Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-08-10)

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◼ STRATEGIES Bloomberg Businessweek August 10, 2020

Asyou’velikelydiscoveredfrom
interactionsatyourlocalgrocery
ordrugstore,employee-customer
relationsarea bitstrained.Making
someoneatanestablishmentfeel
welcomewhenbothpartieshave
half theirfacecoveredisn’tan
innateskill.Employeesneedtobe
taughthowtodothissuccessfully,
saysRichardDelany,presidentof
the OldEdwardsInnandSpain
Highlands,N.C.,abouta three-hour
drivefromAtlantaandCharlotte.A
smallCovid-19clusteramongthe
staffledtoa fewcancellationswhen
the hotelreopenedinMay,butnow
businessis booming.“Wefeelreally
goodaboutthesafetyprocedures
we putinplace,”Delanysays.Here
are editedexcerptsfroma late-
Julyconversationhehadwith
ArianneCohen.

● Whatmadeyourealizethatyourstaffwould
need instruction?
An employeesaidtome,“Richard,haveI done
somethingwrong?ThelastcoupleoftimesI’veseen
you,youseemedupsetwithme.”Whichwasnotthe
case.I’musuallyprettyhappy-go-lucky,high-fiving
peopleandsmiling,butI can’thigh-fivethemany-
more,andtheycan’tseemysmile.If someonewho
knowsmecannotrecognizemytemperamentand
expressions,thenobviouslyguestsaregonnahavea
hard timedoingthatwithouremployees.
● Whatdidyoutrainyourstafferstodo?
Makeeyecontactwithguestsimmediately,so
they cansensetheirtemperamentandtheinten-
tion oftheirgreeting,andalsotospeaktoguestsas
soon aspossible,sotheycanhearit inourvoices.
● So whena guestapproachesthefrontdesk,
what doesyourstaffdo?
TheNo.1 thingis tostandatattentionwhenever
a guestentersoneofourpublicareas—itshowsrec-
ognitionandrespect—andtosortofnodthehead
gentlyina welcoming,“goodafternoon”movement.
● Whataboutsmiling?
Weencouragesmilingatalltimes,andthat’s
sort ofhard,becausewhenyou’vegota maskon,
you feellikeyoudon’tneedto.Andtosmilebigger,

becausethebiggeryousmile,themoreit canbe

seenintheeyes.It is allsortofoverexaggerating

thewelcomeprocess.

●DoemployeeshaveIDtags?

Wetookpicturesofallouremployeessmiling,

whichtheyweararoundtheirneckssotheguest

canseewhatthatemployeelookslikewitha smile

ontheirface.Thishasbeena hugehit.

●Haveyouhadtoshiftwhatworkerssay?

Sincespeechis sucha bigpartofhowtheguest

is perceivingemployees,theyneedtomakesure

thatthey’reupbeat.Theotherthingis beingcareful

aboutwhatis saidandhowit is said.

●Sarcasmdoesn’tworkfrombehinda mask?

[Laughing] No,sarcasmdoesnotwork.

●Whathaveyouhadtoretool?

Wegotfeedbackfromourguests thatthey

appreciateourefforts,butseveraltimestheysaw

someonepulla maskdowntospeak.Sowemade

surethattheabsolutestandardis thatyoucannot

removethemask.

●Whatkindofmasksdoyourstaffwear?

Wethoughtit’dbefuntousefabricsthatweuse

inthehotel—funfloralmasks,paisley,different-

colored stripes that match the interiors of the public

areas and the rooms. Guests have picked up on that.

● What’s your advice to other managers?

Vet what masks their staffers are wearing. Some

of our employees have come in with masks that

cover a little bit more of a face than they need to.

Stay away from the big, black Darth Vader-looking

masks. They’re not really welcoming. <BW>

MASK WEARING 101

Q&A

April July

65%

58

50

38

▼ Share of employed

U.S. adults who say they

arealwaysdoingthe

followingwhileworking:

Adoptingnewormore

frequentcleaning

Maintaining6 feetof

physicaldistance

Workingremotely

Wearing personal

protective equipment