Taylorization in US Hotels

US hotels are strange places. The staff say all the right things but somehow the service feels second rate—at least compared to Asia. You look into the eyes of US service staff and you don’t really see a person there.

Asia's different. I remember complimenting a staff member at the Ritz-Carleton in Kuala Lumpur and he said, “Well, we see ourselves as ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen.” The way he said it made it sound like it was something he thought up himself, not a corporate slogan. And this reflects a common experience in Asian hotels—staff who seem completely committed to delivering on the hotel’s values.

In the US service quality is mixed but even when the actual service is fine it feels wooden. Someone looks at you, smiles (thinking, “Ok, that was step 1, now step 2”) “Welcome to X hotel, how can I help you today?” If you have a complaint or problem they are nice but it sounds like they’re reading from a script—probably because they are.

There is this idea that smart people in headquarters can study a job and then tell lowly workers how to perform it. That was Fredrick Taylor idea for manufacturing and it has made its way into the service industry. The idea is not without some merit, but there is subtle distinction between providing training to bring out the best in people and trying to turn people into machines.

Starbucks provides the counter-example in the US (and abroad). In Starbucks you get trained staff who offer good service, but you feel like you are dealing with a human following their own volition, not someone following a program.

Taylorization is not the right approach for a society. HR leaders need to make the subtle shifts in training and reward systems so that we don’t turn people into robots.

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P.S. In Europe it’s quite different. In European hotels the staff are your equals, not your servants. How you are treated depends on their mood and their opinion of you. This is not always a recipe for the best service but it is human through and through.