Perched on the northernmost end of the pristine coastline of Oahu, HI, newly relaunched 840-acre Turtle Bay Resort does not want to be known as a “fly-and-flop” vacation destination where guests spend their entire time on the island just lounging by the pool. “We want to inspire and enlighten our guests and make them part of the Hawaiian community, and we want the community to trust us and partner on this,” explains Michael Coyle, CEO of Replay Resorts, which took over the management of Turtle Bay Resort in 2010. “The idea is inclusiveness instead of exclusiveness and helping our guests see Turtle Bay through the eyes of the locals.”
Manifested in a sleek pipeline wave logo and tagline—“A New Wave: More Ways to Play”—this tidal wave of change required a major mindset shift for employees and locals, alike. Turtle Bay Resort had gone through numerous ownership changes over the years, resulting in disengaged employees buffeted by inconsistent standards and values and angry islanders worried about a new owner that might “pave paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Despite a $40 million investment in property renovations and rebranding and a promise to the community to curtail development, the new management team knew it wasn’t going to be an easy transition. But they also knew success was possible with the right training— training fortified by open communication, leadership involvement, and the development of core values. As such, “we dedicated 41 percent of our Human Resources budget to training and will continue to do so in the future,” says Turtle Bay Resort GM/VP Danna Holck. “We find that investing in our employees translates to happier employees and happy/ satisfied guests.”
Living the 6 Values
Before getting started, Holck and Turtle Bay Resort CEO Drew Stotesbury spent two weeks talking to all 500-plus employees in groups of five to 10. Holck says the most surprising thing she heard was the emotional connection employees have to the resort. “Many employees have family members working at Turtle Bay and many have a multi-generational family history with Turtle Bay,” she notes.
But the most valuable thing Holck and Stotesbury learned was “the importance employees placed on values and beliefs, particularly Aloha (love, kindness, and compassion) and Malama (caring for others).”
With the employee input, Holck and Stotesbury formulated Turtle Bay’s 6 Values that set the standard by which the staff operates and serves its guests. These values have been incorporated into all Turtle Bay Human Resource activities, including training, which typically is delivered via classroom sessions, role-play, video, and social learning. The 6 Values and some associated employee practices include:
Manawa (time)
- Respect others’ time.
- Greet guests promptly.
- Demonstrate urgency in responding to requests.
- Contribute to productive meetings.
Pono (goodness)
- Treat everyone with dignity and respect.
- Stay positive.
- Lead by example.
- Act in ways that build trust.
Malama (caring for others)
- Respect Turtle Bay’s environment, assets, and location.
- Buy locally.
- Participate by getting involved in the community.
- Hold others accountable.
Hanai (support of family)
- Encourage and participate in team building activities.
- Help a new employee.
- Embrace guests as part of your family.
- Demonstrate genuine interest in your co-workers.
Aloha (kindness)
- Engage guests and co-workers.
- Practice the “Golden Rule” of treating others the way you would like to be treated.
- Handle complaints and problems with empathy and compassion.
- Demonstrate genuine care and interest in others.
Kama’aina (local)
- Be a North Shore “expert.”
- Create a comfortable and differentiated environment for guests.
- “Talk story” with guests and co-workers by exchanging stories about Turtle Bay, the North Shore, and Hawaii, and sharing personal experiences.
- Treat locals as guests and guests as locals.
The Turtle Bay Values training program is required for every employee. During this training session, Turtle Bay’s mission, vision, and values are explained. Each department was required to create a Values implementation plan with the help of HR. These plans were implemented and then reviewed and updated by HR after six months.
“Our Values continue to be the framework for all of our HR initiatives,” explains HR Director Noel Marquardsen. “Individual managers were given instrumented feedback from their employees, peers, and manager, along with a self-rating on their application of the Values practices. They were required to develop an individual improvement plan, and their progress in implementing their plan formed a major component of their year-end performance review. Hourly employees were required to complete a self-assessment on their application of the Values practices and were required to complete a personal improvement plan.”
