Heather Lishman, Director of Hospitality Assured asks how often do you take a step back, and consider how best to describe your organisation in the market-place?  It can be an exhilarating and mind-opening experience to explore exactly what you are doing, and why.  In addition to the Vision (An aspirational description of what you as an organisation would like to achieve or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future) and Mission (which broadly describes your capabilities, customer focus, activities and business makeup) it is beneficial to really consider your purpose statement.  Or to be blunt – what is the point of your organisation?

One of the most important and rewarding parts of running a hospitality organisation is listening to your stakeholders and reacting to their needs.  It is what keeps the organisation relevant.

It is important to engage as many stakeholders as possible in these discussions, which will inevitably generate a lot of opinions and, hopefully, some truly insightful comments.  It is a process I would recommend to any organisation as it provides considerable food for thought.  Most interesting though is the fact that it takes you beyond your normal perceptions, it is a powerful exercise that really gets to the heart of why you exist.

It is then beneficial to re-consider your values and how these support the agreed purpose.  What is it about your organisation that makes you think you can achieve your purpose.  What do you do that makes your purpose statement possible?  Start with a list of several hundred words and distil them into a select group of favourites.  Their meanings and appropriateness can then be debated until you have not just three words but also three statements that support them.  For example, we completed the exercise for Hospitality Assured, and developed the following;

Our Purpose:  Helping organisations achieve competitive advantage through business and service excellence

  • Excellence:  leading hospitality best practice with expertise, professionalism and integrity
  • Making a Difference: Encouraging hospitality leaders to increase effectiveness, innovate and achieve
  • Collaboration: Supporting and connecting our community in partnership with the Institute of Hospitality

All organisations should be able to effectively express who they are to their clients but before doing so they must first understand it for themselves.  A process such as the one Hospitality Assured has been through has benefited not just us but also our community as we provide a clearer path for the future and continue to deliver value for all.  I urge everyone to ask the simple questions – what is our purpose and what are our values.

For further information please do get in touch with us www.hospitalityassured.com

About the Author: Heather Lishman

Heather, Director of Hospitality Assured is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality (IOH) and currently serves on the IOH Executive Committee. A trained Hospitality Assured Assessor since 2011, Heather has assessed 40 business across the hospitality sector, and she now runs a successful hospitality consultancy.