Property Management: It’s all about the fit

What makes a good leader? Emotional intelligence is no longer a buzz phrase but is absolutely synonymous with success and good leadership at the helm. EQ includes the skills of empathy, integrity, the ability to listen, and?self-awareness, among others.

Whilst our core competence at BON Hotels is “taking hotels which could be administrated, managed and marketed better – and then administrating, managing and marketing them better” – and whilst we also own establishments, the most critical function we have to undertake is acting as a ‘connector’ of GMs to hotels - finding the right GM – as well as the right hotel partner.

A hotel’s most crucial staff member is the GM, and at BON Hotels, my senior staff members and I take this hiring process extremely seriously. The success of any hotel in our group hinges on this appointment, so we have to get it right first time: the right fit for the operational culture, the right personality, and the right skills.

BON Hotels has extensive experience operating in Africa and knowledge of the challenges and market conditions. We are also adept at managing owner expectations, whether around planning, marketing or budgets.

When recruiting for GMs, we know that there’s synergy between BON Hotels and some other hotel groups, such as Protea Hotels, where staff members simply slot into our culture and the way we operate with ease. Granted, in the past we have had some instances where recruiting from certain hotel groups has not worked. We learnt why that happened and actively look out for those pitfalls. Our track record of successful matches, however, is greatly improving as a result of better understanding corporate culture of where our employees are coming from.

At BON Hotels, 80% of the GM role involves establishing a sound relationship with the owners of the hotels with which we’ve partnered. And for the hotel owners, there can be no blurring of the lines between ownership and operational roles. At the outset, we coach our owners to ensure that they step away from operations, understand what our role entails, and are happy to sign an Owner’s ‘Bill Of Rights’ upfront, specifically developed for this business relationship.

Finding a new property: The five-point process

My senior team and I make use of a five-point process, when we set about choosing an appropriate property to acquire, which will ideally be managed, and its team led by the best GM for the job. The process has proven highly successful over the years. It goes like this: we ask ourselves these five astute questions:

Firstly, can we add value to the hotel? Humbly, after 26 years of navigating the industry, I now have an instinct for knowing within minutes of walking into a hotel whether it has the critical elements in place for us to be able to turn its fortunes around.

Secondly, will it be possible to develop a positive working relationship with the owner? If we identify that there may be issues that will make it really difficult for us to do our jobs, it is usually better for us to walk away.

The third question when we are considering running a hotel on behalf of an owner, is whether they have the best interests of the hotel at heart, from market positioning to the calibre of chef they want to appoint. The wrong decision from an ownership perspective can have a huge impact on guests and their experience of the hotel, as well as the kind of guest a hotel will attract.

Fourthly, we look at where the hotel is located, as this is paramount to its success. Location, location, location is a phrase –?and concept –?that’s critical in both real estate and hospitality. A great example of this is our Protea Hotel Durbanville property. Around the corner are four massive insurance companies and an office park housing 300 blue-chip companies. Needless to say, Protea Durbanville took off from the very first day and continues to soar.

The fifth and last point is that the owner needs to have established which market segments the hotel will serve. There is, for example, a major difference between the requirements of business travellers and backpackers; between young couples and retirees; between families with young kids and extreme-adventure travellers. If an owner has created the wrong kind of hotel – in terms of the look and feel and the facilities – for the intended market, then that hotel’s success is in jeopardy.

To conclude, we believe our GMS are excellent, and BON Hotels continues to grow its portfolio successfully based on our tried and tested five-point process. Our footprint now extends beyond South African borders to Eswatini, Nigeria, Ghana and Ethiopia, and we look forward to the next acquisition and the next top appointment.