Holck adds that Turtle Bay’s performance management system is based on job goals and, to an equal extent, the application of the company’s Value practices.
Customer Service
An extension of the Turtle Bay Values program, Laulima (which means “many hands working together”) is a service quality training program designed to create a unique and differentiated experience for guests. The program is separated into four modules that focus on
1. Greeting
2. Service delivery
3. Service recovery
4. Knowledge (facilities, food and beverage options, experiences, history, and culture)
To create a differentiated guest experience (one that includes everything from farm-to-table cuisine, surfing and stand-up paddling, horseback riding and Segway tours to helicopter adventures, deep-tissue massages, and trips to town for shave ice), Marquardsen says the Training team needed to increase employees’ knowledge in several areas, including job expectations, guest expectations, and product and brand knowledge. Laulima was developed using input from a group of 12 “best practice” employees who were selected as the best guest service providers among Turtle Bay employees.
Each module has an associated workbook that guides employees through a variety of exercises. For example, Module 1/Greeting walks employees through “Feel It” (having the right attitude), “See It” (making eye contact), “Show It” (smiling), “Say It” (knowing what to say), “Do It” (offering to help), and “Own It” (next steps).
Employees also needed to become familiar with Guidepost, the new in-lobby experience center that consolidates all concierge and activity guest services into one easy-to-use interactive space that allows guests to review, discuss, book, and connect with the North Shore’s many activities. The Guidepost includes expert guides, iPads, and large touchscreen panels for viewing activities.
Because nature is such an important part of the Turtle Bay Way, the organization tries to incorporate it into its training programs. “During the three-day new hire orientation, new employees are sent out on a scavenger hunt that covers the majority of the property,” Marquardsen says. “Our fitness manager has morning stretches on the lawn overlooking the ocean with our staff on Tuesday and Thursday at 8 a.m. We also conduct a beach cleanup held on the third Wednesday of every month. All employees are invited to participate.”
Leadership’s Role
Another key to successful training is leadership participation, with Holck noting that “we expect our managers to participate in the delivery of our training programs.”
Marquardsen and her team likewise quickly realized it was “critically important that our leaders embrace the changes we were going through and that they were involved in implementing those changes.” So Turtle Bay holds structured quarterly leadership conferences that are designed to keep leaders up to date on all of the changes that are occurring.
In addition, the organization currently is developing its own, Turtle Bay-specific, leadership development program called LCC, which stands for Leadership, Communications, and Coaching. The objectives of the program are to:
1. Develop a strong cohesive executive team
2. Improve communication throughout the resort
3. Attract, develop, and retain the brightest and most capable middle managers
4. Have a credible succession plan
Measuring Success
Turtle Bay uses several metrics to measure the success of its training programs, including:
Guest satisfaction: This is perhaps the most important measure that can determine progress being made in continually improving the guest experience at Turtle Bay, Marquardsen says. “We use several methods to measure our success, including social media tools such Revinate, TripAdvisor, and Market Metrix to identify the impact on service and the guest experience.”
Values practices application: “This is our own Values feedback system, which shows how departments, functions, managers, and employees are applying the Values practices and where improvement is required,” Marquardsen says.
Financial measures: These include occupancy rates, capture rates, market share, sales performance, internal promotions, and turnover.
Employee engagement: “We have developed our own, Turtle Bay-specific employee feedback system,” Marquardsen says. “We conduct two surveys per year and pay particularly close attention to the changes from survey to survey. Our last employee engagement survey was in September 2014. Our next survey is in March 2015.”
Marquardsen points to employee engagement is the most important driver of guest satisfaction. Turtle Bay’s efforts in this area include:
Ho’ohana Awards: A Turtle Bay Value-based program that recognizes employees for exceptional service for guests and employees. Employees receive a POG, which they can redeem for prizes/gifts that include meal tickets, hydro flasks, and Turtle Bay logo merchandise.
Employee picnics/parties: Turtle Bay actively seeks ways to improve its corporate culture, Marquardsen says. “Some of the activities we conducted this year were an employee golf tournament, employee volleyball tournament, employee picnic, and an employee end-of-the-year celebration.”
