Most Important Skills For a Vice President of Hotel Operations at a Hotel and Casino
Tommy, a Vice President of Hotel Operations, emphasizes empathy, "being able to go above and beyond and exceed guest expectations," and strong decision-making skills as crucial for success in hospitality leadership. Effective decision-making, particularly in high-stakes situations involving employees or finances, requires a data-driven approach and careful consideration of all possibilities, augmented by high emotional intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence, Decision-Making, Empathy, Problem-Solving, Communication
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Tommy Harris
Vice President of Hotel Operations
Large Hotel & Casino Brand
University of Nevada Las Vegas / 2022
UCLA / MBA - Expected graduation June 2024
Psychology
Hospitality, Restaurants & Events
Operations and Project Management
Honors Student, Worked 20+ Hours in School, LGBTQ
Video Highlights
1. Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: Tommy emphasizes the importance of empathy, sympathy, and emotional intelligence in handling upset guests and employees. He highlights the need to understand people's perspectives and find resolutions effectively. Students should consider if they possess these traits and how they might develop them further.
2. Decision-Making Skills: Tommy stresses the significance of sound decision-making, particularly in high-stakes situations like employment decisions or large financial investments. He uses probability trees to analyze situations and make data-driven choices. Students should learn about analytical frameworks and decision-making models.
3. Focus on Guest and Employee Satisfaction: Tommy points out that exceeding expectations for both guests and employees is crucial. A positive mindset and a commitment to improving people's lives are essential for success in this field. Students should consider whether they have the drive to meet high service standards and create positive experiences for others.
Transcript
What skills do you believe are most important for a job like yours?
For being in hospitality in general, you have to have empathy and sympathy. You have to be a person that is naturally kind-hearted, in the sense of wanting to go above and beyond and exceed guest expectations. And not just for guests, but for employees too.
You really have to be able to listen and understand people. You're dealing with people who are typically at the extreme ends of the spectrum. At this level, you're dealing with guests who are very, very upset. They've gone through multiple levels and have now reached you for resolution. Or you're dealing with employees who are very, very upset. They've gone through multiple levels without resolution and are now looking to you to solve it.
It's about putting yourself in their shoes to a certain extent. You need to understand how this happened and how it got to the point of not being resolved. Then, you need to listen to understand what can be done to effectively bring the situation to a resolution.
Another very important skill is decision-making. At this level, decisions are extremely important, and they cannot be taken lightly. You shouldn't make knee-jerk decisions, or decisions that don't make sense, lack factual basis, or have no foundation.
I do a lot of probability trees when making big decisions, especially regarding someone's employment or a large financial investment. It's always a coordinated and well-drawn-out exercise that explores all possibilities. This ensures I'm not only going with the most probable outcome when it makes sense, but I also have data and information to back it up.
One thing I would touch on regarding skills is focusing on emotional intelligence in general. I believe it encompasses five or six different traits, including self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. These are all highly applicable to hospitality, as well as a wide variety of other industries.
If you don't possess these skills or they aren't comfortable for you, I would suggest trying it out before getting into it. The job will be torture. You're dealing with people who are traveling and expect a certain level of service, whether it's luxury or not.
If you're not in the right frame of mind to naturally want to improve people's lives or ensure their expectations are met, the job will be torturous for you. You most likely won't last long, and it will just be a very miserable life. These are the skills that I find to be the most impactful.