Dipping room rates, low occupancy level and softening demand. India’s hospitality sector is grappling with a slowdown. While the situation is not exactly headed for doom, it’s definitely not boom time either. Hence, costs need to be kept in check—be it in employee wages or incentive travel bills. And yet, an industry which relies on manpower to deliver high service standards must keep its employees motivated and in good spirits. How do you do that?
Simple, offer them new experiences right here at home. Take a cue from the FMCG, IT and consulting sectors and invite people from different walks of life to come in and share their life stories with your employees. Participants at the recent Taj Hotels’ Global Sales and Marketing Meet in Delhi had HRD minister Shashi Tharoor, actor-cum-motivational speaker Anupam Kher, Mittu Chandilya, who has been appointed as CEO of Tata group’s JV airline with AirAsia, and John Brash of Brash Brands talking to them. In Mumbai, The Leela had the Dalai Lama addressing its 1,300 employees while over at Chennai, where the hotel chain has opened a new property, Nir Halik, the famous Australian financial entrepreneur, civilian astronaut and motivational speaker, came in to chat with the staff. In Jaipur, ITC Rajputana invited Dr Meeta Singh, a member of the group that framed the ‘Girl Child Policy’, to connect with its employees, while The Grand, New Delhi brought in yoga guru Ram Chandra Ahlawat and Brigadier Soin from Army College to give defence training to its female employees. Sunil Gupta, general manager of ITC Rajputana, agrees that inviting people from different walks of life to meet employees is a growing trend in the hospitality industry.
While many of the guest speakers address the hotel gatherings for free, some charge between Rs 50,000 and Rs 2 lakh for a session. Still, that’s a lot cheaper than flying out the team to an exotic location for an offsite meeting, which is what hotels used to do till recently. Deepak Behl, director, HR, at The Grand, New Delhi reveals that after they worked out the cost for an outstation trip for their employees, a senior manager suggested they should stay at the hotel instead and invite a speaker to address the employees and their spouses. “Not only do we save on costs, it is a good motivational exercise too,” he says.
Not everyone sees the new trend as a cost-cutting exercise. Senior VP (sales and marketing) of Taj Hotels & Resorts Deepa Misra Harris says: “Our speakers were chosen for their leadership attributes to inspire, motivate and energize people to transcend their performance. Relevance in today’s environment and challenges, a combination of inspiring life experiences and industry-specific knowledge were some factors that were considered.”
At The Leela, it was group founder Captain CP Krishnan Nair who first invited the Dalai Lama to come and address his employees. Now, the motivational talks have become a regular feature. “Eminent people, entrepreneurs and leaders have experiences to share and stories to tell. Besides motivating employees, it helps in the overall growth of an individual,” says Jeewan Bakhtawar, vice-president, HR, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts.
The HR heads say the act of getting in external speakers helps “break the monotony”. For instance, The Westin in Gurgaon, Sohna and Pune have motivational speaker Keshav Mallia coming in to speak to employees on a regular basis. “While all hotels have an internal training department, which conducts training and seminars on a regular basis, over a period of time such seminars can lose their element of novelty and may even become monotonous. This is where Mallia’s motivational seminars come into play,” explains Monica Suri, complex director, The Westin (Gurgaon & Delhi). Anything to keep employees motivated, we say.