The position of General Manager has always been a dynamic one. When you’re checking the financials one minute and tasting new dishes in your restaurant the next, you cannot afford to be a specialist. It would be best if you were a generalist, hence the title. With an enigmatic-sounding title and a capricious job description, General Managers, as a rule of thumb, are generally quick to adapt.
That said, there has been a visible and fundamental shift across the industry in the last ten years. A rare combination of circumstances, including but not limited to the financial crisis, have conspired to make today’s General Managers very different in character from their predecessors. Whereas, in years gone by, the role was primarily guest-facing, most of the General Managers responsibilities are now performed behind the scenes
In truth, the vision of a General Manager as a lobby-swanning super-host has been updated for a while. This somewhat romanticised image stems from an era of more superficial corporate structures and fewer red tape reels. Nowadays, the General Manager needs to juggle a broader range of tasks, and as big brands dominate the market, words such as ‘governance’ and ‘legislation’ are rarely far from their minds.
If you can balance several tasks while keeping a smile on your face, you may have the chops to work as a hotel General Manager. General Managers oversee every function related to a hotel, from valet parking to restaurant service quality. Their job is to keep their property running smoothly, all while handling challenges with a patient and pleasant attitude to keep guests satisfied and employees motivated.
So what does it take to be a ‘NEW’ General Manager
Most distinctly, one of the most crucial tasks a General Manager sets is the company’s goals. The best General Managers establish goals that drive the team to stretch to achieve them. This does not mean capricious, unworkable plans that are bound to be missed and do not motivate anyone, but goals that will not allow anyone to forget how tough the competition is.
High standards come from more than demanding goals, of course. Similarly to the best sports coaches, university professors, or symphony conductors, top General Managers set a personal example in terms of their hours, their evident commitment to success, and the consistent quality of their efforts. Furthermore, they form and reinforce high standards in small ways that quickly become successful.
They reject long-winded, poorly prepared plans and “bagged” profit targets instead of complaining but accepting them anyway. Their department heads must know the intricate details of their business or function, not just the big picture. Marginal performers do not stay long in pivotal jobs. The best General Managers set the bar high and create enforced deadlines. Above all, they are impossible to satisfy. As soon as the sales or production or R&D department reaches one standard, they raise expectations a notch and go on from there.
Key points to be that the “NEW’ General Manager
The position of general manager has always been a dynamic one. When you’re checking the financials one minute and tasting new dishes in your restaurant the next, you cannot afford to be a specialist. So it would be best if you were a generalist, hence the title. With an enigmatic-sounding title and a capricious job description, General Managers, as a rule of thumb, are generally quick to adapt.
That said, there has been a visible and fundamental shift across the industry in the last ten years. A rare combination of circumstances, including but not limited to the financial crisis, has conspired to make today’s General Managers very different in character from their predecessors. Whereas, in years gone by, the role was primarily guest-facing, most of the General Managers responsibilities are now performed behind the scenes
In truth, the vision of a General Manager as a lobby-swanning super-host has been updated for a while. This somewhat romanticised image stems from an era of more superficial corporate structures and fewer red tape reels. Nowadays, General Manager needs to juggle a broader range of tasks, and, as big brands dominate the market, words such as ‘governance’ and ‘legislation’ are rarely far from their minds.
If you can balance several tasks while keeping a smile on your face, you may have the chops to work as a hotel General Manager. General Managers oversee every function related to a hotel, from valet parking to restaurant service quality. Their job is to keep their property running smoothly, all while handling challenges with a patient and pleasant attitude to keep guests satisfied and employees motivated.
So, what does it take to be a ‘NEW’ General Manager
Most distinctly, one of the most crucial tasks a General Manager sets is the company’s goals. The best General Managers establish goals that drive the team to stretch to achieve them. This does not mean capricious, unworkable goals that are bound to be missed and do not motivate anyone, but instead, goals that will not allow anyone to forget how tough the competition is.
High standards come from more than demanding goals, of course. Similarly to the best sports coaches, university professors, or symphony conductors, top General Managers set a personal example in terms of their hours, their evident commitment to success, and the consistent quality of their efforts. Furthermore, they form and reinforce high standards in small ways that quickly become successful.
They reject long-winded, poorly prepared plans and “bagged” profit targets instead of complaining but accepting them anyway. Their department heads must know the intricate details of their business or function, not just the big picture. Marginal performers do not stay long in pivotal jobs. The best General Managers set the bar high and create enforced deadlines. Above all, they are impossible to satisfy. As soon as the sales or production or R&D department reaches one standard, they raise expectations a notch and go on from there.
Key points to be that the “NEW’ General Manager
1. Hotel general managers wear many hats, so they must be multitaskers. They oversee food quality, guest relations, the front desk, finances, housekeeping, maintenance and team training and development. A General Manager may segue from an employee evaluation to checking the F&B setup for a meeting in the hotel’s conference centre. They must be able to organise and keep track of projects, schedules and people. Organisational talents are essential in larger hotels, which have more complex operations.
