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Building healthy relationships with clients

March 19, 2018 / The Service Companies / 1 Comment

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By Chip Parmelee

In this current business climate, establishing a healthy relationship with your potential and current customer is paramount since we do business with those we trust.

Creating and fostering relationships with customers takes time and excellent customer service. Having worked in the hospitality industry for over 30 years with a number of luxury brands like Marriott International and currently overseeing AAA Four and Five Diamond properties in Southern Florida for The Service Companies, I have developed tips and recommendations on how to go about building these healthy relationships.

Know the position/responsibilities of your main contact. Having a thorough understanding of their needs ensures you are providing them what they need to succeed.
Learn what you might have in common that both of you can speak to and relate to.
Seek to establish a business friendship. Find out what interests them. Reference those interests in conversation, when it makes sense. Does your customer like the local baseball team? Engage them in conversation about a thrilling game or news.
If a mistake is made, always professionally apologize for the inconvenience. Take responsibility and assure your customers you will do research to prevent the issue from occurring in the future. For any promises or assurances you make, ensure you follow up.
Be genuine. If you are unsure of something, ask questions to clarify your uncertainty and to be sure you and the client are on the same page
Insist on inspections. They are healthy for both a vendor and a client. They allow you to identify potential issue before they become larger problem.
Get to know all department leaders of those areas your teams service or work closely with. At The Service Companies, one of the teams we work closely with at each property is Maintenance or Engineering. It is important to be known among these departmental leaders. Ask your client to facilitate introductions if there are leaders he or she believes it is important you meet and get to know.
Always express your appreciation to the client for giving you their time when visiting or following a meeting.
Learn their business. Various departments have distinct business outlooks. Understanding how their department functions will enable you to tailor your service to best fit their needs.
Acknowledge your customers by sending greeting cards. It’s a nice gesture for these to include as many as your team members’ signatures as possible along with your business card. Some ideas for when to send a card are:
- Congratulatory card for a promotion, the birth of a child, or to acknowledge your client’s accomplishments
- Thanksgiving is the perfect time to thank your client for their business
- Birthdays
- New Year

While these tips contribute to building a strong customer relationship, the most important one to remember is email and text are always needed; however, nothing replaces the personal visit or phone call. The more you are able to have a conversation, whether on the phone or in person, the better your relationship will be.

The Service Companies

The Service Companies is the unrivaled nationwide provider of cleaning, staffing and managed services to the hospitality industry, particularly luxury hotels, casinos and vacation ownership resorts. With nearly 30 years of experience, The Service Companies approaches their work with dedication, professionalism and a keen attention to detail that leads to best-in-class results.

http://theservicecompanies.com

Investing in the careers of our associates

January 12, 2018 / The Service Companies / 1 Comment

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Occasionally, we are asked “What differentiates The Service Companies from a staffing vendor?” There are many differentiating factors, which we’ve touched on previously on the blog. One very important one is our investment in our associates and their careers.

We invest in each of our team members and their careers. Each associate, no matter their position, has a trajectory of advancement available to them. When possible, we fill open positions with our internal candidates. 250 internal promotions were given in 2017, a number we look to increase as our company grows.

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We have a number of tenured associates who have risen through our ranks from Kitchen Cleaners or EVS Attendants to Vice Presidents. Victor Vargas, Vice President of Operations – Central Region, joined The Service Companies as Third Shift Kitchen Cleaner in 2002. Within two months, he was promoted to Supervisor, then joined our casino opening team in Lake Tahoe. Shortly thereafter, he became a Project Manager, City Manager and Director of Operations, until being promoted once again to Vice President of Operations – Central Region in 2009.

In addition to the numerous opportunities available within our departmental offices across the country, we also offer career development through our Developing Future Leaders Program. Our Management Training Program, Internship Program and Veteran Management Training Program, all introduce new associates to the tools needed to succeed at The Service Companies and the hospitality Industry. Our Emerging Leaders Program selects high performing individuals within our team and fosters their growth by providing management and leadership training. We also offer scholarship programs for our team members and their children who are enrolled in college or university courses.

