Many hospitality properties collapse simply because they failed to set up good business operations manual.

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It doesn’t matter the size of your property, a good operations manual will reduce human error and inform everyone precisely what they need to do, who they are responsible to and who they are responsible for. It makes it easier to train new employees, saves time, makes your business more scalable, reduces your liability risks and adds market value to your property.

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Here’s a look back at one of our most popular posts, Operations Manual for Hospitality Properties.

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In this edition, I am going to share how to set up an operations manual so your hospitality property will run like a well-oiled machine.

This will be based on the best practices we have seen during hundreds and hundreds of hospitality property visits and inspections.

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Welcome to another edition of hospitality property school.

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I’m your Instructor Gerry MacPherson

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In the past, we have looked at a Hospitality Properties Organizational Structure.

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Determining what duties are necessary to operate your property, assigning responsibility, and creating a complete checklist of what is required to complete each responsibility.

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These checklists will become your businesses operations manual.  

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I this podcast I will look at the operations manual itself.

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Down below I’ll have a list of the checklists you can download to use as a guide to help you develop or update your own operations manual.

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When your operations manual is complete, it should contain a series of organized checklists divided into categories.

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For example:

• Housekeeping
• Customer service
• Breakfasts
• Accounting
• Maintenance
• And on, and on

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Each checklist needs to detail the specific steps each housekeeper, front-desk agent, maintenance person, accountant etc, must take to do each task in the right order.

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The checklist needs to cover every detail, with drawings when required and a place to check as each detail is completed.

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At the bottom of the checklist, a place for a signature confirming everything is done.

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Now you might have some on employees who do not like the idea of being monitored like this.  I’ve heard some say they felt like children.  Have you ever gone to the grocery store knowing you had to pick up three items get to the store and only remember two of the items?  If you have a checklist, this would not be a problem.

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If you run into this problem with employees not wanting to change, ask them how they would feel the next time they jump on a flight, they found out the pilot did not do a pre-flight check or the next time their car was in for a safety inspection, the mechanic just looked at it and said “looks good  to me”, without looking under the hood or when your child was in to see the doctor and the doctor just touched there head and said “perfectly healthy” … you might be a little concerned.  

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You might say, “These are very important, of course, they should do more checking”.  

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Well, your business is very important and employees with a good work ethic are very important to your business.

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With a system like this in place, even a brand new employee would not require weeks or even days of training and monitoring. Instead, they would be consistently working your business, the way you designed, like a pro, in no time.

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Do you like consistency in your favourite restaurant? Hair salon? Coffee shop?

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So, you might ask “what should I have a checklist for?”

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The simple answer – EVERYTHING!

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• When the outdoor lights turn on
• How much fruit should be in the bowl at reception and what it should look like?
• What bills have to be paid and when
• What items are recycled?
• How the towels should be folded
• How a uniform should be worn

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You get the idea, everything should have a checklist, with diagrams.

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If you have this system in place and work it properly, there will rarely be any errors – it works!

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Your operation manual will be worth its weight in gold but that does not mean its set in stone.  It has to be treated it like a living, breathing entity. If you or your employees find a way to do something better – change it.

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The only guideline you should have is that 

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Any criticism is constructive and with an alternative option.

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The material could vary a little bit from property to property but the frame or structure I’m going to share with you is universal.  

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It should include the following: 

• Company History, Vision & Organization
• Products & Services
• Policies
• Position Statements
• Systems (how it’s done)

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Statistically, 9 out of every 10 businesses fail within the first five years.

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75% or more of franchises succeed.

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This is why you should not look at your property, as an independent business but as a franchise.

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A major component of every successful franchise is its operations manual.

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If you’re a small independent hotel, Inn, Bed & Breakfast, or resort the chances of you succeeding increase dramatically if you take the time to develop an operations manual.

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As I mentioned in the last video, your Operations Manual should be treated as a living, breathing entity and can be amended accordingly as trial and error findings are made. When designing this Manual, you must always have in the back of your mind,

“Can I open a second location with this Manual model and not have any problems?”

