Page 58 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

Crosswind Factors C45

Automotive, an Atlanta-based firm in an industry (car dealerships)
that has seen its share of ups and downs:

:
We have asked our 80 service advisors what they are notic-
ing with customers, and we will be hearing back from them
soon. We have had to lay people off since the economy
started its downturn in December 2007. But we know we are
going to make it through tough times because we do things
right. We are also very open about the business and what’s
happening during times like these, and we paint a very vivid
picture of what the good times will look like after we get
through this. We ask our associates, “How would you like to
be a competitor of ours at that point in time?” 17
—RYLAND OWEN, TRAINER/RECRUITER,NALLEY AUTOMOTIVE, OCTOBER 2008

And what about recognizing and celebrating employee successes?
Surely such practices must suffer when times get difficult, right? The
budget might be trimmed a bit, but one of our featured winning com-
panies, Joie de Vivre Hospitality of San Francisco, sees recognition as
a critical component of its success, particularly in difficult times:

:
We decided this year not to pony up to reserve the nightclub
where we had held our big holiday party for 1,000 associates
as we had done in past years. We chose to have it at one of
our own hotels instead. It will be a more conservative party,
but it is still a big deal because it’s where we recognize our
associates for all their contributions during the year and
hand out a few awards that are very important to us as a
culture. 18
—JANE HOWARD, CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER, JOIE DE VIVRE HOSPITALITY,
NOVEMBER 2008

And from Kemp Gallineau, General Manager of Gaylord Resort
Hotel and Spa in Orlando comes another creative way to help employees