Empower Hotel Teams, Elevate Guest Experience

"the Future of Hospitality (00:00) The most thing is that you your words. ⁓ Jordy, there we go, Amsterdam or Brussels? Jordy (00:33) Amsterdam. ⁓ It's a tough one. Brussels is also close to the heart, but I will go for Amsterdam for sure. Absolutely. the Future of Hospitality (00:34) All right, I'm glad to hear that. ⁓ Okay, we dive into that later. First and the second, your hidden talent. Just a quick answer. Jordy (00:58) football knowledge I would say. the Future of Hospitality (01:00) All right, okay, you mean soccer, right? The Dutch, the European, okay, football, all right. If not working in hospitality, what else would you do? Jordy (01:03) Yes. ⁓ Pilot or entrepreneur owning a shop? the Future of Hospitality (01:13) Wonderful, wonderful. We're gonna dive into a few subjects later on. Thank you for being on our show, Jordy. Jordy (01:23) Thank you as well. very honored to be asked for this. I'm very engaged and intrigued to see ⁓ what this amazing podcast is going to bring us today. the Future of Hospitality (01:31) Yes, no, well, me too. you're the, I mean, you're the guest. So it's all up to you. We have prepared this. You are the general manager of the courtyard in Amsterdam Arena. But before you became a general manager and why you became a general manager, we want to hear all about that. So tell us a little bit more about yourself first. Jordy (01:54) Sounds good. I'm Jordy. I'm 38 years old right now. I'm officially from The Hague and I actually did the middle hotel school in The Hague together with my turn brother, which I think is a nice quote to state that we did the same school. but in the end my twin brother ended up in a different sector than the hotel industry, but I maintained. So I graduated in 2009 and from there I started working for the Marriott brand. So it's close to, well, just over 16 years right now. I started in 2009 with an internship in Barcelona at the Renaissance Hotel. After my internship I made a move to the Courtship at the Amsterdam Airport Hotel because there are two Courtship hotels here in the Netherlands in the Amsterdam region. I started as a receptionist and I worked my way up to front office manager. After five years in Amsterdam area, I got a very nice opportunity to move to Ghent, to Belgium. Where I started as a front office manager at the Marriott Hotel in Ghent. I did it for two years and then I moved into a roles operations manager at the Marriott in Ghent. And after three years in the Ghent, it was time to explore a new opportunity. Of which I moved to the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel as front of house manager. where I helped the migration from Starwood hotels into Merritt hotels because it was in 2016, 2018 more or less where they did the transition from Starwood into Merritt or the merger we call it nowadays. After the Sheraton I made a very nice move towards Berlin where I was almost for two years I served two different properties which is AC Hotel by Merritt. and the Moxie Hotel. started as an operations manager, but after four months, I was moved into the role of general manager for both properties, where I led the hotel during the COVID period as well, which was very interesting to experience. After two years in Berlin, it was time for a move. And I went back to the Netherlands to Utrecht, where I opened the Moxie Hotel. And I did the full pre-opening phase. And I stayed there for three and a half years. And after those three and a half years, I made the internal promotion in to where we are right now, which is the Quartet by Merriam Amsterdam Arena. the Future of Hospitality (04:16) Wonderful, quite a resume. You just ticked all those boxes at every level. think that's what I heard. ⁓ Let's go back to the beginning, to the hotel school. I want to know why you went to the hotel school, what drove you and what made you fell in love with hospitality. Jordy (04:37) it's a funny question to ask the why. Because I was around 17 years old when I made the decision to go for the hotel school But this decision was not made by me personally because as I said before I have a twin brother Benjamin And he was very keen on doing the hotel school and as I was a little bit uncertain what I wanted to do I actually followed him because he was very sure this is what I'm going to do So based on that I made the decision. Okay, if he's very keen. We're very close as brothers Let me go for that as well. So we both joined the hotel school and yeah, we moved our ways from there. the Future of Hospitality (05:20) So what is your brother doing right now? Jordy (05:23) That's a very funny question again. So after he graduated as well, he started working in the hotel, in the hospitality sector as well. But in the end, right now he's owning his own shop, which is specialized in cups like soccer cups or awards or anything. But also he's specialized in darts, the professional darts. He actually is one of the biggest in Netherlands with his shop. the Future of Hospitality (05:43) TROPHES! Okay. Okay, well we're not going to talk about him but it's quite interesting that he was the leading factor for you to go to