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“Can I open 10 locations with this Manual model and not have any problems?”

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“Can I open 1000 locations with this Manual model and not have any problems?”

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Your goal must be to develop the best working system of the model and when it’s complete your system must work like clockwork.

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Is this making sense? Let me know by leaving a short comment.

 

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So what should go in your Operations Manual model?

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As I said before- EVERYTHING! 

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What else should you include in your operations manual model?

• Information about your site & location
• Training Procedures
• Your Properties Set-up
• Supplies and Inventory
• Your staff’s Uniforms
• Personnel
• Responsibilities (an organization chart)
• Perfect Employee Profiles
• Job Descriptions
• Interviewing
• Communicating and Personnel Policies
• Employee Discipline

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Daily Operating Procedures

(The day to day operation)

• Customer Complaints
• Meal Preparation Procedures
  • Prepping Procedures
  • Setting Up The Stations
  • Consistent Recipes
  • Preparation Procedures for Everything
  • Maintaining Inventory
  • Dishwashing / Sanitation Procedures

• Inventory Management
• Operational and Financial Reporting
• Required Cleaning and Maintenance
  • Daily Cleaning and Maintenance
  • Weekly Cleaning and Maintenance
  • Monthly Cleaning and Maintenance

• Safety Procedures
• Sales Procedures
• Marketing

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The now after seeing all of this, some of you might be thinking 

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“Wow, Gerry you’re killing me, I only have a small operation.”

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The let me remind you of the statistics are shared at the beginning of our session.

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9 out of 10 business fail within the first five years. 75% of businesses using an Operations Manual model succeed. 

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Okay, you’ve got your organizational structure in place, everybody knows their responsibilities, their duties and how to perform them step-by-step.

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This process is not going to happen overnight but with the help of your employees, you are going too designed and produced an Operations Manual for your hospitality property that will be invaluable.

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Now you have to ask yourself “When it is complete, will it work?” 

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To know this you have to ask yourself another question 

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“Will the concept, my Operations Manual be saleable?”

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And then you have to ask “Will I be able to clone it?  And if so will it provide good returns?”

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Yes, I want you to look at your business as a product and this is a product you want to sell.

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No, I’m not telling you to have to go out and sell your hotel or bed and breakfast, but for you to know for sure that your operational procedure, your Operations Manual works, you have to change your mindset and look at your hospitality property as a product.

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If you would like to learn more tips & techniques for operating a hospitality property,

I highly recommend you Join our “6 Day Challenge 

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Whether you are operating a one-room bed & breakfast or a 500 room luxury hotel, there is always something new you could learn and this 6 Day Challenge will take you step by step through the process of operating a successful hospitality property and it’s 100% Free!

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You can sign up below:

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https://keystonehpd.com/6-day-challenge-log-in-here/

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If you like this video, let me know in the comment section below, your thought, and if you are going to implement any of these procedures.

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If you know someone who might benefit from the video, please feel free to share it and make sure you hit that like button or dislike button if you didn’t like it. I appreciate the feedback.

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Be sure to subscribe and then hit the little bell to be notified when I upload a new video.

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Thank you so much for your attention and let’s continue to work together to put heads in your beds.

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Until next time, have a fun day.

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⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY CONSULTING:

https://keystonehpd.com/KHDC149

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⇒ And don’t forget to join the “6 Day Challenge” here:

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RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

The Keystone HDC Training Tutorials

https://courses.keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com/

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Join our community in “The Hospitality Property School Group” – Check it Out for One Full Week for Only $1

https://keystonehpd.com/membership-site

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TWEET THIS VIDEO:

“You Have to Have Operations Manual for Your Property” Video @KeystoneHDC

https://youtu.be/C2eO8jhVgBo

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Say hi on social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KeystoneHDC

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/KeystoneHDC

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keystone-hospitality-development/

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Listen to The Hospitality Property School Podcast here:

https://keystonehpd.com/itunes-podcast

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hospitality-property-school

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YouTube

https://youtu.be/C2eO8jhVgBo

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Hospitality Property School is a division of Keystone HDC

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