Reward system interview

In 2011, for about a month, I worked at the Holiday Inn Express. I was in between jobs and my sister had an opening at her hotel. I absolutely loved working there. It was a great environment and it truly felt like my work was appreciated. This is my interview with my sister regarding her hotels and their reward system.

Tell me about yourself and your career.

My name is Denise Acuña, Director of Sales for El Paso's most newest hotels, Holiday Inn Express Airport & Staybridge Suites. I have been in the hospitality industry for 11 years now.

What kind of reward system do you have within your organization?

My company offers several incentives for our employees throughout the month and year.  The hotel management staff offers an "Employee of the Month" and "Employee of the Quarter" reward system. Employee of the month gets a $25.00 gift card along with a really nice plaque with their name on it. Employee of the quarter gets a $75.00 Visa Gift card and a really nice keepsake plaque.   

How important is a reward system in any organization?

I believe it’s very important to our employees to get that recognition and appreciation for their hard work. Our employees actually look forward to it.

Do you offer incentives to your employees? If so, what kind?

In my Sales dept., I offer monthly incentives to my Front Desk Agents that bring me company leads in which end up turning into long term committed business for our hotel. I also reward my staff with gift cards to Subway, Starbucks, Red Lobster etc.

Why do you have these incentives?

I offer incentives from my dept. to show my staff that they are just as important as I am to make our hotel successful. Offering incentives also gives them that feeling of accomplishment and they feel good therefore their attitude is cheery, welcoming and positive. Their attitude is a huge factor for our guests satisfaction and future returns.  

What about employee appreciation? How does your company handle that?

Our company also offers an employee appreciation luncheon every month. We as the management staff cater lunch for all our employees and give them praise for all their hard work. Here is where we also announce the employee of the month. In December we also go all out and host our Christmas Party. We shower them with gifts and provide a catered meal.  

Are there areas you feel need improvement?.

I believe the current incentives we have set up right now have been working really well for all of us.

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What do you think are the reasons people want to work for your company?

The hotel industry is very exciting. There will never be a day that is ever the same. I honestly believe people want to come work at our hotel because of the fun, exciting and safe environment we provide. It's very easy going and we are a family.

What made you want to work for the company?

The pay! Actually my company offered me a position that was new and exciting to me. I was given an opportunity to open a brand new hotel from the bottom up. That is an opportunity that not all people get.

Are these reasons why you continue to work for the company?

My company has given me a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have open two hotels for them in less than 7 months. It's very rare for someone my age to do so. It's going to be very impressive in my resume some day. They have given me unlimited amounts of resources to be successful and they have training for anything I could possible think of. They are constantly praising me from my General Manger to my CEO. I love going to work every day. They allow me a schedule that's incredibly flexible.

When recruiting new employees what would you tell them about the company?

That we are AWESOME and they're fools for not wanting to be one of us!

What about punishment? How does your company handle that?

In the event that an employee needs to be reprimanded, we have procedures where we will coach and counsel them 1st. We ask them what happened and how we got to this point. Our staff is empowered to make decisions. We hope that their decisions are reasonable and if not we will guide them to learn from it and not make the same mistakes again for the interest of our hotel.

Is there a structure to follow or is it on a case by case basis?

Each employee and department has daily assignments that help us stay productive.

Tell me about the special events you hold for employees.

Aside from our employee appreciation and Christmas celebration, we also have Service Appreciation week (June) and we shower all staff and departments with a "Thank You". For example we decorate the housekeepers’ carts and fill it with goodies and fun items. We play games during that week like scavenger hunts and toss a cross. We also participate in fundraisers for our charity, “Give Kids the World". We tend to do this on a quarterly basis and host ice cream socials. We offer all kinds of flavors and toppings and whatever our guests would like to donate, we certainly appreciate it. During the fall we have a pumpkin carving contest. We buy each employee a pumpkin and whoever carves the best one gets a really neat prize.