General Manager - DoubleTree by Hilton West Kelowna

Our philosophy is “to be great you need to have great people”.Accordingly, we are always searching for “great people”. If you thrive in a dynamic, entrepreneurial workplace we would be very interested in hearing from you.

A Day in YOUR Life as a General Manager

Every person that enters a hotel should be greeted and feel like a guest! As you approach the hotel each morning you prepare yourself for a day like no other day you have had before. Every day is a new challenge and by the end of the day a new success story. You walk in to the hotel with a smile, say hello to passing guests and acknowledge your team perhaps with a smile, nod and salutation or when business permits you stop to share some pleasantries. These are YOUR guests and YOUR team. You set the standard for hospitality in your hotel and although you may not own the hotel financially you own the culture, the work ethic and the creativity behind the success of every day.

You already have a feel for how your day is going to unfold based on the reports you quickly reviewed from your email with your morning coffee! You make your way to your office take some time to dig a little deeper into those reports, efficiently check your inbox and voicemails, review your calendar and set your priorities for the day. You meet with your leadership team daily for a quick snapshot of what happened yesterday, what the priorities are for today, review any preparations needed for future business and ensure your departments are effectively communicating and co-ordinating with each other. This meeting sets the tone and environment for the day. You run a 24 hour 7 day a week business and your team is always busy, let’s stay focused, be thoughtful, efficient and ensure that our guest’s experience is not to watch our busy team running on that hamster wheel. Instead they experience excellent service with patience, kindness, urgency and always with a smile. These 15 minutes in the morning with your team gives you the opportunity to ensure they have everything they need to be successful.

As the day takes off you jump into your list of priorities and meetings set for today always keeping in mind that at some point something will happen with the property, your team or a guest that will change your plan. Your leadership team also holds briefings or kick off meetings in their departments and you do your best to attend at least one per department each week. This is your hotel and remember from the start of the day you own the culture so how do you stay best in tune with the culture........you are visible to all team members in the property. You conduct property tours daily sometimes more than once. You inspire your leadership team to conduct these tours as well. You make a point to stop and check in with your employees, you know their names, about their families and who is having the best and/or worst day today. Your energy is contagious and your ability to converse with the employees and motivate them to communicate effectively with their leader should they have challenges is inspiring. As you walk and interact with the team and guests you have a keen eye for the cleanliness and state of repair of the property. Your team is aware of your keen eye and know any areas that require attention or improvement will be communicated based on priority level. This could be direct and immediate contact, a follow up email or maybe during tomorrow’s morning kick off meeting.

Are you tired yet? It is not even lunch time! Your day continues maybe with housekeeping or preventative maintenance inspections, one on one meetings with your leadership team, weekly / bi-weekly strategy sessions regarding, sales and revenue, operations, or food and beverage business or a check in with our team at head office. As a leader not only in your hotel also in your community it is very possible that today you are attending the local tourism association, business area association or other relevant group meetings. You must stay in tune with what is going on in our neighbourhood, city, province and country. After all your guests come from all over the world and they have expectations that our hotel and staff are the doorway to their excellent experiences while visiting us!

By now you may have had coffee or lunch with a guest, corporate client or team member and at some point you have to fit in the inevitable “paperwork”. Luckily our company has shifted to a web based payroll and HR system with this as well as the Property Management system, brand web portals, Purchase Order System, and Point of Sale System your administrative work although still required should be efficient and save our trees! You may be approving purchase orders, reviewing HR requirements such as time off requests, schedules, position changes, performance evaluations or responding to customer care cases via the brand. There is a lot to stay on top of however, if you develop daily, weekly, monthly habits with each system you will breeze through this part of the job to allow you the appropriate focus on guest, employee and community engagement.

When it is time to leave the property for the day you do so as you arrived you engage with your team and you motivate them to keep up the standards you have set for the business even when you are not there. You are more than satisfied that your efforts today have made a positive impact for your team, your guests and our company.

Thank goodness you already reached your step count for today just in your daily work activities! Get some rest we do this again tomorrow!

Who you are and why is this important…

• Entrepreneurial
• Financial acumen to feel comfortable analysing financial reports and making adjustments based on results.
• Resolute motivation and passion.
• Creativity to drive change when necessary.
• Enthusiastic, Attentive and Approachable
• Ensuring our guests and teammates feel comfortable.
• Organized, Clean & Communicative
• Clear, concise communication between team members and guests alike creates a smooth operation.
• Effective Multi-Tasker
• Personal interactions, daily duties and on-going projects are always in play.

What happens behind the scenes of all those interactions…

• You follow company policies and procedures and ensures that your team members do the same;
• You are comfortable on all relevant systems and ensure you have multiple experts for each system on your team. Systems include and are not limited to property management system, housekeeping/maintenance inspection system, purchase order program, payroll and human resources system, point of sale system and brand web portal / systems;
• You drive all performance tracking and succession planning;
• Closely oversee the administration team and communicate effectively with head office team.
• Assist your team in solving guest complaints. Teach your team to empathize and work with the guest in an efficient manner to come to a resolution and to loop you in if necessary to solve any issue beyond their level;
• Meet all legislative and company standards to operate a Health and Safety Committee and report minute of these meetings as required;
• Report to and attend regular meetings with head office virtually and over the phone;
• Manage all financial aspects of the business, ensuring that all accounting practices for cash handling, receivables and payables are appropriate and current with the assistance of head office;
• Follow all company and brand standards.

What are we looking for…

• Minimum of 2 years experience leading a Hotel Operation.
• Business or hospitality degree an asset and not required.
• Some Food and Beverage experience.
• Experience using Windows and web based programs and software including and not limited to word, excel, property management systems, human resources systems, point of sale systems.
• A commitment that SERVICE, PROPERTY MAINTENANCE, SAFETEY AND CLEANLINESS are the keys to any successful hotel operation.

Thank you for your interest in our company, we hope you apply today!