One of the most essential things in any relationship, including a business relationship is to have shared goals. It’s the only way to ensure long term success. This is especially true in timeshare resorts as we are in the unique position where the people we answer to are our Members, represented by a Board of Directors. Problem is, as I’ve mentioned in a previous article, not everyone on the Board may have a background in hospitality.
There’s a juxtaposition there, the Board’s primary objective is the owners and making sure decisions are made in their best interest to protect their investment. The management team’s primary objective is to run the resort in such a manner as to keep it on course and solvent. Most of the time the Board goals and management goals align and where they differ, the Board gives management enough slack, because they trust the decisions being made.
However there have been instances both in the past and even fairly recently where the two entities have not seen eye to eye and its lead to massive shakeups at resorts. Recently an article came out featuring an anonymous source, who called out a lot of practices that happen industry wide among timeshares. One of the points anonymous made is that there are Boards that come together and think they know everything and instead of communicating with their management and having a shared dialogue they tend to become dictators.
Management could be sounding the alarm, but at the end of the day they are bound by the articles of association or the club rules etc. The Board of directors may be the captains, but Management is the one at the helm, if they see an iceberg it’s their job to advise and navigate, even if the new route may take a bit longer to get to the destination. If the captain takes the helm and decides to stay on course despite the warnings and advice of the helmsman the entire ship could sink and for what? Cost savings?
The point of the shared goal is to avoid the ship sinking. Both parties taking responsibility when needed and deferring to each other on matters. Management, with all their years of hospitality insights should be the ones handling the business aspect and as long as everything is running smoothly, the accounts are in balance and bills are being paid, then there should be little to no need for Board interference. Of course there are times where shady dealings may be happening and that’s where the Board comes in as a means to protect the membership and weed out anyone involved in those dealings that may negatively affect the reputation of their beloved resort.
Everyone has their roles to play, but from the outset it needs to be clear who bares what function. This relationship only works if there is mutual respect, communication and a common goal. A standard that should be set from day one by either the new Board or the new management team. At the end of the day we are all in this together and the success and longevity of our business depends on the synergistic relationship between the Board and the management team.q
Aruban born and bred Shanella Pantophlet is passionate about tourism. That is the world she studied and works in, so we might as well call her a specialist. Luckily for Aruba Today Shanella also loves to write. And together with the fact that the majority of our readers are tourists, we found ourselves a perfect combination for a column: Hotel Hustle.
