Heart of Business – People First

Transformation — a dramatic change, usually for the better, in form, appearance or character. In business, we often pair transformation with people or culture. Today’s story from the heart does both as you will see in my interview with Craig Poole, retired president, Reading Hospitality Inc. (Reading Hospitality Inc. has a management contract between Hilton and the hotel which bears the DoubleTree brand.)

Heart is very easy to see in the stories Poole tells. In fact, most people local to the Berks community or part of the Hilton family are very familiar with the success Poole and his team created in making a difference for their employees, the hotel and the community by “putting people first.”  Besides being a great leader, Poole’s pretty good at marketing, too.

We don’t need to prove that Poole and his team were effective. Earning No. 1 in the 500 DoubleTree Hotel chain within two years of opening says it all. For our discussion, I’m more interested in helping you understand the strong business case for “putting people first” beyond also being the right (moral and ethical) thing to do.

Poole says it all started with Albert Boscov’s dream to transform the city through the bold step of a big hotel. “We knew that if we changed the environment of downtown Reading, we had the ability to change behaviors of people in the city,” said Poole. And a hotel, with its 24/7/365 profile, is even better poised to spark that transformation.

Achieving that transformation would require getting it right with many other aspects of the company — hiring the right people, building a collaborative culture, creating excellence in quality and service. But, like all of the achievements, outlining all the steps they took to make transformation possible is impossible. Better is for me to share the basic tenets that guided Poole’s leadership and his team’s thinking and actions.

Put people first, people before profits

Poole knows that “without good people, you can’t perform, and you can’t generate profit.” Another great hotelier (JW Marriott) agreed and said similarly, “Take care of your employees, and they’ll take care of your customers.”

Then, why don’t more CEOs do this? Poole believes the CEOs who don’t lead this way “don’t care about people, they care about money.” I see that, but I also think putting people first is still out of the wheelhouse of most leaders because technical skills training is still valued over people skills. I know this as a college business professor who spent his career reminding faculty colleagues that both are equally important — they were not always persuaded.

The key to putting people first

I asked Poole how he put people first. He offered: sit down with people and listen to them, to understand them (think Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People). This understanding, Poole explained, will help you know where to place them, what they’re capable of, what their dreams are. Poole added, “I didn’t follow the rules of the world, I followed my rules.” He goes on to say that the rule of two days off for bereavement may be too much or too little time, give them what they need.

Hire people where they’re at, not where they were

Imagine hiring a former prisoner to work in security. Most couldn’t, including the formerly incarcerated candidate. But Poole did just that. His rationale was — who better to be in this department than someone who understands an organization’s security vulnerabilities? When you meet people where they are, you build their trust. And, when you help them move from where they are, to where they want to go, you build their loyalty. Poole and his team did this often, including helping employees gain citizenship, improve their credit scores, and qualify for home-ownership.

Manage risk by being a learning organization

No organization, or leader, wants to fail. Smart ones, however, understand that risk can bring great success, as much as it can lead to great failure. Poole believes the key is in adopting a learning organization mindset. What have we learned from that? How can we improve? Check out Peter Senge’s 1990 book, The Fifth Discipline, for more on learning organizations (another classic).

When you put your people first, transformation occurs, and this is the result:

• They will be loyal and effective employees

• Loyal and effective employees build strong organizational culture of caring, engagement and collaboration

• A strong culture enables companies to achieve excellence

• Excellent companies positively impact community pride and success

Craig told me:  “I lead people for a lifetime, they are my legacy!”

Indeed, and everyone touched by Poole’s leadership, they are his transformed beneficiaries.

Have a story from the heart of business? Email: Info@ThePracticalProf.com, and it might be featured in an upcoming column.

Next Column:  More Stories from the “Heart” of Business!

Dr. Santo D. Marabella, The Practical Prof, is a professor emeritus of management at Moravian University and hosts the podcast “Office Hours with The Practical Prof … and Friends.” His latest book, “The Lessons of Caring” is written to inspire and support caregivers (available in paperback and eBook). Website: ThePracticalProf.com; Twitter: @PracticalProf; Facebook: ThePracticalProf.

SOURCES & FURTHER READING:

J.W. Marriott, Jr. (1997). The Spirit to Serve: Marriott’s Way

Stephen Covey. (1989). The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Peter Senge. (1990). The Fifth Discipline.