Blog Post 1

Over my externship I had the opportunity to extern with the Marriott Corporation. I was at the Orlando World Center which is the largest Marriott in the World. During my orientation process, I became familiar with their philosophy. Their number one concern was and has always been their employees first. Mr. Marriott’s philosophy was to take care of the employees and they will take care of the rest. I was surprised when I came into class and on the first day of our class the responsibilities of a manager should be on the employees first. I guess Mr. Marriott knew what he was talking about. However, it is easier said than done. Often we are so concerned with CYA that we forget to cover the people who are working for you. My supervisor at times would be too concerned about what the Chef would say, she would never have the audacity to stand up for us. When it came time for extra effort, it was difficult to get anyone to come in on a day off, or go above and beyond on a project.

I firmly believe that the employees should be the number one concern. These are the people who are taking care of your customers. How many times have we gone to a restaurant and could walk through the door and see that no one was having fun? How many times have you walked into a café and could see employees laughing and could tell they really enjoyed their jobs? It only makes good business sense. By taking care of your employees you will have less turnover, happy employees who enjoy coming to work, employees who care about their work, etc.

The places that I enjoyed working for the most were the ones where I felt management was on my side. Looking out for your employees is the way to go. I have had the opportunity to lead a staff and I took it upon myself to be their punching bag, stand up for them, fight for their rights, and give them the training and resources they needed. It surprised me when my cohorts would ask me, how did I get my employees to do this or that? It came from give and take. I gave to my employees and when I needed hustle or extra effort, they were more willing to give.

We spend almost 50% of our time getting ready for work, going to work, at work, coming home from work or talking about work. That half of your life should be just as enjoyable as the time you spend sleeping or with your loved ones in a perfect world.