Chris Sheppardson - Hospitality: A New Dawn in Sustainability and Service

Hospitality

Hospitality

A New Dawn in Sustainability & Service

Chris Sheppardson

Hospitality: A New Dawn in Sustainability & Service

Copyright Business Expert Press, LLC, 2021.

Cover design by Charlene Kronstedt

Interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd., Chennai, India

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior permission of the publisher.

First published in 2021 by

Business Expert Press, LLC

222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017

www.businessexpertpress.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-95334-972-9 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-95334-973-6 (e-book)

Business Expert Press Tourism and Hospitality Management Collection

Collection ISSN: 2375-9623 (print)

Collection ISSN: 2375-9631 (electronic)

First edition: 2021

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Mimi and Chessie.

I am so proud of you

There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded. ()

Mark Twain

Description

This book is an introduction to one of the fast developing core pillars in all business, sustainability, as well as how it is tied into the concept of service. Much has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic and we are seeing companies redefine their value propositions with leaders, once again, returning to core basics and beginning to lead through strong pillars.

The new emerging generations are demanding and expecting more. The bar has been raised and the challenge for all leaders is to meet this. There are new leaders emerging with strong visions of the future. As difficult as 2020 has been, we could well be sitting on the brink of a new age in both sustainability and in service. Out of the dark times could come a lot of good but it will require new styles of leadership to what has be seen over the last 20 years.

Keywords

sustainability; service; chief executive officer (CEO); managing director (MD); human resources director (HRD); millennials; Gen Z; BAME, diversity, C-suite; food; culture; economic; environmental; social; society; Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A); hotels; food service; restaurants; chefs; cuisine

Contents

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

Martin Luther King, Jr. ()

The last 20 years has seen many challenges from the Great Crash of 2008/09 to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis as well as a new generation struggle to break through and another reluctant to leave the stage. These challenges have had their consequences, good and bad. The Great Crash arguably set back many progressive agendas and the pandemic crisis may just mark a moment of reset. Time will tell whether this becomes a truth. The following book though is an explanation of the journey that many companies have travelled during the last few decades, the ups and downs, the setbacks and the progress, until we have reached a point where we can see a more progressive era lie within touching distance. This is the story of that journey.

Most moments of real change require a catalyst, a moment in time which makes change inevitable. It is often argued that change cannot be created without the natural comfort zone in which people live being removed. Genuine hardship creates a momentum for change; war, poverty, abuse, and fear. The interesting question to ask about the last decade is that as the world has never been safer, so has that safety hindered the change that has been desired and needed? Have all not strived hard enough to create the need for change that so many want and talk about? Have we all not walked the words we talk?

Many believe that the Covid-19 pandemic could mark such a moment in time. Many certainly believe that we are sitting on the brink of a new era which will have a strong central pillar built around the principle of sustainability.

The concept of sustainability is too often linked to issues of environmental impact when the truth is that it is also about a businesss impact on society, on culture, and on economics. Environment is naturally of major importance but so are our cultures, society, and economies. There has been a drive toward globalization which has also made many yearn for localism. Can both live alongside one another effectively?

During the pandemic, many companies have found their structures to be wanting, vulnerable, and less effective than was expected. There is a genuine need for stronger roots to be grown. Many blame the increased activity in M&A and by venture capitalists, both resulting in more narrow thinking and less investment in the roots of a culture, in values, and in leadership. Is this true and fair?

There is a growing belief that out of the dark times in 2020 could come a renewed, stronger approach toward service, people, community, and culture and in building stronger businesses.

There are many who have felt frustrated and disappointed by the slow progress made in sustainability over the last 10 years. The feeling is that economics and business plans have often been short-term focused in approach, which has hindered any real progress. It has also been felt, rightly or wrongly, that too many companies have verbally supported sustainability agendas but not in real action or investment. It has resulted in feeling frustration in the lack of progress across all four pillars of sustainabilityeconomic, environmental, social, and cultural. There are hundreds of articles making a case for stronger actions.

It has taken time but there are signs of a genuine change not just in action but in mindset. An interesting comment was recently made during an informal conversation:

You should no longer not just think about how you serve your guest, but on how you impact on the lives of the community around.

It would be easy to assume that the comment was said by a leading hospitality executive but in fact it was said by a senior player from a leading financial institution. It reflects the sea change in mindset which is taking place where companies now understand that they cannot just operate as a silo but have a role to play in something which is bigger and can be more influential. The aforementioned senior player was describing his belief that a company does need today to possess high aspirations in how it behaves, both to their clients and to the community in which it sits. The younger, emerging generations are asking for better behaviors and higher aspirations. As they quietly move into positions of influence, a momentum of change is gradually building.

In conversation, the aforementioned financier went on to say

One of the biggest shifts has been an understanding that we were consistently losing respect because we were seen to be untrustworthy. Of course, this meant that we would lose clients and not be able to attract the best talent that we wanted. It was a hard realisation. It did remind me of the Conservative Party (in the UK) back in about 2002 when they openly accepted that they were seen as The Nasty Party. It took The Conservatives five years to accept this reality and then another seven or eight years to become electable. It has probably taken us more than a single decade to accept and it may take another decade to win back real trust but that is the journey we have to begin. Expectations are rightly higher today than they have been before.