[Matt Landau]

Reviews (whether entered online or handwritten) are important in our industry because they provide validation (feedback loops that make sure you're on the right path) and purpose (that what you are doing really matters).

Todd's thread a while back about how to make a housekeeper cry and Rocio suggesting travelers write "love letters" to housekeeping (because they mean the world), got me thinking about a holiday exercise...

What if you wrote a (hopefully 5-star) review for each member of your team?

What thoughts would you include that you haven't actually ever articulated?

What if this review was delivered in tandem with any holiday bonus?

What if the reviews were read to the entire team?

Or share them below!!!

Amicrazy? Or is this a great idea?!

 

[KarenHunt]

I love this idea. Each year I give a bonus to someone that helps me the most at our Pool Company because they are so key to my business. I also let her boss know.

I can write many more of these and will work on them today. Great idea.

 

[MDurham]

I needed to read this this morning. Thank you.

 

[Andy McNulty]

LOVE this Matt. Genuinely I do, I don't use CAPS often. I'm going to raise this on our management team meeting today, maybe one person in the team writes a review of one other person, so we're all peer-reviewed. And maybe it's a 'thankful for' rather than a review. Loving the trigger, thank you!

People are the reason any business succeeds, especially so in hospitality, they literally are behind every facet. So I say, YES, write a 5-star review, but don't let it stop there. Recognition is an ongoing thing, your team deliver greatness every day. Here's what we do in our business. And it's we, rather than me, because we all see each other.

1. Celebrating individuals internally on one of our Slack channels
2. Sharing customer feedback to the entire team (where one person or department is responsible)
3. Celebrating any team successes beyond great direct work (awards, articles, podcasts, life stuff, etc)
4. Publicly recognising people (like I did here following a big life event)
5. Work anniversaries and birthdays are celebrated
6. Most important of all, a simple thank you with a reason goes a long way. The reason is the important bit, if you can identify why you are thankful, it'll matter more because it's genuine.

The people aspect really is my favourite part of running Touch Stay. BTW I am a realist, it's not all hearts and stars, trust me I know how tough working with fellow human beings can be 😉

Thank you Matt for always being both thoughtful and thought-provoking 👊