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Union Square
Hospitality Group (USHG)
SSS
New York, NY
Best business practices: to the patio and beyond!
USHG is renowned as one of the most forward-thinking hospitality groups in the US, particularly when it comes to its human resources operations. We spoke to two USHG experts about human resources—during patio sea- son, and beyond. Erin Moran is the Chief Culture O cer with USHG. Moran explains USHG’s core philosophy of Enlightened Hospitality.
“Enlightened Hospitality is our belief that putting our ownemployees rstisthekeytorunningameaningful and sustainable business. This philosophy lies at the heart of everything we do.”
WHAT DEFINES ENLIGHTENED HOSPITALITY?
Our philosophy started with our founder, Danny Meyer, over 30 years ago. He built USHG with the belief that ensuring meaningful, positive, uplifting experiences for our guests starts with our employees. This means taking care of our guests, employees and our suppliers, who in turn take better care of our community. This produces a measurably stronger bottom line for our shareholders.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCES PRACTICES IN HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES?
HR practices are everything. We strive to create an over- all experience—to be ful lled personally and profession-
ally—and to support the same goals for our employees. When we do that e ectively, our guests have great expe- riences. They come back, and they become brand ambas- sadors. Build a strong business model, a virtuous cycle of hospitality, carefully select those invited onto the team, innovate in your hiring practices, nd the best talent and ensure there is a culture t with your team and vision.
WHAT ARE THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS TO THE BOTTOM LINE OF POSITIVE EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEE RETENTION AS PER THE USHG MODEL(S)?
There is an enormous cost associated with turnover. While there is a baseline expectation for some turnover, we know we can do a good job of retaining, growing
and advancing our employees’ careers. This, in turn, represents an enormous cost-saving to our business. Recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training and develop- ment, there is a huge return on this investment when you support healthy, sustainable employee programs.
ON THE USHG WEBSITE, YOU REFER TO ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST. PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS CONCEPT.
Organizational trust refers to high levels of trust through- out the organization. This is the cornerstone of a healthy and strong culture. Trust those you work for and work with. This is true for all of us. When you feel trusted, you
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