What really goes on behind the scenes? In the first of a new series investigating roles in the travel industry, Michael Shepherd, general manager of the London Hilton on Park Lane, talks to Felicity Cousins
5.45am Time to get up. To be in the hospitality industry you have to have energy. People who are suited to it are the ones who wake up and want to jump out of bed and come and please people. If you can’t do that then go back to bed or get a new job. You have to want to make people smile. It’s not like you are on the stage for two hours and then you finish – as a hotel manager you have to walk around smiling all the time; you are a role model, but you are also playing a game. I used to look at the general managers at the beginning of my career [Shepherd has been in the business for 25 years in 12 countries] and watch them walk through the lobby, and I’d think, “What have they got that I haven’t?” You have to demonstrate energy and enthusiasm – you have to be a personality.
7.30am I arrive at the hotel and prepare for the daily operational meeting, reviewing the night manager’s reports and catching up on the 60 or so emails that come through overnight. I also check on breakfast and walk through the restaurant to say hello to guests.
9am Then there’s the daily operational meeting, where staff report on what has happened the night before and what needs addressing in the short term. The idea is that everyone knows what is going on for the day and we address any problems. For example, one guest’s room service did not turn up for an hour and a half so we need to find out why. Guest satisfaction levels vary as everyone has very personal needs and it may depend on the person’s situation – those circumstances are not relevant to us because we just want to make them happy. There is no doubt guests are now more worldly wise and standards have gone up – when people travel they expect more, so we in hospitality have to treat every individual separately. We also go through who is staying at the hotel – CEOs, VIPs – and which rooms are out of order. Occupancy is discussed, as are any events.
9.45am On a typical day I am very visible and always around the hotel meeting and greeting staff. You have to be in touch with the nerves of what is going on. After my walk-around, I have more strategy and planning meetings. At the moment we have six floors being refurbished at a cost of £5 million. There is a new room design (room 1713 is the prototype) and it takes months to talk about this – everything is scrutinised, from the width of the shower to the length of the bath. And we have to bear in mind cultural differences. For example, the Japanese want a running bath, the Americans are fine with just a shower, while the Middle Easterners want a bidet. So all the time I am talking to the designers and the architects.
1pm I always eat in the staff canteen and try to sit with a different member of staff as this is a valuable way of finding out what is going on. A lot of my job is about knowing what is happening all the time – I have to know everything because I am running all the budgets. My main concern is the care and welfare of the staff – I am absolutely passionate about this. I always say: “You are only as good as your weakest link.”
2pm-7pm There are weekly operational meetings along with regular business focus meetings where the team discusses strategies and how to encourage new business. Then there are project meetings and bigger meetings that focus on the next six to 18 months, which might concern sending the sales team over to the US to get conference business. I try to get through all the admin work by 6 or 7pm.
After hours I am out at least three or four nights a week at a dinner or an event, and I also come in on Sundays and sometimes on Saturdays to check everything is okay. It’s a 24-hour job, but I don’t see that as taking my work home.
- Next issue: a day in the life of an airline customer services manager
