Winning the Munich Challenge was a complete surprise to Adrian Huff, General Manager for Areas at ORD. Having less than a full staff and burdened by other challenges posed by the pandemic, Huff says the win is very gratifying.
“We put so much work into this competition, so it feels great to know that hard work really does pay off,” says Adrian. “We push hard to upsell popular items at all of our locations that are open and this time it helped us win.”
The competition has been a motivating source for all the teams involved, according to Paula Antich, Director of Marketing and Communications who spearheads the overall Worldwide competition. “The Munich Challenge has been a fantastic opportunity to encourage healthy competition amongst our teams while fostering some of Areas’ cornerstone values like camaraderie and leadership,” says Paula. “Adrian and his team at Tortas Frontera (Chicago, T5) have done an outstanding job with an 18% increase in items per ticket, and they all deserve a big applause for that!”
It has been a challenging time reopening post COVID, notes Adrian. “We have reduced menus and see disappointed faces on our customers. But we are committed to the 80% of locations that are open and focused on brands we hear passengers in the airport talk about.”
He credits his “people taking care of people who take care of passengers” attitude for keeping spirits high at ORD. “We can’t always pay what our competitors are paying so we show our appreciation of employees in small ways that mean a lot to them,” says Adrian. For example, on National Women’s Day all the ladies were given a carnation and on Valentine’s Day everyone received a small box of chocolates. “Recognizing the team especially on specific occasions makes them feel appreciated and more motivated to want to come to work.”
The ultimate final of the Areas Worldwide Challenge is set for January or February in Barcelona.