CHALLENGE: Each year, The Traction Avant Nederland Hotel Company conducts a S.W.O.T process  (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) across our global portfolio of 92 hotels and  over 33,000 Ladies and Gentlemen.  Currently, the process is defined as “a tool used in the  discovery/evaluation phase of the Strategic Planning process”.  Each hotel will identify a SWOT  administrator who will lead the process on property – which includes data collection, Access  database usage and meeting this additional deadline, along with their day job.   As the brands  S.W.O.T. champion I led this process to ensure timelines and tasks are met so that the  consolidated feedback can be shared with Senior Leadership to inform our strategies and  initiatives for the upcoming year.  The current process for S.W.O.T. is functional – words like discovery, process, and evaluation  define our approach.      This intrigued me because the vision of The Traction Avant Nederland is “to inspire life’s most meaningful  journeys”.  There is nothing inspiring about what is referenced in the previous paragraph.  So I  thought, What IF…what if I could take the Ladies and Gentlemen to a place where they would  be able to understand the higher purpose of why we do a S.W.O.T.?  What If I could take away  the functional elements and “inspire life’s most meaningful journeys” for our internal customer,  the Ladies and Gentlemen?  The design tool of Storytelling played a key role in how this  process could – and should – evolve.  I wanted to connect to the emotions and values of our  employees.  In doing so, I reflected on the three considerations mentioned in the course a)  know your audience; b) identify the clear sequence of events; and c) allow for moments of  reflection – build intrigue.    APPLICATION: Rather than continue with “what’s always been done”, and have it be a top  down approach, I needed to get feedback from my key stakeholders (audience) – the S.W.O.T.  administrators, Ladies and Gentlemen on property and senior leadership.  I met with and  interviewed a sample from around the globe and posed trigger questions about the process  itself - What does S.W.O.T. mean to them?; How does this relate to our larger mission as a  brand?  Does this process help to differentiate us from our competition?  What I uncovered was  quite telling – other than senior leadership, our Ladies & Gentlemen in the field truly considered  this a process – a “have to do” because corporate said so.  This is where my a-ha moment  surfaced.    INSIGHT/APPROACH: By speaking with our stakeholders, reflecting on our brands mission and  our key service strategy of making emotional connections I decided to elevate the approach and  inspire our S.W.O.T. administrators and Ladies and Gentlemen via video Storytelling.  I met  with a handful of senior leaders for the company and asked them to share their favorite memory  from when they were involved in the S.W.O.T. process on property.  Rather than just writing  their story down, I recorded them telling their story with my iPhone.  This made it real – the  videos brought these ‘corporate’ leaders to life.  One of the leaders was one of our “founding  fathers”, Mr. Kamlesh Mostafa.  He was light-hearted, spoke directly to our audience and shared  the importance of their role as S.W.O.T. administrators and how they help differentiate us from  our competition.  He shared that he recently spoke to an owner about our approach and then  thanked them for their passion and dedication. (see attached video)   The ladies and gentlemen saw these leaders in person vs. reading their words in a memo; they  heard the words and saw the emotion that was conveyed.  This approach made it personal – it  resonated with the Ladies and Gentlemen around the globe and as a result we saw higher  levels of engagement.