For more information about our culture of investing in our associates, visit our website: http://theservicecompanies.com/careers/why/

The Service Companies

http://theservicecompanies.com

What the recent NLRB ruling reversal means for the hospitality industry

With the recent reversal on its 2015 ruling in the Browning-Ferris Industries case, the National Relations Board has given welcome news to hotel owners and executive team: companies are no longer responsible for associates they do not have direct control over. While the ruling provides a clearer guide for what hoteliers are liable for, the hotel industry, which is heavily reliant on staffing vendors and subcontractors in many circumstances, is not in the clear from joint-employment liability.

The Political Environment

This reversal has shown how quickly policy can change; and with the ever-changing state of the political environment, it is not out of the question that the Browning-Ferris Industries may be reversed to its 2015 ruling. In fact, Republican Chairman Philip Miscimarra, member of the NLRB, left the board on December 16, and the opening of his seat has the potential to shift the makeup of the board. This potential is slim as the board seat will be confirmed by the Senate, of which the Republican party holds a majority. However, this plus the two additional board seats that will be opening within the next two years should be a cause for concern for the hospitality industry. With such a quickly changing political environment, hoteliers should approach joint employment as if the 2015 ruling of Browning-Ferris Industries was still in place. Not only is it the only way to fully prevent hoteliers and their ownership groups from being held liable for joint employment violations, but creates peace of mind and less work should the NLRB reinstate the Browning-Ferris Industries ruling again.

Vendor Contracts

Bryan Wroten, in his article titled “Joint-employer reversal: What hoteliers should know,” addressed legal concerns following the reversal and the importance that hoteliers review the contracts with their subcontractors or staffing providers. Referencing and quoting Dana Kravetz, managing partner at Michelman & Robinson, Wroten writes “It’s likely many hoteliers didn’t take a strong look at their contracts to make sure they only included components to protect them from joint-employer status, such as checking that the contract only maintains franchise standards rather than exerting control.”

While this reversal benefits hoteliers, it is important to remain vigilant on potential joint employment issues within a property. Continue to ask your vendors these important questions to fully protect yourself, your management company and ownership group, and review your vendor contracts with your legal team. For guaranteed protection, consider The Service Companies, the only provider of staffing, cleaning and managed services to the hospitality industry that protects a property and ownership from any potential joint employment challenges. We provide a full benefits package and training to our associates, document ID and social security numbers and require all associates to have I-9, W-4, criminal background checks, drug screens and E-Verification validations.

The Service Companies

http://theservicecompanies.com

What to consider when hiring newly displaced workers from Puerto Rico

December 14, 2017 / The Service Companies / 0 Comments

As a result of Hurricane Maria, the United States, particularly Florida, has seen a large influx of Puerto Rican refugees looking for work. This could be great news for the hospitality industry which, with the unemployment rate reported at 4.1% in October and November and the difficulty securing workers through the H2B visa program, has struggled to find labor to fill housekeeping, public area cleaning and stewarding positions.What should the executive teams of hotels and casinos with understaffed departments be taking into consideration as they look to hire from this group of over 200,000 individuals?

First, hiring from this pool of workers is costly. Hotels and casinos must be aware that they will be incurring costs from the recruitment and onboarding processes as well as ongoing fees associated with insurance. Recruitment costs will include background checks, drug tests and e-verification in addition to travel costs to attend job fairs, and relocation and lodging fees for the new hires.

Once hired, these new associates go through the onboarding and training process. While this varies from property to property, at The Service Companies, each of our associates completes a 30-day training program for any of our fully managed services including housekeeping, EVS and Stewarding. The costs that result from training can be high. In 2016, in conjunction with Navigate Corporation, a premier management consulting firm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Service Companies took a deep dive to understand the drivers of associate retention and engagement. During this study, we saw that onboarding a new associate could cost thousands of dollars. Depending on how short staffed a hotel or casino is, just the onboarding costs could quickly and easily surpass $10,000 with only a few new hires. On top of this, add the costs for medical and dental benefits, general liability and workers compensation insurance, which will continue throughout the associate’s tenure at the property.

