SafetyCulture

Accor Hotel Group

Discover how Accor delivered 5-star service while staying COVID-safe with SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor)

Accor Hotel Group

Accor is one of the world’s leading hospitality groups. The group has 38 brands and 5,000 hotels under its umbrella, including Novotel, ibis, and Raffles. Each of Accor’s hospitality brands has its own values and standards that the group works to maintain seamlessly and consistently. 

In an increasingly competitive landscape where consumers have a wealth of choice at their fingertips, staying ahead of the curve is essential. And technology has become key to refining the guest experience — whether as an ultra-luxury hotel or budget-friendly brand.

“Each of these brands has its own DNA, it’s own character.”

Maarten van den Nieuwenhuijsen
VP of Guest Hospitality & Guest Quality, Accor Middle East & Africa

Streamlining operations across the board

With a comprehensive system of quality and safety standards to maintain across its 250 hotels in the Middle East and Africa, Accor employees were spending hours on paperwork. Julia Schamme, Accor Hotel Manager at Dubai Al Barsha, says: Before the SafetyCulture platform, we would use Excel. We would have all of our [hotel & brand] standards written on an Excel file, and compile the results. It took hours and hours.” 

With its Excel-based system failing to keep up with increasing demand and the added pressure of the looming COVID-19 pandemic, Accor made streamlining its operations a top priority. 

To minimize its paper chain, save time, and improve operations across the board, Accor looked to SafetyCulture for a forward-thinking solution. With the ability to update checklists in seconds and instantly deploy them to an entire workforce, SafetyCulture provides time-saving technology that ensures consistency across all operations. This frees up staff members to focus on elevating the guest experience in other ways.

Rolling out the SafetyCulture platform across the organization empowered Accor’s staff and helped them engage in the brand’s common goals—a level of excellence that benefits the guest in ways both big and small.

“We take little actions for guests without them expecting it or asking for it. Be it noticing the toothpaste is empty when servicing the room or seeing that the child liked pancakes yesterday and serving them pancakes at breakfast today.”

Julia Schamme
Accor Hotel Manager at Dubai Al Barsha

Raising the RPS bar

A reputation performance score (RPS) is integral to the ongoing success of any hotelier — a badge of success highlighting their guests’ experience. Accor understands the direct link between RPS score and brand perception. Improve this metric and you demonstrate your ongoing commitment to excellence.

Accor utilizes SafetyCulture to bolster its RPS performance, ensuring quality and consistency across its vast network. It also uses the platform as an effective training tool before any upcoming audits, with inspection data collected synced and shared directly with the Head Office. With visibility across the organization, teams are able to rectify operational issues and identify service gaps with pinpoint efficiency to improve its services.

“For our hotel, SafetyCulture gives us the tools to check ourselves… It is a tracking system where we can analyze and elaborate on our performance in any given area of the hotel, based on Accor’s set standards.”

Julia Schamme
Accor Hotel Manager at Dubai Al Barsha

Delivering 5-star service, safely

Keeping employees and customers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging for any hospitality organization, particularly one of Accor’s size and influence. 

To keep the wheels turning, everyone must pull in the same direction, as Julia explains: “There is no division between departments. Everyone works towards the overall success of the company.”

Cross-collaboration is just one piece of the puzzle. In a rapidly changing environment, the flexibility to respond quickly and safely is essential. To meet a raft of stringent COVID-19 safety measures and ensure the safety of its guests as well as its staff across all hotels, Accor prioritized clarity, simplicity and digitization. 

For Accor, safe operations are just the start. After all, safety and quality share a relationship. In embedding a culture of safety in its organization, Accor is doing more than protecting its business — it’s delivering on its brand promise.

Want to see how the SafetyCulture platform can improve COVID-19 operations? Check out our COVID-19 Response Hub and access thousands of COVID-19 checklists, resources & ebooks.

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