"This is not conventional hotelkeeping," admits 37-year-old Charles Oak, describing the new staff structure at Radisson Edwardian's 11 hotels, implemented just three months ago.
The new structure sees the creation of two teams throughout the hotels - back of house, or "business support", and front of house, now named "service excellence". None of the London hotels now has a general manager either.
So why the change? "Three years ago," Oak says, "business was good, but everybody sat back. When things became tough we had to look for ways of differentiating our hotels from those of our competitors which in some locations were right next door. We decided we could be really intelligent on customer service more intimate."
Oak, like many managers, describes himself as "hands-on". But this is a man who means it. He believes regular stints waiting tables and serving in the bar are essential to keep in touch with the sharp end. "It gives me operational credibility with my workforce. I understand their pains, grief and problems and can talk about strategy and vision with them.
In fact, his first few months at Radisson Edwardian were so hands-on that no one knew who he was. "I agreed with the chairman that I would work as a barman, then as a linen porter, a chambermaid and then a waiter. That was vital to understand what the feeling was among the staff and towards the customers."
So when he finally revealed himself to the staff, Oak already had a pretty good understanding of the way the business worked, together with clear ideas about ways to improve. He had also won the respect of his staff. "People thought that at least I was prepared to scrub toilets and carpets - they remember you for that."
Oak was convinced that the staff structure he'd had as general manager at Skibo Castle could work at Radisson Edwardian. And, put simply, it meant dividing those who were better and more natural at dealing with customers from those whose strengths lay in back of house and letting them concentrate on the aspects of the job they were happiest at.
"Hotels will employ a receptionist who is good with people, efficient, personable and who looks like a supermodel," Oak says, "but she is also expected to be a whizz at the administration that goes with the job. We were losing great people, as they were either one or the other natural front-of-house people, say, but not interested in back office." And it wasn't just in reception this was happening. Chefs were being asked to be accountants and managers when they were creative people by nature.
Under the new structure at Radisson Edwardian, front-of-house staff report to Oak as head of service excellence, and back of house is headed by director of business support Mike O'Connor. Service excellence oversees conferences, restaurants, concierge and reception in fact, everything that interfaces with customers while business support deals with back of house.
So how's it going? Well, Oak admits, such radical change has been tough. "It's easy for people to slip back into what they think they should be doing," he says. "But customers are seeing the difference. Now reception staff could spend about half-an-hour checking people in. There's no pressure to go back to the desk to finish paperwork they could give people a tour of the hotel."
Four facts about Radisson Edwardian Hotels
- The privately owned company has just paid £115m for the five-star InterContinental May Fair London hotel, giving the group 11 four- and five-star hotels in London.
- Chairman and chief executive is Jasminder Singh, who founded the company in 1977.
- The acquisition of the May Fair London increases Radisson Edwardian's London bedroom count to 2,300.
- Included in its portfolio is the Berkshire hotel, which won the Hotel of the Year trophy at the 1989 Caterer & Hotelkeeper Awards, and the five-star Radisson Edwardian Heathrow hotel, seven-times winner of the Best Airport Hotel in the World and the Leading Conference Hotel in Europe, 2002.
Oak: The background
Raised in Liverpool, Charles Oak trained at the city's Adelphi hotel before moving to Gleneagles in Perthshire as chef de rang. He became a commis de salle at the Crillon in Paris and then joined the Savoy management training course. He has since been food and beverage manager at Radisson Edwardian's Berkshire hotel in London's Oxford Street, general manager of the Ackergill Tower near Wick, Caithness, and general manager at Combe Abbey in Warwickshire. After a three-year stint at Skibo Castle in Dornoch, Sutherland, he joined Radisson Edwardian as director of customer operations, with responsibility for all 11 hotels.