the hotel school in the first place. You guys were not supposed to be separated probably but in the end as you grew up. So you both graduated from the hotel school, correct? Okay, ⁓ so when was it? So you followed him but I want to understand at what point did you realize... Hey! I think I like this, this is a good choice. Jordy (06:27) I think that that moment came, I think in the second year of the hotel school where we got more experience in the restaurant and getting to have more knowledge of, how does the hospitality industry work? How does a hotel operate? Where I was more intrigued and introduced towards the figures of like a P &L and a budget. And from there I was like, okay, this actually is quite interesting. Same like working in a restaurant where you have to collaborate as a team that made me actually quite happy working with the team where I was like, okay, this sounds interesting for me. I'm open to get to know more about this topic. the Future of Hospitality (07:07) Alright, so it's the operational side of the hotel that you got intrigued to. That's right. And was there a moment during your education, excuse me, that you thought, okay, and I think I want to be that when I grow up in hospitality. Jordy (07:14) Yes, absolutely. Yes, I think as well that came pretty fast. As soon as I started with my internships, I was like, okay, I know which direction I want. here is also, I think it's a funny quote as well. When back in the days when you did the hotel school, the school was choosing your internship locations. and they always said the first six months needs to be either a front office internship or a food and beverage internship and then the second period it must be the opposite. So if you did front office in the first period you cannot do a front office in the second period. and then I went to Barcelona and I was sitting with the GM down there, Frank Breuker, and I was placed in the food and beverage internship as I already finalized the front office internship prior to that. And he asked me, Jordy, what do you want to learn? And I was like, front office. Front office, I feel that that's my place to be to start my career. So he said, I don't care about the hotel school. If this is what you want, from next week on, you make the move to the Future of Hospitality (08:28) Mmm. Jordy (08:34) office, you're going to do an internship in front office, duty management, you go for a week with the front office manager so you can see all the aspects of the reception. So from there I was like yes this is what I want to do, this is what I want to learn. the Future of Hospitality (08:49) Wonderful, that's quite interesting. So he went off protocol, so to speak, and trusted you that you would make the decision that would be right for you. And he gave you the way to do that. So did that also inspire you yourself for your way of ⁓ leadership perhaps? Jordy (09:14) thousand percent absolutely a thousand percent I have a very nice example because this opportunity that he gave me always tried to take with me in my career the Future of Hospitality (09:16) Thousand percent even. Okay. I did. Jordy (09:28) And I have a very nice example. When I was in Ghent, I had an internship, duty manager internship. Her name was Helene. And she came as a manager on duty and I asked her, like, hey, what do you want to learn? And she's like, I want to experience different properties before I finish my school. So said, okay. I reached out to a couple of connections which was the mayor of Brussels and the Renaissance here in Amsterdam and I said I have a very nice trainee who doing a great job and I want her to experience more than just our property, the Mayor of Ingent. through these connections she was able to go to the Mayor of Brussels for a week and go to the Renaissance here in Amsterdam for two weeks. And she did such an amazing job at the Renaissance in Amsterdam that after her internship they directly offered her a front office supervisor position. So for me, I was like, okay, this is more or less the same as what I had experienced when I was in Barcelona. And I want to give that to my employees as well. It's not about myself. Of course, my development is very important, but the development of my staff is super important as well. I think Helene is a great example. I also have Esther was a great example. Also Trini with me in Ghent, how I developed her. She got an opportunity to go to the Marriott in The Hague and now she's actually the hotel manager of the Moxie in the residence in The Hague due to the development opportunities that I was able to give her when she was an intern with me. the Future of Hospitality (10:59) ⁓ It sounds to me a bit of Montessori inspired. So you let people figure out for themselves what they like and then move them towards that direction and see how they will develop. So you said a thousand percent. So you just gave a good example. ⁓ How do you implement this way of leadership in your current hotel? as a general manager. Jordy (11:34) Talking, listening, so yeah, talking and listening to the team. So every day when I walk in, I actually had a talk with one of my employees the other day and we had a