Supportive

Ensuring our Team Members are safe and supported is now even more important in these times with COVID-19. We have created a Team Member Resources page to assist all our Team Members and provide information on financial resources, mental & physical health resources, food & meal resources, as well as, NCG Benefits information and more. Please make sure your Team Members have this link available to them – www.ncghotels.com/tmresources.

Be Visible/Spend Dedicated Time with ALL Team Members /1 on 1’s

• Have morning meetings with Team Members to update them on the need for the day and prepare for the next day. Prepare for these meetings in advance!
• PMT be available to assist and help with the morning rush of breakfast and checkouts. Implement “no desk hours” standard from 7am-10am and 3pm-6pm.
• Make huddles FUN and informative. Have a day-of-the- week theme: Monday – Maintenance, Tuesday – Sales, Wednesday – Problem Resolution, etc. Have whoever is leading the huddle prepare the day before. Have Team Members participate in the daily information. Make it meaningful and memorable.
• Have your 1 on 1 in a neutral location (not at the front desk or back of house restaurant areas). Come to their work area and help them as you have your 1 on 1. Never cancel 1 on 1’s – reschedule them if schedules don’t work out.

Individualized Training & Development

• Train and mentor Team Members who have a goal of learning new tasks and areas. Have each person fill out the Career Development Forms.
• Have Team Members complete an SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) on themselves.
• Cross-train departments to enhance the knowledge and understanding of each.
• Promote from within whenever possible.
• Incentivize higher learning. Promote education reimbursement program. Potential small bonus for certification completions from reputable sources.
• Help other hotels when opportunity exists.
• Have your Team Members take an assessment that tells you how THEY learn best, tailor-training strategy to that individual.
• Assign duties above and beyond normal job description to promote job enrichment.

Work on Building/Modeling Work & Life Balance Trust/Transparency/Authenticity

• For PMT members, create a rotating MOD schedule over weekends and holidays.
• Hold consistent 1 on 1’s and be open and direct regarding individual performance and team performance to come together and agree on a common goal.
• Set boundaries for work hours when not physically on property when possible. Accept the fact that there is no “perfect” work/life balance model. Ensure your team is taking earned vacations hours and getting two consecutive days off whenever possible.
• Trust your team to make decisions and delegate responsibilities to each member of your team.

Regular 1 on 1’s with All Staff

• Create a OneNote for each Team Member/Dept Head, ensure you both have access to update it. Have an agenda listed for each one.
• Set up calendar appointments, ensure the link to the OneNote is listed in the reoccurring appointment along with a reminder set to 24 hours in advance to allow the attendees time to update
  their portion of the OneNote.
• Set up a OneNote tab to follow the appointment timeline and ensure an agenda is listed for each appointment.

Active Listening

• Silence cell phone/watch/computer ringer/etc. to avoid being distracted.
• Maintain eye contact, don’t interrupt and push your own “solutions.”
• Show engagement. React as topics come up and show interest, keeping in mind your body language does a lot of talking.
• Take notes to show that the discussion is important.

Take Action

• Ensure you have actionable next steps and clearly identify responsibility. Do what you commit to and follow through.
• Follow up. Circle back to that person and update them on progress to date.
• Set follow-up and deadline dates.

Celebrate Life Events

• “Brag” board in breakroom where Team Members can post pictures/notes (birth of a child/grandchild, Birthday pic, etc.).
• PMT keep list of Birthdays and NCG Anniversaries and announce them at huddle.

Mentor

• Discussions at 1 on 1. Give feedback on what they have taken on and areas that they would like to learn/grow in with regular review.
• Team Members recognized for training/mentoring another.
• Career pathing – discuss progress at least quarterly. No Repercussions for “Open Door” (non-threatening) – Build TRUST with All Staff
• If you have an Open Door Policy, then literally keep your door open.
• Arrange your office so that you face the door, don’t have your back to the Team Member if he/she walks in.
• Establish an alternate location to have confidential discussions if your current environment is shared/not conducive to having those types of conversations.
• Make something fun, like a VIP Next in Line, or a Promise Card to give a Team Member. If a Team Member needs to talk to you and you are occupied at the moment, hand them that ticket/card as a sign that you think they are important and you want to hear what they have to say, you are just not able to at this time.

Cross-Training

• Reach out to sister properties and all Team Members who are interested in cross-training at other current NCG properties.
• Arrange for those Team Members to have access and logins at the other properties. Arrange pre-visits for tours/training prior to working other shifts.
• Use a checklist for property to property training. Key codes, tour, etc. Almost a condensed version of the orientation checklist.
• If possible, hire a person and train him/her for both brands in all areas. Between just the hotels in Madison/Phoenix, there would be 40 hours for this floater person. If by chance no hours,
  then have him/her work as a backup or do additional training and those wages are split between all Madison hotels. This will have very little impact to POR.
• Have a platform or internal message system where Team Members can offer availability for shifts when not scheduled at their home hotel. Department heads can check this file and contact the Team Member.