How PI helped a hospitality group reduce turnover and increase headcount

Background

O’Reilly Hospitality Management, LLC (OHM) is a hospitality firm that specializes in designing, developing, and staffing hotels, restaurants, and commercial properties throughout the country. Founded in 2007, the company employs 1,600 people across 10 states and 36 properties. In addition to world-class service, the Springfield, MO-based organization prides itself on community involvement, partnerships with local organizations, sustainable business practices, and a family-oriented company culture that emphasizes “we over me.” Going hand in hand with those core values, you won’t find any employees at OHM, but rather team members.

The Opportunity

In the hospitality industry, people and teamwork drive success. So, when Nicole Painter took over as Director of Human Resources at OHM, she knew that in order to maintain the company’s stellar reputation and commitment to quality in a high-touch service environment, she needed teams working together seamlessly. Having used The Predictive Index® at a previous company, Painter knew the potential benefits it posed and worked with Team Member Experience Manager, Kirk Baumann, to implement PI at OHM.

Painter and Baumann began by administering the PI Behavioral Assessment™ to each current team member. The results empowered them to work with teams to create self-awareness and improve team dynamics. But as they dug into PI’s tools, they realized there was a big opportunity left on the table: hiring.

“Hospitality has an astronomical turnover rate, so anything we can do to reduce that is helpful all around,” said Baumann. “We [said] ‘How can we use this to find the right person the first time and not have to spend time and effort on turnover and lack of retention?’”

They began administering the behavioral assessment for candidates and coupled the results with Job Targets set using existing team members’ input on the Job Assessment™ tool. Almost immediately they noticed an improvement in retention. They also began using PI to ensure their talent was in the optimal roles based on their behavioral profiles.

“It’s a great way to unleash our team members’ strengths and help motivate and coach them to growth and advancement within the company,” said Baumann. “We’ve found people who weren’t a natural fit for certain positions and suggested a different role. We connected them to a different position within the company and now they’re thriving in that role.”

But what they couldn’t measure with hiring data was the impact that the company’s growth was having on the close-knit culture it was built on. They needed another way to ensure growth wasn’t coming at the expense of engagement.

The Solution

Despite its substantial footprint and large team member base, OHM had never conducted an engagement survey. Painter and Baumann began searching for surveys, but quickly made a decision when their PI Certified Partner recommended the PI Diagnose solution.

“What we liked about PI’s offering was it was more focused on experience, not just engagement—‘How do I feel about my manager? How do I feel about my job? How do I feel about the company?’” said Baumann. “So, it wasn’t just telling us how bought in [team members] are to the culture, but where are the gaps and how can we address them?”

With the PI Employee Experience Survey™ in their toolbelt, Painter and Baumann worked with their Certified Partner to develop an implementation plan, which included a series of town hall meetings, webinar calls with managers at OHM’s various properties, company-wide emails and flyers, and materials on what team members should expect. Backed by the support of CEO Tim O’Reilly, they achieved over 75% survey participation—no small feat in an organization with 1,600 team members at 36 properties.

The team was able to quickly analyze the results, thanks to comprehensive organizational and team reports that pinpointed exactly where to focus to have the largest, fastest impact on engagement.

“I think that’s what we need to see—the top drivers of disengagement,” Baumann said. “We know what motivates our people, but we also need to know where the opportunities are and where we need to focus.”

The Results

OHM’s leaders are using the Employee Experience Survey’s reports and prescriptive action plans to guide debriefs with the full organization, as well as with each of the regional directors and general managers at their properties. The detailed, tailored results have allowed them to feel confident in making strides toward further improving engagement, but they’re already reaping the benefits of optimizing their talent.
In just one year using PI, OHM has:

• Increased its team member base by one-third, from 1,200 to 1,600.
• Reduced overall company turnover by 20%.
• Reduced turnover at certain properties by 50-70%.

“To have a company do something with the [survey] results is incredibly rare these days, mainly because it’s so complex. PI took a lot of the guesswork out of that process,” said Baumann. “Team leadership is personal. This has really helped us become more self-aware of our own actions and behaviors and work better together as a team.”