More Than A Workplace
A house is made of brick and mortar, but a home is made by the people whom live there. In this case, it’s a workplace and never have I felt a place to replicate my family home before I stepped foot in my second home, Park Hyatt Sydney. It’s funny that what was once seen as a foot in the door, opportunity to learn and open my eyes to my future career has become somewhere I feel is a part of me, a part of my reputation and will live with me forever.
Working in hospitality often begins as a 14 year old at Mcdonald’s earning a quick buck, slowly turns into being a barista at your local cafe and may result in your University years bartending whilst studying for your chosen career. It’s not really seen as a proper career. Which is why I feel it’s such a special place to be when building a future for yourself. People see potential in themselves becoming General Manager’s and are inspired by those they work for. We in the career of Hospitality see this as an opportunity to meet new people, travel the world and make a difference in the lives of the people we touch each and every day.
When it comes to hotels, the concept is pretty basic. A guest, paying money, to sleep in a comfortable bed, bathe themselves and feel safe in where they are staying. That’s the standard expectation. What makes a hotel great is when they exceed these expectations, when they offer what isn’t asked and when they go above and beyond because it is done out of being authentic and a genuine care for the guest. It often bamboozles me when I see hotels that operate at a bare minimum, not taking full advantage of the opportunities that their guests present them everyday. The feeling that you get when you put a smile on a stranger’s face through nothing more than investing in them for just one moment and providing what isn’t requested is something I search for everyday. Not many hotel’s provide this style of service or search for that feeling and those hotels that do truly make a reputation for themselves. The one hotel that I know which does this time and time again, is of course, Park Hyatt Sydney (PHS).
A unique attraction of hospitality companies and hotel’s in particular is that it is such a heavily focused industry on people. How we can make people feel, how we react to people’s feelings and how we can build a sense of loyalty with a complete stranger. The majority of hotel brands structure their approach around people and connecting through values such as empathy, integrity and authenticity. What makes PHS so special is what it stands for; “We care for people so they can be their best”. As a business, the first thought is the customer and how we can ensure they can become repeated business. That is how I thought this purpose was designed when it was first introduced to the company. I soon realised that it did not concern the guest but targeted the staff, the people who represent the business. If we can care for one another, each and every day to become better and ensure mentally we are okay, then the rest will take care of itself. It is not about the size of the hotel or the amount of gold objects on display that make a property special, it is the people that make you come back, for their impact and desire to fulfill your wishes is unforgettable and intangible.
In 2015, as a fresh, out of school, eighteen year old kid from the Gold Coast, I was inspired by a desire to make a difference in people’s lives. Park Hyatt Sydney gave me an opportunity to provide that difference, at the beginning serving food and beverage at weddings and birthday parties through to now, assisting to manage a department of the hotel from which it’s reputation is built. What makes me most proud to say that I work at Park Hyatt Sydney is not when a guest compliments us on the view, or how comfortable the beds are but when they name a colleague and describe a situation where they went above and beyond for them. When a guest takes the time to write a note and has been impacted that greatly by someone wearing the same uniform as myself, that is when I am most proud to be a member of this hotel.
Over the past six years, I have worked with an array of staff members from all over the world spanning from New Zealand to France and the United States, from Israel to Kazakhstan and Germany. In no other career would I ever had the opportunity to meet, get to know and form close friendships with such a diverse selection of people. The people I have met along my journey with Park Hyatt have become some of the most important people in my life and those that I will never let go. You build a bond with someone after finishing an event at 4am or standing infront of a disgruntled guest receiving “positive criticism” for 30 minutes straight. Those experience that you have together remain for a lifetime and show a side of yourself that not many are exposed to.
I have been lucky for the first six years of my hospitality career to have joined, worked for and loved being apart of one of the best hotels in the world. Not because you can see the Opera House or because you’re basically sitting under the Harbour Bridge, but because of the people that fill the positions, that greet you with a smile when you step out of your car and genuinely ask how your day has been instead of reading off a script. I have become the hospitality professional Iam today because of the people I worked with, those that taught me the good and the bad of the industry and allowed me to flourish.
So now I reach the point to say goodbye, take the next step in my career and venture into what is the unknown. I am proud and will always be proud to say that I have been a staff member of Park Hyatt Sydney. I will never forget the lessons learnt, the memories made and the hours spent inside the walls of that hotel. Like anything, operations will continue, guests will keep coming to check in and soon enough, there will be a new face filling the role I have occupied. A tough goodbye it will be, for this hotel is all I have ever known however at this point in my life I know it is for the best. For those still there or hoping to join, don’t forget what you stand for when putting on the uniform and don’t take for granted the opportunity you have been given to impact the lives of every guest that walks through those doors.
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard” — A.A.Milne
