Editor:
Congratulations on being nominated as one of the Great Places to Work in
India. What does this recognition mean to you?
Recognition in any form means that we are doing something
right. It just reiterates the fact that our endeavour to make our Hotels an
employee friendly, fun, spirited and refreshingly different place to work for, is
going in the right direction. It also means we are hiring the right set of
employees and training brand ambassadors who “trust” us. The most important thing
it implies that the culture which Lemon Tree fosters is accepted en masse by
its employees and they are proud to work with us.
Editor: We read
the article with relish and a noticed a lot of emphasis on diversity hiring and
differently abled / skilled workforce. What were the benefits, but also
what were the challenges and learning from driving this initiative?
I’m glad you asked the question. It has been a delight to
work with our special colleagues. We have been hiring people with disabilities
(PWDs) since 2007 when we on-boarded seven speech and hearing impaired
associates, today we stand at a count close to 500 and have increased the
spectrum to cover orthopedically handicapped, visually impaired, down syndrome
and autism PWDs along with speech & hearing impaired colleagues.
Our journey over the last 10 years has been full of learning.
Enabling these employees with disabilities (EWDs) has given us a sense of pride
and not only that; it has improved each one of us as a human being. For us,
these colleagues are not different, they are part of the system, as good as any
other employee working at Lemon Tree Hotels.
Including them has increased creativity of the Team, all
employees are tuned to accept and accommodate EWDs and put best efforts to
train them using innovating ideas, especially when it comes to training EWDs
with intellectual disability. We work as a team and walk as a team.
Contribution by each and every team member in mainstreaming these individuals
is very important. This inculcates a sense of pride and satisfaction within
each person of the Team.
LTH and competition is similar in the product and services
they offer. What stands out is the people connect. Hiring employees with
disabilities not only gives us an edge but also contributes to building our brand
purely on basis of word of mouth. We do not do charity but empower by providing
employment to EWDs by enabling them to earn their livelihood with dignity. We
are trying our best to sustain them and providing opportunity to those with
less or no opportunity. We receive innumerable guest comments felicitating and
commending our differently abled employees. Our EWD’s display commendable
levels of productivity and are always ready with a smile.
Every disability comes with its own challenges. One of
them is having different set of hiring guidelines for every disability. A lot
of factors have to be kept in mind while hiring these set of people right from
which areas are safer for them to what adjustments we can make in the
infrastructure of the building to accommodate them.
Although attrition is less for this segment as compared to
other colleagues yet it is high within the first two months of hiring. Another
challenge we face is imparting technical skills to them as they come with negligible
knowledge about the hospitality industry and its inherent processes. However,
this gives us plenty of opportunity to devise innovative and impactful training
techniques that are simplified over time.
Mobility is another factor. Most of them cannot be
transferred to other hotels. Also their sensitivities to various happenings in
life need to be taken into account.
A lot remains to be explored in this segment and we are at
a very young stage in hiring these employees. This means, not just a lot of
challenges but also a vast opportunity for becoming better or as we may say, going
from “good to great”.
Editor: What can
candidates who aspire to work with Lemon Tree Hotels do? What should they
work on while they are in college or in another organization waiting for your
positions to open up?
Our recruitment mantra is “ Hire for Attitude and Train
for Skill” hence a positive attitude to learn and develop into a well-rounded
professional is the basis of our recruitment endeavors.
Over the years we have learnt that humility, adaptability,
perseverance and tenacity, are the qualities that make a hotel professional
successful. We are in the business of providing service and there is no room
for ego. “Hands On” professionals do well in the Industry. We need to be ready to
accept new ideas and change accordingly. It is a demanding industry, both
physically and mentally. Only the “Tough” ones last till the last mile.
The skill development of students happens primarily during
the Industrial Training phase, wherein he/she is exposed to hotel shop-floor
operations. This experiential learning coupled with the various moments of
truth that the student experiences during this phase helps him get a first
hand, realistic understanding of the business of hospitality. We have
experienced that certain students take up a hospitality career for the “glamour
quotient”, which incidentally is only a small facet of the bigger picture.
Prior to taking up a career in the hotel industry, it
would be advisable for aspiring students to spend quality time with existing
hoteliers, to get an in-depth understanding of the nuances of the industry at
large.
It would be advisable for career counselors to conduct
site visits for interested students to various domestic and international
hotels operating in India. This will give the students a firsthand understanding
of the challenges on the shop-floor, thereby setting the right expectations.
Our Management Teams are encouraged to use leadership
styles that are ‘enabling’, ‘supporting’, and ‘mentoring’ instead of being
‘dictatorial’. The empowering work culture encourages employees to think
freely, ideate and be creative. We promote a work climate which encourages
participative management and thus allows employees to participate in running
and managing the business.
And this is what we look for in people we want to hire.
Agility, perseverance, the willingness to learn and grow and a never say die
attitude.
Editor: Please
share your Campus Connect initiatives and Management Trainee programs if
any. What are you doing to keep the millennial happy?
The Lemon Tree Hotel Company believes in hiring talent
from Hotel Management as well as other Graduate colleges. The North Eastern
states have proven to be a potent and perennial source for talent
acquisition.
