Zipporah (Zippi) Bryan is someone who you could throw into almost any role within a hotel and she would ace it. Naturally, that means she is now the Hotel Manager at Punthill Essendon North. Nominated for Hotel Manager of the Year and taking out Hotel and Super Host of the Year at the 2022 company-wide awards gala, Zippi knows what it takes to run a hotel and ensure everyone, customers and employees alike, are well taken care of. When asked what a typical day in her life looks like, Zippi was quick to respond:

“A typical day in the life of a hotel leader is that there is no typical day. You can go from helping out in housekeeping to financial reporting, or showing executives through the property.”

So, how does she do it? Well, here are Zippi’s top tips for how to run an award-winning hotel.

1. Understand that your journey isn’t linear

Once a decision has been made about where you want to end up in your career, it’s easy to get tunnel vision and set your sights on the end goal rather than the various paths you can take to get there. Maybe you’re not sure where you want the trajectory of your career to go, and that is okay too! Zippi shares with us her beginnings in the hotel industry, and how she ended up where she is today.

“I started on the front desk in Tassie, it was my first full-time job. I’d been juggling a few casual jobs, but I wanted one that I could really put my all into and show how awesome I am.”

Once she had her foot in the door, Zippi realised she wanted to see the world before settling down and putting all her focus into her career. She took a six-month trip to Europe, meeting people, hearing about their experiences, and staying in hotels all around the continent.

“From there, I came back and took a role in food and beverage sales, and marketing. I didn’t really enjoy it, but it was nice to try a new role and discover likes and dislikes, so I could move on from that, which lead me back into reservations.”

“When I first started out on reception in a hotel, I had really great leaders who helped me explore different facets of the business, which then led me to revenue and revenue management. However, I really missed the guest-facing side of things. So, that’s when I took the leap back into operations and headed into the hotel management space.”

While it’s clear that Zippi loves her current role and furthering her management skills, she is vocal about knowing when something isn’t for you and letting it go.

“No one’s forcing you to stay in the role. If it feels wrong, look for the next adventure.”

“If it’s not working out, don’t spend time trying to force something that’s just not for you. Networking and keeping the feelers out for things that make you excited about your work or give you another perspective because it can be so easy for you to think, ‘Oh, I just don’t like this job’. You’ve just found an area that’s just not for you, there’s so many angles you can approach any role, lean into the areas you do like and see if there is room to work more in that area.”

2. Find the balance

In a multifaceted job such as management, it’s natural to find things that you really enjoy doing, versus things that you want to push to the bottom of the priority list. Part of this role is finding the balance between responsibilities so both you and the workplace run smoothly.

“My favourite part of the job is the guest-facing part, it’s the chance to really make someone’s day and teaching my team to do the same,” Zippi says. “The challenge is that as a hotel manager, as much as I would love to be on the desk all the time, there are a lot of responsibilities that unfortunately do trump it sometimes. So, it’s finding a balance of that and still doing both. It’s getting out onto the desk when I’m having a busy day, because then it makes me happier, and a better leader as well.”

3. Acknowledge the ups and downs of leadership

Like any job, hotel management is full of ups and downs. Hard decisions will fall on your shoulders, but with that comes fulfilling achievements. Zippi has experienced this first-hand in her role and points out that for every difficult day, there are a handful of experiences that outshine it tenfold. The responsibility of management comes with the power to make change and build a workplace that you take pride in.

“One thing I’m really, really proud of with this company is the absolute dedication and determination to keep the people that we’ve selected and chosen to have as part of our team.”

“There are days where it’s not as easy to be a decision-maker, and sometimes it’s hard decisions that you don’t want to make. But at the end of the day, it’s up to me. If I want to change something to be more sustainable, then I can.”

Zippi went on to tell us about her experience in guiding and training one of her employees from a casual reception team member to becoming a hotel manager herself.

“That’s the best bit about leading a team, helping the people who are really interested in growing their own careers, and growing with them.”

4. Set boundaries for yourself, for the team

A key piece of advice that Zippi shared with us is understanding when to take a step back and allow your team to learn on their own. As a manager, it is easy to take control of situation, but this isn’t always the most helpful choice for your team. Zippi explains this as setting boundaries for yourself, to stop you from jumping in to help every time.

“When you’re too involved in every aspect, you’re not giving your team the space to grow and step up and shine. You can’t refine their skills if they’re not practicing those skills.”

While this is easy in theory, Zippi also acknowledges that it’s not as simple to put into action.

“It’s so hard because you don’t want anything to [go wrong] in your business, so you want to help and not let it get to that point. But I feel like sometimes the only way to learn is for things not to go to plan.

It’s more memorable, and it really sticks in [your employee’s] brain, that ‘you’re never going to do that again’ or ‘next time i’ll do X’. Let them make the mistakes.”

Overall, good leadership comes from constant self-development to make better decisions for yourself, your team, and your customers.