Community

Togetherness/Teamwork

• Getting everyone to attend volunteer opportunities. If in cluster markets, plan an event all the hotels can get involved in.
• Internal community – cross-training is huge. It helps Team Members understand the challenges of their colleagues as well as build trust and friendships.
• Community involvement. Find a charity, nonprofit, etc., that the team is passionate about.
• Celebrate at the property to inspire other Team Members to be involved. Once a month at huddle pair up people who maybe don’t know each other so well and give them two
  Getting to Know You forms to discuss. Have the person who asked questions of their counterpart share what they learned.
• Do a community service project together as a team, preferably including families when possible.

Personalize the Volunteer Hours to Team Members (i.e., chaperone field trip)

• Have a hotel champion to help coordinate events.
• 1 on 1’s is a great time to ask what they want to do with/for family, kids and ensure we put them on track to utilize their volunteer hours.

Assist all New Hires with Getting to Know Your Community (i.e., fam tour)

• Teach new hires the local area before they start doing the job, particularly in customer service. They should see area restaurants/shopping/etc. before they make recommendations to guests.
• Explain volunteer hours policy and ask new hires what they care about and when they would like to take paid time off to assist.
• Familiarize new Team Members with our list of local attractions/recommendations and encourage them to patronize them to be knowledgeable about them.

Using COD to Donate to Organizations

• Get the word out among the team that this benefit exists and can be used anytime by anyone.
• Encourage Team Members to decide what charitable organizations they care about and consider donating COD cards.
• Bring the donation can to huddle frequently and explain its use and importance.

Providing Safety in Emergency Situations

• Create a plan of action beforehand for emergencies so we know what we are going to do in emergency situations – active shooter, fire, flood. Conduct quarterly trainings.
• Make sure all key Team Members have had PIC (Person in Charge) and MOD (Manager on Duty) training and annual refreshers – PMT, Night Audit, Sales, Security, Front Desk.

Remember to Include Non-Office and Non-Property-Based Team Members in Event Invitations

• Find out who the appropriate non-property based people are for each hotel and how to contact them.
• Extend invitations to these non-property folks for “regular” interactions like huddle, PMT meeting, department meetings, revenue conferences, brand training and celebrations.
• Find out what they want to be included in, and invite them to special events like team outings, charitable events, holiday parties.

Organize Quarterly Charity Events

• Organize onsite events similar to AC Hotel activations – bringing in local charities to the hotel to raise awareness for their cause or service.
• Utilizing social media to engage community and advertise charity events.
• Have a representative from the charities come in and talk about what they do and how we can help.

Raising Money for Causes that Directly Impact Our Team

• Have a quarterly fund-raising drive and vary how it’s done. Bake sale, tips for charity, silent auction, donation jar.
• Ask Team Members to submit charity ideas and change each time, and/or in discussions with Team Members note charities they volunteer for or if the community they live in has a large presence and give to those. For example, if the hotel doesn’t get a lot of donations for a food drive because many of the employees receive food assistance, designate local food banks
  as recipients of donations.

Volunteering or Giving Back to Charities Because It Truly Means Something to Us (projects within the communities our Team Members live)

• Ask Team Members what charities they would like to volunteer for.
• If Team Members or families receive assistance from an organization look for opportunities to volunteer with that organization.
• Seek opportunities to bring in organizations that can help Team Members with education or assistance. If you find out some kids in the Team Members communities are struggling with hunger, bring in a food bank organization. Often Team Members may say it’s something in their community or something happening to a neighbor or relative when it’s really them.

Build Trust in Community (working with local municipalities)

• Invite local police/fire stations, EMT, others to hotel to talk about safety and invite staff to ask questions – perhaps include lunch for all.
• Volunteer for local organizations by using the eight Volunteer Hours.
• Invite local organizations in to speak about what they do and the service they can provide.
• Go to more networking events that are community related (Chamber events, etc.).