Managers from the six properties operated by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in California swapped their usual business attire for cooks’ aprons and housekeepers’ uniforms during November, as part of a “Walk the Talk” program conceived by Tom Klein, Regional Vice President of Operations and General Manager of the Fairmont San Francisco. The participating managers worked full-day shifts on the floor, in the kitchens and throughout the halls and other parts of the properties to help staff carry out their regular duties.
“The program provides an opportunity to work alongside and re-energize our [staff],” Klein explains. “At the same time, these days of ‘walking the talk’ also provides managers with a better understanding and deeper appreciation of the work that [staff members] must undertake each day to surpass the expectations of our guests.
“It also gives our management leaders—who often get caught up in the daily hustle and bustle of leading, managing, scrambling, listening, negotiating, supervising, facilitating, and convincing—a chance to get back to hospitality basics,” Klein adds.
When “Walk the Talk” day was held at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa and its Sonoma Golf Club on November 23, General Manager Kelley Cosgrove worked in the reception area to welcome guests to the property’s spa, Chief Engineer Jeff Muscat and Executive Chef Bruno Tison helped with kitchen preparation and cleanup duties, and Director of Hotel Operations Michelle Bertram joined the housekeeping staff to help clean guest rooms.
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