The Taste of coffee has changed -embrace it
Rattan Keswani
Author - Check In Never Check out,Independant Consultant.Erstwhile Dep MD Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd;Erstwhile President Trident Hotels(Oberoi Group)
Hi everyone -since announcing my sabbatical I have had the fortune of being on many industry calls both in person and on zoom/teams -Revival being the prominent subject of discussion. I am however writing this to express my disappointment -we all seem to back where we were!! Recruiting issues, non- availability of people, institutes not producing well, Hey Ladies and Gentlemen -issues that were staring at our face pre-pandemic and were accentuated during the last 3 years are again being addressed in the old way. I had written a small article in the BW Hotelier a few weeks ago on the issues and will remark again. The team members were our asset and will always remain the most important one. However, companies were worried about their physical assets, P&Ls, margins -optimization, new way forward with multi skilling, leave without pay for extended periods of time (to avoid admitting layoffs). Peeeps-look at the impact all over the world-team members aren't coming back-airlines, hotels, restaurants, airports, retail, travel companies are all suffering. They won't if paid just over min wage, extended hours-lack of overtime. Could we not have had a welfare/insurance coverage for a year for all team members who were sent home or lost salary up to a mid- level role. They had responsibilities, EMIs, sick relatives. Should we not as an industry consider this in case the next calamity hits us?? We insure for loss of business/profit, damage due causes, liabilities for errors/ethical breaches, don't we? We cover for medical incidents when at work-but not for the higher cause and for the larger social cause and community.
look at this subject anew and afresh -for a short while as business grows, people may accept lower standards due the low availability of talent- monies will be made and we will forget the rear view. For true growth and "insurance" for the long term-bring out the sage in you-profits may be a "little" lower but value creation will be huge with immense brand recognition with differentiation . If investors worry about ESG or lack thereof-they will reward this success for continuity with higher multiples.
Maybe a bit philosophical -but this is a strong belief I shall carry into the future
领英推荐
Cheers -have a great season ahead my industry friends
Rattan Keswani
Director
2 年I was in Goa during Pandemic, completing and opening a brown field property, during my interaction with local hoteliers, almost all of them were taking good care of their staff, they were providing at least half payout and took care of medical emergencies, it was not so with others(non local owners),they simply shut down and moved out of the state. On revival almost 100 percent of staff returned for the local owners(majority of staff were non locals), it was not the same for others. Hotel Ownership and Management has responsibility of taking care of their crew sadly its not being attended to with the seriousness it deserves.
Director Operations, Aloft Aerocity, New Delhi. Experienced Hotelier I Hotel Operations Management I Luxury Management I Team Leader l Innovative l Strategic Planner
2 年Firstly, lovely to read your article after a long time. Secondly yes we all are facing the biggest issues every hotelier encounters - manpower. The people we had, we let go & now they have moved on.... but we hoteliers are still at the same place trying to find good quality manpower. Long story short- people are & always will be the biggest asset to Indian hospitality industry & its high time we all learn to value that be it in retaining good people, be it in salaries, be it work life balance & be it in par perks as other industries offer.
Founder & Director at Yellow Hat Consultants Pvt. Ltd. operating under the brand name PEOPLExcellence
2 年This is so true.
Life Coach, Sales Professional, Selling Value Propositions and Building Relationships
2 年Rattan Keswani very well articulated, wouldn't have expected any less...straight from the heart Unfortunately, this is the situation across most of the industry sectors... If only the aroma of the coffee still attracts the right connoisseur ??