Hospitality Leadership Solutions Series: The ‘Hospitality X-Factor‘, Foundation Of Long-Term Success
Foundations of Long-Term Success (as published in Hotel Management, March '19)
Noted hospitality thought leaders and corporate governance/ performance management experts Kefgen and “Dr. Jim” share common management challenges while providing time-tested, field-tested or just simple “quick-fix” ideas to keep professionals inspired, effective and successful. “People are the product in the hospitality industry.” This simple principle implies that talent pipeline and continuity of bench strength are critical drivers of business success. If your company’s goal is to identify those who will deliver the strongest return on investment, the sad fact is that you likely are screening applicants or appraising incumbents based on incomplete or misguided performance characteristics. Simply put, most organizations manage talent up and down the organizational chart using metrics tied to short-term or tactical views of performance versus a strategic one. Academic research and real-world HR practices alike traditionally emphasize task performance, which reflects the technical core of specific jobs, such as software expertise, menu knowledge or compliance with safety and sanitation standards. Domain knowledge is important, but it has limited utility, primarily because the focus is on a narrow (i.e., job-specific) set of tasks and responsibilities. Evaluations based on task competencies alone are tactically oriented and good when “hiring people for today.” However, this approach is ineffective for identifying highly adaptable employees who are best at learning new information, growing with increased role demands and succeeding across different departments, geographies or platforms. “Future-casting” is how we describe this more strategic philosophy of “hiring people for tomorrow.” Aethos Consulting Group™ recently collaborated with Cornell University researchers to investigate characteristics that define individuals who are ripe for future-casting in hospitality settings. Instead of task performance, this study validated the modern concept of contextual performance, which refers to a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are relevant across a wide array of roles and settings. For example, the ability to effectively use a point-of-sale system is an example of a task-specific performance dimension because it may be essential for restaurant servers but unnecessary for restaurant cooks. However, teamwork and related behaviours arguably are important to effective job performance for servers and cooks, and many other jobs up and down the org chart, regardless of function-specific tasks. The Aethos–Cornell study found that there was only one factor (i.e., a single characteristic) that encompassed what previously was thought to be three distinct facets of contextual performance:- Conscientiousness initiative, such as persistence and taking on responsibilities that go beyond expectations.
- Interpersonal support, such as helping and cooperating with others, also known as organizational citizenship behaviour.
- Organizational support, such as favourably representing the organization and following procedures and rules.