Exclusive Interview | SHILPA NARAYAN, HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER, COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT CHENNAI
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“My mantra for Recruitment is simply to ‘look for the heart’”
Tell us about your journey. How did it all start?
With over eight years of experience in Human Resources, Learning & Development and core Operations, and Bengaluru born, I majored in Hospitality Management as the dynamism of the sector excited me. My career in the hospitality segment commenced as a Corporate Leadership Trainee with Hyatt, specialising in Food & Beverage Service.
Having gained thorough exposure across the Hotel Business and Operations, and spanning all portfolio of Restaurant Management, I further took over Divisional Training, where People, Talent & Development dawned upon as the true calling. I further moved onto Hilton to handle Learning & Development, where I drove talent and culture for the hotel.
I joined the Marriott family in 2017 as the Training Manager for JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu, where I forayed back to Luxury and further took on an enhanced domain of Quality & Training Manager. I have been an aspirant to expand my portfolio to core Human Resources Management, and thereby joined Courtyard by Marriott Chennai to head the People & Culture function as the Human Resources Manager for the hotel.
I have contributed to and championed several initiatives in my Human Resources tenure, spanning across Change & Quality Management, Driving Innovation & Culture, Talent Acquisition & Youth Development, Talent Management & Learning and Employer Branding. I have been a recipient of the APEC Training Leader of the Year Award with Marriott and PeopleMatters Are You in the List Emerging HR Leaders Award Winner.
I am an alumnus from Christ University, Bengaluru and a passionate wine and food enthusiast who yearns to be an influencer of luxury and lifestyle.
What it takes to Succeed in this Industry?
The industry is extremely competitive and it requires a great amount of passion and perseverance to excel and make one’s mark.
What are the attributes you look for while selecting or hiring? If someone wants to work with you, what should they do?
My mantra for Recruitment is simply to ‘look for the heart’. I wholly believe in hiring for attitude and training for skills. One must look at imparting the career opportunity to individuals who hold the opportunity as dearest to them
When the yearning for the job role is high, the learning and pursuit of performance and potential will naturally be high as well.
What are some of the challenges you see impacting the hospitality industry?
My key priority is to prepare and home-grow the talent for the future and thus look forward to enable the talent with skills and competencies that will help them be more ready for the dynamic road ahead.
As the focus of businesses across sector currently is on identifying and developing future ready talent, I would also like to work towards solving this challenge.
What are some of the trends you see impacting the hospitality industry?
The industry is moving at a faster pace than ever. Development is at a boom with Brand Loyalty as the driver – hospitality stalwart organizations are in the big race.
Guest experiences are at a digital high, loyalty benefits spurring travel, food and beverage constantly innovating. Sustainability measures is what will define a major change across 2019 and 2020. These will brace a visible impact on in-room experiences for all travellers.
