Latest / WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas / 112: How to Lead Boomers, Gen Z, and Everyone In Between with Jackie Dacanay (replay from HR Retail)

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112: How to Lead Boomers, Gen Z, and Everyone In Between with Jackie Dacanay (replay from HR Retail) · WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm recording this at my childhood bedroom.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm at my parents' house.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a millennial and I am, it's kind of giving me flashbacks of me hiding when I was a kid or teenager talking on the phone with my friends because I'm holding up this really big podcast mic and my laptop is on my bed.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's just it's just weird.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, anyways, I'm here at my parents' house about once, twice a month.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: They live about 60 miles away from me.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm here because I brought my dad to an appointment.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: And don't worry, he's completely fine.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: I just choose to go because I'm choosing to.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I know my dad loves it.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Also, I'm the eldest daughter, first-gen immigrant, firstborn in this country, or only daughter.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Also, pro tip to my fellow millennials taking care of their aging parents.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: If your parents give the whole, like, oh, it's such a burden that you have to go all the way here for my appointments.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Here's a script you can use.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: I am dropping diamonds and gems for you, is to say this to your parents.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a burden.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm choosing to be here because I want to.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I am choosing to, despite how tired I am.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: See, I just got back from MCing and moderating panels at HR Retail.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out to my younger 20-something year old who was able to bounce back from barely any sleep and eating all you could eat cream barbecue every week.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: And now I need naps, green juice, and a calendar with actual white space.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I am very grateful to my boyfriend, my partner, who lovingly reminds me that not every hour needs a color coded labels.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, I block off the days.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh, I already have my maximum of number of meetings to put do not book NCAPs to remind myself to not book anything else.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And speaking of white space, I took a whole day off yesterday, slept in for 12 hours, and just Netflix.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: It was amazing.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Then today I was at my parents' house helping my dad reset his password for the third time in the classic boomer tech moment.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: He's been with the same company for over 30 years.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: And while I'm joking in this episode, there's something beautiful about that kind of loyalty.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, my dad just had two knee surgeries.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: I know I've shared that in other podcast episodes.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: He's recovered really well.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: He was supposed to retire and didn't.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: He chose to go back.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: He's working part-time, and but because of the loyalty he has with the company he works at with his boss, my dad called the shots on his schedule.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: He's about to go travel for two weeks.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: He can do whatever he wants.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that leads us to today's episode working in a multi-generational workforce.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: And right before recording, someone I met asked me to meet for a one-hour call to get feedback on something.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: And look, I'm all about being helpful, but I also have to protect my time.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: I might be an introvert that I was peopling all last week.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: And now this week I'm catching up on work.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I kindly offered a quick 20-minute window and shared a few resources.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: They were older, probably a boomer.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: And this moment before hitting record on this intro reminded me sometimes generational expectations around time, access, and work ethic can clash.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I'm so excited for this episode.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: Because at HR Retail, I got to moderate a panel on this exact topic with Jackie DeCaney, a fellow Panai, who's also an executive coach, and the Northern California Regional Director of Service Culture and Engagement of the Fairmont Hotels.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: So we talked about bridging generational gaps, releasing any biases we might have, and finding real ways to work with each other, but not in spite of each other.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: So whether you're a Gen Z TikToker, a millennial MySpace, if you know what that is, who still remembers dial-up, or a seasoned Gen X or Boomer leader, this one's for you.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: All right, drop the beat.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for this session.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna do a talk on bridging generations cultivating an inclusive culture and a multi-generational workplace.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna have a Jackie DeCani come up here.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: So Jackie's the North California Regional Director of Service, Culture, and Engagement at Fairmount Hotels and Resorts.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to take a seat here?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: And she is a Hula champion and a motorcyclist.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: So she does both.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Has anyone met anyone that has that same combination of it?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Just a little tip, add the fun facts when you're LinkedIn.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then I wanted to add a fun fact for myself.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: I do Muay Thai, which is Thai kickboxing.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't know what it is, it's the art of eight limbs, so punching elbows and knees.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: I've been doing it for 21 years.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to find anyone here, I promise.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: So together we can perform and kick someone's ass at the same time.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Jackie, I've already introduced a bit about you, but can you share your background?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I am originally from the Bay Area, born and raised.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Anyone else from the Bay Area?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yay, yeah.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: I have over 20 years of experience in organizational and workplace culture, 20 of which have been with Fairmont Hotels.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Is anyone familiar with Fairmont?
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yes?
