November 26, 2008 is etched as a black letter day in the history of hotels in India. It would not be wrong to say that before that date and largely after it too, most parts of India have been considered safe and essentially terror free. Still, that red mark in our recent history plays heavily on our minds and the ecosystem we live in.

To make a corny and a tad inappropriate joke, it is common to be bitten by a mosquito in India than to be hit by a missile. But that winter day in 2008 has been exceptionally and uniquely horrific.

Amongst a dozen high traffic, high in visibility and attention drawing venues chosen for terror attacks were two high profile hotels. Taj Mahal Palace was one of them where terrorists struck with shootings and explosions.

The Vice President and the General Manager of the Hotel at the time, who sadly lost his family in the attacks, the celebrated Corporate Chef, and each and every employee on duty that fateful night stood like human shields to protect the guests and ensure their safety. The call of duty and service was so high that while there were 30 casualties, about 250 people were rescued.

The 2018 Indian-American-Australian film, Hotel Mumbai, captures the essence of the spirit, the sensibility and the sense of service of Taj – the Company and its employees, rather well.

The heartfelt gratitude from the then Chairman – Ratan Tata – and the Company was immediate. It came via plaques, roll of honour, rehabilitation programs and a Trust that was created to help rebuild lives.

The synergy between the Company and its workforce was so outstandingly remarkable that the Hotel opened its doors to the guests just three months after the attack.

Taj hotels have been known to take very good care of their staff. It is often said in the hotel circles that people prefer to retire from the hotel than leave to join elsewhere.

The exemplary attitude of the Taj employees and the ethos of the Company around its internal and external customers have set an industry benchmark. I cite the example of the 2008 crisis only to highlight this facet.

Yet again, we are in the midst of another grave crisis – one which has been more tentacularly penetrating. For generations of people and work places, the Covid Crisis has been singularly novel and unprecedented.

And once again, the Puneet Chhatwal helmed hotel company is setting new standards of excellence both in employee attitude towards service and organizational care and concern towards its employees.

Like in the case of earlier crises, in the present one too, Taj hotels truly embody the quintessence of its Tajness, a philosophy that upholds nobility and sincere care among its six pillars. Chhatwal, an impeccable leader, has been carrying forward the torch of Tajness admirably.

The goodness of a company, primarily, is as good as its people. Since the core comprising of the internal team must be kept strong in order to face any challenge, I decided to ask Gaurav Pokhariyal, the Taj Group’s Senior Vice President and Global Head - HR, on the steps taken by the award-winning hotel chain.

Here follows my conversation -

L. Aruna Dhir - Taj Hotels have been regarded as a Company with pronounced leadership where safeguarding of and heedfulness towards employees go. This was reflected well during the horrific 26/11 incident too. In the midst of the present, novel Corona virus catastrophe, what steps has Taj taken to ensure employee goodwill, employee safety around health and morale-boosting?

Gaurav Pokhariyal - From the beginning of the pandemic and now in Phase 2 we have stayed emotionally engaged with our teams. We leaned on our values of Trust, Awareness and Joy to ensure that we keep all our teams motivated and future-focused on the opportunities the situation presented while we handled the immediate health and safety needs. To deal with the inescapable uncertainty it was required that we stay connected and provide regular health and safety updates. IHCL has an employee loyalty index of over 90%, creating a family like ecosystem at work. Hence, multiple communication groups were created so that employees could stay updated about the wellbeing of colleagues as well as the business health of the hotels.

Many structured processes were put in place to facilitate a smooth, seamless flow. Continuous communication was maintained through the intranet, mails, and WhatsApp groups.

Regular town halls, daily departmental meetings and weekly engagement activities were scheduled to share the updates and provide assurance towards health and safety.

A cohesive effort was made to include the families as well.

The Indian Hotels Company Ltd. (IHCL), the parent company of Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, put in place initiatives and practices that positively impact our colleagues who work hard towards its success.

To this end, we introduced Stay Well, the wellbeing program. The program entailed a focus on interventions that have a positive bearing on physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing, in turn creating an environment that is healthy and happy. The objective of introducing a holistic program was to sustainably influence employee health.

As a first step, we partnered with Healthify Me and worked on a scalable app-based technology solution to weigh into physical health.

Additionally, as a part of the Stay Well initiative, at no cost to the employee, IHCL also extended the EAP (Employee Assistance Program) in collaboration with an ISO certified firm to provide for emotional and psychological well-being of employees.

Internally we also initiated the care givers program which provided employees and families support and guidance towards handling a medical condition where required

L. Aruna Dhir - What steps did you take to ensure employee engagement when the hotels were shut during Lockdown?

Gaurav Pokhariyal - The sui generis situation presented an opportunity for us to launch multiple virtual learning & development initiatives that have helped build employee capability for the present as well as the future needs.

IHCL partnered with leading international partners to provide access to several learning applications, be it for functional training, building business acumen or enhancing language skills.

