Experience Happiness
I believe the happiest hospitality experiences are created and delivered by the warmth and sincerity of a team of people that genuinely enjoy making people happy. Whilst lovely bedrooms and bathrooms and an amazing plate of food are super important I think they are genuinely secondary to the humanistic experience delivered by the individual(s).
To stand any chance of achieving this I realised pretty quickly that we needed a happy team (because without a happy team how can you create genuinely happy guests?) and we needed a deep seated culture that was focused at fostering this from within.
That meant making some big decisions and changes but its had a dramatically positive effect. I can’t be sure if we have the happiest team just yet but read our reviews and speak to our team when you are next here and make your own mind up.
EVERYONE’S IMPORTANT
Everyone’s contribution in helping to deliver our mission is valued and collectively makes us stronger. I believe people working in the hospitality industry have been under-valued for too long, too many are treated like numbers and not humans, we are changing this – we foster a culture that enables personal growth, recognises and rewards worth and encourages creativity and healthier lifestyles.
RECOGNISING GREATNESS
We recognise and reward worth, particularly when it’s aligned to our mission of making people happy. Every month we hold our Team Happiness Event to do this. Everyone gets together, champagne is opened (seriously), delicious snacks are prepared and we spend an hour or so recognising greatness and rewarding individuals and teams that have made our guests especially happy.
WELLNESS
I believe wellness is an important, perhaps fundamental cornerstone of being happy. Both physically and mentally.
During Covid I believed access to health advice (mental and physical), access to a gym, free wellness classes on site, subsidised iwatches, healthy food, healthy cooking classes, days off for birthdays, etc, were a necessity and not luxury.
Paula, our Head of Wellness and Community, helps deliver this holistic approach to caring for our team (and also our guests). At the centre of this is our Gallivant Wellness Charter. It’s epic, take a look:
SAY HELLO
Everyone has their own place on our website and their picture and name on a board in our Sitting Room. We do this for a variety of reasons, not least so you can call people by their first name and know who to thank when they make your time with us a particularly happy one.
HARRY’S INSPIRATION FUND
We all have something we always wanted to do but haven’t got round to doing it. My fund actually makes this happen. Team members tell me what they have always wanted to do and 9 times out of 10 I’ll fund it.
At the end of the day it’s about appreciating everyone’s value and sharing a simple vision of creating happiness in everything we do.
This simple yet humanistic approach helps us deliver exceptional guest experiences, helps keep the team together (we have team members who have been with us for many years) and helps us attract lots of new people who share our purpose to make people happy.
We are less a team, more a family of Gallivanter’s who agree with Purpose, Mission, Values and Vision. Here they are:
If you’d like to know more and are perhaps thinking you’d like to be part of our amazing story, or know someone who would, we’d love to hear from you. Please email Elise here to say hello.
Alternatively you can email me, I’ll respond in person normally within 24 hours, often quicker.
Harry Cragoe
August 2022
harry@thegallivant.co.uk
