Words from the Wise – Beppo Buchanan-Smith
"Good enough" is never either of these
This is a recent addition to my vocabulary, but sums up many of the things which are right in some operations and wrong in others. At Eriska there are many things we have to manage with, but providing we return to correct them when we have time and funds, and do not accept them as complete until we are satisfied, the adage stands.
You are only as strong as your weakest link
When I sat on the board of Pride of Britain Hotels, the chairman George Goring always reminded us of this. When applied to life it means that you nurture and develop those with less ability to ensure that you move forward. It is the minimum standard that we are judged by in this day and age of user generated content, and regrettably not the best that we achieve.
Promote for ability and reward for loyalty
The bulk of my time is spent dealing with the team here at Eriska and attracting, developing and retaining the best potential candidates to work with us. However, I often have to remind myself of the difference between loyalty and ability and how while often the two do not come hand-in-hand, when they do we have a near indispensable cog in the wheel.
Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity
Whenever a group of hoteliers meet, talk is always centred around how busy each property is and how well we are all doing. For some reason, probably because some see profit as a dirty word, we never seem to discuss profitability, which in reality is key to our survival, whether we are in a one-star or a five-star operation. Without positive financial return we could never survive for long.
People don't change that much
When employing someone, first impressions are, almost without fail, correct. Occasionally you are faced with a candidate who has ability, however, in most cases, you think that you see skills which can be developed but are left chasing a mirage. Don't waste time trying to develop skills that aren't there; go with your instinct.
Best piece of advice ever
I asked Ron Jones (former general manager of Claridge's) whether I needed to attend hotel school. He said you need three skills to run a hotel: a grasp of marketing to fill the property; an ability to understand people - and the team in particular - to keep the hotel running; and a comprehension of accounts to survive.
He suggested I shadow other managers in different properties to help me get an overall vision of hotel management, and learn from their styles and techniques what would work at a Scottish country hotel. It is also important to note those skills and methods that will not work and ensure that they are not introduced by others who have a different vision.
CV HIGHLIGHTS
1994 Launched the first non-weather/non-light dependent leisure facilities and opened all year round
2004 Became Master Innholder
2007 Independent Hotel of the Year Catey
2010 Scottish Thistle Taste of Scotland Award
2011 Completed Cranfield- Business Leaders Programme
MANTRA
Try and leave things better tomorrow than you found them today
WORST IDEA
When my brother retired from the business I thought I would simply get up an hour earlier each morning and I would easily achieve his work load in this extra work time. On paper, this was logical and easy, but in reality he added more than an hour's work to the business; he was a foil to my decisions. I was lucky enough to take on a new business partner who added both this and more to Eriska before I made too many outrageous changes.
