Since graduating from the Institute of Hotel Management in New Delhi, Upaul Majumdar has had successful stints in various sectors of the hospitality industry. Having started as a management trainee at Oberoi Group of Hotels, he has also worked at Jet Airways, Hotel Annapurna and as a management consultant. Now the general manager at the Soaltee Crowne Plaza, in this interview with the Post’s Alisha Sijapati, he talks about Soaltee’s mantra to its five decades of success and why great customer service is crucial to any business. Exceprts:

Soaltee Crowne Plaza is celebrating its golden jubilee this year. In the hospitality industry, businesses come and go, what are the keys to Soaltee staying successful for five decades?

For any business, the most important drive is to be successful and that it can sell products and services. Soaltee has been doing that pretty well for over 50 years now. Soaltee has not only been successful, it has also been the leader of the pack. This is because we supply a product that is impeccably on-par with global standards. As part of the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), we have various certifications and audits, which we do on a regular basis. We try to insure immaculate service quality. It’s all about how well you treat your customers. We make sure that all guests are given the best service and that has been the key to our success.

In the hospitality industry, customer service is paramount. What are Soaltee’s customer service values? And how is it instilled in new employees?

When I look at values, it’s not just the values of Soaltee, it’s the values of how IHG works. In our business, IHG came up with the concept of ‘Winning Ways’. Winning Ways is practiced not just here but all over the globe. There are five winning ways—aim higher, show we care, do the right thing, work together and celebrate the differences. So, in the beginning of the year each one of my department heads and me, as the general manager, make commitments to these winning ways. It’s a great way to do business, achieve guest satisfaction and to have a very fulfilling working environment at the same time.

We are also heavily involved in employee engagement assessment where an employee rates everybody, including the top management.

I strongly believe that Soaltee Crowne Plaza is driven by these performance metrics.

How do you rate Nepal’s customer service in sectors other than hospitality? What can other sectors, retail for instance, learn from the hospitality industry when it comes to good customer service?

The customer service in Nepal is very good at heart, so you connect instantly as a customer. But professionally, there is still a lot to be done. Resolving issues takes time here. Nepal has a huge advantage that it has fairly uncomplicated people. I personally feel Nepalis are very resilient and by-in-large happy people. I feel they are already oriented towards service. In many countries over the world, as a consultant, we had to train people on how to smile, but in Nepal things are natural. People here already have a strong mind but that’s not enough. I certainly feel that the youth should be trained to become service oriented. That’s where the need is. For every business, the most important factor is their customers. One should thoroughly invest in training, not be judgmental and be gentle towards customers.

As the general manager of an organisation as large as Soaltee, you oversee a vast operation with hundreds of employees, doing vastly different things. How do you ensure that there is uniformity of performance and keep the entire team motivated?

Our business is hospitality and about taking care of the guests. You need to have a certain commitment level, which we demand from every employee. Soaltee has a huge number of employees from security guards, engineers to the topmost managers. Each department is run by very competent people and they have their own hierarchy in their own departments. As a general manager, I am completely dependent on the department heads, so we do a morning meeting and monthly reviews. Running a department is not my job and I rely on the competent department heads, who take up their responsibilities efficiently. Once you have a great team, you don’t have much problems. Delegation is key.

What are your management mantras? What are some attributes that you feel all leaders must have?

First thing I look to ensure is how connected are you with your people. It’s always people first. Try and connect with every person. Earlier, there used to be an autocratic style of leadership that was very top-down. But today, things are different. You work in a team and as a team leader my job is to see that each of my team members is successful. If they are successful, I am automatically successful.

I also think metrics are very important. You have to be able to quantify results. Results have to be measurable not based upon feelings.

The hospitality industry is a vibrant sector in Nepal with dozens of specialised schools opening in the past few years. What advice do you have for young graduates looking to make it big in the hospitality industry?

When you look into hotel or hospitality or any other job, you have to look at it globally. I always urge the youth to have a global outlook. The future of the hospitality industry in Nepal looks very bright, there are numerous hotel chains opening soon, and there will be a huge boom in the years to come. The future is bright, but in order to do well in this industry, you have to have a global mindset. The quality of your work has to be on-par with the best practices around the world.