Richard Millard does hospitality by the book while writing a success story in the process
In the hotel business since age 17, Richard Millard is the man behind Tecton Hospitality and Desires Hotels, the management companies behind hotels big and small across the US. From Marriotts and Hiltons to boutiques such as Miami Beach's Sagamore and New York's Mela, the Brickell-based companies handle hotel business from top to bottom, whether it be designing and building a new hotel, handling hotel finances, marketing a hotel brand or even deciding how a lobby should smell.
Mr. Millard runs the company by the book — a book called "Us. The Cultural Beliefs of Tecton Hospitality." The little red paperback serves to remind employees of the company's principles — among them, integrity, honesty and passion — and encourage them to work hard to achieve success. "Passion for quality and innovation means that we are intensely enthusiastic about doing what we say we are going to do," the back cover says.
The companies employ thousands in hotels across the country and about 25 in the Miami executive office. Since the advent of the "Us" book, Tecton has bucked the industry's notorious employee turnover trend, Mr. Millard says. "Turnover in the hotel business is 100% per year; ours is in the low 20s."
Mr. Millard was interviewed in his Brickell Avenue office by Miami Today staff writer Risa Polansky.
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