Inn at Laurel Point

Prestigious Award-Winning Hotel Property

A beautiful BC waterfront hotel operating most of the year at full capacity, our client was interested in investing in some work to bring its management team closer together. The GM and HR Director knew there were opportunities to improve the quality and frequency of interdepartmental communication and collaboration and they wanted to create a more nourishing, enjoyable and effective work environment for the team. They wanted to build a culture that was co-created – and not prescribed. They knew if they could achieve all that, it would not only create a more sustaining work environment, but it would certainly also heighten the guest experience.

At Chemistry, we customize each and every Leadership Development program to meet our clients’ unique needs. With that in mind, Chemistry’s CEO and our Certified Organizational Coach/Consultant set up an initial consultation with the GM and HR Director of the property to ask plenty of questions and conduct a great deal of deep listening. Our goal was to develop a solid understanding of our client’s vision for success, the strengths of the team, and also the pain points, obstacles and concerns. This conversation and the follow up communication provided the foundation for us to develop the Leadership Development program our client wanted and needed.

Based on what we learned from our client, we developed a series of full-day plenary workshops for the management team, to be delivered monthly for four months. We proposed this frequency because it was going to be manageable for the busy schedules of our client and in close enough proximity, one session from the next, to allow the team to build momentum and grow together. The client gave us some requested topics and the team from Chemistry offered additional material, ideas and topics to ensure we hit our client’s targets.

Our Certified Organizational Coach is also an MBA instructor who was able to introduce some key leadership and organizational behaviour principles to support the team. These included developing a purpose statement, learning about different personality styles and how to work well with them, emotional intelligence, delegating and performance management, communication skills, giving and receiving feedback effectively, listening skills, conflict management, and more.

At Chemistry we use an interactive facilitation style that taps into the wisdom in the room, while also introducing new knowledge to the leaders around the table.

A powerful feature of our Leadership Development programming is the series of one-to-one, virtual, confidential, executive coaching sessions that are offered to each participant in between the full-day workshop day and the next. The client participants used the sessions to deepen their learning of the workshop concepts, to seek support for a challenging situation that had arisen in the meantime or to talk through strategies to more effectively lead their respective teams. (Private coaching sessions for this team were 30 min in length, offred 4 times during the program series over four months.)

Our post-program feedback summary and our program debrief conversation with the GM and HR Director gave us important insights. One of the most significant outcomes centred around the quality of communication among team members.

The senior leadership team acknowledged that from the first session to the last one of the series the difference in the interactions among colleagues was like “night and day”.

Participants were tentative and guarded at the outset, reserved in sharing their thoughts during the first sessions and there was hardly any banter or casual conversation. As our work progressed and the connections and trust became stronger, we noticed at the final session that it was challenging to get the participants to stop chatting and laughing together – a GREAT problem to have indeed! They had really bonded! There was friendly banter, more vulnerability, and a great deal of observable support, collaboration, kindness and care.

As the culture was developing and relationships were deepening, the individual participants also had the chance for their own personal introspection. As we worked on the organization’s “Why” statement, through the coaching and workshops participants got to reflect on their own personal motivators and drivers. With greater clarity on the direction the team was taking, there were individuals who made the decision to move on to other opportunities. This seemed to deepen the team’s cohesion.

Over the following months, the team continued to face expected challenges of working in the sector and we learned from the GM and HR Director that they were able to use what they learned about their personality styles and the different needs unique to each of the personalities involved to work through some serious conflict. The results included an even tighter team dynamic and deeper trust.

The active collaboration between Chemistry and this client demonstrates the transformative power of targeted training paired with professional coaching. By focusing on DiSC personality styles, addressing the need to develop more effective communication and collaboration, we were able to help this amazing team transition from minimal interpersonal communication and connection to become a highly cohesive, collaborative, productive and effective unit. A true TEAM. The improvements in communication and collaboration have not only enhanced the team’s dynamics but they’ve also contributed to enhancing the overall success of the organization, including its financial performance.

The leadership team recognized the importance to continue to build on the learning and reinforce the new concepts. As a result, Chemistry is delivering a new series of bespoke Leadership Development sessions and coaching to keep the momentum going.

Comments from the team!

“The DiSC training sessions were eye-opening. I now understand my colleagues much better and feel more confident in my interactions with them.” – Team Member

“The individual coaching sessions helped me address my specific challenges and improve my communication skills. I feel more connected to my team than ever before.” – Team Member

“The improvement in our team’s dynamics is remarkable. We are more collaborative, and the overall work environment is much more positive.”
– Team Leader

“Thank you to Chemistry, and to Ashli for her masterful expertise in building a truly remarkable Leadership Development program for the management team at Inn at Laurel Point! So many insightful takeaways and an incredible learning experience. The content and format really had our interaction and engagement at 100%. This training program has really brought the management team together in knowing that everyone is on the same page in terms of our company culture journey.”

Eda Koot, Former General Manager, Inn at Laurel Point