They work while you make merry

It's the time to laugh and be merry as Christmas trees and vibrant mistletoes herald the holiday season! But if you are employed with the hospitality sector, chances are that the festive spirit might fail to work its charm upon you. Working overtime, appeasing grumpy customers and surrendering to the diktats of overbearing bosses can have its unfortunate repercussions on even the most optimistic in the team.

As corporate India talks incessantly about employee engagement and team-building activities, the need for enhancing team bonding and spirit is felt most in the hospitality sector, especially during this peak time.

Human resource experts opine that the strategies used for employee motivation should be structured and customised to suit the work patterns of the hotel sector, as opposed to merely drawing in techniques that are used by corporates in IT or the banking and financial services. Hotel sector in India employs over 8-10 million professionals, as per numbers by intelligence firm Statista.

The holiday season invariably witnesses maximum footfalls for hotels, upping the workload for the staff, especially the chefs.

According to Upender Singh Tomar, food and beverage manager, ITC Gardenia Bengaluru, a typical city hotel experiences a lower graph in occupancy and a higher graph in terms of footfalls at restaurants towards the weekend. "But during the holiday season, hotels see a rise in both occupancy levels as well as restaurant footfalls. The market segment also changes from business travellers to families.''

Dhananjay Samarai, director of human resources, The Westin Mumbai Garden City, says, "We witness higher occupancy of almost 85-90% during the peak season, especially in the Christmas and New Year period. It becomes challenging for the number of hours and efforts that are clocked in during this time. The strategy of success, in this case, is consistency and delivering on commitment to all associates. There is an on-going focus during the entire year on training and developing multi skill-sets, which help in substitution during peak seasons."

Experts say hotels should especially focus on training customer-facing employees to deal with guest overload and the skillful techniques of handling fussy and rude guests. "Customer is king for all hotels. Employees should be trained to be patient, maintain their cool during stressful situations and address guest complaints with a smile. This calls for hotels to time and again hold sessions on meditation and yoga," said an expert, adding that another way of enhancing employee efficiency and zeal is by organising teams in a pattern where like-minded people work together.

Experts say the hotel management should ensure that team leaders and experienced hands are at the helm of affairs during the peak season. "Junior employees need their seniors present in order to come up with quick solutions to sudden problems, to diffuse tensed situations and play a lead role in convincing over-demanding guests,"said an HR expert from the hospitality sector, adding that not having their team leaders around can cause employees to be stressed out in challenging situations.

According to Tomar, the division of work among team members also needs to be balanced out to ensure associates do not work beyond their designated work hours. "We believe in breaking the departmentalisation and bringing everyone together to ensure work gets properly divided.''

Another strategy certain hotels vouch by is to commence pre-work in advance to avoid peak season pressures. According to Samarai, the teams are trained to multi-task, "so that we have maximum hands available to ease the burden. We also have interns join in during this period and they work to our advantage since we get additional support in terms of manning.''

Properties like Pullman & Novotel New Delhi Aerocity also take in interns and agencies to support big events, says the brand's director of talent and culture, Srinivas Rao. He adds the hotel has successfully implemented a five-day work week, which plays a crucial role in easing work pressure.

Fun events and activities are conducted umpteen number of times at hotels to re-energise and motivate employees. "We further have exclusive motivational sessions for our female employees that creates a benchmark for continuous engagement," says Rao.

Tomar says they plan post festive off-site outings for team members in appreciation of their efforts and to allow them to unwind.

8-10 mn – Professionals working for hotel sector in India, as per Statista

GOOD RECEPTION

• The hotel management should ensure that team leaders and experienced hands are at the helm of affairs during the peak season
   
• A popular strategy certain hotels vouch by is to commence pre-work in advance to avoid peak season pressures