What I Learned About Streamlining Processes and Empowering Others - David Kong, DEI Advisors

Josiah: 0:00

Ever feel like process is slowing you down? You're not alone. Our guest today once counted 26 steps for just getting a teaspoon in the hands of one of his restaurant managers. Stick around to hear what he learned through this. David Kong is the founder and principal of DEI Advisors, a nonprofit focused on empowering others. Previously, he was the president and CEO of BWH Hotel Group and when he retired from that role, he was the longest running CEO of any major hotel company. We've heard from him in previous episodes that I'll link to in the show notes, but I wanted to share a new part of our conversation where we talk all about process, why it matters, but also where it can become too much and where you need to drive change.

I think, even today, many people discount the importance of process, and I'm obsessed with operations because I feel operations unlocks everything we love in hospitality. Right, it's that experience, it's the employee experience, it's the guest experience, it's all about how you do things, and I'm curious from that role and maybe your subsequent experience what did you learn about process design, broadly?

David: 1:32

Interesting you should pick this topic - process engineering - because a lot of people don't even think about it. It's just like people mostly do whatever they do, thinking well, that's the way that's always been done, not thinking about whether it's the most optimal way of doing something. I'll share an example with you. I studied the process of ordering a teaspoon and a hotel for the coffee shop and I found that there were 26 steps involved. 26 steps it's absolutely amazing from the assistant manager telling the manager that they need a teaspoon to filling out the requisition multiple steps and the requisition approval, and then that gets transcribed onto, finally, an order replacing the order to receiving it to finally getting the teaspoon in the hands of a restaurant manager. 26 steps, crazy. How ridiculous is that when you can go to a restaurant supply and just buy the teaspoons in one step?

Josiah: 2:38

So I'm curious. I have to ask. 26 steps. How did you advise cutting that down?

David: 2:43

Well, I just told the story. I wrote down the steps on a flip shot and it filled three, four flip charts, because you couldn't write 26 steps down on one flip shot. It's a lot of steps and I asked the job managers what do you think? They all said that's ridiculous. How much time and money do we waste in those 26 steps when we could have just gone out and bought it? So we totally redesigned the process as a result. And there are so many administrative things that we do in the name of control that is so stupid and so inefficient that people just thought about it. And that's why we say when you have people come to work, make sure they bring their brains with them. It didn't hide a person because of his body or her body. You hide a whole person. Make sure they bring their brains to work and they can really contribute because it doesn't make sense. A lot of things that we do just don't make sense. If people that are doing it would just say it doesn't make sense. Can I try this new way? I mean, if people would speak up, it would be so much more efficient.

Josiah: 3:59

Interesting. So that's underneath that. I'm curious is there anything else underneath this that you advised as a leader, or advise people today around you said someone could just go to the store and buy it. So it's that sort of empowerment mentality of we don't need to document everything. Bring the right people in, trust them, and empower them just to make stuff happen.

David: 4:18

That's precisely the point, because there are two factors here the need for control, and there are some people in high positions that want to have control over every little thing. And that's wrong, because to a certain extent, if you empower people, you set some boundaries for them, like in the case of the restaurant operation having to buy supplies. You say you can spend X amount of money every month on supplies and you go get it from this source or that source to give them some choices. So you have some control over whom they're buying from and you get the best prices. You negotiate that advance and you have those contracts in place. Then you have those boundaries in place. You can empower people to make those choices and they feel good about their job because then they don't have to ask you for permission. How do we feel when we have to go and ask someone for permission to do some little thing? Right, you don't feel good about your job and your stature, so it is so silly. So that's the control. You have to let go of that. And people have to feel comfortable about being empowered because you can't just say go do this. Well, if the person doesn't have boundaries, they won't feel good about doing something because it's not what they used to. So you set boundaries so they feel comfortable and you feel comfortable. And then, lastly, we have to recognize that change is very difficult. I came up with all kinds of great ideas, I thought, and how we can streamline processes and make things work more efficiently. But it was almost impossible to implement that in the field because the job manager felt like this is my kingdom, how dare you come in and tell me how to do my job? So you have to overcome that and make them feel like they are driving the changes and they are benefiting from the results of the changes. And it's a real art. Change management is a real art. It's a very difficult thing to do, but it's something that you need to do.

Josiah: 6:32

Interesting, and maybe that ties back to listening, as you mentioned earlier. Maybe it starts with understanding. What do you think, hearing their perspective, and I imagine that's a part of effective change management as well.

David: 6:44

And also top down. I said earlier, you have to have the board be the role model, you have to have the executive team be the role model. Then it's easier. So in my case, at Hyatt, I talked to the president of the company, saying this is what I want. Now you go figure it out. So when a job manager and the controllers are tasked with having to streamline the operation, from that it turns out they have to adopt some of these ideas.