Ali’i and Ilima Awards: Every quarter, three employees (manager, front of the house, and back of the house) are recognized for exceptional service. Each employee recognized during the year automatically is entered for the Employee of the Year award.
Best of the Best award. This is a perpetual award given sparingly to exceptional employees who demonstrate extraordinary service on a daily basis.
Going forward, Marquardsen says, “now that we have developed a service quality program, the challenge is to keep the momentum in every department. In order for the training to have a long-term effect, we will work with each manager to create action plans and systematic processes that will help us achieve our goals.”
My Turtle Bay Experience
In the interest of full disclosure, I was invited to visit Turtle Bay Resort as part of a press trip to cover the relaunch (further disclosure: It was my first time visiting Hawaii). I was something of the odd duck in the gaggle of 30-plus luxury travel, wedding, and golfing journalists reporting on the reborn resort. So while my colleagues were asking about the number of guests the wedding pavilion could hold or the custom oil infusions for the deep-tissue massage, I wanted to know about best practices for training and employee engagement.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first helicopter ride (which included landing on a ledge in the middle of the mountains and drinking a mimosa), first massage (yes, my feet are still ticklish), first horseback ride along the coast (thank you, Nick, for not dumping me on my butt), and first official luau (the fire dancers were hot!). But I was even more intrigued by Turtle Bay’s concept of “Talk Story” as we at Training magazine believe storytelling is an integral part of successful training.
Cultural educator Kahokule’a Haiku told Hawaiian legends around the luau firepit about Honu the turtle and how the coconut got its face. Cultural advisor Pohaku explained how he was building a special temple between the sea and mountains. I learned about the Eddie Aikau surfing tournament that is only held if the waves are more than 20 feet. A famous waterman, Aikau and a few friends went boating, but the boat started sinking and he paddled off to get help. A Hawaiian Airlines plane happened to be delayed and saw the folks in the water and sent help, but the selfless Aikau was never seen again. I met Kimi Werner, a spear fisher woman and free diver who can hold her breath for 4 minutes, 50 seconds and has dived down as far as 149 feet. She grew up poor in a shack and taught herself to spearfish after watching her dad. She started competing on the pro spearfishing circuit but found herself looking at fish as points. Today she only fishes for food.
Everywhere I went, Turtle Bay Resort employees—including Jay, the trainer from the Fitness Center; Vera, the horseback riding guide; Stacy the masseuse; and Mary the photographer who was getting married on the helicopter landing ridge the following week—shared their stories and their love of the North Shore.
They certainly were well trained on the value of Kama’aina and helped me take home more than just pretty pictures of an island paradise.
Let’s Go on Workation!
As part of its rebranding, Turtle Bay now offers corporate organizations a “Workation” program that allows them to bring the entire office to the beach for work, play, and custom team building experiences. Participants can catch dinner using traditional Hawaiian fishing practices, master that yoga move in private wellness classes, and enjoy a workspace with panoramic ocean views.
According to Cate Thero, EVP, Replay Resorts, the Workation program is designed to:
- Enhance productivity
- Provide flexible schedules
- Create a relaxed, positive atmosphere
- Encourage innovation, creativity, and collaboration
- Promote wellness, adventure, and the Spirit of Aloha
- Instill a sense of stewardship through give-back opportunities
Portland, OR-based e-commerce company TheClymb.com has chosen the Workation program for several recent back-to-back annual getaways. TheClymb.com uproots its entire office to Turtle Bay, where the company’s 70 employees work from “crazy early in the morning until midday and then we enjoy the North Shore all afternoon,” says TheClymb.com co-founder Cec Annett.
The team enjoys surf and stand-up paddling lessons, snorkeling in the calm waters near Turtle Bay, hiking, and skydiving in addition to meeting up after-hours at the resort’s Surfer, The Bar. As an e-commerce company, Annett says TheClymb.com can easily operate from anywhere, setting up Internet lines and customer service lines seamlessly at Turtle Bay, so customers don’t notice a thing.