discussion and she was critiquing me, which I like, you I want to be critiqued as well. Where she had the feeling that I was listening more to one employee than to her. So I asked her the question, like. the Future of Hospitality (11:36) Listen. Jordy (11:59) Every day when I come in, I ask how everybody is doing. And if your answer is, I'm good, then things are good. And then she made a statement, yeah, but Jordy, if you ask me this question at five, I'm thinking you're going home or at six, I'm thinking you're going home. So that's why I say I'm good. And then I mentioned to her, but if you tell me you're not feeling well or if you're telling me it's not good, I drop my back, I sit down and we talk. and I listen and then I listen to what your needs are and then we can identify what we can do different in order for you to be happy or in order for you to develop into a potential next role. So here I think talking and listening is super important for me. the Future of Hospitality (12:45) Okay, is this something you think they should teach at the hotel school as well? This very aspect of leadership? Jordy (12:55) I think it's a very distinctive way of leadership and it's grown throughout the years due to experience with different general managers where you see things that are going well and I used to work with the GM where I worked with this GM for seven years. Super, super great guy. He teach me a lot. ⁓ But at a certain point I saw things that I was like, I don't like this style. So instead of looking at him, all the things he was doing well, I started paying attention to things he was doing wrong or incorrect or not my vision and I was like I will make sure that I will never do this kind of style or this kind of leadership and I think in a hotel school think it will be very difficult to teach this. I think you either have an open mindset, and I would expect if you go for the hospitality industry, you need to have an open mindset because you never know what's going to happen. And then... think the people should learn this on the way, while they're learning, while they're growing. And here, ⁓ a point of advice or a thing that I always try to say here to my teams as well is don't look at the things I'm doing well. Like I said earlier, look at the things I'm doing wrong and learn from that. Don't make the same mistakes I'm making. So I think that's more a capability of somebody than that you can learn this on a hotel school on itself. the Future of Hospitality (14:23) Yeah. Do you have an example of when was the first time you gave someone in your hotel trust to handle a complaint themselves and did it work? Jordy (14:45) to laugh because I have actually a nice example where it goes into different directions and it was when I was a front office manager in Ghent, I will refer to Ghent a couple of times because I have to say it was one of my best experiences with an amazing team as well and I was a front office manager and I was a duty manager as well that evening. and I was working with one of my colleagues who was my guest experience supervisor more or less, her position. And we made an agreement at the beginning of our shift, yes, on the schedule I'm the duty manager, but I would like you to be the duty manager today. So in case any complaint occurs or anything, I want you to take the ownership. the Future of Hospitality (15:38) Hmm. Jordy (15:39) there came a very, I would say intense situation where I was welcoming a guest as a front of house manager and this guest, we ended up being in argument, unfortunately. ⁓ where he was demanding me to speak French and I apologized to him saying like, French is not my strongest language, my apologies. Can we continue in English? Because the client showed me ⁓ a passport from the UK and I was like, no, you have to speak French and you have to apologize. And he was pointing his finger towards me, which I felt quite aggressive. ⁓ So in the end, we end up being in a situation where it was like, you have to apologize. and you have to speak French and I like, I don't have to, but I apologize, let's move forward. It reached to a certain point that he didn't want to be assisted by me anymore. So I looked at my duty manager, the person I was teaching, I looked at her standing next to me and I see her like, no, no, I don't want to be involved, I don't want to be involved. In the end, she jumped in and here came... the Future of Hospitality (16:47) Oh, she was like, hell no. Jordy (16:55) the extreme situation where she raised the question to the guest once again our apologies for the situation that just occurred would you like to continue in English or in French because she spoke French and then the client made the comment no no English is okay ⁓ it was not very nice ⁓ the Future of Hospitality (17:11) What the hell? Jordy (17:15) But she handled it super professionally because I was freaking out next to her like, why? Why is this client doing this to me? Why is he now all of a sudden, English is okay? But when I was there, French was demanded. But she maintained a very good posture. So I gave her the full trust during that situation and I didn't interfere with her. I like, okay, I know