A couple of years ago you’d struggle to find a disengaged Ops Manager in Premier Inn. Now, it’s getting harder and harder to find one.
The demands on Ops Managers and the team in general just keep getting more and more. It’s little wonder this is now being reflected in our guest feedback and there is an increasing collective of Ops Managers who are shattered after endlessly long hours spent at work trying to do what is becoming an impossible job.
In the past 18 months the Ops role has gone from being both a highly desirable and supported leader into a role which is now rivaling a premier league manager in terms of accountability, an Olympic triathlete in terms of workload and a coal miner in terms of progression.
The increased demands of also having to work as either a Host or Team Member mean the leadership tasks that we’re expected to complete are neglected which impacts on our teams and guests. Whist it’s fine to spend 5 hours each day clearing plates, washing up or checking people into the hotel, this isn’t leading or even managing a business. Still, when it comes to audits, if you’ve missed something because you’ve spent so much time on the floor, you know it’s your fault as you’re accountable for everything.
Whilst Premier Inn can run with extremely lean labour costs , we have reached the tipping point where labour models are impacting on the quality of service we give our guests and the quality of employment we give our teams.
In addition to increased expectations on Ops Managers in terms of results, accountability and working on the floor, we’ve seen the chances of progression end for most of us with the recent redundancies and job role changes at Area Manager level.
The company needs great leaders at sites in order to deliver great results. However, we have now turned the Ops Manager position into a role that stops those who are great leaders from performing or achieving their potential and we are now operating as little more than salaried team members.
Unfortunately, since the departure of our last COO, there seems to be a major detachment from the ground floor operations and the exec team. There are some great senior operators still in the business that know and understand how to operate a successful team and guest driven businesses that I’m sure can see these issues happening.
The company needs stronger leadership that addresses these issues before we continue to lose good people or results slide.
It’s deeply frustrating for people who see a company they desperately want to succeed and are very passionate about not only falling short, but also showing little or no signs of any changes occurring.
