EP Business in Hospitality Issue 49 - April 2014

MANAGEMENT
A scholar
in the
MAKING
WITH A WEALTH OF INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE SPANNING
MORE THAN 20 YEARS IN HOSPITALITY, MARGUERITE COURTNEY
HAS SPENT THE PAST 10 YEARS AT GLENEAGLES HOTEL.
HERE SHE SPEAKS TO ARLENE MCCAFFREY ABOUT THE
CHALLENGE OF BECOMING A ST. JULIAN’S SCHOLAR AND
WHY NOW WAS THE RIGHT TIME TO DO IT
Luxury and logistics are two
of Marguerite’s strongpoints.
Whether it’s overseeing a
£1 million refurbishment
of bedrooms, installing a
new computer service system for the
hotel or helping her department make
the transition from clipboards and
pieces of paper to checking rooms with
iPads and iPhones, she loves to look
at processes and find ways to improve
productivity and deliver on time and
on budget. Her current role sees her
overseeing housekeeping, floristry, staff
accommodation, valet and uniforms.
With a team of 117 staff and an annual
budget of £2.5 million she is central
to the presentation of Gleneagles. The
processes of change within the company
that she has introduced have made a
real difference to the quality of guest
experience, commercial performance
and the welfare of the large team that
she leads.
More recently, Marguerite has worked
with both Springboard and the University
of The Highlands and Islands (UHI) to
improve awareness of accommodation
management as a professional career.
This is a logical extension of the work
she has done with Perth College over the
years and her involvement in the creation
of an online professional development
award for housekeeping managers and
supervisors, launched in September 2012.
Marguerite was introduced to the
St. Julian’s Scholarship through an
annual appraisal by her General Manager.
Having taken a step back from her career
to have children, she felt the time was
right for her to get back onto the career
ladder.
Marguerite won her Scholarship at
Cranfield University on the Accelerated
Talent Development Programme
for 2013. The focus was on personal
development and involved a year-long
supportive relationship with Cranfield’s
General Management Programme.
After the two-week intensive course,
she left with the energy, confidence
and ability to make a real difference.
The course gave her the confidence to
work outside her comfort zone, take
a wider perspective on management
and business, and the understanding of
organisational politics alongside social
dynamics. She’s now always looking for
pockets of good practice, seeking new
ways to make a significant and enduring
managerial contribution to the business.
Following completion of the course,
she has gainfully used what she learned.
She spent time with the resort sales team,
working with the Revenue Manager on
forecasting the business three months
ahead, attending yield meetings and
shadowing the front office team while
they engage with guests. She is more
visible within the business, arranging
training with all department heads for
their teams on new IT-based property
management programs or services,
and is better prepared for the senior
management meeting every Friday,
looking at where she can “add value”
to the business with suggestions and
ideas while networking with other
stakeholders. The monthly one house
‘catch-up’ meetings with her General
Manager are now much better structured.
One important thing her tutor at
Cranfield taught her was to always
make sure her own ‘back yard’ was in
order before going into other areas.
Marguerite’s department and team
always come first: they are positive
ambassadors for the department and
her trust in their capabilities gives her
the freedom to go on and do other
things within the hotel. She has
developed her key staff to be more
confident in their roles by giving them
support to run their own areas with
self-assurance and independence.
She has a strong Head Housekeeper
who looks after the day-to-day running
of the department.
Marguerite openly states the support
she received from the senior managers
at Gleneagles from the onset has been a
positive influence and has allowed her to
grow within the business to help her in
her next career move. Looking back on
her experience, she is enthusiastic about
the benefits of the St. Julian’s Scholar
programme. Certainly it has boosted her
confidence and she actively takes a wider,
more commercial view of the hotel and
the wider business and her
own role therein. Having plainly
benefitted enormously from the
programme and having worked at
the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005,
she is very excited about being part
of hosting a successful Ryder Cup in
September and looks forward to what
the future holds.
50 | April 14 | EP