‘Employees are happier if they can choose where to have a meal’

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: Koray Ozbay, regional managing director, Accor Services, Asia Pacific, was in the Capital recently to oversee operations in India. Currently, he is responsible for overseeing the company’s activities in countries such as China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Australia, NewZealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, among others. In India, Accor Services is in a joint venture with Radhakrishna Hospitality Services Pvt Ltd and the company is called Accor Services India. In an interview with FE’s C Jayanthi, Ozbay talks of his company’s innovative solutions to win the loyalty of employees. Excerpts:

What is the nature of services that you provide your clients?

We have two strategic businesses, one of them is the hospitality industry—we own hotels such as Sofitel, Novotel and Ibis among others around the world—and the other is services: we provide employee benefit solutions including motivational and health opportunities.

What are the kind of services that you offer in India?

We run two businesses in India—one that is employee benefits and the other is rewards, incentives and loyalty solutions. Crucially, we provide meal vouchers as a healthy eating option given by employers to their employees, especially where corporate houses do not have an in-house cafeteria and want to provide flexibility to their employees in terms of having a nutritious meal at a restaurant. The premise is that a good nutritious meal not only keeps an employee healthy but also makes him or her more productive at the work place and enhances efficiency by reducing absenteeism.

Has this been successful?

Let me explain. In most of the countries instead of eating in a closed cafeteria, people are happier if they can decide where to eat. We choose the cafeteria and that is the way this brand ticket (meal voucher) restaurant has grown. The company has grown all the way from Europe to Brazil, the Asia Pacific and the rest of the world.

Does this model work well in India?