Book Buzz: "Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara

I went out on a limb and read "Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara. It is a captivating book that explores the transformative power of hospitality in the restaurant industry. Guidara, a renowned restaurateur and co-founder of the renowned Eleven Madison Park, shares his insights and experiences, emphasizing the importance of creating extraordinary dining experiences and fostering a culture of hospitality. Through personal anecdotes and practical advice, Guidara inspires readers to embrace hospitality as a mindset and a way of life.

You might ask why I read this book since I am not in the hospitality industry or dealing with the public daily in a restaurant or retail setting. However, as an HR person, the title made me want to read it and see if there was a small business application to our company at Innovative Outsourcing and our clients.

We are still living in a world where 51% of people are actively looking for a new job (just came out in today’s released Gallup survey). So, our companies have to be thinking about two things:

What am I doing to make my current employees want to STAY?
What am I doing to entice candidates to COME work here?

So the title "Unreasonable Hospitality" intrigued me. What if our companies did UNREASONABLE things for our employees to create great places to work? What would it be like if our employees talk about how awesome it is to work for us at their neighborhood pools this summer, and where our employees get calls from recruiters and they won’t even listen to the recruiter’s opportunity. Well that would be cool - wouldn’t it?

What would it take to be “unreasonably hospitable” to our employees? I’m not sure for every employer, but here are a few direct quotes from this book that I am going to think about:

"Two things happen when the best leaders walk into a room. The people that work for them straighten up a little, making sure that everything’s perfect - and they smile, too."
"I have since come to realize that a “cult” is what people who work for companies that haven’t invested enough in their cultures tend to call the companies that have."
"When talking about how his leader reacted in rage when he made an honest mistake - The memory of the shame and rage I felt that day will always be on my shoulder when I’m handling a mistake made by an employee. I will never forget how much impact - for good or for bad - that a leader can have. He didn’t respect me or anyone else in the dining room - and I thought that sucked."
"Our intention was to usher in a more elegant style of service, but I found if I hired people who had worked in fine dining, they already had too many bad habits. So we started looking for people with the right attitude and philosophy of hospitality."
"Giving the team more responsibility than they expected had an amazing impact - the more responsibility we entrusted them with, the more responsible they became."
"Tell your employees - Don’t be shy. Even if we’re proud of the way we do something - even if it feels integral to the restaurant - that doesn’t mean we couldn’t be doing it better: more elegantly, more efficiently, more creatively. Nothing is sacred."
"We didn’t ask for the check. Instead, at the end of their meal, we’d bring the bill over and drop it off - along with an entire bottle of cognac. We would say “Please, help yourself to as much as you like, with our compliments. And when you’re ready, your check is right here.”

That last one is so interesting. My first thought as a business owner is - that’s a lot of money you are wasting. And then it dawned on me. They are creating raving fans. They want what is normally a bad part of the meal (paying the bill) to be a great experience. So, just take that one thought and dream! Here are some thoughts:

When an employee has his review annually - you tell him it will be at 8am and then he can have the rest of the day off to do whatever he wants.
Your team has to stay in the office one evening to get something ready for a client - instead of bringing in pizza, bring in a very fine dinner and take 20 minutes to eat it at a table.
Your accounting area always works 60 hours on the 2nd week of every month. Have a nice dinner sent home to their families once each month during that week.
You surprise your team with a meeting at noon on a Friday - with taking the rest of the day off and giving them a gift card for $100 to a favorite nearby restaurant.
As the CEO, take your lowest level employees (2 at a time) to a nearby excellent restaurant and use this question “why don’t you tell me about your life in 15 min and I’ll tell you about mine”. No questions about work. Just get to know them. Employees are craving quality time with you.

Let’s figure out some things we can do to be unreasonable - to be employers that are ridiculous in how much we treat and care for our employees. For some of us owners - having a team like this sounds so fun. For others that need a push. So here is your push: Gallup estimates that low employee engagement costs the global economy US$8.8 trillion and accounts for 9% of global GDP. What does it cost your company? Probably more than you know.

I recommend this book to think “outside the box”. This would be a good one to have your management team read - and then have a lunch and talk about ideas on how to create an insanely incredible employee culture at your company. I’m guessing that the time you invest will come back to you tenfold.

And, of course, if you want our team to dream with you - we would love to do that! Just email me at cfiler@innovative-outsourcing.com and we will set up a time.