Why you should run your office like a luxury hotel
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Comfortable lounges, fitness facilities, great food services, and concierge desk will make your employees want to spend more time at work. Think about the last time you stayed in a luxury hotel. How was the experience? At the end of your stay, did you want to leave? Or could you have gotten used to all that comfort, service, and all-around pampering? That feeling, of course, was no accident. The best hotels are packed with amenities and services because in their industry the surest way to turn guests into repeat guests is to provide a memorable experience. Why should the goal in any industry be different? No, your company isn’t a hotel, but no matter what it does, it would certainly benefit from the $2,400 increase in profits per employee per year that results from more engaged people. It would also enjoy the boost to the bottom line that occurs when your customers and partners interact with the happier and more dedicated people who work for you. Plus, nothing turns a prospect into a customer quite like inviting them into your office to experience that luxury hotel vibe.
The reasons are simple: hotel-like amenities and concierge services are not just about pampering; they are about freeing up mental capacity to engage with important tasks; they are about delivering the message that the organization cares about its people; and they are about enhancing employee loyalty to the company.
Luxury hotels want you to be comfortable so you can focus on vacation By providing top-quality amenities and full concierge services, the world’s best hotels contribute to your ability to focus on enjoying your vacation. Similarly, employers should want their people to be comfortable so they can focus on work. In a world where millions of people must multi-task their jobs with parenting, social demands, household chores, shopping, and generally keeping their busy lives together, onsite services can make all the difference. When the daycare is at or near the workplace, along with the dry cleaning, package pickup and drop-off, food services, and retail needs, it removes the many layers of stress that can impact work performance.
Customers don’t invest in companies; they invest in relationships. If every day you feel as relaxed, energized, and well-fed with high-quality, healthy food as you would at any high-end hotel, your work product will improve.
Luxury hotels provide amenities and services to show that they care about you Part of the experience at a great hotel is that sense that everyone on the staff genuinely cares about you and the experience you are having. If you provide this same feeling to your employees, they will reward you with two key benefits: 1) greater dedication to their work, and 2) they will pass that feeling on to your customers. Show your employees that you care about them and they will show your customers that they care about them. More dedicated employees and greater customer loyalty and retention, all at the low cost of just a few add-on services.
Luxury hotels make you want to stay forever If entering and exiting your office space makes every one of your employees, customers, and partners feel the same way they do when checking in and checking out of a hotel, then you are guaranteed to achieve better results. Those comfortable lounges, fitness facilities, great food services, and concierge desk will make your employees want to spend more time at work. If they feel like all their needs are being met, they will in turn commit greater long-term loyalty to the organization.
Similarly, having unique service offerings makes the prospect of leaving for another employer more daunting. If you get used to that concierge desk and fitness center, you are going to have to limit your job search to only those employers who offer both (and at the moment, not many employers boast these competitive advantages). On the customer side, it is far more difficult to switch your loyalties to a competitor if you have a strong relationship with the healthy, happy, dedicated staff of your existing product/service provider. Further, if you do business with this company in their office space, then you are going to enjoy every trip into that well-appointed facility — an enjoyment that will make you second-guess any thoughts about switching to a competitor. In a hyper-competitive job market and an environment where customer loyalty is more difficult than ever to retain, it is time to stop pinching pennies like a Motel 6 and start thinking like a luxury hotel.
This article is an excerpt from Work Them to Life: Upgrade Your Office Space to Win the Talent War authored by Jim Scalo and currently available for purchase on Amazon.