THE STARWOOD JOURNEY FEBRUARY 2010 · Starwood Journey – the work that has been done has taken into ... competitive edge? Click 4: Global Citizenship and Diversity are both a part

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THE STARWOOD JOURNEY

FEBRUARY 2010

STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT: © January 2010 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. The contents hereof contain proprietary trade secrets that are the private and confidential property of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Any form of possession, disclosure, duplication, or use without the express consent of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is prohibited. Unauthorized use, disclosure, or reproduction of any kind of material contained in this program is expressly prohibited. The contents hereof are the sole and exclusive property of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., contain proprietary information and materials, and are to be returned immediately upon termination of any relationship or agreement giving user authorization to possess or use such information or materials.

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OBJECTIVES: By the end of the session, attentive associates will be able to: Better understand Starwood – who we are, our near-term priorities, and

our long term goals

Recognize how these contribute to Starwood’s success – through

Goals/BIG 5 alignment and through our behaviors

Understand how these fit into the big picture and how the pieces fit

together (individual spirit and collective strength, property/brand/Starwood/Service

Culture, etc)

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The Starwood Journey Specific Materials Needed:

PPT deck: Journey 2010 Property Communication (Development Center)

Starwood Journey Video (Development Center)

StarVOICE worksheet Handouts (Divisional specific)

Journey Handout

Generic Materials Needed: (if running in “All Associates Meeting” format)

Sign-in Sheet (if required)

Tent cards (participants to write own name on tent card)

Department Labels for each table (participants to sit in Department teams)

Pens and/or pencils

Tape (If planning on posting flipcharts to walls post brainstorm sessions)

Post It Notes General Audio/Visual Equipment (if running in “All Associates Meeting” format)

DVD Player

LCD

Laptop computer

Remote Control for Laptop

Screen

Audio feed into DVD and Laptop to speakers or house sound system

1 flip chart per table + 1 for facilitator(s) (more may be needed for larger audiences)

Mr. Sketch Markers (dark colors only – 2 different colors per flipchart)

Remote Microphones (use for open debrief across tables)

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Pre-work for Facilitator:

Each property should decide on the best mode of delivery for the new

Starwood Journey Language. You are choosing between two (2) options:

o Present at your next All Associates Meeting (Option 1 outlined

in this document)

o Follow guidelines for breaking this module into smaller pieces

and present to intact teams during pre –shift meetings. (Option

2 outlined in this document)

o Please note that you will also have flexibility to customize your

delivery efforts ie you might want to introduce the opening

section at the ALL Associates meeting but then follow up with

departmental pre shift briefs with the activities and discussions

on each of the three Promises and five Essentials.

If your Divisional Team has released a presentation on the Divisions

Strategy (ie Big 5 focus) please find the appropriate place to insert this

into your presentation and use this as a guideline for cascading your

(GM) BIG 5 goals throughout the organization.

Ensure your StarVOICE Handouts are downloaded from the DC, printed

and available for table discussions. Please note:

o Divisional Scores have been pre-populated into the worksheets

o Properties need to populate the “Property Score” column

o Department Heads need to populate the “Department score”

column

o Excel worksheets are available if you would like to customize the

discussion topics. PDF worksheets are also available.

Utilize Property Service Culture Trainers (PSCTs) throughout All

Associates meeting to work room & assist activity/discussion debriefs.

If wanting to utilize your departmental pre shift meetings as the main

delivery mode for discussions and activities, make sure your department

heads have been briefed properly and are themselves, well aware of the

role they play in the Journey’s success.

True North/Compass Activity: know which direction is ‘North’ (compass).

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Introduction to The Starwood Journey 10 Minutes

PPT: The Starwood Journey

Option 1: All Associates Meeting Option 2: Departmental Pre-Shift Briefing Welcome: A warm welcome to all of you. Today’s meeting is an important

one for all associates in Starwood as the same message is being

communicated around the world.

A lot of great work has been done to refresh the language of our

Starwood Journey – the work that has been done has taken into

account feedback from our associates. The improvements have

been directed at making the Journey more actionable while also

making it clear what our personal responsibilities are for

continuing to make Starwood a success.

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PPT: Activity: True North (also known as ‘The Compass Activity’)

Ask: Let’s begin by doing a quick warm up activity. Some of you will

remember this exercise from one of our Service Culture Experience

modules. Let’s have everyone to their feet.

Facilitator Note: Give the following instructions to your

associates:

Stand up, and move your chairs in.

Move arms distance from those around you.

Take one hand and place it over your eyes. Please,

no peeking.

Take your other hand and point it in the direction of

North.

While pointing towards North, remove your hand from

over your eyes and observe the direction everyone is

pointing. Note the variety of directions.

Ask everyone to take their seats

Ask: In terms of our company direction – what does “True North”

really represent?

All Associates meeting: Seek call outs from tables with

microphones. Look for: Our mission. Our strategy. Our Milestones.

Our goals

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Pre Shift briefing: Allow discussion – looking for same responses

above

Ask: If, in reality, this representation of “pointing” reflected the level

of alignment we have around our goals, mission, strategy,

would we, as a company be set up for success?

No!

Ask: What, then, is needed to ensure we are all aligned and

pointing in the right direction, working on the right things?

All Associates meeting: Seek call outs from tables with

microphones.

Look for: We need to all understand our company’s direction, our

strategy, and our milestones along the way. We need to

understand our roles – individually and as a team. A common

understanding of our direction and how we are going to get there.

Pre Shift briefing: Allow discussion with your associates but still

look for the same responses above

Tell: Just so everyone is clear, True North is actually this way!

Point in the direction of True North (facilitator note: you may

want to, in advance, put a Journey poster on north side of

room so they end up pointing to it and strengthens talking

point about how Journey aligns us so we’re all working to

common goals, etc. ) . Today we are going to spend our time

together, re-aligning with the new language of The Journey to

ensure we are all clear on our strategy, our direction and very

importantly the role that each of us plays in our company’s

success.

Ask: Think about how powerful our company would be if we all

truly pointed True North, if we were totally aligned and going

in the same direction. What does that mean in “real terms”?

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PPT: Total Alignment around our strategy and goals

Note to facilitator: This slide builds starting with the Marketplace

and cascading the message of the Journey through the Division,

the Department and the Individual. Cascading the Journey

message is critical for our success.

Explain: Click 1: Starting with the Marketplace - the primary source of

information around which our company strategy is built. In

order for our company to be successful we have to fully

understand what is happening in our marketplace so that we

can position the company’s strategy for success – in our

language – the Starwood Journey

Click 2: If we are to build and sustain a strong Company, we

all need to be pointed in the same direction – Starwood’s

True North. In the past we have talked about the Starwood

Journey as a tool for providing direction for us all plus it

clearly defines for us our company values. So not only are we

more clear about what needs to get done, we are also more

clear about how we are going to get there.

Click 3: The message from our Journey then begins to

cascade through each of our divisions – providing clear

direction for our regional teams and ultimately our properties.

“How does our Division contribute to the Journey and

company’s success?”

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Click 4: As the cascade continues into our properties, each of

our departments also needs to ensure that the goals and

work streams are aligned to the Divisional goals and the

Journey. “What does our team do to support the Journey?”

Each team needs to have total clarity about the ways in which

they are supporting the company’s success.

Click 5: and then finally, once our teams aligned, each and

every one of us has a personal responsibility for “owning” our

own contribution to the company’s success. Are we each

working on the right things? Can each of us clearly answer

the question: “how do I contribute to the Journey and the

Company’s success?”

Many associates around the world provided our leadership

teams with feedback on the Journey. With your feedback in

mind we have been able to refresh the Journey language to

give it more clarity, to make it inspirational and personal. We

hope that this new language will help us all to connect on a

more personal level to the company’s success.

Let’s take a quick look at the type of feedback you provided:

PPT: Associate Feedback

Explain: Click 1: First and foremost, associates want to connect more

with how each and every one of us contributes. In doing

so, associates want to be sure that our Service Culture

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efforts are aligned with the company direction – we will

certainly see plenty of evidence as we take a closer look at

the new language.

Click 2: You asked that our Starwood personality and

character be more evident throughout. In other words, tell us

what makes us special, that no one else can claim.

Click 3: You asked to see more clarity around what sets us

apart from our competition. What are we known for? Our

competitive edge?

Click 4: Global Citizenship and Diversity are both a part of

the way we do business but were not previously a part of the

Journey.

Click 5: You asked that we demonstrate how all the pieces fit

together. The Journey is not separate to what we do on a

daily basis – it is the foundation that supports everything we

do.

Say: “We each have something special to contribute and we

are better and stronger together” - in short, this is what

defines our Starwood positioning

Click 6: “Individual Spirit and Collective Strength” -

encapsulates this – this is what set’s Starwood apart, what

makes us special.

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PPT: The Compass

Explain: So with this in mind, our refreshed Journey aims to provide

more clarity around how our Division, our functions, our

teams and each of us as individuals’ contribute to the

Starwood Journey and our ultimate success.

It is the goal for all of us to have a common understanding of

how to answer these questions. These questions and the

answers to them will become a part of our daily conversations

and the way we do business. Each day we should be asking

ourselves how does this fit into the Starwood Journey to

ensure that every step of the way our actions are aligned with

achieving our organisational goals and delivering on our

promises

Transition: So, let’s take a look at the key components of our refreshed

Journey.

Next slide is animated: click to bring up the Promises first.

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Explain: Click 1: Let’s begin with “Who we are?” “We are the most innovative

operator of lifestyle hospitality brands in the world”.

Click 2: Our Promises serve as our Company Values.

Do the Right thing,

Go the Extra Step, and

Play as a Team

These all remain the same, However, the language and the behaviors

that support these are now more clearly defined and personal. We will go

into this in more detail shortly.

Click 3: Our Essentials serve as our Business Strategy. The strategies

are the same; however, they more directly define what it is we need to do

in order to be successful.

Ask: So how do we define success?

Click: 4. Read: When we follow the Journey we not only create great

guest experiences, we also create a culture where associates, and

guests, owners, shareholders and communities can Thrive and Win.

Having 150,000 associates around the world all aligned around the same

strategy, same mission and same values certainly goes a long way

towards setting us up for success. Note to facilitator: The term “thrive” may need further explanation. In this

context Starwood is referring to “growth” and “reaching full potential” in order for

us as a company and as individuals to be successful.

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This next slide is repeated, click through each layer as you are speaking. Say: This is why the Journey is as important to us as individuals, our teams,

our functions, our divisions, our strategy and ultimately for success in our

marketplaces.


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Marketplace

Company Strategy

Division

Department

Marketplace“What’s happening inthe Marketplace thatdrives our strategy?”

THE STARWOOD JOURNEY

CompanyStrategy

The Journey

Division“How does our Division

contribute to the Journey and company’s

success?”

Department“What does our team do to support the Journey?”

Individual“How do I contribute to

the Journey andCompany’s success?”

PPT: Who are we?

Tell: This really is a simple, yet powerful statement that claims our unique

space in the industry.

When we seek to further define the term “lifestyle” we think about

creating and continually refining distinctive and compelling experiences

that deliver against the varied demands of all our guests. This notion is

already embedded in our culture with the fabulous work that we have

done with supporting our Service Culture efforts.

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Note to facilitator: If discussing the term “lifestyle” during a pre –shift meeting,

this may be a good opportunity to ask the team to define “lifestyle hospitality” as

it pertains to the team/department.

The message is really two-fold – it is about the ways in which we deliver great

guest experiences (branded – unique and special) plus it is about creating a

culture we all (associates, guests, owners, shareholders and communities) thrive

and win. Tell: Let’s take a deeper look at what we mean by the term “innovative”.

PPT: Innovation is our Competitive Edge

Explain: Let’s all be clear about one thing. Innovation lies at the heart of

who we are. It is our legacy – It’s in a category on its own – not

an Essential or a Promise.

It is Innovation that gives us our competitive edge. Our history of

shaking up the industry (think W) is what distinguishes us in the

eyes of our guests, our owners and our associates.

Tell: Our Starwood leadership teams around the world have worked

hard to clearly define what we mean by Innovative.

Innovation at Starwood is defined as:

Insightful: Our initiatives are based on customer insights – our

“VOC” or Voice of the Customer

Profitable: Our guests are willing to pay for it

Enviable: Our competitors covet what we are doing and

achievements

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Game Changing: turns the category or industry into something

new – for example the launch of our W brand as a “category

buster” – redefined the Luxury category. Aloft & Element are

both also new and exciting products in their markets.

Explain: Innovation is alive and well at Starwood – some examples today

are:

The Link@Sheraton which transformed the lobby space and is

now in 95% of our Sheraton properties around the world.

The Launch of Aloft for the Gen Y Traveler – known as the “tech

lab”

The Launch of Element known as the “greenovation” lab

SPG program – the first program with no back outs – it took our

competitors 9 years to copy us.

Let us not forget The Westin Heavenly Bed – even taking it to

India for the first time!

The ARRIVAL Experience at Le Méridien opened a new

perspective on the hotel arrival process.

We have a reputation for delivering Game Changing innovation –

ideas and concepts that shake up the industry and keep our

competitors on their toes – this is not going to change – the

momentum is gathering.


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Say: Innovation alone is not enough – we need to bring these great

innovations to life for our guests through Brilliant Execution.

All of us play such an important role in bringing initiatives and the

brand to life, delivering superior, branded service and we will

continue to do so in a way that continues to set us apart from our

competitors.

Just as innovation is our edge, the Journey guides everything we

do. It describes who we are, how we behave, our unique

purpose and where we’re headed. The Journey is how we

deliver great guest experiences. It is important that we all

understand this and our role in our company’s success.

PPT: Starwood Journey Video

Starwood Journey Video

Explain: Before we move onto an exercise where we are going look at

how well we are doing currently in support of our Starwood

Journey, let’s sit back and watch our Starwood Journey Video.

This has been designed specifically for the roll out of our

refreshed focus and language associated with the Journey

around the world.

Tell: In last year’s STARVoice questionnaire, we were all asked to

rate the extent to which we understood the Journey and our role

in it. Let’s take a look at how we did.

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All Associates meeting:

Option 1: Have associates within the same department sitting together

at their round tables. You would need to clearly “label” each table(s)

by department

Option 2: In the All Associates meeting, you could choose to mix up

associates and only look at Divisional and Hotel StarVOICE results.

Department Heads should then follow up in subsequent pre-shift

meetings with a look at the department specific StarVOICE results.

Pre Shift Briefing: Follow same path with your associates pre shift –

use same handout to trigger discussion on your Dept StarVOICE

results.

Explain: You should all take a copy of the handout sitting on your tables.

As you can see, this handout shows down the left hand side, the

specific questions pertaining to the Journey and our alignment

with it. If you look along each column, you can see our Divisional

scores, our property scores and your department scores against

each of the questions. (see above for options on facilitating this

section).

I would like you to take the next 5 minutes to brainstorm the

answers to the questions in the last two columns – Things we

are doing well and some specific ideas for improvement.

Capture your table teams’ ideas on flipcharts

Debrief guidelines: Note to facilitator:

All Associates Meeting: The size of your All associates meeting will

determine the level of depth you go into for the debrief here. You do

want to hear some call outs from tables/departments on each of the

questions but may not get to every table. Have microphones ready at

tables so everyone can hear the responses to the questions.

Make sure you keep the flipcharts and have someone roll up the

feedback and suggestions for distribution and action planning later.

Pre Shift Briefing: Allowing some small group discussion with your

team will allow you to quickly capture feedback on the two questions in

the worksheet. Make sure you allow team members to be open and

use the suggestions for improvement

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For both options – focus only on the first four questions linked to the

Journey and Alignment with it. Then wrap up discussions and link

forward to further discussions on the Promises and Essentials.

Make sure the suggestions for improvement are captured and

communicated as an Action Plan following these discussions.

PPT: The Compass

Wrap up section: When we think back to our “Compass Activity” warm up – our

Journey now becomes that compass that unites us all (Divisions,

regions, functions, brands, teams, and individuals).

Our “True North” aligns 150,000 associates across 100 countries

– guiding us on what to work on, how to work on it and keeps us

focused on what matters most.

Link forward…..

All Associates Meeting: Continue on with our Three Promises. Pre Shift Briefing: Let your team know that at each of our pre

shift meetings, going forward we are going to focus on one

promise at a time and one essential at a time. The goal of our

discussions will be to ensure we all understand the Journey but

even more importantly, that we all understand the role that our

property, our function, our team and each of us plays in

supporting the Journey, and ultimately, Starwood’s success.

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Our Three Promises 20 Minutes

PPT: Our Promises & How Do We Live The Journey?

Optional: Note to GM: All Associates meeting: You might like to consider having one of your

EC members or Department Heads facilitate the following section

allowing you to work the room and have discussions with your table

teams on a more personal level.

Explain: Let’s continue on with our Three Promises. As I explained on an earlier

slide, our three promises represent our Starwood Values. They remain:

Do the Right Thing Go the Extra Step Play as a Team They are linked together and we need all three in order to be

successful.

These Starwood Promises are aligned with our Service Culture

messaging around the Human Truths and the behaviors represented in

our branded Associate Successful Profiles. The promises are

overarching and intended to link directly to our key learnings so far in

our Brand and Experience modules.

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PPT: Do the Right Thing

Ask: So what does Do the Right Thing mean? Read: Through each bullet on the slide.

Make sure there are enough StarVOICE score handouts per associate

sitting on each table. Refer to these handouts before continuing with

the set up.

Pre Shift Briefing:

Make sure you cover only this promise in one meeting.

Distribute your StarVOICE results worksheet and have a discussion

with your team on your progress to date.

Use the responses to the (2) questions in your action planning and be

sure to reinforce the importance of this value to your department and to

your property.

For the remaining two Promises – make sure you spend one pre shift

brief per Promise to follow the same discussion. Use the same

StarVOICE worksheet to help fuel discussion and make sure you

capture suggestions for improvement for ongoing departmental action

planning.

All Associates Meeting: Let everyone know that you are going to cover the supporting

behaviors on the slide for each promise before we break into table

discussions to examine our StarVOICE results and start thinking about

what we need to do to uphold the Starwood Values.

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Explain: Before we examine and discuss in more detail our StarVOICE

results I would like to look at the behaviors that support our two

other promises – Go the Extra step and Play as a team.

Say: Let’s take a look at our second Promise – “Go the Extra Step” Read: Through each bullet on the slide. PPT: Go the Extra Step

Say: I know that so much of what we already do in relation to our

Service Culture efforts is directly linked to this value – in fact –

Delivering Results in a “Highly Effective way” is a big part of our

Associate Success Profile. I know you will all enjoy connecting

with this value – but let’s push ourselves harder when we think

about this one – what more can we do as teams – as individuals

– to really go the extra step?

Hold your thoughts and ideas until we have covered “Play as a

team”

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PPT: Play as a Team

Set up: So what does “Play as a team” mean? Read: Through each bullet on the slide.

Say: Once again, I am sure you can all see how much this aligns with

our Associate Success Profile (Team: Work well Together – feel

free to replace with the branded version). This is a great

opportunity for us all to really think about just how well we Play

as a Team and where we have opportunities for improvement.

Let’s examine these questions from within our own teams and

across teams in our hotel.

Explain: Now that we have taken a look at the Three Promises and the

behaviors, let’s examine how well we believe we are doing in

aligning our own efforts with them. I am going to ask you to refer

back to the StarVOICE worksheet we looked at the start of the

session.

As you can see there are StarVOICE questions that support our

three Promises. You can see our Divisional scores, (pre

populated) our property scores (populated by hotel team) and

our department specific scores (populated by Department Head

prior to session). Note to facilitator: In all Associates meeting, you may consider

covering focusing on Divisional and Property scores only. Dept Heads

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would then need to follow up in subsequent pre-shift meetings to focus

on Department specific scores.

Ask: I am going to ask you now, in your department table teams to

examine the scores we achieved in 2009 and then brainstorm

answers to the two questions to the right of the worksheet:

1. Things we are doing well?

2. Specific Ideas for improvement?

Select one person from each of your tables to scribe at the

flipchart nearest your table.

Select a spokesperson.

You will have 10 minutes to brainstorm, capture your ideas and

be ready for your debrief. Note to facilitator: Have your support facilitators working the room throughout the

brainstorming session, then have microphones ready for the debrief. If

there are repeated ideas across tables, ask teams to cross ideas off

their list as they are shared.

At the end of this section, inform participants that you will be collecting

the flipcharts and collating a hotel wide distribution of the collective

thoughts. These ideas will also be used for action planning

Advise participants that there will be follow up to some of the great

ideas shared in today’s session.

Transition: Great job everyone – all of you have had great discussions and

input into this discussion. Knowing what we are doing well to

align ourselves to the Starwood Journey and knowing where we

need improvement is a great start for our Action Planning. Also

remember that these values are aligned with the Associate

Success Profile behaviors that we leaned in our Service Culture

modules. These values are integral to our company culture and

we all have a personal responsibility for owning the behaviors we

choose, whether in interaction with each other or with our guests.

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The next critical section of our Journey is our Strategies – in

the language of the Journey - our Five Essentials. These still

exist with refreshed headlines aimed at providing more clarity

and now tell us what we need to do.

Let’s take a look at these now.

Our Five Essentials 20 Minutes

PPT: Our Five Essentials What Strategies do we live on our Journey?

Explain: As explained earlier, our Promises are our company values –

aligned with our culture. Our Five Essentials represent our

strategies for success. When we think about our individual and

team goals whether they are the Big 5 or your Individual

Development Plan action items, we need to make sure these are

aligned to any one or more of our strategies. We don’t ALL have

to be working on ALL five Essentials – but we do need to know

where we will have the biggest positive impact and align our

efforts accordingly.

I am going to run through the behaviors that support each of the

Five Essentials and then we are going to do another exercise to

ensure we are all aligned and sure about what it is we do on a

daily basis that makes a difference to Starwood’s success.

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Note to GM: You might want to consider having each of your EC

members come up on stage or take the microphone and present the

Essential that their function is primarily focused on. Make sure they not

only read through the bullets on the relevant slide but that they also

speak to the goals that they are accountable for that support the

Essential and finally – to share with the group – how all departments

play a role in ultimately supporting the hotels role in aligning with the

Journey. This should trigger some good discussion amongst the table

teams when we get there.

There are some suggested speaking notes below each slide below – to

be customized and adapted as appropriate for each property and

market but at least a starting point.

To avoid taking too much time on this overview of the Essentials –

each EC member could be planted in the audience with a microphone

– they could pick up where their colleague left off on the previous

essential. Keep the presentation moving and fluid.

In preparation for this section:

Make sure each table team has a copy of the Five Essentials –

slide format.

If languages are needed, make sure you download the translated

version of the slides from the Development Center. There are 20

global languages available.

Distribute post it note pads for brainstorming sessions

Have flipcharts set up around the room with headlines reflecting

each of the Essentials. (If your All Associates meeting is large,

you will need to have more than one flipchart representing each

Essential).

GM could announce that members of the EC team are going to walk us

through the newly defined behaviors that support each of the

Essentials before we have another brainstorming session.

Pre Shift Briefing: If you have chosen to discuss the five essentials in

your pre shift briefing, limit your content discussion to one Essential

per Pre-Shift briefing. Follow the same setup but focus more on the

discussion with your associates around how your team (collectively

and as individuals) support this essential. Use the same StarVOICE

worksheets to examine your results in 2009 and put together and

action plan for improvement in 2010.

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PPT: Win with Talent

Read: During the overview, try to cover each bullet on the slide.

Offer examples of each one, making this “real” for your property.

The following key messages should be covered:

“When I think about “Winning with Talent” I think about all that

we do here at <property name> to ensure we attract and recruit

the right people.

We create an environment where people want to come

every day.

We develop internally as much as we can - not only for

promotional purposes but also for cross training opportunities

so that each and every one of us is constantly learning and

challenged.

We are all talent scouts – attracting great talent, keeping

great talent, seeking opportunities for ourselves and others.

We can all play a part in this Essential. We need to own it.

All Associates Meeting: Transition to next Essential explaining

that we will discuss this by department shortly, in the meantime,

let’s take a look at our second Essential – Execute Brilliantly.

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PPT: Executive Brilliantly




“I feel like we all believe we are “Executing Flawlessly”

but are we really? – or is there room for improvement? Are we

consistent?

Do we delight each and every one of our guests – if

not, why not?

Are we each conscious of working smarter but not

harder? Or do we think that a little bit of waste (time, effort)

won’t hurt anyone?

To what extent does each of us seek to understand

new company or brand initiatives or innovations and really seek

to activate it through our day to day activities and interactions

with our guests?

Perhaps there is room for us to ask more questions

and understand better how we can best support such

initiatives.”



let’s take a look at our third Essential – Build Great Brands

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PPT: Build Great Brands




“Building Great Brands – our biggest focus since 2006

when we first launched our Building World Class Brands (BWCB)

efforts. So much time and focus has gone into creating those

branded, differentiated experiences and we have been rewarded

with great GSI improvements across all brands.

Likewise, our SPG program continues to achieve the

highest of accolades as our guests start to become more and

more loyal to Starwood and our brands.

Loyalty doesn’t just happen – it is built over time by the

experiences that we each create for our guests – it starts with us

at property level – every guest, every touch point

This is an Essential that we all need to own, no matter

where we are working in the hotel.

Imagine, 150,000 associates committed to creating

memorable experiences around the world – committed to

understanding what it is about our brands that make each of us

so special and unique and then demonstrating the right

behaviors to support it.”

We need to all be aware of what it is we do every day

that supports this Essential.

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let’s take a look at our fourth Essential – Deliver Global Growth PPT: Deliver Global Growth




This is perhaps the toughest of our strategies but

certainly no less important than our other four strategies.

If we want to continue to grow, develop our foot print

around the world, we do need to attract owners and investors –

those who want to do business with us.

We believe opportunities come from having a sound

reputation for doing business – driving return on investments.

Even on property we own a piece of this puzzle – Are we

doing our bit to make it easy to book a conference? Reserve a

room? Host a special meal or private event?

Are we building relationship with suppliers to ensure win-win

situations so both parties can “thrive and win”?

The strength of our brands is also dependent on our brand

service delivery – are we consistently provided unique,

special, branded experiences for our guests?

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let’s take a look at our fifth Essential – Drive Outstanding Results PPT: Drive Outstanding Results

Read: During the overview, try to cover each bullet on the slide. .



last but not by any means the least, we need to “Drive

Outstanding Results” – not only our financial performance -

bottom line profit and more than our fair share of the market but

across all our business metrics.

We know from our Service Profit Chain analysis at

Starwood that focusing on having engaged and satisfied

associates, does and has led to increased GSI results.

Having happy and loyal guests also drives higher

financial results – especially in the long run as our focus on

loyalty continues to grow. This is something that we can’t take

our eyes off.

And finally the work we are doing with Global

Citizenship is really setting the stage for us as a company as

we endeavor to do the right thing by our communities and

environment. (May not be applicable for Franchise Properties).

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Say: Thanks everyone for explaining the refreshed five Essentials,

would now like us to take some time to discuss in our table

teams the contribution that each of our teams make in support

of Starwood’s Strategies. Each table has copies of the slides

that we seen so far to assist with your table team discussions.

