Exclusive Interview | Neha Rana Dutta, Chief Human Resources Officer, Espire Hospitality Group
/“Consistency & Creativity will lead you to success”
Editor: Tell us about your journey. How did it all start?
It is an atypical case of moving from Operations to Human Resources. People operations came to me with ease and naturally as it resonates with my inherent personality. Over 15 years in hospitality and going strong.
Editor: What do you think it takes to succeed in this industry?
Consistency & Creativity – When you're consistent, it means never having to restart. It keeps you humming to keep the mental cobwebs away. Creativity cannot flourish in a slow / varied-paced environment, thus it becomes a beget to consistency.
Editor: What are the attributes you look for while selecting or hiring? If someone wants to work with you, what should they do?
Enthusiasm, Passion & Long-Term Potential. We are not looking at a short-sighted talent acquisition, which is why our focus is on young aptitude. It is imperative to add to the existing talent pool of resources to make a deep-rooted impact on the industry and career lifecycles of those whom we engage in our business.
Editor: What advice would you give to a young, aspiring hotelier for their internship?
Utilize this period as a learning platform and not as an earning dais. Most hotel management students are lured towards higher stipend offerings instead they must enquire about which hotel business will give them a wholesome exposure in operation instead of an elite proposition or some extra earnings.
Editor: What are some of the trends you see impacting the hospitality industry?
Experience Essentialism – Personalised, intimate, and unique experiences are the expectations of the travelers, especially post the pandemic when people really want to make the most of their stays. Travel guilt is REAL and thus people want to be looked after categorically.
Economical price trends – Another post-pandemic impact is - fiercely competitive price trends in order to fill volumes post a nose dipping pandemic period. Thus, the end-user has a multitude of options across brands to choose from – what may have been out of the paying capacity for a traveler suddenly became affordable.
Editor: Two things you would like to change in the industry.
The disinclination towards investing time in young and untrained talent – It is indeed a tiring job at first. You have to invest time to explain, sometimes more than once, and even the best of interns / fresh talent may need some guidance at first. However, in return they keep your connection to a generation you shall hire/grow in a few years from now. This investment gives you some insights to their way of living and how the world is changing.
Low-grade Productivity measuring mechanisms – Unfortunately, as business models we are focused on hiring experienced talent that turns expensive most of the time. However, the focus should be on hiring a dynamic talent pool with high learnability index with defined criteria for measuring productivity. Tactlessly most organizations engage in annual performance reviews thus we invest one whole year in documenting the potential/areas of improvement. This process must be vigorous and at multiple timelines during the life-cycle of talent in the organization. The traditional annual review process must be replaced with a conventional continuous performance review.
Editor: What is your favorite interview question and why?
“What are your weaknesses/fears”
I totally love this question as you can immediately spot a researched answer of “ I work too hard” or “ I am too aggressive to meet timelines”. An honest answer to this question exposes the most shielded part of the candidate’s personality. An authentic answer to this question always discloses the undiscovered aspect of the candidate that he may / may not have prepared for.
About Espire Hospitality Group
Espire Hospitality Group is the owning company of India’s newest luxury resort ‘Six Senses Fort Barwara’, own and operate a mid-market resort chain ‘Country Inn Hotels and Resorts, and are progressing towards the launch of a new brand which will be a confluence of luxury and top-notch hospitality. There are 20 hotels and resorts in the pipeline, due to open in the next 2 to 3 years.
