Hotel & Motel Management - November 19, 2007 - (Page 8)

8 At Your Risk H&MM November 19, 2007 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition Sobering suggestions for safe, proﬁtable holiday season In memory of Anthony Marshall, we will run some of our favorite past “At Your Risk” columns throughout 2007. This column originally ran in the Nov. 20, 2006 issue. By Anthony Marshall 1939-2006 “ W e’ve all done it at one time or another, and by doing so have placed our hotels in serious legal jeopardy,” the speaker chastised the assembled group of hospitality industry owners and managers. “The state law is pretty damn simple,” he continued. “Hotels can never serve alcohol to a minor. Not ‘just this once.’ Not ever. No exceptions.” OK, you’ve probably already guessed by the topic and the tone, and the expletive not deleted, that the speaker was yours truly. But the fact that I had to shamelessly grab one of my own quotes to get the message across should not diminish its importance. Management needs to focus on policies or systems that stop minors on hotel premises from getting alcohol service at any time or any place. The service is where the issue of legal liability appears or disappears. Provide the service and you have risk. Avoid it and, viola!, the risk magically goes away. Therefore, when in doubt, just don’t serve. The penalties for serving a minor are severe, whether there are any further repercussions for that service or not. But to put a drunk minor on the road is a dram shop legal liability nightmare in most states. Yet, all too often, the hospitality industry has been far too complacent in the enforcement, especially at catered events, conferences and special parties. The absolute best holiday gift any hotel management, staff or employee can give their owners this season is one free of any accidents, particularly any related to alcohol service. Hotels that deliver this precious gift demonstrate they are committed, focused, know their job and understand how to motivate their employees toward a goal of accident prevention. This type of focus and commitment, of course, never happens by accident. Managers and staff have to practice accident-prevention skills in order to properly devel- op them. It’s just like any other muscle. To my mind, the best hotels have an accident-prevention committee composed of an elected member from each major department and called the Hotel Safety, Risk Management Committee. This group reviews all accident-prevention committee reports and votes its recommendations as to their annual funding requests and programs. Hotels where these committees are viewed as vital, active, involved and relevant also arethe properties where they become the most useful. To make a committee as relevant as possible, employees need to see that someone of rank has been chosen or elected to lead them. If the general manager sits on the committee, then everyone knows it must be important. If the third assistant to the assistant director’s ofﬁce is the ranking individual on the committee, well, gee, it must not be anything too crucial. Employees can sense when a committee meeting is important or just another random gathering. They rank the importance of the meeting by determining the committee chairman’s rank, where and when the meeting occurs, and if there is a printed and distributed agenda. These all are solid tip-offs to the stature and relevance of the meeting. The proof also is in the pride. If employees are proud to serve and attend the meeting, it’s going to go well. If they try and avoid it like a dental appointment or a tax audit, there’s going to be a problem. That’s why leadership is crucial to setting the precedent. The same sense of relevance applies to suggestion boxes. They work and are useful if employees know for sure that their suggestions are read by top management. The holiday season is an ideal time to place suggestion boxes around the property for both guests and employees to offer ideas and suggestions. You not only learn more about what your employees and guests think is important, but trends can emerge relevant to your riskmanagement policies. In one example, a hotel learned how its guest demographic was aging. Many of the suggestions made by guests were for brighter lights on the bedsides for reading and writing or for brighter lights in the bathroom to better apply makeup by. Where else but a suggestion box would management discover that guests were desperately missing something as seemingly trivial as nightlights? Of course, sometimes they were missing because the guests took them, but they served a useful purpose, nonetheless, and most hotels discontinued using them. Aging guests have peppered suggestion boxes with requests to have them back. And why not? They use a 4watt bulb and cost about a dollar apiece but go a long way to preventing trips and falls. One hotelier had so many nightlights stolen he began charging the costs to sales and marketing. He could justify this because he had the hotel’s name and phone number on each nightlight. Make this holiday season proﬁtable and safe. Manage it to be so by establishing and enforcing a strict staff policy on alcohol. And bring back the nightlight! Happy holidays! hmm@questex.com HotelWorld Update HotelWorld to bring education, entertainment to Vegas IN THE details Event schedule is set Find us in Las Vegas Three educational tracks Dynamic keynote speakers By Christina Harrison H&MM Columnist A unique opportunity exists for attendees at HotelWorld. Premiering in 2008, HotelWorld will take an unusual approach to attendee conference programming and provide a convenient way for attendees to focus on their speciﬁc needs in each session. HotelWorld will offer three segmented tracks, luxury/boutique, full service and limited/select service, which focus on topics in the speciﬁed ﬁelds. Attendees can choose to follow one track throughout the two days of conference programming or mix and match as necessary. By offering three special tracks, HotelWorld attendees will be able to ﬁnd a perfect ﬁt for their educations needs. Luxury sessions will include: Boutique Buy-In: Distinguish yourself; CuttingEdge Technology: The new amenity; Making Your Nightspot the Hot Spot; From Palette to Palate: Upscale restaurant options; The Good Life: Promote wellness from within; Sumptuous Surroundings: The bath evolution; Build the Best: Attract and retain quality employee; and Spa Sense: Create an integrated and proﬁtable experience. Full-service tracks will include: Tighten the Belt: Deliver F&B efﬁciently; We Can Do That: Teaching employees how to multi-task; Money Matters: Financing full-service hotels; State of the Union: A candid discussion about labor relations; Lock It Up: What you need to know about data security; Pillow Talk: Evaluating the success of the bedding revolution; Water: Keeping contaminants out and your guests safe from germs; and Out of the Box: Design and architectural solutions. Limited-/select-service tracks will include: Smart Housekeeping: Efﬁcient operations to boost your bottom line; Sign Here: Dealing with the current franchising agreement; Guests Love Your Amenities: Fact or ﬁction; Consumer Snapshot: Who are limited-service guests and what do they want?; Immigration: Navigate the regulatory maze; Wake-Up Call: Spice up your breakfast bar; Not-so-limited: Choose the right ﬁnancing options; and Risk Management: Protecting See HotelWorld | page 12 http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - November 19, 2007

Hotel & Motel Management - November 19, 2007 Contents Torrid Hotel Sales Pace Persists Boykin Takes Steps to Regain Foothold Best Western Sets 10-year Plan Perspective At Your Risk HotelWorld Update Sales Clinic Events Trends & Stats Charting H&MM's Top Lodging Design Firms Fitness Equipment Supplier News PMS Software Provides One-Click Solutions High-Quality Linens Require Higher-Quality Cleaning Despite Slow Market, Condo Hotels Thrive Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - November 19, 2007

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