MIT Sloan School of Management recently published an article on a notion that’s gaining traction at many corporations: the “employee-first culture.” Fortune 500 corporations are struggling to determine “how to create an environment where people can thrive at work,” which has been proven to impact the bottom line.
If any company is up to the challenge, it’s New York-based consulting firm Hospitality Quotient, an arm of Union Square Hospitality Group, which owns Union Square Cafe and the Gramercy Tavern.
Lissy Alden (MBA ’17) interned at Hospitality Quotient this past summer, where she and Anni Ylagan (MBA’18) prepared a strategic growth plan for the company.
In the article, Alden explains that Hospitality Quotient “works with teams and the leadership to help them understand and develop opportunities, policies and procedures to improve employee satisfaction, with the intent of improving customer service.”
Hospitality Quotient also “emphasizes the importance of hiring the right people to begin with—people who have strong inherent skills, like emotional intelligence.” One example is developing courses “on how to be a positive member of the team with tips on how to avoid behaviors like ‘skunking’—or creating a toxic environment through spreading a bad mood.”
Alden believes that company culture is intrinsically linked to the efficacy of its organizational structure and its profit margins. Simply put: “Culture is a function of structure, and it’s important to tie culture to the bottom line.”