The GM’s Conclave in FHW 2015, Mumbai was an effective platform for the general managers of some of the country’s leading hotel groups to share their insights on how continuous training, skill development and mentoring can retain and groom talent, irrespective of hierarchy By Sudipta Dev
People management is at the core of any general manager’s responsibilities. This year one of the highlights of FHW 2015, Mumbai was the GM’s Conclave that focused on a topic that is (not surprisingly), close to the heart of most general managers – ‘Effective People Management – Mentoring and Skill Development’. Moderated by Dominic Costabir, director, HTI, the panel members included general managers from leading hotel companies including Ashish Kumar Rai, GM, The Leela Mumbai; Biswajit Chakraborty, GM, Sofitel Mumbai BKC; Gayle Henriques, GM, Waterstones Hotel, Mumbai; Sumit Kant, GM, Four Points by Sheraton, Navi Mumbai; Manish Kakkar, GM, Keys Hotel Nestor; Ravi Rawat, GM, the Park, Navi Mumbai and Suraj Kumar Jha, GM, Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport.
The significance of training, including continuous training, was one of the focus areas of the conversation. Highlighting the effectiveness of on-the job training, Rai stated, “In my days training was on the job. I knew that if I had to move to the next level, I had to train. There is also a difference between training and driving people.” Responding to Costabir’s question that do they feel the weight when people look up to them, Chakraborty stated, “Leadership has to be a natural process. When people look up to you then you walk the talk.”
Refuting Costabir’s views that GMs do not focus on training, Kakkar asserted that training is important for business. “It could be as simple as the front office assistants making small mistakes while checking in,” he said.
Continuous training
Training is obviously not a one-time activity – so what steps does an organisation take (or should an organisation take) to ensure continuity and consistency? At the Park Hotels Group, every time an employee is trained, an evaluation is done and then they move to the next level. “We try to meet maximum consistency,” said Rawat.
Henriques who has been a trainer herself and still enjoys training people, acknowledged that it is difficult to continue and keep momentum. She commented that it is important for the key HODs to be focused as a lot of training is conducted by the training department with the HODs. “I get into training very often with HODs, we call them knowledge sharing sessions,” stated Henriques.
The next critical question, was who trained the HODs? Chakraborty informed that there are academies like the Accor Academy which offers certification courses. “It is critical that everybody attends trainings and there is a feedback. Year-on-year there are competency pit stops,” he mentioned.
Many organisations have witnessed the Peter Principle when people become a GM or vice president without having reached their level of competency. Costabir asked the panel members how recently they had themselves been through a training programme. Jha explained in detail about IHG’s training programme for general managers in which he had participated. “Post the evaluation I was told the areas of improvement. There is a coach to help in these areas who has a one-on-one with me every month on the phone. It seems to be working. For all the GMs in India after 365 days there will be an evaluation on the areas of improvement. Next, we want to introduce it to the excom level (HODs),” commented Jha, adding that while this process was on IHG also partnered with Harvard University and Cornell University for online courses.
Speaking with optimism Kant stated, “Training is something you look forward to. All of us would like to go for training. Most of us have e-learning programmes. We get marks, which is recorded and gets reflected in appraisals.”
But then, is the amount of money put into these training programmes justified? Rawat believes so. “It is important that we keep talent, nurture and coach them. You cannot justify ROI as it is a long term investment,” he added.
Talent retention
The hospitality industry has one of the highest attrition rates. The talent is picked up by all other industries and retention has always been a challenge. Rai believes that retention of talent depends on – what kind of talent has been selected, so motivation is important. “It is also important for us as hoteliers to look for the right kind of people. You cannot teach attitude, which is important,” he asserted.
Colleges need to teach students social skills and how to handle peer pressure. “Psychology should be introduced in the course. In Leela we are training top 70 people who are engaged in customer interaction on cross cultural sensitisation,” said Rai.
Who’s side
It has always been a tricky question, whether the guest came first or the people. According to Kant, earlier the focus was only on guests but now hotel companies have realised the importance of associates. Kakkar albeit asserted, “When you say that people come first then also you have the guest at the back of your mind. You keep your people happy to ensure that the guest is happy.”
In every hotel it is common occurrence for a guest to get into an argument with an employee. So does a general manager side with the employee or ensure that his guest is not miffed? Rawat felt that a general manager has to take the judgment that who is right or wrong, and accordingly inform the guest. “This scenario is very common. However, the culture of the organisation defines both the guest and people behaviour. The employee expects you to back him up while the guest has his own expectations as he is paying money and can pay more. Our role is to make sure that all stakeholders are important,” stated Rai, pointing out that an employee should not feel that he has been let down by the management.
The right mentor
Most general managers have a strong sense of commitment to mentor the right talent. Finding the right mentor and coach is an essential aspect of career development, not only in the formative years, but even in the mid management level.
Talking about his own experience Rai mentioned that when he was an HOD in the Taj Group, he was mentored by a GM (Dilip Puri who later went on to head Starwood Hotels in India). “He taught me how to be a good leader. When I was a resident manager I was mentored by two GMs who taught me about perception management – what to say, when to say, what effect it will have on people,” he said.
In many ways effective training, skill development, mentorship forms the backbone of all people related functions in a hotel. “We understand that the industry has challenges, however most organisations are doing something in that direction,” concluded Costabir.