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of nodes.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm based out of the San Francisco property and I oversee the people strategy for our Bay Area Hotels.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: But for those of you who aren't familiar with Fairmont, it's a luxury, global luxury hotel company, part of the Acor Parent Company, which Fairmont is one of the over 100 brands under the Acor umbrella, but it is the luxury component of the Acor hotels.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it brings in over 60% of revenue to the Acor brand.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So really interesting.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: We were acquired by Accor just fairly recently, a few years ago, but 90 hotels all over the world and growing and bringing in the most revenue for the brand.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: So we've worked mainly in California.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: So what that means is HR and some of the most complex, large and small, because we do have our heritage place hotels, which are a fraction of our larger Vermont hotels, but mostly hotels of you know size anywhere from 200 to over a thousand rooms, which has the same number of employees equivalent to the to the number of rooms.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: So complex, diverse workforces and situations.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's my background.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: And you've been there for 20 years, yes.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: 20 years with Fairmont.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I obviously you work in the hospitality industry where you're always putting guests first.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: What are effective strategies in navigating the cultural transformation while also maintaining the traditional luxury brand from a general generational to multi-generational workforce?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's it's such a weird response.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: But what what I will also say is specifically using Fairmont San Francisco as a bit of a case study, you know, when I first started uh in San Francisco, the hotel was mainly one generation.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And it's almost as though it feels like overnight.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: But in the last few years, uh we've transitioned to up to five, possibly six, going on six generations in the hotel.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we needless to say, we didn't have any sort of infrastructure or framework to be able to address the needs and the varied expectations for a multi-generational workforce.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: So we really had to dig deep and start a process of unpacking that for, because it started at the top with senior leadership and unpacking their ideals and their trauma and where their mindset really stems from, what their experiences are, because awareness was so key from the top to be able to start to transition the whole hotel into this different culture of one that was multi-generational.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: So it really does start with the hearts and the minds of the people to be able to make change.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: And for those of you who don't know, Fairmont San Francisco is the flagship.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's the original Fairmont.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're celebrating 118 years tomorrow.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Tomorrow's Friday.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So it's one of the, if not the oldest, hotel in the company.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: And what that means is literally in the building every single day, you have the walls of this historic building, which most of our hotels are known for its rich history and heritage, literally pulling back into the past.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it's coming up with, you know, analyzing and assessing and coming up with framework to be able to balance the past, the present, and the future.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: We were heavily relying on our past experiences and just only sort of living in that space versus moving forward and having a balance.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: In terms of being tactical about it, were you having individual conversations with leaders?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Was it focus groups, a survey?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just curious.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: All of the above, again, with the senior leadership team, it's, you know, in an operation, you want to do things quick but deeply and meaningful.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it was doing simple things like a values exercise and scaling that across the hotel and asking people individually, for example, what are your top three values now?
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And share what why those are your top three values with someone else.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it was developing the ability to also just listen and accept versus sharing and telling people what their values should be.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: So something as simple as that helped everyone to sort of recognize, okay, if if someone doesn't value something, then they're not going to want to do it.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: If someone doesn't value, if their personal values don't match the organization's values, then there's no loyalty.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so taking this values approach builds a sustainable loyalty to the hotel and to the brand.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: So that was something simple to be able to scale across the hotel.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it was also having deep and meaningful discussions and unpacking things like failure.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what does failure mean to you?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: What is what have been your experiences with failure?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that was a huge topic because it was it was holding us back from innovating, taking risks, making decisions, making quick, thoughtful decisions when you know we continue to be in these years of doing more with less under pressure, with little resources, but not being able to move the needle very much because you're just stuck in this fear and scarcity mindset.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: So consistency with these deep and meaningful conversations were also important.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: I can just talk about fear and then let months go by and not address it.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it was incorporating these discussions, these vulnerable moments and discussions with our leadership team and then carrying that forward to the hundreds of colleagues, line mobile employees in the building.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm sorry I'm asking the tactical.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I I acknowledge that all of you like love the steps, but I'm sure people are questioning how did you make it comfortable for people to share their failures and these touchy conversations?
