The Power of Habit

(Summary) The Power of Habit - Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.

I first heard of Charles Duhigg on Success Magazine's audio series some time last year. I really enjoyed the story he shared about Paul O'Neil's first shareholder's meeting when he joined Alcoa (manufacturing company of foil wrap, Hershey's kisses and pop cans) as the new CEO.  As a classic example of focusing on a keystone habit, O'Neil delivered an epic speech to the shareholders and board members about focusing on the company's safety not profits. O'Neil believed that having zero injuries in the workplace would invariably yield profits for the company.

In the book, Charles uses a Habit Loop to describe how habits are formed. It always starts with a "Cue" that triggers a "Routine" which gives a desired "Reward", and around-and-around it goes.  The main idea of changing a habit is to replace the undesired Routine (injuries in the workplace) with a desired one (zero injuries) while the Cue and Reward (safest place to work in America) stay constant.

The current 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi is a great example of athletes using the Habit Loop.  They train and develop a physical skill into a mental behaviour for the purpose of marginalizing error under stressful conditions.  In hospitality, the habit loop would be a powerful tool to train staff for the same reason.  For example, the keystone behaviour of ensuring every guest felt welcomed.  The metric would be using the word "Welcomed" or "Welcoming" when guests described their experience of your establishment to others.

Here is how it works:

• Cue: Every touch point (phone, face-to-face, email)
• Routine: Pretend your speaking to Grandma
• Reward: Guest feels welcomed

Train your staff, at every touch point, to communicate with each guest as if they were talking to Grandma (kind, loving, caring & patient).  You wouldn't have to tell them to be respectful, kind and patient to Grandma (relevant interview question).  If guests received this level of attention from the website, reservation process, arriving, dining, leaving, and finally a "Thank you" phone call/email the next day; they would surely feel welcomed.

If you want to win the Service Gold medal, train your team the right habits and don't leave it to chance.