she's capable of running this, so she handled it very professionally. I stepped away in the end because I needed to call it on because my tempo was all the way up. I was shaking off the situation. So she stepped in and she did pretty well on that occasion. Yeah, absolutely. the Future of Hospitality (17:50) Wow. Do you know why he shifted? from French only to no English is okay? Is it because maybe she is, she was a woman? mean, I don't know. Jordy (18:04) It can be. In the end, I found out the gentleman was a CEO of a small hotel company in Belgium and he was there with two French speaking clients standing next to him. So I think he was maybe trying to impress them. Like, look, I'm even though I have a UK passport, I speak fluent, fluently French. So maybe because of that and that at a certain point you saw okay There's no benefit for me for him as a client to move forward on this on this I would say behavior that then you're like, okay Let's shift to finalize the check-in and let me continue the rest of my evening the Future of Hospitality (18:42) Interesting, wow. I like the way you handle this. So back to your team. How do you empower your team to act exactly like that from the heart without getting ⁓ emotional like you got at that very moment? How do you empower your team to act from the heart and not just follow rules? Because rules need to be there. I get that. But sometimes you need to figure it out on your own. So how do you empower them? Jordy (19:12) For me, empowerment is super important. It's one of my core values that even though I have the title of general manager, it's not about me. And that's what I try to tell the team as well. I always tell them, I want you to work from the heart. So everything you do guys, I want you to do it because it's a passion and it's genuine. So if there's a complaint, they can come to me, but like, Jordy, there's a complaint with the customer and they... I want you to jump in and I always try to tell them before I jump in or maybe I don't even have to jump in at the state I asked them the question what would you do what do you think is a proper solution that you can give to the client and actually by countering the question to them they often come with the answer themselves so that's my empowerment My empowerment is not because of me jumping in, it's I want you to give the solution. And I learned back in the days from a GM, you always have to ask yourself a question if there's a complaint. Is the stay ruined? Yes or no. If the answer is yes, you get a free night. I refund you the night or you can get a voucher for a free night and you can come back again and we will make sure that the next day will be perfect. And that's the empowerment we always give to the team. but also with my previous positions, I try to give this empowerment to everybody. I try to teach them in a way of ask yourself this question and the Future of Hospitality (20:42) I like that. Jordy (20:42) It doesn't matter what kind of compensation you give. If you think it's the right compensation, nobody should be there to judge you on it. So I'm the last one, I would say, to jump in on compensation given or anything. Actually, 10 minutes ago, I had one of my receptionists coming over to me. Hey, Jordy, I just did a check-in with somebody and they mentioned they're here for the 30th wedding anniversary. Can we do something? So I counted the question. What do you want to do? What do you want to give? And she's like, maybe I want to give a bottle of champagne and a nice tiramisu. We have very nice tiramisu here in the restaurant. So that's what you want to do. Grab a bottle of champagne, go to the kitchen, ask for the tiramisu and bring it to the room. So I see that as a full empowerment because I can write a note, hey, congratulations with your 30th wedding anniversary, Jordi Schmidt, General Manager. No, that's not my goal. My goal is they think it's needed to satisfy the guests, their name should be underneath it. So that's how I... Yeah, that's my style which makes me happy as well because again, it's not about me. We as a team need to do it. So there's no individual. the Future of Hospitality (21:40) I like it. I like your approach. What is the feedback? So like in this particular case, this is the freshest one. So what is in general the feedback from staff? Because it trickles down to the whole team, I think. But can you give me like in this particular case, how she or he or she responded to this particular thing? Jordy (22:11) Well, I think the fact that she gave her own suggestion of, okay, I can give a bottle of champagne and I can give a tiramisu, that made her already super happy. And she's like, okay, let me go work on it. So she did directly herself. And I would say the generic feedback is that we're very open as a team, but the effect of this style is very clearly visible in the guest satisfaction. ⁓ I joined this hotel on 1st of August, 2024, so I just concluded my first full year here. In the first couple of months, my former manager was like, Jordy, you need to act a little bit different, you need to be little bit harder on the team, because that's what this hotel needs. I tried that, two