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's a really great point.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I again that it's, you know, digging deep into that vulnerability and showing people while creating a safe space of just listening versus making comments or judging, but sitting there and listening to someone teaching someone how to listen intently versus listening to respond.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's all of those key moments and sometimes small moments in those focus groups and discussions that created this self-this safe space to be able to continue discussions about these tough conversations, but also consistently having these tough conversations and tying them back to, ironically, service and serving other human beings.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a lot of our a lot of our colleagues, they haven't experienced luxury because a lot of them are minorities and they come from backgrounds where they haven't had access to luxury.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so I started to reframe luxury and almost redefine it in the sense of luxury is an emotional connection.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's being yourself and delivering service in the way that is most comfortable and natural to you.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when you have things like a language barrier and you have colleagues who fear speaking to someone because they don't have fancy words to use, or they're under this impression that to be able to talk to someone, they need to use fancy words.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: You get people who are paralyzed and aren't able to be themselves, let alone speak to people who are paying tens of thousands of dollars to stay in our hotel.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it was really breaking down that perception of also being on the floor with colleagues to say, well, what's most comfortable for you to ask for a guest name if you can't pronounce it?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or what's most comfortable for you to have an engaging, meaningful conversation with someone who might feel intimidating because they're dressed fancy or they look super polished?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what are some ways that you can still be your own personality and your your true self and deliver that service and create that emotional connection because that is that is what luxury service is.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: I love what you shared that sentence, like what's most comfortable asking that question as we were talking about rather than like telling your listening by asking it.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a very powerful thing that you could start implementing.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: So we're both millennials up here on stage.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: During this whole conference, we've been talking about Gen Z, Gen Alpha coming into the workplace.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: How do you adapt policies and practices to better align with today's diverse multi-generational workforce?
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I think it is it starts with gathering data.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we have a lot of systems that we work with, but it I find that there isn't any one particular system that measures everything.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I simply created a very basic spreadsheet for anyone to be able to read and see data.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that data was unlike data that we've analyzed before.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: So traditionally we would analyze or look at turnover, but we weren't looking at retention.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: And we weren't breaking down retention into bite-sized pieces in the sense of, well, we we're one of the few areas that has multiple properties within an hour's distance.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Are we recruiting people from our sister properties?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Are we do we have internal promotions from within our hotel, but also to our sister properties just in the area?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was creating a spreadsheet, a very grassroots spreadsheet, to be able to see that data and and break it down even more.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm a very curious person.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: So from there I sort of start to go down a rabbit hole and and wonder well, what departments are training people the fastest to the point where they're being promoted fairly quickly?
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Where are we seeing the most promotions?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like what area are we seeing the most promotions?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Is it one generation versus another?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how long is someone in their role before they get promoted or they transfer?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: So it was taking a different approach to looking at our data and the story that we wanted to tell.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then from there, knowing on average, okay, what is what is the most common generation in the hotel as a data point, for example.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then it was educating ourselves and sharing, broadcasting that information to everyone that we do have multiple generations in the hotel because most of our team in the hotel, they just didn't receive this information that there are several generations in the hotel.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't know who and what generations as a leader they were leading.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't have the education on, well, what is a millennial's expectations in terms of communication style and recognition and ideals when it comes to hierarchy versus a baby boomer.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: So there was a lot of education and also unpacking for leaders as well to help them understand, okay, conceptually or commonly, these are some of the traits that a millennial is stereotypically known for.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: And using that information to build an awareness of themselves, also.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Did you want to explain the slide that's up, by the way?
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the slide prior was is just an example of five generations that could be in any type of organization at this point.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Arguably, for some of you, it's probably potentially six, but these are the most common generations in our hotels at the moment.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it is a quick snapshot or a way that I've used to sort of explain the most common traits to expect from each generation.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it helps to really quickly educate people on the fact that there are varied expectations for each generation, whether you like it or not.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And you can choose to adapt and study them to be the most effective leader or not.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, how can I get more of this?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I have a newsletter that comes out every Thursday that's free, fun, and full of real talk.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's a live journal Zanga on leadership and life with actual scripts, behind-the-scenes stories, and lessons from mistakes I've made so you don't have to for work and life.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Just go to elanelu.com forward slash join.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's E-L-A-I-N-E-L-O-U.com forward slash join.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: All right, back to the episode.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: So on top of doing HR, you're also an executive career coach like me, and we've had wonderful conversations.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you talked about it earlier, right?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's going from the command to control type of leadership to something that's more collaborative.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: You've done incredible work with the systematic structural changes at Fairmont.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: So can you share how you implemented a new framework focusing on team dynamics?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, one of the biggest conceptual shifts, cultural shifts in the hotel is making it widely known that every single person, everything of being in the building is there to grow their career.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: And for a traditionalist or a baby boomer, for example, they define growing their career by earning a paycheck and putting food on the table for their family or building generational wealth so that their family can have what they always wanted but never had.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: And for other generations, it is literally a promotion.