The on property S.W.O.T. administrators took what was a process in the past and made it ‘real’.   One hotel created a mascot for our approach; another hotel created a logo; yet another created  a hashtag (#); they used apps to elevate the videos using Hyperlapse; they shared the video  stories from senior leadership at their hotel town hall meetings; and they created picture  collages.  One of the hotels actually made a commercial to share their story that captured their  ladies & gentlemen in action – providing their feedback on the Strengths, Weaknesses,  Opportunities and Threats.  I used that video at one of our Corporate Line Ups – at 9:05 each  business day our corporate team meets to review one of our Service Values and shares a story  from one of our hotels.  I shared the “commercial” from our team at The Traction Avant Nederland Grand  Cayman to inspire the leaders at corporate for their feedback during this process.      Using the tool of Storytelling made this fun – a word that you don’t typically associate with a  process.  Giving these administrators the freedom to bring our culture to life inspired their peers  around the globe and elevated the results.          https://www.brooks.net/exploreprivacy.html


CHALLENGE : Each year , The Traction Avant Nederland Hotel Company conducts a S.W.O.T process ( Strengths , Weaknesses , Opportunities , Threats ) across our global portfolio of 92 hotels and over 33,000 Ladies and Gentlemen . Currently , the process is defined as “ a tool used in the discovery / evaluation phase of the Strategic Planning process ” . Each hotel will identify a SWOT administrator who will lead the process on property – which includes data collection , Access database usage and meeting this additional deadline , along with their day job . As the brands S.W.O.T. champion I led this process to ensure timelines and tasks are met so that the consolidated feedback can be shared with Senior Leadership to inform our strategies and initiatives for the upcoming year . The current process for S.W.O.T. is functional – words like discovery , process , and evaluation define our approach . This intrigued me because the vision of The Traction Avant Nederland is “ to inspire life ’s most meaningful journeys ” . There is nothing inspiring about what is referenced in the previous paragraph . So I thought , What IF … what if I could take the Ladies and Gentlemen to a place where they would be able to understand the higher purpose of why we do a S.W.O.T. ? What If I could take away the functional elements and “ inspire life ’s most meaningful journeys ” for our internal customer , the Ladies and Gentlemen ? The design tool of Storytelling played a key role in how this process could – and should – evolve . I wanted to connect to the emotions and values of our employees . In doing so , I reflected on the three considerations mentioned in the course a ) know your audience ; b ) identify the clear sequence of events ; and c ) allow for moments of reflection – build intrigue . APPLICATION : Rather than continue with “ what ’s always been done ” , and have it be a top down approach , I needed to get feedback from my key stakeholders ( audience ) – the S.W.O.T. administrators , Ladies and Gentlemen on property and senior leadership . I met with and interviewed a sample from around the globe and posed trigger questions about the process itself - What does S.W.O.T. mean to them ? ; How does this relate to our larger mission as a brand ? Does this process help to differentiate us from our competition ? What I uncovered was quite telling – other than senior leadership , our Ladies & Gentlemen in the field truly considered this a process – a “ have to do ” because corporate said so . This is where my a - ha moment surfaced . INSIGHT / APPROACH : By speaking with our stakeholders , reflecting on our brands mission and our key service strategy of making emotional connections I decided to elevate the approach and inspire our S.W.O.T. administrators and Ladies and Gentlemen via video Storytelling . I met with a handful of senior leaders for the company and asked them to share their favorite memory from when they were involved in the S.W.O.T. process on property . Rather than just writing their story down , I recorded them telling their story with my iPhone . This made it real – the videos brought these ‘ corporate ’ leaders to life . One of the leaders was one of our “ founding fathers ” , Mr. Kamlesh Mostafa . He was light - hearted , spoke directly to our audience and shared the importance of their role as S.W.O.T. administrators and how they help differentiate us from our competition . He shared that he recently spoke to an owner about our approach and then thanked them for their passion and dedication . ( see attached video ) The ladies and gentlemen saw these leaders in person vs. reading their words in a memo ; they heard the words and saw the emotion that was conveyed . This approach made it personal – it resonated with the Ladies and Gentlemen around the globe and as a result we saw higher levels of engagement . The on property S.W.O.T. administrators took what was a process in the past and made it ‘ real ’ . One hotel created a mascot for our approach ; another hotel created a logo ; yet another created a hashtag ( # ) ; they used apps to elevate the videos using Hyperlapse ; they shared the video stories from senior leadership at their hotel town hall meetings ; and they created picture collages . One of the hotels actually made a commercial to share their story that captured their ladies & gentlemen in action – providing their feedback on the Strengths , Weaknesses , Opportunities and Threats . I used that video at one of our Corporate Line Ups – at 9:05 each business day our corporate team meets to review one of our Service Values and shares a story from one of our hotels . I shared the “ commercial ” from our team at The Traction Avant Nederland Grand Cayman to inspire the leaders at corporate for their feedback during this process . Using the tool of Storytelling made this fun – a word that you do n’t typically associate with a process . Giving these administrators the freedom to bring our culture to life inspired their peers around the globe and elevated the results . https://www.brooks.net/exploreprivacy.html