For many hoteliers in China, corporate social responsibility goes no further than donating money a few times a year to local charities. But subtle differentiation is a growing concern among hoteliers as they compete for guests and employees in burgeoning and competitive markets.
For a hotelier such as Xin Jie, chairman and general manager of the Pavilion Hotel Shenzhen, creating a better auditing system to ensure his hotel stays ahead of the competition is his way of advocating good corporate conduct.
Shenzhen has dozens of top hotels, so advocating special features is a must for hotels who hope to survive in this market. Xin has focused on surpassing global standards, building corporate social responsibility and integrating best practices, in the hope that these qualities will help grow the business.
What are some of the changes you have implemented since taking the reins at Pavilion Hotel?
China's hospitality industry has gradually matured since the reform and opening up policy. A perfect operational model has already been formed, thus courage is needed in making any change or reform. Our creative reform is to introduce international managerial measures to improve our operational level and add value for customers by keeping the basic running model of our hotel unchanged.
Shortly after the opening of the hotel, we introduced ISO9000 and ISO14001 standards and updated the former P&P operating document to a Total Customer Satisfaction file, which made our administration department motivated. This managerial model was awarded the first prize by the Shenzhen Management Innovation Prize by Shenzhen Municipal Government in 2004.
In the same year, we were introduced to the Baldrige Award, which is given by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department's Technology Administration. This ushered in a new Performance Excellence Model to the hotel, and we adopted the Balance Score Card for every process of our hotel management, which won us the 2005 Shenzhen Monitor Qualities Award.
All the renovation we've made is focused on the essential concept of "Total Customer Satisfaction" with the aim of becoming a global green business hotel.
With so many new international hotels opening in Shenzhen, how does Pavilion Hotel differentiate itself?
Products and services of high quality are the key for any enterprises' success, and there is no exception for Pavilion Shenzhen. Pavilion Shenzhen has a core of competitive power, which has helped ensure its leadership in the market.
As a green business hotel, the Pavilion is dedicated to providing products and services of comfort, health, security and environmental protection, which conforms with the developing trend of the market, and in the long run is well recognized by more and more customers.
The Pavilion always finds creative ways to bring surprises and value for our customers with our renovation of products and services. The management's innovation has input new energy to the hotel and helped it step onto a new stage.
What are some of the challenges to operating a hospitality business in Shenzhen and China?
Human resource shortage is a common challenge faced by the entire hospitality business in Shenzhen and in China. The rapid development of high-star-grade hotels in recent years has led to a shortage of hospitality professionals for lower-star-grade hotels and an unbalanced supply of human resources for the industry.
Due to the human resource constraits, we have been consistently carrying out a "People Oriented" policy within our hotel. We attract high-quality employees to work for us with competitive salaries and benefits; we set up a complete training system to help our employees plan their career and fulfill self-development; we care for each staff's life through various means of communication; we work to build a strong team by combining our administrative departments within our work team; and we have formed a seamless and united work team.
At the Third China Human Resource Management Annual Meeting in 2006, we were accredited as an Annual Top Ten Employer. With this strong human resource foundation, we are confident to meet any challenges ahead of us.
What community outreach programs does your hotel take part in throughout the year?
Shenzhen Pavilion Hotel has been advocating CSR and we have regarded "the promotion of the sustainable development of the society" as an important part of our mission. We have put aside funds in our annual budget plan to participate in various social outreach programs. Each year, we allocate funds to help support poverty-stricken areas and Project Hope. Our PR department works with local communities to organize various public welfare activities. When there is a serious natural disaster, our staff are the first to donate. Indeed, CSR is the main feature of our enterprise culture.
