely to feel connected and get along better with those they didn’t know or like before the interaction.

Also consider the impact of a bad manager who doesn’t take the time to get to know each employee. Such leadership can lead to fear, gossip, and other distractions that weaken productivity. Employees struggle to come to work, which ultimately makes them want to leave the organization. In the meantime, they are unhappy and less empathetic and caring toward the guest.

What is the antidote?

  • Hire and promote managers who care about their employees.
  • Develop employee programs and events that encourage everyone to get together, including time on the agenda for networking and interaction.
  • Liberally use and encourage each person’s sense of humor, starting with the manager. Have fun at work—don’t take things so seriously.

1https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236213/why-need-best-friends-work.aspx

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Put into practice the equation happy staff = happy guests = more revenue.

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"We treat our people like royalty. If you honor and serve the people who work for you, they will honor and serve you." – Mary Kay Ash

Take the Next Step Now

Need help putting the equation into practice? Contact Jo-Anne at
[email protected].

About Jo-Anne Hill

Jo-Anne is an industry expert who founded JH Hospitality Consulting to help hotels around the world dramatically improve revenue and profitability in creative ways. Her strategic thinking, skill, and practical approach to problem-solving come from hands-on experience at companies such as The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, the Mandarin-Oriental Hotel Group, the Dorchester Collection, and Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts.

Jo-Anne’s recently published book ‘Cultivating Leadership: How great leaders make a difference, one hotel at a time” dives deeper into the equation: happy staff = happy guests = more revenue.

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