What does your company Kelley Jones Hospitality focus on?
Kelley Jones Hospitality is a multifaceted hospitality consulting and management company specializing in freestanding and mixed-use food and beverage complexes, entertainment venues, nightlife, hotel and facility operations. Kelley Jones offers a wide range of personnel, professional and business solutions for the hotel, restaurant, night life and hospitality industries. KJH provides turnkey solutions, managing existing properties, revitalizing struggling outlets and delivering new concepts, all of which create the opportunity for hotels or marquee commercial property owners to offer their guests the most desired brands in the marketplace.
A public speaker and corporate trainer, Kelley is often retained to provide training programs, team building and speaking engagements to companies looking to gain a competitive edge where strategies are developed to accommodate market conditions and achieving the goals of our clients.
Your Experience with the Ailment
“Kelley, what is the effect of not having a strong employee engagement and leadership?
Culture starts at the top. There is a great quote by Maya Angelo, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” It how you make people feel.
Reverse your organizational chart. In my company, my partners and I are on the bottom…our team comes first.
Remember the 4 Golden Rules of Hospitality:
1. Look at me
2. Smile at me.
3. Talk to me.
4. Thank me.
We need to stop using the word “customer”. Customers equates a transaction. Amazon has customers. Restaurants have guests and while the guest is not always right, they do need to leave feeling satisfied.
Your “Prescription”
What are some key points to increase employee engagement?
1. Training – it starts with the interview process, checking references, making sure you value their time.
2. Have a succession plan. You have to have a plan for your team to grow.
3. Stay engaged with the team. “Managers light a fire under people, while leaders light a fire within people.”
All these things are easier when you start a restaurant. “It’s easier to birth than to resurrected.”
How can a restaurant turn people into leaders?
1. Help you team get better skills (coaching is a great way to develop managers into leaders –db)
2. Explain the Why & the What – lead by example
3. Get constant feedback.
4. Recognize the good. “Find what’s right & reward it. Find what’s wrong & fix it.”
Self-awareness is the key! How are you showing up?
Take This and Call Us in the Morning
“What one piece of advice would you tell your younger self?”
To listen more and talk less.
Understand emphatic listening.
DB – Here are 5 tips for Emphatic Listening
Empathetic Listening is a technique which can help you manage and avoid disruptive and assaultive behaviors. The foundation of the technique can be summarized in 5 simple steps.
1. Provide the speaker with your undivided attention. This is one time “multi-tasking” or “rapid refocus” will get you in trouble.
2. Be non-judgmental. Don’t minimize or trivialize the speakers issue.
3. Read the speaker. Observe the emotions behind the words. Is the speaker angry, afraid, frustrated or resentful. Respond to the emotion as well as the words.
4. Be Quiet. Don’t feel you must have an immediate reply. Often if you allow for some quiet after the speaker has vented, they themselves will break the silence and offer a solution.
5. Assure your understanding. Ask clarifying questions and restate what you perceive the speaker to be saying.
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. – Stephen R. Covey
“If success was a recipe. What 3 ingredients would you say have to be in there?”
Well, I would start off by saying, “Success is the result of good judgment. Good judgment is
the result of experience. Experience is the result of bad judgment.”
1. Learn from your mistakes and don’t be afraid to make a few. Look at your online reviews and react. Make improvements that can improve the guests experience.
2. Educate yourself. (you can tell by Kelley’s ability to recite quotes and his wealth of knowledge that reading and continuing to improve himself is a big part of his success. –db)
3. Be nimble. If it does not work change it. If that does not work, change it. If that does not work, change it. Keep making adjustments until you get the results you want.
Wrap Up
Any upcoming projects? You do public speaking and seminars how can people contact you?
Lots of new projects in Vegas, one with Chef Alex Stratta.
