This article was originally featured in the November 2025 edition of WorkLife Business News which you can view here!
Written by Samantha Hamilton-Green, People and Brand Director at Dakota Hotels, Fellow of the CIPD, and a lifelong hospitality professional.
This article is written from a HR perspective and for Dakota Hotels, a brand known for its commitment to exceptional service, distinctive style, and a people-first culture, the latter reflected in its recent recognition in the Best Places to Work lists by both The Sunday Times and The Caterer. With the business actively expanding, growing leadership capability is essential to ensure the brand continues to scale while preserving the service culture it’s known for.
Leadership as the Engine of Growth
Expansion is exciting, but it brings a key challenge for businesses, especially those in the service industries: leadership capability in line with service culture. New businesses need managers who can set standards and operate, but more importantly to Dakota, transmit culture and build teams who “get it” from day one.
If businesses only recruit finished managers from outside, they risk hiring individuals who may be capable but struggle to lead effectively within the specific culture and operational style of your business. That is why developing leaders from within is so important. They become cultural ambassadors who help maintain continuity and support external managers in adapting to the environment. Designing clear pathways, making learning accessible, and deliberately spotting rising stars turns growth into a strategy that strengthens rather than stretches the brand.
Dakota Academy: Succession by Design
Hospitality is full of people who never planned a career in the sector. Many join for a summer job or a flexible role, then stay because they find something they enjoy, they like where they work, or it simply fits their life. It is the role of the business to keep these individuals in hospitality, grow their careers within the organisation, and develop them into leaders not only to be a good employer but also to sustain the culture the business thrives on.
Dakota Hotels grew from five to six hotels with the opening of Newcastle in 2025, and Manchester Airport coming in 2026, with more in the pipeline. Growth at this pace only works if leadership is treated as a capability to build, not a vacancy to fill. That is why Dakota created the now trademarked Dakota Academy, the learning and development arm of the business. It covers everything from induction to on-the-job skills to structured leadership programmes focused on the capabilities and behaviours that are unique to our service culture.
A core pillar of Dakota Academy is emotional intelligence. Technical skills open the door, but self-awareness, empathy, and sound judgement keep teams engaged and service consistent. Practical coaching around feedback, reading the room also called ‘gauging and engaging’ internally, and managing inter-team dynamics ensures development focuses are about people and simply making Dakota a place you want to work.
“Good service isn’t a mystery – employ nice people.” Ken McCulloch, Founder of Dakota Hotels
The fundamentals of Dakota’s culture were set by Ken McCulloch on its inception. He believed leaders should make the role aspirational as well as inspirational, creating an environment where new entrants can see a future and want to grow within it. Many of these principles remain embedded in Dakota’s succession planning today.
Clear Progression That Delivers Results
Progression routes at Dakota are simple and visible – internal successes are celebrated widely. The team can see the steps from team member to supervisor to head of department and beyond. This approach delivers measurable results. At Dakota Newcastle, the newest hotel in the group, over 10% of the workforce was promoted within six months of opening. In 2024, around 75% of leadership roles were filled by internal applicants.
Why It Matters
This focus on people is not just the right thing to do, it’s essential to protect what makes Dakota Hotels distinctive. As the brand expands, maintaining the service culture that guests and colleagues value requires more than operational excellence; it demands emotionally intelligent leadership at every level. When people can see a future with the company, they invest more in the present.
Our businesses are full of people with the raw ingredients. When companies design clear routes and provide targeted development, growth feels possible. Dakota will keep opening hotels because it will keep developing leaders, finding people who never planned a career in hospitality and helping them build one they are proud of.
Growing leaders really does grow the business. When leadership development is intentional, visible, and aligned with culture, it becomes the engine that powers business growth.
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WorkLife Business News
This article was originally featured in the November 2025 edition of WorkLife Business News which you can view here!
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