or three months, and the guest satisfaction was quite low. And I was like, I don't need to change. My style worked in previous jobs, in previous hotels. So I went back to my original style. Like the best you can be is yourself. So I did that. I started being myself again, instead of being hard or direct. Or I was like, okay, this is my style. This works. And if we look at the last couple of months, our guest satisfaction increased significantly. And I see it as a result of changing my management style, but also changing see my approach to the team but also the team getting to know me and my style compared to the previous manager who was here. the Future of Hospitality (23:33) Yeah, you give your staff a confidence boost by doing this. I think that's where it starts. And that gives a confidence boost to the whole team because it's been talked about. I bet that right now the team, they're talking about this. yeah, they got a bottle of champagne. they're happy now. Order. And indirectly that helps you to increase the overall general ⁓ guest satisfaction, which is when you think about it, it's so simple. Jordy (24:04) Yeah it is. ⁓ the Future of Hospitality (24:04) And it feels better, I mean it feels natural to you. Jordy (24:08) For me, it's very natural and but you know to be honest, and I think we can all agree ⁓ Each general manager, each manager has their own style and things that are good or things that are wrong. And I'm quite sure that even though this is my style, different people will have a different opinion. I know for myself, my pitfall is that sometimes maybe I'm a little bit too lenient on these kind of things. Okay, give them a bottle of champagne, it's okay. We will consume it with another customer paying for it. ⁓ But it also creates fun, this approach, where maybe your profitability, we can have a much higher profitability maybe as a hotel, but is that what you want? Is that what you want as an owner? I would say yes, but as a general manager, my goal is to make sure that our clients are happy. and the moment they leave the hotel, that they will tell the next 10 persons, this hotel you should go to because they really pay attention to you as a paying customer and not as you as a person that brings money to the organization. So that's what I think, what I said is that there's different styles of management and it's not always the best style, but for me, this works right now in this property for sure. the Future of Hospitality (25:26) Yeah. Well, that's, want to build a bridge to another moment where it's super busy and stressful. Those moments we have that in hotels all the time. So you know all about it. So how do you keep the spark? Because by doing this by empowering your staff individually and altogether, but there are moments where it's very, very busy and then you need to make a decision. Am I going to do it my way or is it now going to be the hard way? So how do you keep the spark alive in a team? especially during busy days. Jordy (25:58) It's a very good question to ask and it's... I would say again, I would come back to myself. So what would I like and what would I think my team likes? So a couple of months ago, I have an example of when the restaurant was super busy, it was super crowded, kitchen was really performing. I was here in the evening, full restaurant, we turned the table two times, which is very nice for the revenue, of course. And I see the kitchen not struggling, but having a very focused shift. And then Just walk into our shop. I grab six cans of Pepsi. I walk to them guys great job Here you go. Here's the Pepsi on me and I get super easy and it's cost the company three euros and the team is super happy so that's one thing if you look at on the spot during a rush moment, these are things I like to do and Also, even though again my title is general manager I'm not stick to sitting in office if it's needed I will help a check-in I will do a check-in And then people are looking at me and they see my name tag on General Manager and then even the General Manager is doing check-ins. Yeah, because I like to do it. Yeah, I walk with the plates. I love the interaction and I love to make the jokes with the clients. I learned this in Berlin from my previous GM down there before I took over from him. He was like, Jordy, it's a customer. It's a human just like ourselves. We're human. So don't be afraid to make a mistake. Maybe a wrong joke, but at least you made the joke. the Future of Hospitality (27:07) picking up the blades. Jordy (27:32) maybe nine times, one time it doesn't work, the other nine times it works. So I make the joke with the client, but also with my colleagues next to it. And that creates a relaxed atmosphere that, again, we're striving for a high level of service. What I introduced as well recently to keep this spark alive, I called it the bus ambassador. So I sent out the communication to the entire team, like, hey guys, I want to introduce the bus ambassador. I'm looking for three people from three different departments where we are going to organize every month an activation for the entire team. And this activation is not made up by me but by the bus ambassadors. So