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so also looking at the data, and now that we had the data, we were seeing that generations were wanting to grow much faster than someone like me.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: I've been in each of my roles in my career for at least a year and a half to two years.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, newer, younger generations want to and expect to grow in some shape or form within six to eight months, commonly, generally.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so we didn't have our policies didn't reflect that type of career growth.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: At a minimum, you were expected to be in your leadership role for 12 months.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: But culturally, it wasn't even talked about what you wanted to do or you weren't asked.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: There were no discussions around what you wanted to do next until you were in your role for a year.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: It was sort of this cultural secrecy around growth and development that was swept under the rug.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because we were so fearful of losing people or talking to people about their growth and development and what's next meant that we were going to lose them.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: So we didn't have a proactive approach, and the culture around growth and development was very traditional and old school.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it was setting the tone that everyone in the building is there to grow their career.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's one of the number one values that is a common theme across the board.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then it was creating these systematic, frequent, consistent discussions throughout the entire building at every single level to talk about what's next, what's working, and what's not working.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: I also found that everything was so formal.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it was breaking down this formality of having these conversations and normalizing them with these systematic approaches, but making them quick, 30-minute discussions, open discussions about these simple questions of what's happening and making those discussions a lot more approachable.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: We also created a systematic action planning system for Griffin development.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: So you didn't necessarily come up with an action plan and look at it for development more than once a year.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so we incorporated that into leadership goals, retention goals, things of that nature, into annual goals, but we had these frequent, consistent discussions around them quarterly.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then it was also incorporating small bite-sized fun activities throughout the year with our leadership team, just about, you know, what's one goal that you want to achieve in 2025?
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Turn to someone next to you and share it.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it's that element of critical thinking and then sharing it with someone and then just listening to you.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's something psychological that happens when you write it down on a piece of paper and then you put it out into the ether that can be really powerful and vulnerable in in all the best ways.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it there were a lot of modifications and new framework that we that I created and that I tested and was able to measure.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I can say that we've improved our retention.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we had a goal of 50% retention, and now we're at 80%.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it was also a goal of filling our internal positions, 50% of our internal positions, and we're now at 80, 80% of filling internal positions with in with internals, sorry, open positions with internals.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it was the way that we were looking at the data and also introducing these new methods of measuring them.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm hearing a common theme with writing the top three values of what do you want next?
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: Of okay, what do you want?
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then go have a conversation with other people.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then it allows the employee to gather more information and feedback from other people so that it does happen.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's a buy-in because it's not just from the top, everyone's having the conversation.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a it's a key method or methodology or mechanism to creating that safe space.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you listen to me, I listen to you, there's no judgment.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: If anything, I ask curious questions.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: So it was also leaning into people's curiosity about people and you know, finding ways to support them.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it it often sparks this inspiration between two people.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, how can I support you to achieve that goal?
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because now I want to help you to achieve that goal.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's also a heavy emphasis on positive psychology.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I found that a lot of our discussions throughout the year were they were not about self, but because we're in the service industry, they were about serving others.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so people were getting used to talking about themselves and what they needed and and what help they needed, and getting into the mindset of of the meaning of self-importance, and that you can ask for help to better serve other people, if you will.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I know we've been talking a lot about employees and team.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: With guest services, how have you adapted the evolving guest profiles and experiences across all generations?
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: This is a great question.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, like our colleagues, our employees, our guests have also evolved.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, by no surprise, we have a multi-generational guest base.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so the way that we taught service, trained service, and delivered service was no longer relevant.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: And and so, you know, being an executive coach, it was also a key component to changing the way that we trained.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: It was very traditional in the sense that you have a list of over 85 standards or specific steps for each position in the building.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you would hand that to an employee and say, okay, read it, sign off on it, and then go execute.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it was it was a method of or a style of telling people what to do.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: It was very surface level.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: It was not a very humanistic approach, but I created a coaching framework around training the standards.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it's an individualized approach where I walk through the standards with each of the employees on the floor and talk through what felt comfortable for them to deliver that standard and in which order throughout a conversation that might vary with hundreds of guests per day.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it was building that humanistic critical thinking approach on an individualized basis and chipping away at okay, so what felt challenging for you in that moment to be able to execute this specific standard?
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: And also what do you enjoy the most?
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: That was also a huge shift, is starting with, well, what part of service do you enjoy the most and leveraging that natural talent and scaling it for that person across these other 85 other standards and finding a way that they enjoy delivering all these other standards that maybe they didn't enjoy initially, and working with colleagues one-on-one to build that muscle memory so that they they can deliver that consistently, but in their own way, tailored to how they read each of their guests.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: So when working with leaders, I know we've talked a lot about unlearning, relearning, what successful frameworks and tools you've used to coach your leaders?