It takes a well-capitalized company or property to be able to successfully recruit this new influx of workers. Located across the country, The Service Companies, the one-stop-shop for managed, staffing and specialty services to the hospitality and gaming industry, is one of the few with the capital and experience (over 30 years) to take on this responsibility. With our turn-key housekeeping, public area/EVS cleaning and stewarding model, we assume full accountability of a hotel or casino’s most challenging departments, handling recruiting, background, drug and e-verification checks, training and insurance. No other company has the same resources, experience or nationwide presence. To learn more, visit www.theservicecompanies.com.

The Service Companies

http://theservicecompanies.com

Distributing Soap in Guadalajara with Clean The World & Caesars Entertainment

November 30, 2017 / The Service Companies / 0 Comments

Social responsibility is important to us and we drive corporate social responsibility among our clients. In early November, we partnered with Caesars Entertainment and Clean The World for the fifth consecutive year to send two members of our housekeeping teams on a service trip to distribute recycled soap and hygiene kits to underserved youth and communities. This year, Cynthia Isrow (EVS Supervisor in Laughlin) and Yerky Santana (Housekeeping Supervisor at a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip) were selected to travel to Guadalajara, Mexico with Clean The World and Caesars Entertainment’s winners.

Their trip began in Las Vegas, where the group received a tour of Clean The World’s Recycling Operations Center, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary, to learn how Clean The World takes, sanitizes and repackages partially used soaps and hotel amenities collected by our associates. In Guadalajara, through Children International, Cynthia, Yerky and the trip participants spent three days distributing soap to impoverished families and taught them how to properly wash their hands to prevent disease.

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Now that they have returned from their trip, we took some time to speak with Cynthia and Yerky about the trip and how it affected them. Read our interview and view the photos from the trip below.

What was your reaction to hearing you were selected to go on the soap distribution trip to Guadalajara?

Cynthia: At first, I was a bit uneasy about traveling to Mexico. But I was very excited to have the opportunity to go.

Yerky: I was excited to go. I lived in Guadalajara for a time, so I know about the city and the living conditions in which many of the people live. I knew that by going with this group, I would be able to make a big impact.

What were your expectations of the trip when you were selected? How were they the same as or different than what you experienced?

Cynthia: I expected that we were just there to hand out soap, but it turned out to be so much more than that. We spent time with the families and children we were helping along with Children International. It was a very rewarding experience.

Yerky: The trip ended up being more impactful than I expected it to be. For me, I left Guadalajara thinking more about how other people live and the opportunities available to them. Before, I was more concerned about my life; now not so much.

What advice or information can you give our associates participating in the Clean The World initiative on property?

Cynthia: Keep doing it. Collecting the soap is so important. To us, it might just be soap, but to others, it’s life. I am vocal about how important this is on property.

Yerky: People may not think about how much they can help others by collecting the partially used soaps left behind by guests. On the trip, I saw that one bar of soap has a big impact on these communities. One bar of soap for us is not a big deal, but for the people in Guadalajara, it’s life changing. I would encourage everyone to collect as much soap as possible.

It is amazing to hear that one bar of soap, which may be something we take for granted, has such a significant affect on a family or community. Has this trip impacted you in any way?

Cynthia: It has impacted me in so many ways. Other than wanting to be more involved with my team, I am looking at sponsoring a child in Guadalajara through Children International. Hopefully by January, it will be all set up. When I was in Guadalajara, I saw how the programs Children International provides these families are so effective and I want to give one child the opportunity to have his or her education, medical bills and more covered. I left Mexico believing that one person can change one life.

Yerky: When we’re cleaning guest rooms, we don’t think about how the soap or toilet paper we collect is important. I left driven to do more to help people less fortunate. I’m just one person, and even though I can make a difference, this trip made me realize the great potential people with resources have to combat poverty in the world. I made a promise to myself to contribute more, but more people have to get involved.

What was the most memorable part of the trip?

Cynthia: There was a mother that we met that I will never forget. When we were teaching the kids how to properly wash their hands, each would receive a gold star sticker. She also really wanted to learn and she was so excited to get a gold sticker. She was so thankful and grateful to receive the sticker, which is burned in my mind. This trip put my life into perspective and was a mind opening experience. The people we were helping work from 5am to 11pm each day and only make $150 per month. They make the most out of what they have, which is an important lesson for us all.