we are starting with it right now. I have three people from the hotel and we had a couple of meetings and I said what do you guys have in mind? This is the budget. I give you 500 euros a month. What do you want to do? It doesn't need to be in the hotel. to go for a movie night because there's the cinema next door let's go for a movie night if you want to have a drink in the hotel let's go for a drink in the hotel and they actually are thinking of the first time doing a boat tour so through Amsterdam through the canals with the with the team of course let's do this and the Future of Hospitality (28:50) Okay. Jordy (28:51) This is not led by me, I just give them the hints. This is the budget, they come to me, what do you think of this? It's not about me guys, what do you think? Do you want to do this? Do it, here's the budget. Feel free to do so. So that's how I think we can do a little bit different than the standard hotels where often it's like working, you do your month, you get your salary. once a year we have our staff party and that's it and then with Christmas you get a Christmas gift and then enjoy the rest of the year. So I think it's something different which I think can create a unique situation for us as a hotel and hopefully that the staff will go home and tell their friends this is a very nice place to work at and for. the Future of Hospitality (29:25) I like it. Well, talking about that, how would you, how do you think your team would describe you, your leadership, if you were not in the room? Jordy (29:54) I hope that they consider me as a person that gives opportunities to grow and to learn, ⁓ that critiques them to think further than when they are right now. And if you have to categorize it to words, I would say a servant, a coaching person, and a developing person. So coaching, developing is more or less the same, of course. ⁓ so I hope that's what they're going to say and a nice person. the Future of Hospitality (30:29) I don't, I have no doubt about that. ⁓ Let me ask you this. Simon Sinek, that's someone ⁓ we both know. He starts with a Y a lot. And I like that. It made me think years ago. ⁓ What's your personal Y? Jordy (30:52) So the Simon Sinek is a very close one for me, it's very important. I got introduced with Simon Sinek a couple of years ago, also in Ghent, by my former GM where he intrigued us, the management team, like, okay guys, let's think the other way around instead of the why, the how and the what, which is the Simon Sinek. Let's really think why are we doing certain things. So if I look at my why. I would say that everything we do, we do because we like to do it and we want to make our customers happy. And there's no limit in how we make our customers happy. And I think that will be my why. the Future of Hospitality (31:38) Very grounded from the inside out. Yeah. Okay. Back to the hotel. If you could remove one boring rule in hospitality in general, forever, what would it be? Jordy (31:59) I think there's two things that I'm thinking of immediately. And the first one would be the manager is always right. I think that's a generic education that when I was younger, like that when I was not a general manager myself, people always divert or refer to the GM has the answer. He knows, he knows everything. the Future of Hospitality (32:20) Yeah, that's old school way. Jordy (32:22) That's definitely the old school way. And I think also here, I will say it again, I said a couple of times already, it's not about me. We as a team need to make a decision. yes, if it's in a critical situation, I will make the decision if it's needed, but I prefer to make the decision together. So I think that's, I'm not sure if it's really a rule, but it's something I grew up with. If you really have to say a rule, I would say, and I have to laugh when I say myself the grooming standards. So if you work in a hotel or also again it's the old way when you when I used to work in a hotel Jordy you need to shave every day. A girl a woman the hair needs to be tucked needs to be tied together. no colored hair. I even had a GM with like no nail polish for women and ⁓ I like to challenge this so I had my reception team. I was in front of us managing the reception team and they were like One day they came with the nails polished to me. Look Jordy, what do you think? And for me, it's not a problem. So I said, let's keep it. Let's see if our GM notices it or not. And he did not until a guest comment came in our client satisfaction survey. And they were like, the ladies nail polish is amazing. So I went to him, to the GM, I said, this is already ongoing for three months. And he was like, I didn't notice this. You see, it's not a problem to have nail polish. It's all standard. And even with the facial hair, of course, it needs to be organized. It needs to be not too crazy to say it really flat out. It needs to be maintained. So even then I was able to convince the GM to make a new operational procedure about the facial hair. where he actually allowed it. And here's a funny quote. We introduced it, let's say on Tuesday, I came on Wednesday, a little bit of facial hair. He came into office, good morning, Jordy. said, good