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, well, literally, I created a coaching program.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: So different from a mentor program, which we also have, but our our coaching program, it's first of all, not limited to anyone in the building.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: So it's line level colleagues, but also leadership.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: And this is going back to the traditional thinking of development plans and talents, there was this focus on high potentials.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what the hell is a high potential?
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it was leaning into people's curiosity of what coaching is, or yes, a combination of someone that is a high performer and might benefit from a coaching program.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: It was also previously limited, your opportunities were previously limited to people who had been with the company for a certain amount of time.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so widening up the option for this coaching program to literally anyone and everyone helped to create this culture of an open dialogue with anyone in the building that was curious about coaching.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: And a huge element to that coaching program is a 360-degree feedback tool that is used to build that self-awareness because I find that's a key component for everyone in the building, whether you officially call yourself a leader or not, to serve others and to lead others officially or unofficially, whether it's a guest or a peer or another colleague.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: I also repositioned our mentor program.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: Similarly, it was a very traditional program where you think of a mentor and it's a senior leader who has more experience and is typically a lot older than you that can teach you what to do and teach you what to say.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, recognizing that our guests have evolved to multi-generational and our colleagues or our workforce has evolved to multi-generational, repositioned our mentor program to reverse mentoring.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: And how it's it's almost a free service to some people, particularly senior leaders, to learn about how to provide service, how to act, how to communicate to multiple generations.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it was essentially a coaching and mentoring tool for senior leaders, but it also empowered and created this in sense of inclusiveness with other generations to share their thoughts, their feelings, and be an influence and make an impact.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we're gonna take questions from the audience.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: So if you haven't yet, put your questions in the QR code.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: But the first one we have is oh, I'm excited for this one.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: How do you manage the expectations of Gen Z wanting promotions and higher compensation without having a clear role available?
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: Such a great question.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think for us, again, it was this secrecy around growth and development.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: And there weren't frequent conversations.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't an open dialogue about growth.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the biggest things that changed was literally putting up a growth path or examples of someone started as a front desk agent and then they moved to an assistant manager, and then they moved to a manager and then they moved to a director.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: And it was putting that up on a poster and displaying what that path looked like.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: But it was also widening what the definition was of growth and development.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: So it doesn't necessarily have to be a promotion or compensation, but it was educating on well, what is total compensation?
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, total compensation in a hotel company could be tuition reimbursement, it's traveling, it's speaking to a senior leader at the corporate level because we can all talk virtually.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can virtually talk to the tens of thousands of people that work in the company at any one of our other 90 hotels or a corporate office, or to someone else outside of the brand.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's talking about all of these different options, but it's also holding the conversation proactively.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we were we were getting to people way too late.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's also beneficial because surprise, surprise, people change.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: So when you talk to someone about what they want initially, it changes every single day, every month.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so checking in with them to see, okay, well, you know, what you asked for, what you wanted initially, like is that still the same?
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: And in my experience, a hundred percent of the time, it always changes.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, we have like 30 seconds to do it.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: This question I have for myself too: how to mitigate bias and stereotype amongst managers that younger generations are entitled to.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, that's a really great question.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: I so generally speaking, again, it goes back to that education piece and building that awareness that every generation does have stereotypes and helping everyone to understand that there are challenges and benefits to every single generation so that you have that understanding of, okay, I might be pissed about this and I'm stereotyping you about that.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: But there is background behind it based on like where I'm raised and what what my culture is and what my generation is.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: So it's building that awareness and understanding so that you can collaborate and work together on solutions, is my 30-second response.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's the educating and having the awareness.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: Jackie, are you gonna be here during lunch if anyone has questions?
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I will be around, but also my QR episode.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: Please scan my QR code and I would love to continue the conversation.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: I just love meeting people and and networking with people.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: So please reach out to me however you like, email or LinkedIn.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I also have the YouTube channel.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jackie.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, everyone.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you enjoyed this conversation, all of Jackie's info is linked to the show notes.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: So go give her some love on LinkedIn, on YouTube.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: And if you are curious about executive coaching for your team, and you want to see if it's a good fit to work with me, then you can schedule a free introductory coaching call with me at ElaineLu.com forward slash call.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's E-L-A-I-N-E L-O-U.com forward slash call.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: And when you schedule this call, you'll walk away with three action items tailored to your goals.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: And hey, if you're not ready to work together, no worries at all.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: This podcast is here to serve if it's been helpful.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: I would love it if you could leave a five star rating interview.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: It helps other leaders like you find this accessible information.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: And when you leave a review, let me know what topics you want me to continue talking about or cover next.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'll talk to you soon.