2. Hotel General Managers are professional trouble-shooters. They must be able to think of creative and practical solutions to problems in a fast-paced environment. They need the capacity to reason by applying common sense to complete their duties. Hotel managers must know math to interpret financial information. They also need the ability to make decisions based on company reports and their professional experiences and ideas.
3. Don’t be embarrassed to admit you don’t know everything. Knowledge comes from years of experience. More and more answers come your way with time. So when someone from your team asks you something, and you don’t know the answer, say that you don’t know the answer and that you’ll get back to them once you know.
4. Of course, you still must maintain a certain level of “distance” between you and your hotel team, but you also should make sure that you are interested in getting to know them personally. Research has shown that businesses treating their team members as a family have a higher productivity rate and far better workplace morale.
5. No hotel manager can survive without being decisive. They can never let overthinking or dithering get in the way of a clear, cool-headed decision. Sometimes it’s a question of taking a risk. But the manager is responsible for averting or mopping up a disaster – and they must own the consequences if they don’t hit the mark.
6. The hospitality industry is evolving every day. This might be a policy change, staff attrition, or new technology in your hotel. Don’t be frightened of change. Times are changing, and you must embrace it. If your employees see that you are adopting change rather than resisting it, they will follow suit, especially regarding technology. Our younger team members look forward to the technological changes and will assist the hotel in moving with the times.
7. Elite managers with a strong vision always seek a better way to do tasks or apply a more appealing approach. They are enthusiastic about change, curious about what is happening in the hospitality world, and can keep abreast of breaking industry news. Therefore, you should know about new trends and industry news that might affect your hotel. We know you are busy. However, setting aside even 15 to 30 minutes daily to read about industry news and trends is essential. Nowadays, it is much easier to do this with all the mobile apps available.
8. Teaching is part of your job as a hotel general manager. Sharing what you know with your team will not only foster a sense of empowerment in your hotel. It would make your role as a General Manager much easier because you are equipping them with knowledge and skills they can use to perform their job without constant assistance from you.
9. Coaching is fundamental as a General Manager—the basic skills and plays that make the team a consistent winner. Great General Managers do the same thing. They know that sustained superior performance cannot be built on one-shot improvements like restructurings, massive cost reductions, or reorganisations. Sure, they’ll take such sweeping actions if they are in a necessary or desirable situation. But their priority is avoiding that kind of situation. And they do that by focusing on the six critical tasks that constitute the foundations of every general manager’s job: shaping the work environment, setting strategy, allocating resources, developing managers, building the organisation, and overseeing operations.
What Top General Managers Should Do?
First and foremost, putting someone in a General Manager role who does not already know the business or the people involved simply because they are a successful “professional manager” is risky. Unless the company is easy to learn, it will be tough for the new General Manager to learn fast enough to develop a good agenda. And unless the situation involves only a few people, it won’t be easy to build a strong network fast enough to implement the plan.
Especially for large and complex businesses, this condition suggests that “growing” one’s executives should be a high priority. Of course, many companies today say that developing their executives is essential. Still, considering the booming executive search business, one must conclude that either they are not trying hard or their efforts are simply failing.
Second, management training courses offered in universities and corporations overemphasise proper tools, specific problems, and situations that deal simplistically with human relationships.
Some time-management programs currently in vogue are an excellent example of the problem. Based on simplistic conceptions about the nature of managerial work, these programs instruct managers to stop letting people and situations “interrupt” their daily work. For example, they often tell potential executives that short and disjointed conversations are ineffective. They advise managers to discipline themselves and not to let “irrelevant” people and topics into their schedules. Similarly, training programs that emphasise formal quantitative tools operate on the assumption that such devices are central to effective performance. All evidence suggests that while these tools are sometimes relevant, they are hardly major.
Third, people new to general management positions can get up to speed more effectively than the norm. Initially, a new General Manager usually needs to spend considerable time collecting information, establishing relationships, selecting a primary direction for their area of responsibility, and developing a supporting organisation. During the first three to six months on the job, demands from superiors to accomplish specific tasks or to work on pet projects—anything that significantly diverts attention away from agenda setting and network building—can be counterproductive.
Finally, the formal planning systems within which many General Managers must operate hinder effective performance. A sound planning system should help a general manager create an intelligent agenda and a strong network. It should encourage the General Manager to think about the strategy and how to implement it, to consider both the short and long-term plans and, regardless of the time frame, to consider financial, product, market, and organisational issues. Furthermore, it should be a flexible tool so that, depending on what kind of environment among subordinates is desired, they can use the planning system to help achieve the goals.
To sum up, outstanding General Managers affect their companies in six important ways. They develop a unique work environment; spearhead innovative strategic thinking; manage company resources productively; direct the people development and deployment process; build a dynamic organisation; and oversee day-to-day operations. Of course, individually, none of these things is new or unique. But successful General Managers are better at seeing the interrelationships among these six areas, setting priorities, and making the right things happen. As a result, their activities in these areas make a coherent and consistent pattern that moves the business forward.
These six responsibilities don’t tell the whole story, of course. Leadership skills and the General Manager’s style and experience are essential pieces of the whole. But focusing on these six areas will help any General Manager become more effective. And that should mean making the right things happen faster and more often—which is what we all want to achieve as general managers.
