From the desk of Signature Parking Founder & CEO Michael Holmstrom. The Weekly Drive is a collection of company news, ideas & inspiration that can drive us all to be better humans.
What’s New
Will this rain ever stop? We know it’s been a brutal winter and we’re all looking forward to spring and sunnier days just around the corner. Hang in there!!
One of the key initiatives our executive team has set for this year is to improve the employee experience at Signature. We can’t stop the rain, but we do have some exciting things we’re working on. We’ve already started fine-tuning some of our systems and approaches to onboarding and training and there will be more positive changes as the year progresses. Two exciting changes worth mentioning here…
We’ve rolled out a 401k retirement plan for our team members! The Signature Parking 401k allows employees to defer money from their paycheck into an investment account for retirement. The best part is what’s known as a “Company Match” which is basically Free Money to you. Signature Parking will match your retirement deferrals dollar for dollar up to 4% of your paycheck. So, for example, if you earn $1,000 per check and you elect to defer 4% ($40) Signature will also match and contribute $40. The plan is now active! Please reach out to our HR Manager Jordan Tillotson [email protected] if you would like more information.
Another exciting project is upgrading our performance enablement system, something that has been non-existent for too long. We have not always done a great job with regular performance conversations with our team members and we’re working to change that. We’ll be testing new software in the coming weeks and hope to start a more formal 1:1 and performance enablement process with all team members over the next few months to help support more frequent two-way conversations and a better culture of continuous feedback within the company between managers and front-line team members. I’ll announce more details about what this will look like in future posts here. Stay tuned.
Signature Moments & Customer Feedback
Our GM at the La Peer Hotel had this to say about our new team when she arrived and had our team handle her car…
” That was one of the best valet experiences I’ve ever had…Arrival experience was a 10 out of 10″. Great job Team!
And a guest feedback for our Hotel Santa Barbara team…
From the time I entered until my departure the attentiveness of the staff was superb. They were most generous with making sure I got to my room with my baggage and were warm and welcoming. I would especially like to point out Sebastian, Lucas, and Paul for their excellent service.
Up in NorCal, our team at Kaiser Vallejo recently had a very pleased customer who decided to buy everyone In-N-Out burgers for their efforts! When you have customers making food runs for you, you are definitely doing something right!! Way to go!
Insights
In 2017, while sitting at my desk in our Santa Barbara office, I learned about a damage claim at one of our hotel properties. A valet had taken a corner too sharp in the downstairs garage and damaged the side of the guest vehicle. This was discouraging news, but even more shocking was learning this was the second time we had damaged the same guest’s vehicle. A case of lightning striking twice, in a very costly way. Not only were the guest and our hotel partner extremely frustrated with us, but the damage was significant and would force us to file another claim with our insurance carrier and pay another five-thousand-dollar deductible. This was a painful lesson, but it was also a catalyst for positive change. For years, this location had been averaging 3-4x more claims than any other location in the company. We had always just accepted it and chalked it up to a tight parking garage where we were forced to double and triple-park guest vehicles. Coming to terms with this incident meant moving from acceptance of the status quo to seeking a way to change, and a way to end the financial pain.
We analyzed the data and discovered that the majority of our accidents at this hotel involved large SUV’s in the downstairs garage where the tight parking spaces and concrete pillars posed significant hazards. We decided to start parking all SUVs in an off-site surface lot instead of the garage. The valet team was given a list with photos of all the SUV vehicles banned from the parking garage (“The off-limits list”). Overnight, our cost of claims per month plummeted by 70%, all because we decided to learn from our mistakes (finally). Something we’ve learned as business leaders and managers over the years is that mistakes can be great teachers if we allow them to be when we choose to see them as opportunities for growth and change. Making mistakes is a guarantee in life and what matters is how we choose to respond afterward.
This ties into a great book I read last year called Mindset, by Carol Dweck. In short, there are two mindsets we navigate life with, Fixed and Growth mindsets. Part of learning from mistakes involves having a growth mindset and realizing that you have the power to change. It’s the growth mindset that’s essential for success in life. Nearly every successful person I know embraces a growth mindset. Two of the greatest basketball players of our generation, Michael Jordan and Kibe Bryant, were well known for their growth mindset in the game. One of our Core Values at Signature Parking is Continuous Growth and Learning. This is how we all get better as individuals and as a collective team.
As an action step, ask yourself if there are any areas of your life where you’re still operating with a fixed mindset. For years I operated with a belief that I was terrible at cooking and that I would never be good at it; until I finally decided to open a few books, practice some recipes and hone my skills. During my learning, I was inspired by watching Thomas Keller’s videos on Master Class and this inspiration gave me the confidence and courage to experiment in the kitchen. Today I’m much more confident and my biggest critic (my son) even likes most of what I cook now. What are the consequences of thinking that your intelligence or personality is something that is a fixed deep-seated trait, as opposed to something you can develop? This applies in all areas of life, from work to home, parenting, and our most important relationships. Feel free to reply to this email and share your thoughts. Let’s start a conversation about how we can all improve and how can the leadership at Signature support you in that.
More Reading: 5 Tips for Learning from Failure (Better Up)
Leveling Up
Watch: The Benefits of not being a jerk to yourself (Dan Harris, TED)
A wise, hilarious talk about how beating yourself up doesn’t make you stronger—it leaves you bruised. Being kind to yourself isn’t about ignoring your weaknesses. It’s about giving yourself permission to learn from your mistakes.
Quote I’m pondering
“Love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning” – Carol Dweck
Reach Out
I love to hear from our employees. I’ll have a blog comments section enabled soon but in the meantime, just reply to this email.