The Reef - feels like family

Many of our past guests vividly remember the warmth and unique humour of Phil Maguire, our Restaurant Manager from 2002 through 2006. Phil was recently visiting and came to our annual staff Christmas party. I thought I'd share his letter to our inimitable Resort Manager, Mr. Lawrence Haughton... the bold highlights are mine :

Mr. Lawrence,
I'd like to thank you very much for your kind invitation to the staff party last week. It was certainly most enjoyable. It was like stepping back in time. But having been away for the better part of a year gave me a somewhat clearer view of what has been achieved at the Reef.
Practically every management guru who has ever been published stresses the need for team-building. In itself it's a worthy concept but too many leaders/managers pay mere lip-service to the idea. I'm firmly convinced that at the Reef you have left the notion of team-building far behind and instead have managed to create a Family.
I was observing how different people interacted at the party last week, both during the presentations and either side of them, and it struck me that the genuine warmth and regard that people from a variety of different backgrounds appeared to have for each other would not be matched or bettered in too many other establishments.
Seriously, I think you have achieved something pretty unique, and the end result is clearly greater than the sum of the individual parts.
Long may it continue. !

One could say this is the "touchy feely" and intangible part of the business, but it is very, very real and vitally important to treat your staff like family, as they will then treat guests not just as VIPs, but as an extension of that family.

I'm sitting here typing this in a seminar at a conference on resort marketing, but haven't heard anyone talk about "family" yet :)