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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1978)
PAGE 8 AUGUST 11, 1978 Brings New Style To Management - ■ Pauli Plans To Be “Visible" at Kah-Nee-Ta Making money for the Tribes by Cynthia Stowell If it’s possible to keep a low profile and be highly visible at the same time, Kah-Nee-Ta’s new manager Bill Pauli is doing just that. On the job for just a month, Pauli has already made his relaxed but diligent manage ment style evident. His sport shirts blend with the tourist scene but employees can easily spot him in the kitchen checking on dinner, attending department meetings, or making sure a guest is .comfortable. “I could sit in my office twenty-four hours and not have the foggiest idea how the resort is running,” said Pauli. So he makes a habit of visiting depart ments and employees, his placid exterior belying the fact that he is observing, noting details, and hatching ideas on his feet. It may disturb the manager if he sees three waiters doing the job of one, a bellhop who doesn’t offer a cheery “good morning,” or a maid leaving a room less than spotless. But it is not Pauli’s style to raise a fuss on the spot. For him the chain of command must be preserved, meaning that visibility is fine but not to the point of interfer- enee. The eight-week interim be tween the termination of Dan Myles’s contract and the hiring of Pauli confirmed the effective ness of a departmentalized ap proach to running the resort, noted the new manager. Now instead of the five-person man agement team there is the executive staff of nine depart ment heads, carefully selected for their special expertise and given room to use their talents. The difference is that now there is a general manager at the top of the chart. Pauli’s “team” is directly involved in decision-making and largely responsible for day-to- day operations. Pauli is there for guidance and coordination and, of course, to take flak. Surrounded with a staff he trusts, Pauli is ready to tackle the challenges Kah-Nee-Ta pos es as a unique resort with the potential for prosperity that has somehow eluded the last four managers. Kah-Nee-Ta has been plagu ed with high operational costs that have crippled its money making ability. Pauli sees no difficulty in reducing thé res ort’s expenditures. Labor represents the largest single expense category and can be made much more efficient. In some cases one well-trained employee can do the job of three poorly-trained ones, suggested Pauli. Inflationary costs of goods sold can not be controlled except by the close monitoring of waste, in kitchens, offices and throughout the resort. “There is no magic wand that can be waved,” but, as in service, it’s the little things that count, said Pauli. Closed drapes can keep heat in or out and thermostats can be lowered to reduce energy needs. Miaullis’s observation that Kah-Nee-Ta has not been charg ing enough for its rooms will be acted on soon, bringing the resort’s rate schedule more in INSPECTOR - Kah-Nee-Ta Manager Bill Pauli can be found most line with other resorts, said anywhere, including in the kitchen making sure chef George Rica Pauli, and more effectively off assembles his buffet salads to perfection. CDS Photo setting the costs of goods and service. Attracting the business Fully aware of the “peaks and valleys oi the resort busi ness,” Pauli plans to build up the “shoulder season,” the weeks and months before and after the busy summer season. Happily, the traditional conven tion “seasons” coincide with these spring and autumn “shoul ders,” making large groups the logical targets of sales and public relations efforts. In light of hotel consultant Basil Miaullis’s suggestion that Kah-Nee-Ta has been spending a disproportionate amount on promotional activities, Pauli hopes to streamline the effort. “The programs are here, the people are here. All we plan to do is make them more effective,” explained Pauli. A meeting between Pauli, Miaull- is, Sales Director Bob McLeod, and Rockey Marsh Public Rela tions produced a commitment to Pauli's Executive Staff The “key executives” who with resort manager Bill Pauli will be overseeing the daily operations of Kah-Nee-Ta are nine department heads representing all phases of resort activity. They are: OPERATIONS (gift shop, recreation, administration) Garland Brunoe, Assistant Resort Manager FOOD AND BEVERAGES - Robert Stahl SALES - Bob McLeod ACCOUNTING, PAYROLL - Lavina Hietala TRAINING - Richard Macy VILLAGE - Jim McDonald (assistant Village manager) FRONT OFFICE - to be filled MAINTENANCE - Tom Thorsen HOUSEKEEPING - Mary Pauli The five members of the eight-week interim management team formed the core of this staff. Pauli then removed the front office, maintenance and housekeeping from Brunoe’s department and elevated them to executive status. Pauli expects to utilize the expertise for which each of these specialists was hired, taking, power from the manager s office and distributing it among his staff. (Note: In accordance with tribal policy, a new executive housekeeper will replace Mary Pauli, who, as Bill’s wife, cannot alsc be employed by Kah-Nee-Ta.) pursue a more uniform market ing effort. Creating an “aura” by “re peating the story again and again,” is an effective promot ional technique, said Pauli. This can mean making the Kah-Nee- Ta logo evident everywhere, from bills to napkins, establish ing a color scheme not only for the facility but for its communi cations and advertising, and standardizing the language used to describe Kah-Nee-Ta. Kah-Nee-Ta as an employer One of Kah-Nee-Ta’s stated objectives, second only to mak ing money for the Tribes, is providing employment and training opportunities to tribal members. Pauli said, “We want to encourage tribal members to apply and department heads to employ them.” Although entry-level jobs may be all that is available to the inexperienced applicants, there is room for advancement. Keeping customers happy “The opportunity is here for any tribal member who is willing to Once the guests have arriv apply himself diligently,” said ed, making them comfortable is Pauli. “the name of the business,” noted Pauli. After all, they are the ones who are “paying the freight.” Service must then be super ior. As Pauli pointed out, “The food in the Juniper Room may taste differently to a guest based on his experience at the front desk.” Kah-Nee-Ta’s “beautiful facility,” recreational opportun When Bill Pauli was select ities and locale may not be enough to keep customers com ed as manager of Kah-Nee-Ta on ing back. But good service “that July 14, he was in his seventh month as Village Manager. anticipates people’s needs” will There he supervised such varied do just that, the new manager operations as a restaurant, bath said. house, craft shop, cottages and It could be as simple as a tepees, and concessions. maid’s “hello,” a newspaper at the door each morning, or an Pauli feels he “brought res easily made reservation. ponsive and responsible man But it could also mean agement back to the Village” by expanded transportation, a new water system, or a larger cock delegating duties to department heads, keeping employees in tail lounge. The Juniper Room formed, and always maintaining menu was recently revamped to be more attractive visually and the proper chain of command. more appealing to the palate. The condensed menu devoted Tribal management was suf space to Indian cookery featured ficiently impressed with his in Indian language. Pauli also skills to move him to the resort said that winter packages are manager ’s office. It was not the being developed as well as increased indoor activities, to first time Pauli had headed up a make a winter vacation at sizable facility. Kah-Nee-Ta even more memor Before Kah-Nee-Ta, Pauli able. spent 2^ years managing pro Room evaluation cards will be recapped monthly and those perty in Alaska. For a year he with names and addresses will ran the TravelLodge in Anchor be responded to personally, said age and for a year and a half he managed the J.R. Hickman Pauli. High standards for hiring can foster employee pride, said Pauli, as can on-the-job support. Pauli pointed to a dual responsibility : On the one hand, Kah-Nee-Ta management must ensure that the resort is a successful enterprise and pro vides jobs to members. On the other hand, employees must do their best to contribute to its success. Pauli expects management and department heads to take an active interest in individual em ployees and their progress on an informal day-to-day basis as well as through formal training programs. Kah-Nee-Ta is the only re sort Pauli knows of that employs a training coordinator and facili tator to .make educational oppor tunities available to workers. Not only are employees free to take correspondence courses and attend seminars and classes at established institutions (all reimbursable upon successful completion), but they are learn ing emergency first aid, CPR and EMT right at Kah-Nee-Ta. But perhaps most import antly, training and recognition of employees should come, from direct superiors in an atmo sphere of positive work attitudes and regular incentives, said Pauli. The “longest journey” of a tribal member through the ranks to the resort management can begin with such encourage ment, which Pauli expects of his staff and of himself. For Bill Pauli, it’s the small improvements, the details, that will transform a struggling res ort into a successful enterprise. Those watching hope that Pauli is one of those details. From Alaska to Kah-Nee-Ta - The Lodge is One Stop in Pauli's Journey Company, which owned the largest hotel and block of com mercial property in Ketchikan. Prior to his stint in Alaska, Pauli ran the Inn at Otter Crest on the Oregon coast for a year and a half, helping the resort recover from bankruptcy. Dur ing that time, he filled in as manager at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain in Bend for four months — “a hell of a commute.” Nine years of Pauli’s exper ience were gathered in Phoenix, Arizona as a partner in a hotel restaurant consulting firm. Born and raised in Chicago, Pauli started his hotel-motel career in Washington, D..C. Now 47 years old, he is settling into the manager’s house at Kah- Nee-Ta with his second wife, Mary. But not forever. His dream is to one day operate his own business, and it-is not likely Kah-Nee-Ta will be for sale.