morning. He grabbed from his office, a razor, put it on my desk and said, shave. Why? He just introduced a new procedure. And then he said, yeah, but this doesn't apply to you. I was like, Okay, so then I had to shave, but so that's why. For me, I think this is an old-fashioned rule where nowadays, I think we can be a little bit more lenient with this. Let's be little bit more flexible. Let's make sure that the people, the person that's working really can be themselves because the best you can be is yourself and that allows you to be in a happy place yourself. So I think that's a boring rule that I think we can be a little bit more lenient nowadays on. the Future of Hospitality (34:59) Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no, I'm all for the modern way. ⁓ I was a rebel myself. In the 80s, I was working in hospitality and I had long hair. I was growing it longer and longer. And I was still in school. I think I was graduating that year. But hey, it was the 80s. Everyone had long hair. But I was working in a high-end French specialty restaurant with the, you know, the black and white and the apron and everything. And ⁓ but he eventually allowed it. There were talks. Yeah. But because that was so not done. Your hair was like supposed to be here of the color. But hey, like I said, it was the 80s. I think I said something in motion back then. ⁓ talking about your twin brother, we totally ⁓ skipped that. But I want to know from you, if your twin brother ⁓ would rent this hotel for a day, do you think would happen? Jordy (36:19) The series is completely different management style than I have. the Future of Hospitality (36:22) Seriously? I would say because it's your twin brother you probably... Okay, go ahead. Jordy (36:27) So we're opposites. No, we're not. We're not opposites. I think on the long run, I think we will have the same management style. But if I look at today, let's say he comes in today with the experience and knowledge he has right now. For him being an entrepreneur, his goal is to make as much money as possible, of course. So I think he would... the Future of Hospitality (36:29) the opposite. Jordy (36:51) critique the flexibility that we give to the staff with regards to outings, to celebrations for the team, also celebrations for the staff. So I think he will be more strict on that, looking at him as an entrepreneur right now. But I hope. the Future of Hospitality (37:07) Okay. Jordy (37:13) knowing him that on the long run he would see, ⁓ sometimes in order to make money, you have to spend money. That's a philosophy that I try to maintain as well and I try to tell my CEO as well sometimes, okay, let's think about spending money on something and it will generate money for us. So I hope on the long run that he will adapt that vision as well for himself. the Future of Hospitality (37:38) Yeah, but only one day, probably not. Jordy (37:40) Yeah, it will not be enough time for it. the Future of Hospitality (37:43) What is your personal dream for the hotel team that you are leading at the moment? Not the business goal, but the hardest goal. Jordy (37:54) ⁓ I I've referred to that in the beginning more or less early. For me, it's super important that everything we do is from a passion. So it's not because we have to do the things, but because we like to do these kind of things. And that's what I think, if you look at the goal for my team, I would love them to achieve this, that everything we do is because we really love doing these kind of things and not because we have to. That when you come in in the morning, yes, you can be tired, but you're happy to be here. And I actually have one of my colleagues right now who used to work with me at one of my previous hotels. Then he moved to another hotel and now he's back with me. And he actually mentioned to me a couple months ago, Jordy, I'm happy to come to this place actually, where his previous job, he didn't have that feeling. He lost it a little bit. And he's like, I'm really happy where am right now. So I would say that gives me a kick as well, a positive feeling of yes, what do do? is a good thing. It's okay. So yeah, think that would be my ultimate goal. the Future of Hospitality (39:01) That's good. I like that. And you mentioned the feeling. That's a very interesting part. How they feel. How would you want your guests to feel when they leave your hotel? Jordy (39:17) Well, happy, absolutely happy. And that we were able to give them an experience that when they go away, that they're like, okay, we really experienced something else than just a standard check-in, just a standard dinner, just a standard room. So for example, I can give an example of what we're trying to do here. This last weekend, had Sunjok Jin, which is a K-pop artist from South Korea who came performing here. in the the zircon dome next door and We can maintain our standard procedure. Here's the check-in, here's your room key. We love having you with us. Enjoy your stay. But, and it was not me, so I'm happy. It was my team. They came up with a gin cocktail. So the artist's name is J-I-N. So gin is G-I-N of course, but we made a gin cocktail. And we made a very nice