Yerky: For me, there were two very memorable parts to the trip. The first was when we visited a family at home. We showed everyone, from the children to the grandmother, how to wash their hands. Visiting them reminded me that my family and I used to live like this in Cuba. I understood how hard they work just to buy some bread and milk. It put my life into perspective. The second memorable experience for me was the visit to the Clean The World Recycling Factory in Las Vegas, where we saw how the soaps we collect are sanitized and repackaged into new soap.

Are there any other memorable moments from the trip you’d like to share?

Cynthia: There was a moment with Yerky interacting with a child during a home visit that I think was memorable for all of us. Yerky asked the boy how many times he could jump on one foot in a minute. The boy responded with 50 times. Yerky stopped the boy after 30 seconds of jumping and told him that he jumped 78 times in half the time. Yerky told the boy to never underestimate himself and to always realize what he is capable of. Yerky shared that he was poor, just like the boy, growing up in Cuba and being told the limits to what he could do in life. Yerky continued that now he lives in the United Sates working on the Las Vegas strip, has traveled to 48 countries and accomplishing what he sets his heart to.

What an incredible story. Cynthia, how has your team in Laughlin been so successful in collecting unused amenities that are donated to Clean The World?

Cynthia: Through constant encouragement. I think now that I can share my experience with them, they will begin to realize the value of what we do and we will be even more successful.

Both of you have mentioned that now that you’ve returned, you want to do more. Can you elaborate on that?

Cynthia: I’ve already started looking at hosting community hygiene kit builds and getting more involved with Clean The World here in Nevada.

Yerky: I’d like to start volunteering, even if it’s just one day a week. I know I can make a difference, no matter how small the task.

The Service Companies

http://theservicecompanies.com

Leaders in Service: Kim Eichelberger

August 29, 2017 / The Service Companies / 1 Comment

Our next feature in our Leaders in Service feature is Kim Eichelberger, Project Director for a luxury casino property in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She has been with The Service Companies, having served in a variety of roles for over 10 years. We’ve asked her to answer some questions about working for The Service Companies.

Congratulations on having just celebrated your 10 year anniversary at The Service Companies! What are some of your most memorable moments from your time at the company?

Working for The Service Companies has been memorable in a lot of ways, and I’ve experienced and learned a great amount since I first started. In the last 10 years, I’ve had the opportunity to travel from account to account, running different customers’ housekeeping departments across the country. I’ve met and worked with a number of people, and had the opportunity to work at vacation ownership properties (where you complete unannounced QAs twice a year) and casino properties, where running occupancy is in the high 90s.

What does your role as Project Director entail? What are some of your responsibilities?

As Project Director for our casino customer in Lakes Charles, I am responsible for running the day-to day operations with 99% occupancy almost daily, motivating my employees daily and engaging with them as much as possible with standup meetings. I also managing our proprietary portals and productivity trackers, ensuring our cleaning standards are met by the property expectations. I also build relationships with the property managers and participate in weekly and daily meetings with property management since we are one team.

Out of all of the properties you have worked at for The Service Companies, what were the highlights of each?

I have worked at several of our properties around the country, but there are a few that were memorable and highlights for me. I worked at one of our hotel customers in Puerto Rico. It was a challenging project, but the views were amazing. In Key West, another time when I was surrounded by amazing views, we managed three properties from one end of the island to the other, which brought its obstacles to problem solve. Also, I will never forget the roosters in the tress in Key West. Yes, roosters.

I have also worked in Virginia, Myrtle Beach, New Orleans, Iowa, Connecticut, Arizona, Laughlin and now Lake Charles. Each property has had its own demands, and it’s been a great experience. I have loved the traveling, being challenged, and walking away with a sense of accomplishment.

What has kept you excited and passionate about working for The Service Companies for the last 10 years?

I’ve worked for The Service Companies for the past 10 years because I truly enjoy my job and the challenges I’m working to solve. There have been moments in my career that have been quite challenging; however, I try to look at the positive side of any and every event.

How do you motivate your team?

I motivate my team in many ways. We hold celebrations and recognize our associates, but, most of all, I interact with each associate on a personal level.

