REPORT FROM THE U.S.—An emphasis on the three P’s—people, product and performance—is the key to success for Charter One Hotels & Resorts.
Executives of the Sarasota, Florida-based hotel management company, which has 13 properties in its portfolio, according the company website, said they are focused on recalibrating the organization rather than measuring success in numbers.
Founded in 1981 by CEO and Chairman John Balliett and a business partner, Charter One has remained a conservative company throughout the years. Yet, Balliett said it became obvious to him that Charter One needed fresh ideas.
“Reflecting on the industry and where we have been … bringing in someone from outside the industry was ideal,” Balliett said.
So, in 2010 Balliett brought Scott Busby, president and COO, on board. Balliett thought Busby’s background in developing employee-focused cultures in early-stage, high-grossing companies would be an asset.
“Without our people, we don’t fundamentally have the kind of product we would like to provide,” Busby said.
Since Busby’s arrival, executives of the company are placing a great deal of effort into restructuring the company’s vernacular and communicating effectively within the organization to optimize success.
Members of the staff are not referred to as “employees” or “associates.” Instead, they are “team members.” Charter One has a Team Services department rather than a HR team.
In addition, the company established Charter One University, an online education platform for team members. It allows the company’s executives to easily communicate with all of the representatives in their portfolio to help them grow and develop.
The system provides members with access to career opportunities that feature open positions within the company’s portfolio, news and updates, training materials and Charter One best practices, among other resources.
Values remain during difficult times
Charter One’s motto “Our success is your success” remains at the forefront for its executives, especially during the recent economic downturn.
“(It) was very, very important to not become distracted with some of the potential avenues we might have gone after. Some third-party management companies decided to go after some receivership contracts, but we felt it was more important to become closer to some of our current clients that were struggling,” Busby said.
By focusing on its portfolio and developing an aggressive management plan, Busby said Charter One had a successful year in 2011. The company made US$38 million in revenue for the 1,500 keys in its portfolio.
“We beat our five-year performance history,” Busby said.
Charter One is not an organization with a magic number in terms of the right number of properties, he said. “(We are) focused on doing things the right way rather than having large numbers for the sake of large numbers.”
Busby said being involved in one of the last human-to-human industries left in the world means it’s important to focus more on the person instead of the transaction. He said this focus on the person hasn’t yet allowed the company to really embrace innovation in ways where it’s been appropriate.
However, they do have big plans moving forward but aren’t ready to share them. “We’re probably going to have some announcements in the first quarter,” Balliett said.