station in the middle of the lobby where we had a gin cocktail, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, because you need to have both sides of course. But not only that, we also had our decoration in that in the hotel so we had very colorful decoration. So I hope and actually I can see it in the guest comments that when the guests are leaving, they leave comments of we had a super nice day and we see that the hotel went a little bit further than just a standard check-in and the standard experience. So that's very nice to see. It's very rewarding to see these kind of reviews. Every morning when I come in, the first thing I do is I open the reviews, what came in and it makes me happy to see, especially the last couple of months that the reviews are super nice, super good to see the positive reviews and we share them with the team immediately like hey guys there's somebody named out personally we give a high celebration moment through whatsapp which is the main source of communication because not everybody's here every day of course and we put them in the picture like hey guys look at this this is amazing what we're doing is working and guests are happy when they're leaving And I hope as well that they tell this to their friends and to their families and whatever. Like if you go to Amsterdam Region, this is your hotel to go to because they do a little bit more than just the standard checking or just the standard experience. Yeah. the Future of Hospitality (41:31) Wonderful. And I think that is a credit to you because they feel, your staff feel, felt ⁓ confident enough to propose to do this. And so they are being creative. And I believe that is because you treat them as such, just like we discussed in this podcast. I have a final question for you. If you whisper one piece of advice to a younger self. Maybe your first day in a hotel school or another moment, what would it be? Jordy (42:13) general manager or was an operation manager I was comparing myself to others so in the hotel school so back in the days hotel school everybody was there for the same cool we were doing a hotel management school so we wanted to work in hospitality industry so when I finished the school I had of course you you get your connections with a couple of friends you you generate from it and I had four four other friends that we all succeeded from the hotel school So I started as a receptionist and then I became a supervisor and I started looking at the others. Okay, where are they now? And then I was the front office manager. Okay, where are they now? Are they further than me? Are they behind me? Are they same level? And then actually from the moment I became an operations manager, when I was 29, I was like, it's not about comparing, it's about yourself, it's your own career. If this makes you happy at this stage, the Future of Hospitality (42:52) Yeah. Jordy (43:10) Nobody can judge you on it. So yeah, would stop comparing. If I was younger, I wish I would not compare myself to others. Like I'm doing right now, I'm not comparing anymore. I just have my own goals. I have my own vision. I have my own goals that I'm striving for. the Future of Hospitality (43:28) Only compare yourself with yourself, your former self or your future self. That is what I would say. Compare, that's the only you want to compare with. If you want to have a competition, have a competition with your future self. I'm gonna do that. Jordy (43:40) Yeah, that's a very good point. Yeah, no, absolutely. the Future of Hospitality (43:42) I always been doing it ever since I was a teenager. I never compared myself or have a competition with anyone, not even in school. I'm like, I don't need that. I'm going to do my own. I'm going to compete with myself. So thank you so much. No go. Jordy (43:56) In a certain way, of course as a twin, you have this... Yeah, I would say you have a natural competition against each other, okay, because you're... Yeah, so... Yeah, yeah, so I just came up in my mind, I think as a twin as well, you have this natural competitive against each other, like, okay, what are you doing, what is he doing? the Future of Hospitality (44:02) That's different because that's your other self. I don't have that experience, so yeah, I forgot about that. That's natural, I get that. I get that, I get that. Jordy, I wanna thank you so much. It's been 45 minutes almost. This time flies. It was really, really great to hear you speak about your way of leadership. think it's inspiring to a lot of leaders in hospitality and also other industries. And maybe good for young people who want to enter this business to... to have a listen to this podcast, because I really like the way you do this, how you empower people. Thank you so much. Jordy (44:52) Thank you as well, and I really appreciate this opportunity. And ⁓ I hope as well that through this jet, we could inspire a couple of other people of maybe see things from a different perspective if they have a certain distinctive way of leading right now to give them a different insight. So yeah, I hope we could inspire some other people as well. Thank you. the Future of Hospitality (45:12) Amen. Thank you. Great!.. "