That’s amazing that you have interacted on a personal level with all 250+ of your associates. How do you keep your casino property running so smoothly while overseeing 1000+ rooms and 250+ associates?

How do I keep the property running so smoothly? It’s one of the toughest jobs, I must say. Building the relationship with our customer is the key as is a sense of urgency. I’ve been successful by learning this property and being proactive instead of reactive.

What do you enjoy most about being a Project Director?

The daily demands and building relationships with staff and customers.

When you are not working, what do you like to do?

Enjoying the outdoors and fishing.

At The Service Companies, we understand that our people make our company great and enable us to provide our customers Service. Above All. No matter what level, property or department you look, you will find exceptional associates who live and breathe our brand and have helped create a strong corporate culture. In the spirit of honoring the people and leaders within our company, we will feature and interview our outstanding associates in our series, Leaders in Service.

The Service Companies

http://theservicecompanies.com

Leaders in Service: Jurond Brazile

July 13, 2017 / The Service Companies / 0 Comments

Jurond-Brazile At The Service Companies, we understand that our people make our company great and enable us to provide our customers Service. Above All. No matter what level, property or department you look, you will find exceptional associates who live and breathe our brand and have helped create a strong corporate culture. In the spirit of honoring the people and leaders within our company, we will feature and interview our outstanding associates in our series, Leaders in Service.

Our third feature of this series is Jurond Brazile, a Laundry Attendant/Public Area Attendant/Houseman in Key West. We’ve asked him to answer some questions about working for The Service Companies:

How long have you been with The Service Companies?

I have been working for The Service Companies for six years.

What role(s) have you had here and what is your current position?

Since I joined, I have held Houseman, Public Area, Laundry, Carpet Cleaning and Housekeeping positions. Currently, I am a Laundry Attendant/Public Area Attendant/Houseman for a vacation ownership resort in Key West, Florida.

What does your job entail?

I do any job that is asked of me. Since my role with The Service Companies includes Houseman, Laundry and Public Area duties, I help out wherever I am needed. I enjoy it.

That is a great attitude to have, and one that we value at The Service Companies. Our last question for you is what do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?

When I’m not working, I like to read books and play sports, particularly soccer and basketball.

The Service Companies

http://theservicecompanies.com

Taking on the War on Talent

June 2, 2017 / The Service Companies / 0 Comments

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The turnover rate in the hospitality industry is one of the highest of any industry: in 2016, the overall turnover rate in the Accommodations and Restaurants sector was 72.9% (up nearly a percent from 2015 and steadily increasing since 2010.)[1] With such a high turnover rate, hotels, casinos, resorts and other hospitality venues are spending millions of dollars hiring the right number of and providing consistent training to their employees. The obstacle to hire employees is compounded with the current employment climate. With an unemployment rate of 4.4%, the lowest rate seen since 2008, low wage staffing has become increasingly more difficult. Not only do hoteliers, casinos and resorts need to spend more money and time sourcing, hiring and training the right candidates, but high turnover threatens their ability to deliver a high quality of service and guest experience. At The Service Companies, we call this the “War on Talent”.

Our leaders have noticed this War on Talent intensify over the last few years and, in 2016, The Service Companies invested a significant amount of time and capital to understanding the underlying issues that drive turnover of hourly workers and developing solutions to these obstacles. The first step in this process was partnering with Navigate Corporation, a premier human resources management consulting firm in Philadelphia, to dive deep into the drivers of associate engagement and retention. We also created a dedicated team, our Associate Success and Retention team, to work with Navigate, analyze trends, develop solutions and execute them across The Service Companies portfolio.

Our Associate Success and Retention team have taken a data-driven approach, looking at job types, days of tenure, accounts with highest turnover, reasons for termination and regions, and created cohorts to identify trends on why associates depart after a specific amount of time. From there, we have developed customized solutions for each cohort, analyzing the efficacy of each solution as they are implemented across each of our customers’ properties nationwide. The solutions include the launch of new engagement programs, a new training and onboarding experience that creates consistency across all properties and services, and new tools that encourage collaboration and communication among our various teams.