Even while at home employees were trained and updated with the new standards at work. Virtual sessions were conducted to share with them the product and work design changes. This provided them with ample assurance and confidence on how a safe workplace was created.

Through the year we have conducted Live webinars focused on health and well-being for employees and their families to benefit from.

L. Aruna Dhir - In a people- centric industry such as ours, how was Work From Home (WFH) encouraged and planned around?

Gaurav Pokhariyal – IHCL, an organization with a rich legacy and heritage, has always enjoyed the honour of nurturing an employee base that has always demonstrated a very high sense of ownership. When the going is tough they are motivated to stay involved and support each other and the organization.

The IT team ensured that employees were extended additional access to organizational data and tools so that WFH could proceed seamlessly.

Focus has been on the work output rather than the timings maintained by employees, thus allowing for the required flexibility in schedules for all concerned.

Managers and teams have embraced technology solutions provided for remote working. All involved in WFH are trained to use these platforms and sensitively manage work life balance at the same time

L. Aruna Dhir - What about Operations staff? How were they kept involved?

Gaurav Pokhariyal – The TATA group and IHCL’s foundation of values has always driven employees to seek a larger sense of purpose, and this held true even during the pandemic.

As and when the regulations eased, employees eagerly offered to return to the service of guests and the community.

During the lockdown, safety of our employees was our primary concern hence the hotels were staffed only for basic upkeep and maintenance. It was also the legal requirement to not have more than 10% – 30% operations staff in the hotels at any point in time.

Therefore, all operations colleagues were engaged through virtual learning and were integrally involved in the Group‘s wellness efforts. Over 10400 employees were trained through socially distanced classrooms and readied to deliver a safe and healthy workplace for all our stakeholders.

Many cross functional teams were put together, which provided considerable opportunities for all to ideate, think out of the box and share suggestions towards both, a safer workplace and initiating new ventures.

IHCL embarked on few new businesses, the success of which has been possible due to our committed and motivated staff members.

Qmin, IHCL’s gourmet food delivery platform was launched in June 2020. Since its launch in Mumbai, Qmin has expanded its presence in 14 cities across the country, delivering favourites from over 60 iconic Taj restaurants.

In the wake of the nation-wide lockdown, where social distancing was the need of the hour, IHCL gave their esteemed customers a chance to get their hands on some select essential products – such as curated hampers, laundry services and favourite meals - while experiencing a touch of legendary hospitality right in the comfort of their homes, with its Hospitality@Home services.

We also unveiled a new concept of homestays - amã Stays & Trails. It is the first branded product in the homestay market in India.

In partnership with AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, IHCL introduced India’s first 7Rivers Brewpub. This first-of-its-kind brewpub boasts an on-site microbrewery at the hotel.

A re-energized suite of offerings has been put together for Chambers (the Members only Club), making the Club unparalleled. The services are available across the globe now.

Keeping the sensitivity of the situation in mind, we came up with initiatives such as Taj Wellness Retreats, Urban Getaways, Bizcation, Special Bubble Holidays, The Floor is Yours and Re-imagined Epicure; among a host of others.

A large number of our devoted and dedicated colleagues helped in operationalizing these new businesses with the famed ‘Tajness’ in place

L. Aruna Dhir - Have you devised initiatives to look after the families of the employees too? How have you done that?

Gaurav Pokhariyal – At the peak of the pandemic, IHCL launched the Taj for Family initiative, underlining our commitment to the larger community which includes the families.

Our Associates have come together in solidarity to volunteer and contribute to a benevolent fund through the initiative. A helping hand was provided via this fund for our colleagues in the industry and their families who need aid and support in these trying times.

IHCL has existing practices such as the Hospitalization assistance policy, Group Term Life coverage and Group Personal Accident Coverage which have been availed by our employees. During the pandemic, organizational assistance has been extended to all families towards consultation with and intervention of doctors and hospitalization.

To combat the pandemic, the organization provided a panel of on-call doctors pan India with specialist doctors emplaned for consultation by employees. This was especially useful for employees who resided in remote locations where medical facilities were limited.

Using the organization’s extensive network, the internal Covid care teams across the country have helped families with medicines, Oxygen tanks and Hospital beds where required.

Care givers continuously engage with families of employees to ensure physical and emotional haleness. Immediate family is also eligible to use the services through the Employee Assistance Program offered by the organization for emotional and psychological wellbeing.

During the Pandemic, it has once again come to the fore that organizations that care for their internal teams are the ones that will continue to instill confidence in their customer. My chat with Pokhariyal defines this maxim well.

Gaurav Pokhariyal, an alumnus of the Glion Institute of Higher Education, Switzerland and IHM Pusa, the premier Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, is a long-term Taj Lieutenant. He is known for his decision making ability, commitment and passion towards his work; and with the present crisis he has his larger responsibility cut out for him.

"The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don't feel valued, neither will your customers." Sybil F. Stershic - author & founder of Quality Service Marketing has aptly said.

And Taj has this down pat!

L. Aruna Dhir