Redesigning an Extensive Recreation Department

Luxury Resort Property

The Challenge:

We receive a great deal of interest from hotel clients about our work outside of the typical Rooms and F&B areas. Some of our clients have entire divisions dedicated to amenities such as transportation, golf, skiing, spa and fitness, but experience trouble integrating these areas into their core Management Operating Systems. These ancillary areas are often so specialized that it can be difficult to adapt the planning, point-of-execution and reporting practices used elsewhere in the operation.

After completing a successful Rooms and F&B program with a recent client, Carpedia Hospitality returned to evaluate the resort’s extensive Recreation division. With two golf courses, a spa and an expansive fitness complex, the Recreation division represented a large and integral part of the resort’s business. The client felt however that the systematic rigor the division applied to its operating model could use some improvement.

Our challenge was understanding how to more effectively integrate the Recreation division into the hotel’s existing Management Operating System. The first step was to create productivity-based standards for the Recreation division based on activity analysis, historical data and field observation. This was required to develop continuity with the rest of the hotel’s functional areas, which were already using these productivity-based standards to manage their operations. Next, tools were created to schedule and adjust daily according to the new standards. Finally, reporting tools were created to align the division’s review processes with the resort’s overarching reporting framework. This change gave the leadership team the same level of visibility across the Rooms, F&B and Recreation divisions.

The Changes:

The following changes were installed to integrate the Recreation division more fully into the resort’s current Management Operating System:

• Recalibrated the Recreation division’s labor standards to reflect actual guest requirements; resulted in an overall 11% productivity improvement
• Created a reporting framework to integrate the division into the weekly review process utilized in other areas of the hotel
• Aligned Spa & Fitness shift times to more effectively match the flow of guests
• Cross-utilized Spa & Fitness team-members more effectively using a new scheduling model; resulted in a 14% productivity improvement
• Created time-bound expectations for Golf Course maintenance activities and a control mechanism for managers to spot-check progress; resulted in an 8% productivity improvement
• Grouped similar Golf Course maintenance activities together to reduce daily travel by 9%
• Corrected the frequency of Golf Course maintenance activities to fall in line with actual requirements; resulted in 3% productivity improvement

The Results:

By introducing productivity-based standards within the Recreation division, there was now continuity with the rest of the property’s operating model. This made it possible to dovetail the Recreation division’s planning, point-of-execution and reporting practices into the existing Management Operating System. With increased visibility and control, the area and senior leaders were able to generate an annualized 11% productivity improvement in the Recreation division.

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