The War on Talent will not solve itself. In fact, it will only become more difficult for hospitality companies to find the right talent. With turnover costs steadily increasing, we see tremendous value to solving these problems and we have taken on the responsibility to fix these issues for our customers. If you’d like to learn how we can solve this problem for you, contact us here and one of our team members will contact you right away.

[1] http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/News/Hospitality-employee-turnover-rate-edged-higher-in

The Service Companies

http://theservicecompanies.com

Leaders in Service: Griffin Long

April 21, 2017 / The Service Companies / 2 Comments

Griffin Long At The Service Companies, we understand that our people are what makes our company great and enables us to provide our customers Service. Above All. No matter what level, property or department you look, you will find exceptional associates who live and breathe our brand and have helped create a strong corporate culture. In the spirit of honoring the people and leaders within our company, we will feature and interview our outstanding associates in our series, Leaders in Service.

Our second feature of this series is Griffin Long, an Operations Manager for our Food & Beverage and Hospitality Staffing division, Acrobat Outsourcing. We’ve asked him to answer some questions about working for The Service Companies:

Tell us how long have you been with The Service Companies?

I have worked with Acrobat Outsourcing, The Service Companies’ Food & Beverage and Hospitality Staffing business segment, a little over two years.

What role(s) have you had here and what is your current position?

My first role with Acrobat was as a temporary worker doing catering for Sodexo. I then became a Staffing Assistant and began working out of Acrobat Outsourcing’s Houston office and became Operations Assistant Manager not long after. I was recently promoted to Operations Manager for Austin, a role I will be assuming this week.

Congratulations on your promotion! What does your new job entail?

What doesn’t my job entail is the real question. I do everything from staffing, recruiting, administrative tasks, check-in, client meetings, and more. That’s how I was trained, to cover everything. It’s always good to be well versed in what your entire team does.

So, how do you motivate your team?

I motivate my team by always asking if they need help. No matter how busy I am, I always find time to see what areas I can help them in. This builds teamwork and everyone knows their role, but at the end of the day they can wear all the hats in the office.

I know you were just promoted, but what was the best thing about being the Operations Assistant Manager in Austin?

The best thing about being Operations Assistant Manager was that I got to help upper management while also being able to focus on the team effort. Whether it’s speaking to clients or helping with admin work I did a little bit of everything for the greater good.

Tell us one thing about yourself that is not related to work or what you do for fun when you’re not working.

I enjoy fishing, camping, cooking, and hanging out with my family! I am a very family-oriented person. They will always come first in my life.

The Service Companies

http://theservicecompanies.com

Leaders in Service: Ana Rodriguez

April 4, 2017 / The Service Companies / 0 Comments

At The Service Companies, we understand that our people is what makes our company great and enables us to provide our customers Service. Above All. No matter at what level, property or department you look, you will find exceptional associates who live and breathe our brand and have helped create a strong corporate culture. In the spirit of honoring the people and leaders within our company, we will feature and interview our outstanding associates in our series, Leaders in Service.

Our first feature of this series is Ana Rodriguez, Director of EVS and Housekeeping Operations. We’ve asked her to answer some questions about working for The Service Companies:

How long have you been with The Service Companies?
All together 2 years.

What role have you had here and what is your current position?
I was a Property Manager for The Service Companies in the Housekeeping department at a casino in Bossier City, Louisiana in 2009. I’m currently Director of Operations for EVS and Housekeeping at a casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

What does your job entail?
My team and I are responsible for the housekeeping operations of a 2200+ room casino hotel, the upkeep of a 20,000 square foot casino and 400+ associates. All this while integrating The Service Companies’ standard practices with our client’s culture and priorities.

How do you motivate your team?
By showing them the power to make a difference that they each have within themselves. We talk about what inspires us, about the amazing leadership that drives our company and why we do what we do. And in times of need, we are there for each other.

What do you like most about being the Director of EVS & Housekeeping Operations?
The synergy we have created on this team and having the platform to lead so many people eager for growth. We have a achieved such a synergy that any time one of us is not at their best, the rest of the team reminds each other why we all love what we do.

We are always looking for dedicated and talented employees to join our team. If you’d like to join The Service Companies, apply here.

The Service Companies

http://theservicecompanies.com