By Jenny Febbraro
It’s an award that celebrates a life’s worth of dedication. Recently retired, Josef Ebner, regional VP, Canada & managing director at Langham Hospitality Group, Chelsea Hotel Toronto, is this year’s winner of Hotelier’s Rosanna Caira Lifetime Achievement Award.
“This award is truly one of the greatest honours I ever could have received,” says Ebner, who has been a leader with the Chelsea for the past 32 years. “I’m also very proud of what we have achieved as a team at the hotel, especially through the most challenging times.”
Ebner’s reputation precedes him in the hospitality industry, with 60-year career spanning 14 properties and seven countries. His accolades include awards from the Hotel Association of Canada, Canadian Hotel and Marketing Sales Executives, the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, and perhaps most personal for the Austrian native, the 2011 Decoration of Honour in Gold from the Province of Styria, Austria.
“With genuine passion, Josef Ebner has inspired, shared and developed a vision for the future of the Chelsea Hotel and the tourism industry,” says Rob Housez, general manager, Chelsea Hotel, Toronto. “Whether tending to his guests or employees, the needs of the owners of Canada’s largest hotel, and contributing to promoting Canada as a destination, he represents the definition of a leader and a master hotelier. On behalf of the team at the Chelsea, we wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement.”
During the 1960s, an early start in an Apprenticeship Training program for becoming a waiter shaped Ebner’s view of the hotel industry early on. “When you’re a waiter, working at the service level, people do not hold back their opinions,” says Ebner. “There is no filter. You hear what people on the ground really think. That’s where I learned that success begins with treating all staff with respect and dignity.”
With a focus on improving customer service and relationships between and amongst staff, Ebner was able to transform the then Delta Chelsea during a challenging moment in its evolution.
In the early ’90s, Ebner worked at a Renaissance hotel in Washington. “I got the call and moved to Toronto and haven’t looked back since,” he says. “Promoting Toronto to the world as a great tourist destination has been one of the key factors in our success. We travelled all around the world, including China, Korea, Japan, all over Asia, Europe, the UK and the Middle East at various Showcase events.”
Ebner explains that the in-person contacts created essential personal relationships that are so critical to the hospitality industry. “Human connection makes all the difference and visiting these places internationally is the best way to promote Canada, and Toronto specifically.”
“The Delta Chelsea needed revamping at the time and I was tasked to do it,” says Ebner. “When I first came in, there were a lot of union complaints, over 200 grievances filed by hotel staff.” Other organizational challenges included insane lineups. “There would be lines all the way to Bay, Gerrard and Yonge Street.” Just checking into the hotel required a massive re-organization. But rather than solve the problem on his own, Ebner consulted the staff to collaborate on a better system. Separate check-in areas for separate groups streamlined the enterprise and reduced wait times.
In addition, Ebner arrived at a time when staff turnover was astronomical. “It was like a revolving door,” he says, laughing. “But by creating personal relationships with staff — and treating them with respect, that is how you ensure staff loyalty. That loyalty towards the hotel then becomes a personal loyalty. They too, are invested in it.”
While hotels have an average staff turnover rate of 25 to 30 per cent, the Chelsea, under Ebner’s leadership, has reduced that number to 10 to 12 per cent: “People stay because they like their workplace, they have built connections there. We are really more like a family.” Ebner says that 35 per cent of the staff has been there for 25 years or longer.
Ebner also brought in greater revenues by taking a unique approach — he became a part of the sales team. “I did not officially work in sales, but I worked directly alongside them and with them,” he says. “As a team, I led us to greater sales and built relationships there.” In doing so, he came to befriend the hotel’s owners. “You want to have happy owners when you are in upper management,” he explains. “So better revenues, among other things, helps that. But again, this is all a part of building relationships, which is at the core of everything.”
His strategy became reducing expenses and increasing training. Initially, Ebner took a hard look at the annual budget and cut $1,000,000 from payroll. Following that, he sought to bring the then three-star hotel to a four-star rating. “We succeeded, but not without a lot of work — and I attribute that to everyone’s hard work and co-operation,” he says. “We spent $100,000 on staff training that year and we continue to do so. Regular training is a huge component of service excellence.”
It’s that consistent, dependable excellence in service that creates return visitors, he says. Ebner notes that service must be the focus of the hotel, especially since guests were not automatically drawn there for conventions. “We did not have the facilities to host conferences, like so many hotels, though we have a number of regular business guests who choose to stay here when they come to Toronto,” he says. “Once you become known for the quality of service — that’s what keeps their business.