In addition to this, our Executive and Management Training
Programs which over a period of eighteen months give us trained Executives and
Assistant Managers who are well-versed with the Lemon Tree culture. They keep
on funding our ever increasing need for professionals as we keep growing at a
considerable rate. These MT’s are selected both through Campus Recruitment and
a well structured Internal MT selection process. We also have a “GSE Program”,
wherein employees undergo a rigorous six months training and post qualifying
become Executives.
We also have a "Engineers in Training Program” which caters to our
maintenance and engineering department. It is a highly methodological program
which gives in depth theoretical and technical knowledge and is one of a kind
in the Industry.
There are various employee development programs, which we
have designed keeping in mind the growth that we foresee. We have a full time
team of professional trainers who are constantly designing and upgrading
customized training programs for various levels of hierarchy.
The “High Potential Program”, identifies trains and
develops the top 20% of our high performers in the Company and helps us retain
the best talent. The “EAShip Program”, for these Hi-Pots is a structured two
week program as part of which they get to intern under a Corporate Function
Head and get an overall understanding of how the Company and the Corporate
Functions work. The “HGM in Making Program”, is an advanced Career Development
Program for Hi-Pots. Individuals identified under this train over a period of
nine months to take on leadership roles across our hotels.
Along with this, managing the expectation of the Gen Y has
always been a challenge for everyone, more so in the current scenario with
different industries attracting talent from the hospitality industry. Being
innovative and less concerned with the rigidity of corporate structures, Gen Y
needs to see benefits in the job from their perspective. They need to know that
they can grow for which we have in-house training programs and a comprehensive,
formal mentoring program or the Hi-Pot Program which pairs Gen Y members with
more seasoned employees who can help guide their professional development. The
HGM encourages an open door policy, wherein s/he frequently communicates with
team members, offers feedback, praise and encouragement. Teamwork, one of our
core values helps create a connected and more productive environment for these
doers. Organizing monthly staff lunches, picnics, fun Fridays with activities
involving the teams keep them happy and going.
We are a very young company with our average age being 29
years. New innovative “ideas and experiences” is what is required to keep the
morale of our employees high. Led by our CMD, Patu Keswani, we boast of a
refreshingly different, fun filled, dynamic and energetic work culture.
Employee engagement has been our mantra for success. We believe that if our
employees are engaged constructively, high performance will be delivered. And
this is driven by our Culture.
Editor: What
metrics do you use to measure success in HR?
Our success lies in the success of our people. The Lemon
Tree Hotels’ mission states that our foremost focus is “ensuring the well-being
and self-worth of our colleagues, who are of the utmost importance to us”.
Being in a people’s business, we fully understand that employee happiness will
help us achieve employee engagement and thus success in the business.
Our focus has been to “Attract and Retain” Talent, High
Performers to be specific. There is a dearth of employable and experienced
talent today as domestic and international hotel companies are flooding the
market with new inventory. Attrition in and up-to a certain level is desirable.
It keeps getting fresher and younger ideology into the industry. Our focus has
been to provide a robust succession plan for our high achievers and train and
motivate more staff to become high performers.
There are various employee development programs, which we
have designed keeping in mind the growth that Lemon Tree Hotels foresee in the
near future and to retain our vital talent. At any given point in time, we have
about one-third of our manpower, engaged in one or other learning interventions.
And then comes, “Employee Feedback”.
Opportunities are created through interactive, cross
functional and cross hierarchical communication forums for people to share
ideas and suggestions with the Management. This enhances the self worth of an
employee which results in professional and personal gratification.
Participative management is fostered through forums like
Fresh Eyes, Engagement Chats and other HR practices. Some include:
All our General Managers routinely meet atleast one team
member every day for a structured and documented discussion termed as
“Engagement Chat”. For a progressive organization which aims at continuous
improvement, Engagement Chats provide us with valuable and actionable feedback
that helps the culture evolve.
We have set up a communication forum called “Fresh Eyes”.
As the name suggests, it is a forum wherein all new employees are invited to
share their experiences over their first three months with the organization and
give their suggestions. Relevant ones, amongst these, are then made focus areas
for the Management team.
Feedback shared by employees through the “Great Places To
Work” survey and the internal “Employee Connect” survey, also gives us
actionable feedback. The action plan derived out of response received is then
translated onto the Key Result Areas for the Management team. When the team
sees Management acting on their feedback and suggestions, they are encouraged to
speak up and add value to the organization’s intellectual capital.
It would be worthwhile to mention here the Feedback
received by Guests. The constant high scores on our Guest Feedback Tracking
System and Trip Advisor ratings also support the fact that the policies and
processes that we follow are churning out good professionals.
Editor: Last but
not the least, what would you change about the Industry HR Practices if you
could make sweeping changes across the board?
What I’ve learnt over the years is that one can definitely
be taught “Skill” but what is required is “Right Attitude”, hence HR Leaders of
the years to come should focus on attracting, grooming and skilling employees
who have the right attitude towards their job. One has to remember that no one
can get a “custom made” employee. An employee’s strengths have to be honed and
chiseled continuously and his areas of improvement upgraded to help him/her
unlock their hidden potential.
In short, we need to focus on the human perspective and
the opportunities it brings with itself. Work can just not be concentrating on
making numbers and achieving financials, service excellence through human
intervention would go a long way in making the HR practices pan Industry
employee friendly which will undoubtedly lead to better business and growth.