Creating a culture that makes a business a ‘best workplace’

Seymour Hotels – Large Organisation winner

WHAT makes somewhere a good – or not so good – place to work? 

While “workplace culture” may be difficult to define, few would disagree that the values and attitudes of their place of work have a significant impact both on the environment and, perhaps most critically, on an employee’s feelings towards the organisation. 

But how do you create that inclusive, all-encompassing culture which both challenges and supports staff not only to perform well but to want to perform well? 

For Matt Seymour, who was appointed managing director of the family-run Seymour Hotels last year, culture is not something that can be built, or changed, overnight. 

“There is no magic switch,” said Matt, whose business was named Jersey’s Best Workplace (large organisation) last week. “You can’t come in one day, say that you are going to create a better business and see the results overnight. It all takes time and investment in people, training and resources. And, critically, you need to have the right people around you, all of whom are singing from the same hymn sheet and are aligned to achieving the same goal.” 

This, Matt says, supports the now-famous exchange between a janitor at NASA and US President John F Kennedy in 1962. 

“When Kennedy visited the NASA space center, he spotted a janitor carrying a broom and asked him what he was doing. The janitor, Joe, replied: ‘I’m helping to put a man on the moon, Mr President.’” 

Striving to create a similar sense of purpose among the 400-plus Seymour Hotels team, Matt adds that achieving such alignment also removes the need for “hard rules”. 

“As the former New Zealand rugby coach Steve Hansen said, culture cannot be determined by rules,” Matt reflected. “Instead, it’s about establishing parameters that everybody understands and recognises. Hard rules are too black and white; they don’t allow for the complexities and nuances that feed into culture.” 

And those nuances, he adds, are even more pronounced given the multinational nature of the business’s workforce. 

“Our employees come from nearly 30 different countries, so we have to respect each other’s cultural differences and create an environment which feels like home for these people who have, in many cases, travelled a long way away from their family and friends to work with us,” he said. 

“With this in mind, not only do we strive to build an environment which enables new friendships and interests to thrive but we also try to create opportunities to expose people to colleagues’ cultures, perhaps by having a Kenyan or Sri Lankan food day for example. When we ask our international chefs if they would like to make some of their traditional dishes for colleagues, they are so excited, and it really helps them to feel at home.” 

And it is not just fellow colleagues who have had the opportunity to sample some of the cuisine from these different cultures. 

“You can now see influences from many different cuisines coming into our menus, something which has given the team a tremendous sense of pride,” said Matt. “Recognising and celebrating our employees’ cultures has also benefited the business immensely, bringing new skill sets into the group. We are incredibly fortunate to have such a diverse and professional team.  

“Because of their worldwide experiences, our team members are constantly introducing new ways and personal touches to delight our guests.”  

“Therefore, I think that if you can blend those cultures and intertwine them, the respect and appreciation for colleagues becomes more pronounced, creating a more harmonious working environment, which benefits both the team and our guests.” 

And Seymour Hotels’ efforts, which Matt admits have become even greater since Covid, seem to be paying off, with more than 95% of the company’s overseas staff returning year after year to join the teams at the Pomme d’Or, Merton and Greenhill’s Country House hotels, as well as at the Watersplash Beach Bar & Diner. 

“As a family-run business which has been operating for more than 100 years, our staff have always been hugely important to us,” said Matt, who is the fifth generation of the Seymour family to run the company. “However, since emerging from Covid – when hospitality was hit particularly badly – we have concentrated even more on investing in our teams and creating a workplace of which we can be super-proud. 

“We recognise that it is our people who create the experiences for our customers and guests, and therefore they are the ones who determine whether those customers and guests will return. But those experiences are not just created by the people you see front-of-house. Just as the NASA janitor helped to put man on the moon, all of our people – from the central team and porters to the kitchen team and the maintenance division – oil the cogs of the business and make a vital contribution to the end product.” 

Helping to achieve this aligned approach, Matt adds, are the company’s biannual leadership seminars, completed by the 40 or so people who comprise the senior management team. 

“These seminars, which take place before and after each season, set the tone for the year ahead, recap where we are and address how we are going to carry the business through the winter when, even though some outlets close, we cannot take our eye off the ball,” he said. “These seminars have been really positive for the business, making sure everyone is aligned with what we are trying to achieve and consistent in those messages cascaded to each of our teams.” 

And it is perhaps because of these seminars and the group’s “open-door policy”, which encourages regular feedback to and from managers, that Matt wasn’t “surprised” by any of the comments expressed by respondents to the Jersey’s Best Workplace employee survey. 

“While I would never claim that we get everything right all the time, we do always listen to our teams and if any issues arise, we talk about them and navigate our way through them together,” he said.  

“We are also fortunate to have a team with very little churn, and that consistency means we have the solid foundations to add more layers. Within the loose parameters which make up our culture, our team members have the space to explore and trial new ideas and concepts, and put forward proposals for the business, something which recognises both the trust we place in our colleagues and the opportunities we offer for people to grow within the business. There are no ceilings for anybody here and we always encourage our teams to think commercially and suggest ways to develop the business further. 

“The business has evolved considerably over the past century, and I am very aware that it has only got to where it has today because of the careful management and stewardship of previous generations.  

“It is also not lost on me that we are only as good as the people who work in the business and I am incredibly grateful to have such a strong and professional senior management team around me. I am very proud that Seymour Hotels has been named one of Jersey’s Best Workplaces because it suggests that we are travelling in the right direction. However, I am conscious that we are on a journey which will never be complete. During my leadership and with the help of the many colleagues around me, I’m determined to see the business continue to flourish in the years ahead while nurturing that all-important culture.”