Delta Hotels - C Orporate Culture

Delta Hotels began in 1962, when five business partners purchased the Delport Inn, in Richmond, B.C. By 1970, Delta had become the leading hotel operator in British Columbia, and continued to pursue an aggressive growth strategy. Expansion to the east began in 1975 with the opening of the Delta Chelsea in downtown Toronto, and was followed in 1977 by the Delta Ottawa. Between 1980 and 1982, properties were added in Halifax, St. John, Mississauga, Vancouver and Whistler. Presence in Quebec was initiated by the opening of the Delta Montreal in 1986, and into the United States with the Delta Orlando Resort. In 1998, Delta Hotels was purchased by Canadian Pacific Hotels Limited, but continued to operate under the Delta brand separately. In fact, the current Delta "D" logo is the original Canadian Pacific "CP" logo turned upside down!

Sherwood Inn was built by Mr. Charles Draper, a lawyer from Toronto, in 1939. The original property consisted of the Main Inn only, and is situated on a peninsula surrounded by century old towering pines on the edge of Lake Joseph. Separate cottages were added through the 1950's. In 1955, Mr. R. Pritchard acquired Sherwood Inn, and completed all the existing cottages by the early 1960's. In 1972, Mr. R. Kaufman of Kitchener purchased the hotel, but only owned it for 2 years.

Delta is both a management and a franchising company, with diverse holdings in urban, airport and resort properties. The Sherwood Inn has been owned by the Clublink Corporation since 1998, and managed by Delta since 2001, when it was renamed Delta Sherwood Inn. Sherwood is the only Muskoka resort to be presented with the CAA/AAA Double Four-Diamond award for excellence in both dining and accommodations.

Through the winter/spring semester, I conducted a self-guided co-op job search. The focus of my search was exclusive, small hotels and inns within a three-hour commute from the Guelph-K/W area, willing to provide me with a co-operative education experience including interdepartmental cross-training. In my first work term, I was employed almost exclusively as a server in the dining room, and a banquet attendant for groups and weddings using the resort. Near the end of the work term, I began the next phase of my cross-training, and joined the culinary team in the kitchen, under the direction of Executive Chef, Richard Lalonde.

The Delta Hotels vision statement states that: "Delta Hotels will be THE first class hotel company of choice in Canada". In carrying out the Delta mission statement, the corporation is guided by their Quality Journey, which includes the following:

"Delta will be known to the Employee as a company where employees can contribute and grow; a great place to work where a culture exists that recognizes "the way we deal with our employees is reflected in the manner that we interact with our guests"; and a company that demonstrates and encourages an attitude that is supportive of the social needs of the community".

In my experience thus far, with Delta Sherwood Inn, these vision, mission and quality journey statements are the fundamental governing principles in most everyday interactions between staff and guests, management and staff, as well as between staff members. This quality journey is incorporated into company dealings across the country, at all thirty-nine Delta locations, and is the governing principle of the corporate culture. Employees are considered the "internal guest", and employee satisfaction is almost as important to the corporate hierarchy as is actual client "guest" satisfaction. Policies regarding inclusion, open communication, employee empowerment, and employee personal growth and recognition are emphasized at new staff orientation sessions, and are the foundation of management/staff relations. As a potential first employer in the hospitality industry for a co-op student starting a new career, Delta is a very positive role model and source of training.

Organizational Behaviour theory states that employees who enjoy a good working relationship with their employer are better able to project a positive attitude towards clients and fellow employees. Two of the important grading tools implemented by Delta are the Guest Satisfaction Survey (GSAT), which is a measure of public brand loyalty to Delta, as well as guest satisfaction with their individual experience, and the Employee Opinion Survey (EOS), which indicates the level of commitment Delta employees feel to their employer, both at the location level as well as the corporate level. At Delta Sherwood, GSAT scores are annually in the 95%+ range, indicating very positive guest relations, and are usually in the top three annually across the country. The EOS is conducted at least once per year, generally during the summer months, when seasonal employee roles are at their highest, and employee count is at its largest. Delta Sherwood has historically enjoyed consistently high EOS scores, but the 2006 survey has not been conducted yet. These two scores are very important indicators to management, both at individual Delta locations, as well as at the company head offices in Toronto. Consistently high GSAT and EOS scores demonstrates that, at Delta Sherwood, these fundamentals of