“If you’re standing still nowadays, you’re going backwards”

Strawberry has developed into one of the Nordics’ leading hotel chains over the past three decades, with over 250 hotels operating under a range of brand names. The Luxury & Lifestyle Division, of which Henrik Berghult is the COO, includes a number of independent hotels – such as the Nordic Light Hotel and Hobo in Stockholm – that do not form part of the Group’s major chains, including Clarion, Comfort and Quality. Henrik’s role means he is someone with a finger on the pulse of an industry that is currently being transformed in response to a changing reality.

Henrik opens by saying that, “The days when we could be content simply to sell bed and breakfast are long gone. Hotel rooms that are identical, wherever you may be, simply don’t fly any more. Success nowadays depends on selling and providing truly memorable experiences and building loyalty amongst our customers.”

What are, in your opinion, the most important challenges that the industry faces?

“There are two obvious things that really stand out for me. The first is skills supply, or talent management, which has been an issue for the industry for many years now. The ability to attract, develop, and retain skilled people is the alpha and omega of our industry, but the pandemic saw a great many skilled and talented staff move to other industries, and many of them have not come back. So it’s vital that the hospitality industry can demonstrate that we are a future industry with strong career paths, rather than simply offering stopgap jobs where you’re simply killing time until something else turns up.”

“The other big challenge has arisen a little more recently and has to do with the macroeconomic climate. Recurring global crises of one kind or another have hit the industry in the form of inflation, high costs and interest rates that put margins under pressure. But we still, nonetheless, have to provide value for guests who are, in turn, often having to tighten their belts somewhat.”

And what opportunities can you see?

“One of our advantages, here in the Nordics, is that the turbulence in the world outside may mean that our region is perceived as a relatively calm and risk-free destination. And when it comes to skills supply, we’re also seeing the realization that the industry needs to meet new demands resulting in new initiatives like the Hospitality Leadership Program, and in educational initiatives at other levels, too. This is a very positive trend and bodes well for the future.”

“We’ve also seen how the changes in behavioral patterns that resulted from the pandemic, such as the normalization of online meetings, have actually also raised the ambitions bar when people do meet face-to-face. This shift is creating a need for new spaces for face-to-face meetings, whether within companies or with customers, and hotels are developing into local hubs for positive experiences in their cities. Opportunities are also opening up for hotels that focus on sustainability and capped CO2 emissions. Companies and private guests alike are increasingly choosing CO2-smart solutions, and there’s a lot to be gained from getting involved in the green transition.”

How should industry stakeholders meet these challenges and maximize the benefit to be gained from these opportunities?

“It’s incredibly important to see your staff as an investment, not a cost. You need to build strong cultures and organizations where people want to work. It’s vital in terms of skill supply nowadays when employees demand high standards from their employers. This means not just having a high-quality HR policy that allows employees to contribute, but conducting credible sustainability and climate-related work that really makes a difference, too. Education is another piece of the puzzle, and this is an area where the industry needs to team up with and work alongside education providers at different levels, including upper secondary schools, higher education, and levels in between.”

“We also need to work with infrastructure and destination development in collaboration with both different hotels and other stakeholders – such as municipal administrations, travel agencies, arenas, and fun parks – in the way that has been done so successfully in Gothenburg, for example. This is the way forward. In 2023, Strawberry rebranded from Nordic Choice to Strawberry specifically in order to transition from being just another hotel chain to being the developer and provider of an ecosystem of experiences in cooperation with partners, such as Norwegian.”

Where do you see the need for transformation?

“The transformation is primarily, in general terms, about integrating technology and freeing up time for employees. We are in the era of AI and need to take that leap wholeheartedly. But employees can’t be replaced by automated solutions: these solutions should, instead, be used to allow employees to place an even greater focus on the guest experience. It’s the boring, administrative duties that should be digitalized and automated because the interpersonal interaction needs people. AI can never enhance the guest’s experience with a smile or do the little things, like folding the edge of a toilet roll sheet into a triangle or placing a chocolate on the guest’s pillow. The good thing here is that many people are attracted to our industry specifically because of the potential it offers for personal interaction, and it is this that will now become a bigger part of the job.”

“Thinking along new lines and being innovative is pretty much a matter of survival nowadays, too. It’s essential that we identify new partnerships and new ways of doing things. It’s not just about technology – it’s about service innovation, like packaging big picture experiences for the customers or improving your climate footprint by reducing food waste. We also need to work with other climate-related and cost-cutting measures in the energy sector, for example. And this is an area where AI can be hugely useful.”

What do these trends mean in terms of the demands made on leadership and management?

“Experience is vital at senior management level, and that’s as true now as it always has been. You have to know what you’re doing. That having been said, it’s more important now than ever before to be both strong communicatively and receptive to change. Communication is important because employees and – to some extent – guests are buying visions and values. The importance of being able to convince and inspire employees has increased now that so many other things are being digitalized, precisely because it needs a person to do this. Receptiveness to change is also essential because the times we are living in are uncertain and it’s just one crisis after another. You have to be able to lead in the midst of uncertainty and to implement changes. If you’re standing still nowadays, you’re going backwards.”

How do you think the Stockholm School of Economics’ new Executive Education program can help?

“This program is incredibly welcome and it’s strategically important too. The hospitality industry is a massive employer and is effectively a kind of basic industry nowadays. The industry deserves academically rigorous educational pathways that equip tomorrow’s leaders with the analytical tools they need, but there has been a lack of really cutting edge, advanced level management training programs in the Nordics until now. Senior managers in the hotel industry have either trained at the hotel management schools in Switzerland, which are very traditional, or at universities – primarily Cornell – in the USA. I believe that the Stockholm School of Economics’ Hospitality Leadership Program can bridge the gap between the academic framework and our sector. It can help generate professionalization and boost the industry’s status throughout the Nordics. And I think that the program could potentially achieve a strong position at European level too.”

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“THE INDUSTRY DESERVES ACADEMICALLY RIGOROUS EDUCATIONAL PATHWAYS THAT EQUIP TOMORROW’S LEADERS WITH THE ANALYTICAL TOOLS THEY NEED.”

 

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