“We appreciate being able to work with such a professional partner as hotelkit. This creates incredible benefits for us as a hotel chain, our many employees, and, of course, for the guests.”
Chema Basterrechea
Global President and COO,
Radisson Hotel Group
Communicating brand standards and SOPs efficiently to hundreds of hotels via a single platform is now possible for Chema Basterrechea, Global President and COO at Radisson Hotel Group. In this interview, he tells us how hotelkit contributes to the Hotel Group’s vision and how it enables cooperation and innovation within the hotel chain.
Chema Basterrechea serves as COO at the Radisson Hotel Group. He’s responsible for all operational and commercial matters including the implementation of brand standards and SOPs. In this article, he describes how hotelkit has not only changed his scope of work but also the cooperation within the hotel chain:
Challenge
Challenges of global communication
As a hotel chain operating across the globe, the distribution of information to all our hotels is one of our top priorities and at the same time our biggest challenge. New information should be transmitted quickly and reliably and needs to be easily accessible from all our hotel sites. It’s therefore of utmost importance that these documents are sufficiently protected and are communicated efficiently to the right person, group, or department. This is especially important when it comes to security as it’s a major priority for us to be able to verify that the information has actually reached the employees and was also read by them. Moreover, it’s important for us to update relevant documents quickly and without much effort. So, there are certain aspects that we attach particular importance to, the ones I just mentioned are in my opinion the most relevant ones.
How were brand standards and the SOPs communicated before hotelkit?
In our hotel chain, there were too many systems and tools in use. We had, for example, an intranet that we used to communicate SOPs. Then there was the newsletter which we used to communicate important information to the different hotel sites. What we were missing though, was a centralized platform where all information is available to everyone at any time.
Solution
How does hotelkit improve communication between headquarters and hotels?
Distribution of SOPs and brand standards
By finding hotelkit, we found the connecting medium that we were looking for: A communication platform that enables us to transmit SOPs to all hotels and makes communication across the different hotel sites possible, which is of utmost importance in hotel chains.
Easy access to financial statements
At headquarters, our focus is, of course, on finances, which is why we primarily use hotelkit to get insight into the financial statements of our hotels.
Targeted transmission of tasks and standards
Moreover, I use hotelkit as an information source and as a planning and communications tool that allows me to transmit tasks and standards to all hotels within the Radisson Hotel Group.
Structured certification processes and quality optimization
This communications platform is also helpful when it comes to the evaluation and certification of our hotel sites and the optimization of quality, security, and health standards in our hotels.
Saving energy and paper
The reason why, we at headquarters were determined to implement hotelkit in the Radisson Hotel Group, was our wish to reduce the amount of paper that was used. Since the implementation of hotelkit, we hardly use any paper anymore, and our maintenance work is always completed in due time which saves a lot of power.
Increased motivation in the team
hotelkit also increased the motivation of our employees: Now, there is a lively exchange between the different hotels, ideas are being discussed, and we are working on the further development of our company.
Promotion of team spirit and innovation
In contrast to writing emails, this modern way of communication is very popular and unleashed a veritable creativity boost. I would even say that there are now some true “influencers” among us who regularly post pictures from their work in the hotels and share them with the entire hotel chain on the hotelkit social feed. Is there anything more pleasant than employees who are actively involved in the further development of the company? We at headquarters want to promote this.
Results
What’s next for Radisson Hotel Group in its digitalization journey?
There will be continuous development, I am sure of it. I believe that we’re already on the right track: By implementing hotelkit, we have found the perfect tool to ensure optimal cooperation and efficiently structured processes. Moreover, we’re using digitalization in the areas of finance and productivity. Other than that, we’re already using artificial intelligence when communicating with guests, and we have an SAP system and a great PMS, EMMA, at our disposal. We’re also slowly but steadily managing to replace our traditional front desk with our Radisson Plus System. On our way to more efficiency, flexibility, and even better service, we consider ourselves very lucky to work with such professional partners as hotelkit. The collaboration generates incredible advantages for our hotel chain, our many employees, and, of course, our guests.
Is hotelkit the right decision?
hotelkit and Radisson Hotel Group are two companies that are very similar in terms of motivation, future orientation, and the urge to become better and better. This is why our cooperation works so well. I believe that the goal which CEO Marius has pursued with this system was fully reached: hotelkit can be proud of the way in which people communicate and interact with this platform.
