Effective supply chains need
hands-on leaders to make them work best. Yet, the closer one gets to the
customer, the more employees are required to exhibit leadership qualities to
ensure that goods and services are delivered according to customer
expectations.
“This is particularly true for
the hospitality industry, which is unique in that the supplier of the service
is face-to-face with the customer 24/7 and 365 days a year,” says Deon Viljoen, Operations Director of Southern Sun Resorts for
the Tsogo Sun Group.
“Although good leaders are needed
for their strategic planning and management abilities, they can’t be everywhere
at once, so it’s down to the waiters, chambermaids and other frontline staff to
ensure that the supply chain keeps turning out the best possible service, no
matter what’s thrown at it,” he says, referring to a key aspect of his
presentation at this year’s SAPICS 2014* conference on Resilient Supply Chains (1-3 June 2014 at Sun City.)
Closer to the customer
The hospitality supply chain is
unlike many others in that customer feedback is instant and specific –
something that many companies would be only too glad to say is true of their
own supply chains.
This requires leaders to have the
foresight to empower each staff member– including outsourced security staff –
to engage with customers in a manner that meets their needs and best represents
the hotel. “Also, leaders must train employees to be sensitive to any
developments that may impact service delivery and to report these immediately.
Listening to customers and responding fast is the key to an effective hotel
supply chain.”
Responsiveness
According to Viljoen,
responsiveness to external factors is also critical when determining the price
at which each hotel room is sold. “Determining the best available rate on a
daily basis directly impacts just how busy the hotel will be, and therefore,
what the demand on the supply chain will be,” he says. “This is where
computerised pricing models come into play, taking into account a variety of
factors such as trends, market demand and special events. Yet, this is no
substitute for a hotel manager who’s hands-on and knows his customer well.”
Planning & Supply Chain Resilience
A well-structured hotel supply
chain needs good plans in place to respond to anything from a sudden increase
in demand to poor weather, electricity cuts, water and food shortages.
“This is particularly important
in the hospitality business because although we’re not an essential service, we
are a 24/7 service so there’s no room for problems when it comes to utilities
like water, waste, electricity, as well as ensuring access to the property.”
In terms of ensuring supply chain
resilience, measures hotels may typically take include installing back-up
generators with enough fuel, several days’ worth of water stored up and
ensuring alternative access routes to the hotel in case one way is blocked. It
also takes a leader with foresight, a global view of the business and
sufficient experience to anticipate whether, for example, storerooms or fridge
capacity need to increase or additional staff members need to be hired as
demand grows.
These are considerations that, if
left unmanaged, can cause disruptions in the supply chain and a loss of
business – so it’s difficult to overstate the role of the leader in this.
“After all, the supply chain is only as good as the leader who manages the
systems,” Viljoen concludes.
You can find out more about
supply chain leadership skills and catch
Deon Viljoen at SAPICS 2014*. The presentation by Deon Viljoen (Tsogo Sun) is
entitled: The Tools of the Trade…any
Trade. Drawing from his varied leadership
experiences in the hospitality industry throughout his career, Deon presents a
toolbox of metaphors, illustrations and stories to equip supply chain
practitioners with practical leadership skills and ideas. These he calls his
Tools of the Trade...any Trade!
