Thinking Beyond: Success is Just the Beginning

October 27, 2015

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Early in my career I learned a valuable lesson: achieving success is just the beginning as it is quite something else to maintain or exceed it. I was working in a Sheraton Hotel in the Midwest long before any of the conglomerate brands like Starwood existed. The Harley Hotel Corporation owned our hotel, which had undergone an amazing renovation and after great effort, earned a fourth diamond from AAA. If that were not enough, our occupancy was consistently in the 80’s and more than occasionally in the 90+ percent range. There was a pride amongst managers and employees whether we were expected to turn 200 rooms, serve a banquet of 1,000 or check a full house in and out without breaking a sweat. We were good; functioning like a well-oiled machine, providing a superior product and unexpected value for every dollar spent. We were the best in the region and the chain, we had a goal (the fourth diamond) and we achieved it. But it soon became apparent there was no plan for what we would do to continue our upward progression.  

What slowly dawned on managers was the reality that sustaining and building to even greater success was a daunting task that made getting there look like child’s play.  Staff can only function on adrenalin for so long as the push becomes old when for the 101st time managers asked employees to go above and beyond.  Being successful became a drudge, it wasn't fun anymore when the unexpected became the expected.

And therein lies the problem – no one at the top understood the continuous problems that made the front and back of house jobs harder, more tedious, and not worth the effort. Looking back I realize the GM and the executive team did not have the ability to think beyond, to envision how the success could continue or how the team could consistently do better unencumbered by unwieldy processes and procedures and recurring problems. Management was so consumed with meeting the day-to-day demands that long-term issues impacting employees such as repeated service breakdowns and problematic customer friction points were just considered part of the job; the price of success. In manager meetings the focus was on keeping things as they were as that is what produced the success in the first place. Leadership overlooked the return that comes from solving persistent irritations and failures as it improves employee moral and impacts the overall quality of service continuing the positive spiral of success. It weighs on employees when the reoccurring issues create the same client complaints; when poor performers cause repeated service failures; when old procedures cause problems.

While my story is a few decades old, the concept is as valid today: continued success requires thinking and planning on the part of management. A recent situation brought this back to the forefront for me. Panera Bread (PNRA), a company with a decade plus of growth recognized their success was creating problems including long order lines and confusing and cramped pickup areas. To their credit they devised a new service about a year ago called “Rapid Pick-up” to eliminate those negative touch points brought about by the continuous increase in volume. The rapid pickup system allows you to order and pay online via any mobile device, set the time for the pickup and then dash into the store to grab your bag avoiding lines and hubbub.

Recently I ordered online and when I arrived 10 minutes early I was confident that I would be on my way in no time based on past experience. But this did not happen and while I waited 20 minutes, I observed the order and production areas. I watched person after person order and in a few minutes leave with their bag or take their food to a table. The crew worked with precision, constantly taking or making an order without letup.  My 10- minute window came and went, I thought “oh it must be next”.   Five minutes after my pick-up time I went to one of the cashiers inquiring about my order. After checking the order fulfillment system he indicated it was being made. Five minutes more and I had my order, personally given to me by the gentleman I had spoken with but no “we’re sorry about the delay”, no “have a nice day”, nothing. Just my bag 10 minutes late.

The rapid pickup is a good solution to a problem caused by success but it stopped short as it only addressed the functional issue. Similar to the situation at the Sheraton, it maybe that Panera’s success has become a drudge for their employees as the very name of the new service created new expectations on the part of the customer. Now customers expect their rapid pickup order will be ready on time if not 5 or even 10 minutes early.   When this does not happen it becomes an irritant. When the employee does not at least say they are sorry for the delay it causes friction. When I contacted Panera about the issue, the response was a form email that encouraged me to return to experience the warmth. For me that is the beginning of the search for a replacement. There was no warmth in the previous engagement why, oh why, would there be warmth the next time?

Panera Bread is not alone in this predicament as managers and leaders are often not trained to think beyond the first level of the solution, to develop a plan to address what occurs when changes are made. Solving the apparent issue is a great step, going further and determining the ripple effects and ultimately creating a better situation for employees will take much more thinking on the part of leadership.  Consider if your success is creating problems for employees which results in less than stellar service and therefore demonstrating my point: success is far more difficult to sustain than achieve.

Dr. Lalia Rach is founder and partner of Rach Enterprises, a consulting firm that takes an uncommon sense approach and delivers genuine ideas that challenge traditional thinking. Blending professionalism, intelligence and enthusiasm, Lalia stimulates new thinking on leadership, risk-taking, strategy and innovation for clients who are seeking to escape the status quo. Lalia is a trusted adviser to senior level executives at many leading organizations due to her straightforward approach to business concerns and creative solutions that are results driven.