November 28, 2017 Owner & Franchise Communications

Accountability to Brand Standards Audit and Global Quality Changes Effective in 2018

We continue to focus on the consolidation of SPG’s GEI and Brand Health programs into Marriott’s Global Quality program, which consists of three pillars: guestVoice, Brand Standards Audit (BSA), and Renovation Compliance. The goal of having defined standards and an effective assessment process across the Marriott portfolio is to ensure that we can drive consistency, cost efficiency and the continued excellence of hotels and brands.

As a reminder, Marriott’s Global Quality program uses guestVoice and the BSA to measure customer experience. Accountability thresholds for guestVoice and BSA then categorize a hotel’s performance classification, which defines compliance to guest satisfaction and operational standards. The final pillar of the Global Quality program, the Marriott Renovation Program, provides a consistent, integrated process to monitor the timeliness of renovations for Marriott’s portfolio of brands. By improving compliance, the program aims to drive brand equity, improve guest experience, and protect owner investment.

guestVoice

Rollout of Marriott’s Global Quality program to SPG hotels began in January 2017 with the launch of guestVoice. All brands are now accountable to the Intent to Recommend the Hotel (ITRec) metric. For SPG hotels, thresholds will remain flat in 2018 to allow hotels additional time to adjust and manage the significant amount of integration work taking place in 2018. We will continue to monitor performance levels and increase the thresholds, as appropriate, in 2019, with the end goal of harmonizing guestVoice performance thresholds across the system.

Additionally, beginning in January 2018, the survey sample size will increase from 80% to 90% at the program level; as a result, some hotels may see an increase in the number of responses received. However, all hotels are still encouraged to focus on capturing guest email addresses as this is a significant factor in driving survey responses.

Brand Standards Audit (BSA)

Accountability for the Brand Standards Audit (BSA) will begin Jan. 1, 2018 for Group 1 brands: Aloft, Four Points, Sheraton, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Tribute, W, and Westin.

Following the publication of the BSA in mid-2017, hotels across the Group 1 brands have been receiving practice, non-accountable audits. Beginning in 2018, these brands will receive one unannounced audit during the calendar year.

Initial results from the practice audits have indicated many hotels are at risk of receiving a “Red” BSA performance classification. In preparation for the launch of accountability on Jan. 1, we encourage management companies to reinforce the following actions with their hotels:

Complete the BSA practice audit Success Plan to ensure that robust actions are being taken to drive improvement.
Review the Top Missed Items handout on MGS to address easily fixed items.
Complete at least one Self-Audit BSA, and identify and correct non-compliant items by using the Success Plan.
If your hotel receives a “Red” BSA performance classification during their unannounced BSA in 2018, consider ordering a replacement audit (must be ordered within five days of BSA), which provides qualified hotels the opportunity to replace their original Brand or Operations Score.

We continue to phase in the Accountability program to allow time to adjust to Marriott systems, processes, and policies, as well as manage work related to the integration. Starting Jan. 1, 2018, the passing score for the Brand and Operations portions of the audit will be the following:

	Brand Section	Operations Section
FS/Luxury Brands	71.0 & above	74.0 & above
MSB Brands	64.0 & above	73.0 & above

These thresholds will increase with the end goal that all brands in the Americas will have their threshold reach parity with Marriott Rewards brands. As a reminder, Group 2 brands (Element, Le Meridien, Residences) will begin receiving their practice BSA in the latter half of 2018 and accountability for hotels across these brands will begin in January 2019.

Marriott Renovation Program

The final component of Marriott’s Global Quality program is adherence to the Renovation Program. Under this program, hotels are required to complete property renovations that are aligned with the timelines and components per brand standards. Accountability for the Renovation Program will be phased in over the next few years. Accountability for Renovation compliance will begin July 1, 2018 for Four Points, Aloft and Element hotels. More information will be communicated as the program is rolled out to each additional SPG brand.

In preparation for this transition, and to learn more about the Renovation program, we encourage all owners and franchisees to view this brief recorded webinar, which provides a program overview, allows viewers to submit a question, and provides a link to download the Renovation Program timeline. Hotels that are non-compliant with the Renovation Program standard are categorized as Red.

It is important to note that hotels are classified based on their lowest score of the Global Quality Program, meaning hotels that are under-performing in terms of guestVoice, BSA, or renovation, will obtain a failing (“Red Zone”) status in Marriott’s accountability program. This will result in a formal notification to the Franchisee (and lenders, if required), potential charges, and, if unaddressed, a potential de-flagging of the hotel.

Global Quality Resources for Franchise Management Companies

Your support of these changes is critical to the program’s success. There are a variety of tools and resources available to help you understand the Global Quality program and the changes for SPG hotels.

Understand the Standards and overall audit program by reviewing the launch information located on MGS > Quality > Resources.
Ensure your hotels are aware of and attending the monthly Global Quality Office Hours, for up-to-date details, review of specific topics, and live questions and answers. Past recordings are available and have been posted to MGS.
Take efforts to continually improve ITRec scores by leveraging existing training modules, job aids, and webinar recordings, all available on the guestVoice Resources page.
Reinforce the importance of the 48-hour response standard. Ensure your hotels have a process in place to respond to negative guest comments, and property responders have taken the “Responding to Alerts” eLearning.
Watch the Accountability Overview Pre-Recorded Webinar. This webinar is designed to help you understand Marriott’s Accountability Program and the impact it has on hotels.
Understand the Accountability Program Guide. This document provides the details of the escalation and notification processes.
Review the Accountability Report in guestVoice (MGS> guestVoice> More > Accountability). This report displays the status of hotels within your portfolio.

Thank you for your commitment to Global Quality and ensuring the continued excellence of the combined portfolio of hotels. Should you have any questions, please email qa@marriott.com.