In Gordon Ramsay's book Playing with Fire, he relates how various parts of his operation work. One of the key features is what I would call a system of loose/tight controls. Certain things are centralized and run from headquarters while others are decentralized and operate locally.
This centralized/decentralized process has even been extended to the centralized reservations system where there is a call centre where each restaurant is answered in the restaurant's own name, but if the one being asked for is full there is an ability to cross-sell into one of the other restaurants.
" ... hire the right people and leave them to organize.", says Ramsay. But he is very selective in this area, especially with the chefs. Many of the chefs have had previous direct experience of working with him. It is this skill of getting the right people, giving them freedom and, importantly, a direct stake in the operations of their restaurants, that has allowed Gordon Ramsay Holdings to grow at the speed that they have without resorting to a franchise model.
In a similar manner, EFG International (European Financial Group), has established a model where the Client Relationship Officer (CROs) are regarded as having the primary relationship with the clients, they are given wide decision-making rights and individual P&L accountability. The Private Banking Innovation blog has a video interview with the founder Jean-Pierre Cuoni.
Jean-Pierre highlights the relationship between the client and the people in the bank. Alex Osterwalder, interviewed a number of people in the hospitality industry to gain insights into service cultures. The common thread amongst these is an ability to anticipate the customer expectations and then use this as a benchmark to measure the extent to which these expectations are exceeded or met.
According to Ruud J. Reuland, General Director of the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, hospitality takes place whenever products are consumed in the premises of the producer. This is certainly true of banking products yet how many of them see the hospitality angle as clearly? When we do, all manner of branch and location innovations become possible.
Of course, there are many aspects in which banking is dramatically different from the hospitality industry. However, the one area where the hospitality industry (at its best) beats banks hand down is in putting the client or customer at the centre of their universe.
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