Recently returned from a magnificent trip to Africa. During the trip we stayed at four different lodges, all wonderful in their own way. One lodge in particular stood out. Every person we passed stopped and introduced themselves with a smile. In general, the lodge staff was smiling a lot, even when they were amongst themselves. A sense of well-being and positivity permeated the place. Even my extreme food pickiness and requests (I didn’t know blueberries were so plentiful in the African bush) were accommodated with a “can-do” attitude. Our guide was outstanding, not only in his vast knowledge of everything we saw, from plants to birds and mammals but also in his friendly attitude and sincerity. When we found out we were his very first guests in this specific lodge, we were astounded. He seemed to be a part of the team for ages. His tracker (they work in teams of two) was perfectly aligned with the guide, maximizing both their talents and skills for a fantastic experience for us.
The front-of-house manager was a smiling man who had been with the lodge for over twenty years. He was ubiquitous, popping up everywhere with a friendly question or another bowl of blueberries for me. His interaction with everyone seemed positive, even when handling groups of demanding guests (not us…). He was calm, efficient, helpful, and friendly.
Another lodge we visited provided an exciting contract to Lodge A. While the first lodge was beautiful, luxurious, and well-appointed, the second lodge was genuinely over-the-top. The rooms, public spaces and everything about this place were all stunning. No expense was spared to make this place a “statement” refuge. The design elements and beauty of the place were truly eye-popping.
The front-of-house manager was a fantastic woman. She impressed me from the moment we met. She was pleasant and very smart. Her intelligence was shown through our interactions, and her invisible guiding hand touched us in our room and elsewhere. But the place just didn’t feel good. There was plenty of staff, but they where not industrious. They’d stand around chatting while dinner orders took an hour or longer to get to the table. The guide was super knowledgeable and talked when we saw something worth talking about, but he didn’t fill in the long silences in between sightings with his own story, information about the villages we packed by or other topics. His tracker partner never uttered a word. In general, no one but the manager and one server seemed to care about the guests. Or each other.
Throughout our trip we met a sommelier who was interviewing in both places. On the plane back to Johannesburg I asked him which lodge did he choose as his next place of work. He chose the first one, of course.
Comparing these two lodges struck me as a fundamental lesson in management. Despite the superior facilities, the second lodge simply didn’t measure up. Prospecting employee evaluation suss the difference out immediately as well. It was palpable.
We can learn several important lessons from this experience.
- Management style imbues the entire organization, intentionally or unintentionally.
- Hiring the right leaders to model collegial and caring behavior is essential to bring that aspect to life in day-to-day interactions amongst the staff and with clients.
- Hiring for personality is at least as important as hiring for skills if you’re looking for specific experiences and organizational atmosphere.
- Organizational atmosphere is palpable and is felt by all constituents quickly.
- While facilities, design and buildings matter greatly in the lodges, people matter even more. This is analogous to the investment in technology in our business. It is table stakes and critical to success. The competitive edge, though, lies in the human interaction layer that’s superimposed on the digital channel.
- Prescribed behavior expectations cannot replace authenticity and leadership modeling. Such expectations are helpful in generating the right mindset to build the atmosphere we are looking for in our branches and other human interactions. At the lodges, mandatory personal introduction by every member of staff as they come across a new guest might seem excessive. In fact it helps staff build confidence in interpersonal relationships with newcomers, and a habit can become a style in time.
- A warm, welcoming environment for the guests/customers often also translates to a collegial environment among the staff, as the prospective employee mentioned above found out. He described perceived tension amongst the staff, whereas a brand new guide in the other lodge described the opposite feeling and experience as they entered the team as a newcomer.
This experience is not directly applicable to banking, and yet we are all selling a combination of facilities, products and people interactions, whether at a safari lodge or at a branch. I will carry the lessons learned in Africa with me forever. I hope you will find them instructive as well.