Chief Learning Officer - December 2007 - (Page 63) InterContinental’s PEOPLE NOTICE initiative was launched after a yearlong, cross-functional development process, with the long-term mission of rejuvenating the Holiday Inn brand and returning it to its pre-eminent position in the hotel industry. The initiative is focused on enhancing and ensuring consistency in delivery of the guest experience by reigniting pride in the target audience of Holiday Inn hotel owners, general managers and employees. A highly collaborative team, led by Lynne Zappone, vice president of talent development and learning, reached across corporate departments, independent franchisees and the general managers and department heads who run their hotels, as well as IHG’s internal Hotel Management Group unit. The three key, ongoing objectives of the effort include improving guest satisfaction measures; sustaining the level of improvement and increasing each of the three primary measures of a hotel’s business performance: occupancy, average rate and revenue per available room; reinforcing the Holiday Inn brand’s key message of delivering on the brand promise to be each customer’s “Constant Caring Friend;” and leveraging the unique position that Holiday Inn holds in the hearts and minds of the world’s travelers. Gold, Division 2 Lynne Zappone, Vice President, Talent Development and Learning, InterContinental Hotels The rollout of PEOPLE NOTICE has been enough of an initial success to extend it to Holiday Inn hotels in Mexico, and plans are underway to expand the program globally, as well as each of the other five IHG brands. PEOPLE NOTICE has had tremendous impact on both guest satisfaction and business metrics. As measured by DK Shifflet, a leading independent market research and consulting firm, year-over-year overall guest satisfaction with Holiday Inn climbed from almost 66 percent in January 2005 (prior to launch of PEOPLE NOTICE) to nearly 70 percent in November 2006, when the last of the hotels completed training. Holiday Inn narrowed the gap, and then passed the hotels in its competitive set as of March of last year. Finally, PEOPLE NOTICE’s impact on business metrics has been impressive as well. Using an average of six months post implementation vs. an average of six months prior, occupancy at U.S. Holiday Inn hotels increased 0.1 percentage point, average room rate increased by $4.29 and revenue per available room increased $2.80, all extremely healthy increases by industry standards and representing achievements that well exceeded company expectations. PEOPLE NOTICE has had tremendous impact on both guest satisfaction and business metrics. 63 December 2007 Development and initial deployment took 18 months (mid-2004 through year-end 2005), followed by two years to complete property-level training at each Holiday Inn hotel. A team of 23 field-based consultants was hired and trained to provide dedicated support, training and coaching resources specific to the Holiday Inn brand service culture. The team was on the road 100 percent of the time during the two-year core deployment period, collectively logging more than 1 million miles. As a result now, all new GMs must undergo sessions to introduce them to PEOPLE NOTICE within six months of joining IHG and all managers at hotels coming into the IHG system are expected to launch the initiative at their hotels within six months. I www.clomedia.com I Chief Learning Officer http://www.clomedia.com
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