What are the challenges faced by you & team during the Covid especially for Employee adjustment and well-being in the era of pandemic?
Everyone within our industry has gone through some or the other kind of agony during lockdown and it seemed a never-ending nightmare for our hospitality colleagues. However, I believe state government did a commendable job in fighting the pandemic and business returned quite earlier than everyone anticipated. We as Novotel Guwahati restarted from August 2020 with minimal staffing as we had few regular guests staying with us.
Major Challenge that point of time was to ensure all Stakeholders should sustain with bare minimum loss. Keeping in mind the Health and safety of individuals, we have allowed few team members to be at home with their families with a minimum pay cut. One core team was staying inside the hotel & the basic safety policies were followed strictly. Almost 30% of the hotel employees got the benefit of Accor’s Heartist Fund .This initiative had actually helped people worldwide.
How did you keep your team motivated despite the downfall in hospitality during pandemic?
There was a massive pay cut in the hospitality industry from the time lockdown had started. One point of a time it was a question of basic survival as many people lost their jobs in our industry. Getting paid on time or getting entire salary seemed impossible. Our mission very well led by the General Manager was to ensure financial stability to all associates of Novotel Guwahati, as early as possible. Thanks to our ownership & with support of corporate office, salaries were restored at 100% for all employees since Sept 2020 onwards, which was a massive motivation for all. We also encouraged our people for internal transfer and Approx. 12% of employees were promoted or transferred to other Accor properties in India. Some critical positions were also filled through Internal Promotions.
What are the initiative taken by company to retain employees as hotel industry is having an issue with Manpower? What are the challenges? Is recruitment easy in Northeast?
Shortage of skilled work force in hotel industry is an acute challenge especially after this pandemic and business returning to pre Covid times. From August’21, onwards, Hospitality Industry has seen an upward business trend & skilled workers are in demand as never before.
At Novotel Guwahati, we have proposed a drastic change in base salaries for our employees on shop floor. We have proposed hikes in excess of 20% average for associates and Team leaders. The discussions are in an extremely positive direction and we are confident to have our employees at par with other comparable industry levels. We believe this can will be a great retention tool for us.
Skilled Manpower is a true Challenge irrespective of the location. We mostly recruit from the Skill Development Centres where the students are trained for 3 months and post 3 months if they are performing well, we recruit them. However, major challenge is to retain them. Employee engagement is again a major factor for restricting the Attrition.
How you resolved the conflicts and obstacles especially related to layoffs & new joining?
Our industry faced a turbulent times during and after pandemic in terms of human resources. Many unpopular decisions were forced to stay afloat and relevant in the market. These decisions were bound to be associated with heartburns, conflicts and dissatisfaction. As a unit, we adopted a scientific approach to handle this situation, for us the number of people affected were abysmally low and we ensure a transparent and crystal communication with all those who got affected. We also ensured to help them in all possible ways, financially and with career related matters.
We have a very strong on-boarding process as per brand guidelines. We ensure one should feel important & valued once he/she is selected for the respective job role. New Joiners get 7 to 10 days stay in the Hotel with all Guest facilities until they manage to find accommodation.
Buddy system is there for all new joiners. They are being tagged with one of the senior members for first 15 days to learn about job role & responsibilities. It helps them to understand the tasks easily and it helps to create the belonging.
Team is small but cultural diversity is there. We support each other through thick & thin. Our GM, a true Heartist himself ensures that every employee is valued and recognised for the good job they are doing in the system. T&C & respective head of the departments follow the same principle religiously.
Training & Development – what are the new Initiative taken by Organization?
R&D is an ongoing Process for any organization. During lockdown, multiple Online Virtual Trainings were organized for the employees. We have started face to face training now for all levels. Many new training programs have been initiated by India Corporate office. Our Industry is evolving rapidly and R&D is need of the hour. We have a responsibility to create pioneers & leaders of tomorrow. It can only be done with relevant training & development program. Instilling Accor Values in every associate is equally important.
As an innovative practice, we have started Cross Exposure Training for a volunteer employee who wants to learn another skill out of his department. The program is for six months with multiple checkpoints and connections with T&C. One of our Security Officer is a part of this program with Front office Operation, as he wants to move further in his career & aspires to be a front office Manager.
Since the hospitality is getting its momentum back, what qualities you would like to see in the new hiring?
With the business, the demand for quality staff have also increased manifolds. Post lockdown, Industry is facing major challenge with skilled hiring and we are no exception to it.
We have made our life simpler by sticking to the golden old rules of recruitment. We lay lot of emphasis on character hiring rather than technical skills. Basic attributes like discipline, integrity, respect & concern for others, etc. are important traits we look at.
After pandemic and all time high attrition, practices retaining employees has gained lot of momentum, however I believe right hiring can solve this issue significantly.
According to you, what qualities makes an employee to grow and develop as a leader in an organization?
Adoptability for me is the most important criteria to succeed in our industry. Positive attitude coupled with eagerness to learn is an extremely important trait for a leader. To grow within Accor as a leader, one has to be a True Heartist.
What are the sustainable practices industry should follow to make employee happy?
Recognition, sense of belongingness, empowerment and work life balance are some of our priority areas we work on as a unit. With an extreme diverse workforce & diverse expectations, our job is much challenging execution rather than planning. However, we believe the said core areas are extremely important and sustainable for the industry to keep the morale of an employee high.
