Learn from the Best: Modern Leadership - The Inverted Pyramid

Discover the transformative leadership philosophy of Franck Arnold, Managing Director of London's legendary Savoy Hotel, in this captivating promotional clip from the exclusive interview series "Learning from the Best." Join Claudia Koestler and Dan Harris from the Podcast "Over Here, Over There" as they delve into Mr. Arnold's innovative hiring process and his unique approach to leadership, which features an inverted pyramid model that prioritizes support and positivity.

In this sneak peek, learn how Mr. Arnold identifies top talent and fosters a culture of excellence within one of the world's most iconic hotels. Whether you're an aspiring leader, a hospitality professional, or simply curious about the inner workings of luxury service, this clip offers invaluable insights into the art of leadership and team building in the high-stakes world of luxury hospitality.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn from the best—hit play now to unlock the secrets that keep The Savoy at the forefront of the hospitality industry!

Are you ready to learn from the best? Watch the full-length interview with Franck Arnold on the ‪@OverHereOverThere‬  Podcast here.

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Key Takeaways

• Service excellence is rooted in genuine engagement
• Hiring should focus on cultural fit and character
• Soft skills are as important as technical skills
• A smile can significantly enhance customer experience
• Empower employees to take ownership of their roles
• Mistakes are opportunities for learning and growth
• A supportive culture fosters employee satisfaction
• The Savoy's reputation is built on collective ownership
• Leadership should be about guiding and inspiring
• Feedback is essential for continuous improvement

Key Quote

• "I'm at the bottom of the pyramid."

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro - What Do You Look for When Recruiting
• 0:01 The Essence of Exceptional Service
• 6:06 Hiring for Culture and Character
• 7:34 Empowering Employees for Excellence
• 7:44 Outro

Transcript

Franck’s Inverted Pyramid (20:37)

Dan Harris 

We've really been impressed today in dealing with your staff and how excellent the service is. And the word that comes to mind is they seem almost like, I don't know, super attentive. They just have this intensity, like you mentioned earlier, almost like this. When you talk about, you... 

Claudia:
They genuinely seem happy to be in this industry. And that is quite interesting to see and wonderful to see, actually. 

Dan Harris
One of your young people said that, you know, with his colleagues, those who stay are those that have the kind of the fire in them as far as hospitality goes. But what do you look for when you're recruiting specifically that says, yeah, that's the one?

Franck Arnold

So first people need to have the skills that are determined, you have done this or that, and you have acquired the skills, whether it is service, culinary, or hotels. But these are the hardcore skills, know computer skills, et cetera. That's the experience. You can look at the CV, but you don't hire only from a CV. And especially when there are less skills available, you're to spend more time in training and developing in-house. But what is absolutely crucial is that the person you're going to hire is going to be embracing the culture and is going to become an agent of that culture and it's going to be able to replicate that culture. And this culture is about loving to serve others, to be of service to others. And we ask people to tell us, give us examples. And it's not because you are a server that you're necessarily good at it or very service-oriented. You can do the job without creating. So we ask people, how do they do that? How do they go about that? When is the last time they had done something special for someone? So we hear about that. We need to determine whether they'd like to be surrounded by people. They'd like to be surrounded by people. And there are lots of clues that tell us whether that person is there. A smile. Is the person smiling or is people just frowning and being very reserved? Which could work for certain functions, for certain support functions in accounting. But we still need to have people who are, we can't have all extroverted people working. We need a mix of characters and talent. But we need to see genuine quality to want to serve, to help, to assist, and to engage with people. So we can see the eyes. How you look at me in the eyes. Am I seeing? See? You're smiling with your eyes. 

Claudia Koestler

Likewise. 

Franck Arnold

When you start to smile with your eyes, you know, that tells me that there is something else happening. A smile, just a regular smile. Smile is the cheapest thing that you can do. It's quick, it takes not even a fraction of a second to do. It's quick, it's cheap, and it makes you feel good. Now you don't use a smile if the person is upset because the room service took two hours to come and the bed and the and bathroom smelled bad and your cocktail was spilled on your dress when you had the cocktail. No, you're not going to smile and say, yes, of course, I like you. You don't do that. However, I would say 98 % of the time you can use it. So when you recruit people, do you feel that there's something happening? Are the people engaged in addition to the skills they have? Does the Savoy make them tick? Why are you here? And I would say 95 % of the time, well, it's the Savoy. So people, know, when you say the name, you people have a certain understanding and it's strange because since I arrived here, the Savoy is owned by everybody. Everybody has a stake in this. And when we do something that is not right for that person, I can tell you, we hear about it. People write people, call people. I still receive letters, letters, you know, and it's rare these days. Of course, we receive letters of compliments and to thank us for the extraordinary experiences. And this goes from generation to generation, but I've never worked in a place where people own the place. And this is where we're just a custodian, you know, let me just be the custodian. That's what I want to do. Let me try to make it not as good, but just a little bit better than when I inherited it. And then I'll have done my job. So we look for these soft skills. We look for these traits of character to select the right people. And then we educate them, we indoctrinate them in a way to be able to, again, if we do that well, it is self-perpetrating. And then I can go on holiday, enjoy my little barbecue, my little glass of wine and cycling and golfing, because everybody is carrying the culture. I'm not. 

We have a philosophy, and this is important, how we translate that is we have a philosophy. We are not in a traditional pyramid structure where everything is top down and I'm the boss and I'm giving the order et cetera. Because if you do that, everybody will be waiting for the next, the next one, the next one, the next one to actually do something about it. So we prefer to take that pyramid, you invert it and I'm at the bottom. Okay. Yes. The responsibility still lies on my shoulders, but I'm the one to guide, orientate this pyramid, guide, inspire, and share. But the people who are delivering the experience are the people at the top. These are my line employees engaging with our customers, with our guests. They are the ones who are delivering the experience. And they need to be empowered to do so. But empowering meaning they need to be able to as well to make a mistake. You know, when the young lady entered the room here, you know, she'd made a mistake. But it's important that we sit down and say, by the way, why did you enter? Were you not aware? Were you not told that this room was occupied? Were you not told? So how can we make it better in the future? And then we engage with the leaders, you know, and we say, so what can we do to make it better? We learn by trial and error as well, but we need to let mistakes happen and correct those mistakes so that we ferment and we create this culture of excellence where we are open to criticism, are open to feedback, but we do something about it.