Knowledge is important in designing a process… I learned this early…
I quit college and quit the night auditor job at the Holiday Inn North. The next job I performed was the night auditor for the Holiday Inn East in Birmingham. I learned a different process for the audit and used a different accounting machine
It was during this time that I was interviewing for other jobs. I was the finalist on a sales job with Reynolds Tobacco, even though I did not smoke. This was one of the most important events in my life. It changed my direction. I was one of the two finalists for the job. The hiring manager phoned me and said he would like to talk to me. I thought I had the job. I entered the office, he asked me to be seated. He asked me if I only had to have 16 hours to get a business degree. I said that was true, thinking this was a good thing. He informed me that he was not going to hire me. He stated that he did not hire quitters. I realized that this would be a determent to me for the rest of my life. Thanks to this man I was back in school the next semester.
I got a job as the night auditor of the Ramada Inn South in Tuscaloosa. This was third different accounting machine and audit process I had done in a year. The motel was owned by Mr. J. K. E. “Mr. E”. He was a self made millionaire. He started by owning a filling station in West Memphis, Arkansas. He added a restaurant and motel to the station. He was in the process of adding five motels to his chain of motels. After I got my finance degree from the University of Alabama; Mr. E hired me as the Ramada Inn South Restaurant manager. Mr. E asked me to design the accounting process for revenue recording at his motels.
Having done three audits at three different hotels I had a very good idea of how to design an accounting system for a hotel. It was like seeing all sides of a house not just the front. I knew what the house looked like for all sides. I designed the accounting system for Mr. E’s corporation. The corporation used this for years.
Knowing the details from several sources allowed me to design a system that could not be fudged to balance. All the totals from the bar, restaurant, and motel were tied together in a process that could not be altered by one person. This made the system almost embezzlement proof. This knowledge included the relief auditor showing me how he was skimming money from the hotel.
I learned that the details of a process are important. That to design an effective process you needed varied experience. You could obtain this knowledge best by actual experience.
