New year, new venue?

With bigger, brighter, more beautiful restaurants and bars springing up around Dubai pretty much every week, it's easy to catch a touch of "outlet envy". The need to stay ahead of the competition is causing many of the emirate's oldest and best-loved venues to consider revamping their furnishings or making over their menus.

The Sheraton Deira, however, has recently undergone a very different kind of refurbishment: a "people renovation" programme, designed to turn personnel into "gracious hosts, empathetic caretakers and efficient enablers", transforming the service culture in the property's food and beverage outlets, as well as in the rest of the hotel.

The "renovation" was the brainchild of both external and internal branding experts, employed by Starwood to carry out research into how associates could deliver guest service that is "different, better and special".

"[The programme's] goal is to create loyal guests through emotional connections that are often more valuable and lasting in the minds of our guests," explained Josef Sorger, the hotel's general manager. "It is a recognised fact that associates and the kind of service they deliver have a huge impact. Service delivery is the vital tool for an actual successful business."

This is a lesson that many in the F&B industry still need to learn - that happy, smiling and efficient staff makes for satisfied customers, which in turn lead to positive publicity in the form of good word of mouth. An investment in the human element of your business delivers a far greater ROI in the long term than a few new menu items or a lick of paint ever could.

So this new year renovate by all means, but make sure you begin by renovating the area of your business that has the most direct impact on your bottom line: the people.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM