Press Room
To model two-way communication, Joie de Vivre CEO Chip Conley does things like give employees his cell phone number.
At many organizations, employees are handed a mission statement long enough to fill tow sides of the poster they're expected to hang in their cubicles.
At Joie de Vivre Hospitality – a boutique hotel operator based in Northern California – that statement fits on one line: "Creating opportunities to celebrate the joy of life." Even better: Employees wrote it.
And although the tagline is obviously reflective of the company's name, employees also seem to experience actual happiness in their day-to-day jobs. Joie de Vivre – voted the sixth best company to work for in the Bay Agrea by the San Francisco Business TImes this year – has consistently outperformed their hotel industry competition on key metrics regarding employee satisfaction.
"Our turnover is very low for the industry – 25 percent," says Jane Howard, vice president of employee development. "At other hotel groups, it might be as high as 100 percent. In general, people assume that turnover in the hotel industry sits at about 75 percent."
It's not surprising then, that the latest results of the company's twice-annual work-climate survey show employee satisfaction at 81 percent; manager satisfaction, Howard says, is at 87 percent.
"As a reference point – and they likely use different surveys, but it gives an idea – the Department of Homeland Security has an employee satisfaction rating of 20 percent, the lowest amongst government agencies and NASA was the highest at 72 percent," she says, citing a recent New York Times article.
Howard says that internal communication is a huge part of Joie de Vivre's success – and that the focus on it "is something that absolutely comes form the top down," she says. "The fish stinks from the head, or it's perfumed from the head. There is just no way of getting around the CEO setting the example. They set the tone for the entire company – relationships and corporate culture included."
The tone that CEO Chip Conley sets is enthusiasm and accessibility.
"For example, a room attendant came to see Chip, with her sister translating, and he dropped everything that he was doing to meet with her for an hour and a half," Howard says. "She is still with us after six years and it turned out that it was a simple misunderstanding between she and her manager."
Howard tells another story about how Conley met with one of the hotel's doormen last Sunday after receiving a call from him on his cell phone. Examples like this, she says, are endless.
"It is situations like these that show other employees and managers that all should be treated with respect. Many companies 'say' they have an open-door policy, but if there are snarling attitudes and slamming doors, employees won't be inclined to take advantage of that policy," she says. "If you create a truly open and accepting environment, then employees will 'feel' it and have the courage to come forward if they want to talk about something. Joie de Vivre is a company that truly honors two-way communication rather than from the top down."
Only hire respectful managers: The company has an official printed "open-door policy" that states that all managers are to be open and accessible, good listeners and problem solvers on behalf of their employees. To help ensure that happens, leader are very careful about who they hire.
"We make it a policy to hire 'Theory Y' managers – people who believe in people and who treat others with respect, rather than 'Theory X' managers who think employees should be watched every step along the way," Howard says. "We make it clear that employees should be their top priority and if their is a concern, whatever the manager is working on should be put aside, giving time and attention to the employee."
Specifically, the company has many outlets for fostering two-way, top-down communication and boosting morale among employees; among them: Chip's Supper Club: This informal dinner meeting is open to all employees on a quarterly basis. Joie de Vivre University: This internal educational system offers a variety of creative classes focused on lifestyle enhancement and skill building. Classes – often taught by Conley and other executive – include "Understanding Personality Types,""How to Be a Black Belt Manager" and "Team Building through Group Sculpture." Speaker Series: Conley regularly mediates a speaker's lunch for employees, in an effort to communicate different perspectives, concepts, ideas, etc. New Hire Orientation: Unlike many other companies, Conley conducts a significant portion of new employee orientation every month. Manager Retreats: These regular get-aways educate managers about changes in the company and offer suggestions for leading. At the most recent, Howard says, a third of the time was spent talking about Conley's new book and the associated philosophies – and how they should and can be incorporated into Joie de Vivre's culture. The second third was about the five-year expansion plan for Joie de Vivre and the last was about how to maintain the culture with the expansion. A Weekly Newsletter with a message from Conley each week.
All these elements, Howard says, work together to create an environment in which everyone is constantly setting good examples, "If your boss is respectful, is a good listener and communicates, then we have experienced that managers will then do it in return," she says. "That is the culture of communication."
