It is an imperceptible factor in any type of process, but it generates great problems when it is needed or done badly. Communication is the road that goes through all the stages of successful management.
by Glenn Withiam*
At first glance brand management, international development, health services and ethics do not have much in common, but I would like to suggest a fundamental element that connects these four fields.
That element is communication, or more specifically, a problem in the style of the film "The Legend of the Indomitable" (1967), in which Luke (played by Paul Newman) repeatedly escapes from a prison. When he is brought back, the captain states, "What we have here is a communication problem."
During the last few weeks the Cornell Center for Hotel Industry Research organized round tables with representatives of the sector, in order to exchange ideas on the four areas mentioned above and in all of them the topic of communication came to light (if you want to read the minutes of the tables, visit our website chr.cornell.edu).
At various points in the discussion in each of these round tables, some participants illustrated with different cases how poor communication interferes with managerial objectives.
At the ethics roundtable, for example, one participant recounted the case of a manager who assured his employee that he would try to get him a raise. When this increase did not arrive, the manager was left before his subordinate as an unethical person. The real message the manager should have given the employee was how he could earn the raise himself.
The participants of the round table on international development wanted to find a way to communicate the value that a profession has in the hotel sector, since the issue of human resources is a great challenge in many places.
Like the hotel industry, the health service delivery sector faces constant challenges in the area of human resources and one of the solutions suggested in the round tables on health services and hotel services was to value the importance of employees in the care of patients and recognize their efforts.
Finally, at the roundtable on brand management, one participant made the shocking claim that many corporate executives were not able to adequately convey how the brands they represent improve the lives of their customers.
Another communication-related challenge for the hotel industry is to convey the scope and importance of its sustainable initiatives to stakeholders at all levels of companies.
Two professors from our school, Daphne Jameson and Judi Brownell, have taken careful note of this communication problem and proposed a simple, but successful communication strategy. These teachers use this strategy specifically to communicate sustainable initiatives, but it is, in fact, an effective tactic in many areas.
You can find all the details on our website, but I want to give a little preview. First of all, create a story about your initiative, that is, a real description of the situation. Second, determine what kind of communication framework or relationship you will establish for the story; you can choose from one of seven possible formats, for example, a teacher-to-student, friend-to-friend, or host-to-guest communication.
Finally, look for the right channels for your story, and use as many as possible: manuals, trills, billboards, YouTube, whatever works for the audience you have in mind.
In short, think carefully about what you mean, and then say it in a way that is meaningful to your audience. That is precisely what I hope I have achieved in this short essay.
* Director of publications for the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research.
