The Hospitality Industry is particularly prone to reputational risk. With so many people with access to Social Media and the ability to provide a feedback at the swish of a thumb and the stab of a finger, there are seldom deeds that go unreported… Be they glowing praise or stinging criticism.
But when a hotel makes the news for all the wrong reasons, there is little damage control that can be effective in recovering reputation in the short term. When it was reported (https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/30/health/legionnaires-disease-atlanta-hotel-probable-cases/index.html) that a hotel in Atlanta, Georgia in America was found to be responsible for 11 people contracting Legionaries Disease & an additional 55 people suspected of contracting the disease, the reputation of the hotel and the chain becomes seriously damaged.
We work with one of Western Australia’s iconic hotels and have first hand experience of the hard work and attention to detail that goes into maintaining a 5-Star facility. While a lot of the focus is on keeping the clients happy and meeting their needs, a lot of the focus also goes to keeping the facility safe and healthy for guests and staff alike.
When challenges arise, it is not only essential to be able to respond appropriately, but to have the evidence to demonstrate that the tasks the should have been completed have been completed. While this may not help with the immediate reputation, it can mitigate risk when dealing with regulators and other areas of litigation. This in particular is an area that can have chronic repetitional impact as the media can report throughout any investigations and subsequent legal proceedings. By doing what your management system prescribes and being able to demonstrate this, you can go a long way to managing risk.
Many organisations take water hygiene for granted as the water utility provider is responsible for providing safe water to the client. What many organisations do not appreciate is that at the point where the water crosses the boundary to the property, the duty of care shifts to the client to provide safe and hygienic water to the end points where water is consumed.
Water Hygiene is a critical area that needs a consistent and vigilant program in place to maintain a healthy and well maintained water hygiene program. An effective programme has many features to ensure that water is maintained to safe and hygienic standards. Do Diligence support our clients in the following ways to maintain a safe water reticulation system:
- Scheduled Tasks – No matter what is going on in the organisation, a list of scheduled task should be maintained and visibility of the task completion is critical.
- Simple and Efficient – Undersanding that staff are busy and their time is valuable means that staff need to be supported and provided with tools to complete routine tasks simply.
- Transparrent and Accountable – Managers are busy and need simple and effective tools to view if tasks are being completed or not, and if so, are the task passing or failing.
- Information Management – Quick and simple ways to view and interpret information is critical. Particularly for busy managers and teams. Dashboard reporting and automated reporting allow exception reporting to provide critical information to people at the right time.
We are very pleased to work with clients in the hospitality sector to support them in managing critical areas of compliance. We have received great feedback with our compliance software and believe we genuinely offer value to organisations within the hospitality sector.
Do Diligence hope that all persons affected by the outbreak have a full and quick recovery and that the hotel chain return to full service as quickly as possible in a way that provides a safe environment for guests and staff alike.