The Wurzak Hotel Group has been on an incredible journey, one that took them from being a company with one of the lowest Glassdoor ratings (2.2) to becoming an Employer of Choice with a remarkable 4.2 rating. This transformation wasn’t by chance - it was the result of intentionality, creativity, and commitment to building a culture that team members could thrive in.
At the heart of this transformation was James Ferguson, who transitioned from being a General Manager at one of their hotels to leading culture efforts across the company. While he knew how to build a strong culture at one property, scaling that success across 10 hotels presented an entirely new challenge. This role - a first for the company - was created out of necessity, recognizing that culture would be a driving force for success.
James took on the challenge with enthusiasm, developing a plan built on eight foundational pillars that would drive the company’s culture forward. But having pillars alone wasn’t enough - they needed a plan to bring them to life and into action. Here’s how they did this, using a three-phase approach: Awareness, Education, and Activation.
Phase 1: Awareness – Defining the Pillars
When James stepped into the role, the pillars existed, but they had no definitions. The first step was to define what each pillar meant, creating a shared understanding across the organization.
To make these pillars visible, they created large posters with the pillars and their matching icons, placing them in the back-of-house areas at each hotel. They intentionally avoided overcomplicating the messaging, opting instead to build awareness through simplicity and consistency. The goal was clear - to move the pillars beyond abstract conversations and transform them into a visible, tangible part of the workplace, fully integrated and living and breathing within the organization.
Phase 2: Education – Bringing the Pillars to Life
Awareness was just the start. Next came education - helping team members understand how the pillars applied to their day-to-day work. They did this by launching the ‘Pillars with Purpose Plan,’ a fun and experiential curriculum of huddle exercises designed to energize teams. These ten minute micro-learning sessions focused on a single pillar each day, guiding team members to Define, Discover, Develop, and Deploy it in action.
“This helped take what was just a picture on the wall and turn it into a conversation and an education,” James shared. “It allowed people to better understand how the pillars connected to our day-to-day work.”
Phase 3: Activation – Turning Words into Actions
The final phase was all about activation, ensuring the pillars weren’t just words on a wall but became part of the company’s DNA. One standout program was ‘Wurzak WOW,’ an on-the-spot recognition program celebrating team members for embodying the pillars. Leaders could hand out WOW cards by circling the specific pillar a team member had exemplified, explaining what caught their eye and why, and then the team member would place the WOW bucks in a recognition box.
Every Friday - dubbed ‘Fri-YAY’ - a winner was randomly selected and celebrated at each hotel, with names and stories shared in newsletters, luncheons, and quarterly business reviews. “It’s also a great way to get leaders out of their offices, actively looking for and recognizing the great work happening across our hotels,” James noted.
Another example of an activation tool was the introduction of the ‘W’ hand symbol. Inspired by sports teams who use symbols as their rallying cry, James implemented this simple gesture to build community and unity across Wurzak’s team members. “It’s really caught on,” he said. “In fact, in every team photo, you’ll see people proudly throwing up the ‘W.’”
I absolutely loved the idea of the ‘W’! So much so, that when I had the honor of presenting Wurzak with the Culture Pioneer Brand Award, I couldn’t resist asking everyone in the audience to flash the iconic ‘W’. It was a powerful moment to celebrate not just this simple yet impactful symbol, but also the tremendous work and achievements of the Wurzak team. Congratulations to them for this incredible achievement, and for showing us all that with the right mindset and effort, you can truly go from worst to first.
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