Editor: Tell us about your journey. How did it all start?

Firstly a big thank you to Eclat Hospitality & Hospemag.me team for reaching out to me! 

To start, a flashback where all my friends, after schooling were all set to occupy the engineering seats in colleges and I was somewhere keen and looking for the overall development of myself. Not one but developing and grooming many aspects of myself. And yes, believe me, I got it. I experienced the same in my 1st year of the hotel management at Merit Swiss Asian School of Hotel Management, Ooty. Hotel Management graduation was a complete package for me where I went through the complete transformation. I was educated on multiple fronts like interpersonal skills, communication skills, different international languages, personality development, food and beverage, housekeeping, world cuisines, understanding world culture, human resource, cost control, finance, managing people and many more. So I got what I was looking for in hospitality graduation stream. 

 My first assignment was as a HOT in F&B service department in Asiana hotels, Chennai. It was a preopening project and from day one, it was great learning until I flew to the Middle East for my second assignment. There I experienced that learning is a continuous process if you stop learning you stop doing wonderful things. The learning curve became even bigger with time in terms of different cultural understanding, food and lifestyles, luxury and so on. Since then I started saying “the world is a playground for hoteliers”. My experience helped me to get into the education sector and then into L&D department with renowned brands like Carlson Rezidor now Radisson hospitality, Royal orchid, Wyndham group and presently with Sarovar hotels. I think somewhere it is a mutual love that we have for each other resulting hospitality and I am still together. It’s been more than a decade now that I am enjoying every bit of myself working in this challenging and caring industry. I feel proud that now the industry is giving me the opportunity to help & shape others to grow and succeed.

What do you think it takes to succeed in this industry?

My ingredients to success in this industry are three Es’

Energy: End of the day we all are the form of energy; it’s all about hi-speed energy emitting electrons. You should be the powerhouse where ever and whenever you work and keep transmitting the same along the way to others. At the same time discover your recharge points in life and keep your batteries charged. 

Enthusiasm: Mandatory to have it in each and everything you do, from start till the end. Need to be enthusiastic about the surrounding environment, absorb positivity out of everything and let the negativity roll down without seeping in. Do not rely on external sources for this but it should come from within. It’s contagious; it lifts people and makes them do the things above their potential. Keep asking yourself “How’s the Josh”.

Empathy: The capacity to feel what others are feeling. It is a must to have quality for hospitality. It will make you humble, respected and moreover a good human being. The value of human feelings and emotions are the most here.

Editor: What are the attributes you look for while selecting or hiring?  If someone wants to work with you, what should they do?

For me, the recruitment process works more on the iceberg phenomenon. Skill and knowledge are easy to evaluate aspect during an interview. The game-changer competencies for me are the ones below the eye level and those are motives, self-image, social role and traits. These all answers the most important question that is how long and big the union will be?

The candidate should be vision-oriented; nobody is perfect so the attitude to learn and grow is the key. Synergy is again the very important quality which enables to reach organizational and personal goals effectively. 

Right attitude and synergy I see as must to have components while working together. Talent and ability will open the door for you but your attitude will keep you going in the longer run, in the hospitality industry. Synergy among people enables the organization to achieve its goals and allows individuals to accomplish their personal ones.

Editor: What is the single factor that got you your promotion?

That’s a difficult one because I really believe that it’s a set of qualities or characteristics that when added in performance day after day gets you recognised. My mantra to success is in developing good and effective habits at work for high performance, you will not climb up the success ladder based on a single day performance rather it’s a journey that matters. Developing highly effective habits at workplace makes you the winner, as your reporting time at work, your grooming habits, taking initiatives, you're follow up process, meeting deadlines, setting priorities, developing a vision, starting meetings on time and yes ending them on a lighter note, communicating effectively, etc.

So it is my sticking to core moral principles every time at work helped me to grow professionally and even personally. 

Editor: What are some of the trends you see impacting the hospitality industry?

Hospitality is a dynamic industry which is continuously evolving from the time it had started. I must say the hospitality industry is proactive and adaptive in terms of ever-changing guest needs and it’s vital also to avoid being left behind. Currently, there are many trends which are reshaping the industry and to start with it’s the safety & hygiene which has taken the front seat, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. In today’s time, the guest is more sensitive to the cleanliness and hygiene standard of the industry. Hand Sanitizers, social distancing norms markings, Shoe sanitisation stations, face masks/shields, gloves, ULV fogging of areas with sanitisers, laser thermometers to check temperatures of everyone who is walking in are the first to have practices.

Secondly, I strongly believe is mobile technology. This technology is continuingly evolving within itself and seriously impacting hospitality world. The entire guest cycle has revolutionised through mobile technology, from reservations to contactless check-in to online payment apps during check-out and QR code menu cards are all leading the way. Go digital is the new mantra!

Editor: Tech is now an enabler for great hospitality. Can you share with us some of the techs that go into creating your guest experience? 

Continuous brainstorming is going on the use of technology for better guest experience at hotels. Especially the pandemic scenario acted as a catalyst in the process where all core hotel departments like Front office, F&B service, Housekeeping and Kitchen are getting digitalised.

We are looking for minimum guest contact time at the moment. At present, the technology has enabled us to have a contactless guest cycle where the reservation process and check-in process have been interfaced with a mobile app and for the payments, during checkouts, the QR code has taken the front seat.

For dining options, you can see the QR code menus in restaurant and guestrooms. The interfaced mobile app is allowing guest to place their request without dialling any number or calling someone.
Even the video calling platforms being used extensively by both guest and hotels for communicating and showcasing the services. There have been Video calling setups in banquets halls for conferences, meetings and do believe me even for marriage ceremonies where people witnessing online.

Editor: Two things you would like to change in the industry.

Change is the only constant. Things were changing and will change in hospitality along the time. If you seek for my opinion then one which I recently experienced during the COVID 19 pandemic is that the Indian hospitality industry has shown significant potential as an industry itself. Roughly somewhere it generates more than a million jobs and has a substantial input in country’s GDP and moreover one of the highest generators of foreign exchange but still somewhere not acclaimed as a complete industry in itself. I believe this should change and somewhere the hospitality industry should get its importance recognised.

One more in the list is the exposure to newcomers. The industry should treat the coming generation with a more structured and proactive way.  India has a lot of potential in terms of the youth workforce and at the same time if we discuss the skilled workforce out of it then the graph drops drastically. Thus, as an industry education and hotels should come together to structure the complete program where we can groom the willing candidates with a common understanding and make them more ready, productive and successful in the hospitality.