As you look around the room there are numerous flipchart

stands each headlined with one of the five Essentials. (Large

groups will have multiple flipchart stands with the same

Essential).

1. You will also see that each page is divided into two:

Left hand side: Ways in which we support this

Essential

Right hand side: Ideas we have for better supporting

this Essential

2. In your departmental table teams, I would like you to

brainstorm – one idea per post it note – responses to each of

the questions.

Make sure you mark each post it note with your Department

name.

3. Try to respond to the two questions in support of all five

Essentials.

4. You will have 10 minutes to brainstorm your input –

remember – one idea per post it note. And then 2 minutes to

post your notes on the flipcharts.

Debrief: We don’t have a lot of time to go through each post it note on

each Essential – however I would like to hear some examples

from around the room. Note to facilitator: Have your Property Service Culture trainers (or

other “assistants”) to help you to pull some great ideas off each

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flipchart to get a good cross section of ideas from a range of

departments across each of the Essentials.

Explain: These are all great ideas shared – both on what we are doing

currently to ensure we are aligned but also in terms of what we

can do to better support the Essential – thank you everyone for

staying so focused on making our Journey so relevant for our

day to day lives.

In the coming days we are going to capture all the information in

these flipcharts and post your input in our HOH areas. Your

department heads will also make sure we use these ideas in our

departmental action planning and throughout the year we will be

reinforcing each one of our promises and our essentials to

ensure we remain focused on working on the right things in the

right way.

Conclusion 5 Minutes


Say: So as you can see, our Journey still exists, with the same

headlines only now we have a lot more direction and guidance

around how it applies to us –

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in the division, in our functions, in our teams and as individuals.

Let’s go over this slide quickly again.

Explain: Click 1: Let’s be clear about “Who we are?” “We are the

most innovative operator of lifestyle hospitality brands in the world”.

Click 2: Our Promises serve as our Company Values. As you have

seen these are the same, only we have more definition around what we

mean by each one.

Do the Right thing,

Go the Extra Step, and

Play as a Team

Click 3: Our Essentials serve as our Business Strategy. The strategies

are the same, buy as you can see; they are stated more directly and

define better what it is we need to do in order to be successful.

Ask: So how do we define success?

Click: 4. Read: When we follow the Journey we not only create great

guest experiences, we also create a culture where associates, and

guests, owners, shareholders and communities can Thrive and Win.

Having 150,000 associates around the world all aligned around the same

strategy, same mission and same values certainly goes a long way

towards setting us up for success.

Tell: This is why the Journey is as important to us as individuals, our teams,

our functions, our divisions, and our strategy and ultimately for success

in our marketplaces.

All Associates Meeting: Thank you all for your time in this sessions,

let’s take some time to enjoy some refreshments together and I look

forward to being a part of this Journey with all of you.

Pre Shift Briefings: Each department head should focus on capturing in

put from each Pre shift briefing and summarizing for the whole team’s

benefit. Once all Promises and Essentials are covered, it will be

important to synthesize the information and have clear actionable

deliverables communicated to all team members.

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Remind associates that there will be ongoing reinforcement activities and

discussions that will take place pre-shift over the coming months. This

will ensure that we all remain focused on the strategy and our values and

continue to behave in ways that are aligned with them.

Optional Activity:

If you have the time available in your All Associates meeting, have each

table team compose a 30 second “Elevator Speech” for sharing with the

wider audience. Have teams focus on answers to the question:

“What is the Journey at Starwood?”

OR

“How does the Journey at Starwood guide us?”

OR

By way of ongoing reinforcement, ask department heads to follow up

with department teams to put together a 30 second “Elevator Speech”.

Post examples of the “Elevator Speeches” from each department in your

Heart of House areas.

Documents

THE STARWOOD JOURNEY FEBRUARY 2010 · Starwood Journey – the work that has been done has taken into ... competitive edge? Click 4: Global Citizenship and Diversity are both a part