1-With your extensive experience in pre-opening hotels, what are the key factors you consider when preparing for a new property launch?
The key element is recruiting the right kind of people. We focus much more on personality rather than experience as with an opening we have ample time to train the technical skills required. Couple that with naturally happy, positive and helpful people and you’re on to a winner form the start.
2- How do you approach team leadership and development, especially in high-pressure operational environments?
It’s all about remaining calm and being clear and concise with your teams. There’s no need for a tsunami of information as this will likely complicate matters. On top of that, be who you are, if you try to position yourself as something different than your true self, your team will see straight through that and your chance to develop them has gone.
3- What strategies do you employ to continuously drive financial performance within a hospitality business?
Open discussions on a regular basis with all stakeholders. We don’t focus on cost -saving, we look at operating as efficiently as we can where possible and we always take optics into consideration – if it looks bad to a guest, we don’t do it. Also, if you add value, you drive revenue and a healthy top line.
4- Could you share a specific example of how you leveraged your understanding of the local market to achieve success in a previous role?
When opening Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Waterfront we created our own strapline as – the friendliest five star hotel in Dubai. Yes, we operate as a high-end hotel in a mega-market with many competitors and an audience used to the best offerings, but we felt that introducing personality to service in a simple line would help. And it did. It was also a super asset in recruiting our team as the instantly felt part of something a little bit different.
5- As a recipient of several industry awards, what do you believe sets you apart as a leader in the hospitality sector?
My wife quite rightly points out that I’m lucky! And she’s right; I have been so fortunate to work with strong, capable and passionate people throughout my career and that rubs off on you as a person. As I mentioned earlier, be yourself and your colleagues will see you for what you are and invariably trust you.
6-How do you stay updated with industry trends and innovations, and how do you incorporate them into your management approach?
I regard myself as a hotelier at heart and enjoy spending time away form work in other hotels. No ideas re truly original with the majority usually borrowed from elsewhere. Also, Radisson Hotel Group pride themselves on encouraging innovation and sharing best practices which allows you to be open to lots of new things.
7- Can you discuss a time when you had to implement changes to improve guest satisfaction, and what were the results?
This is our reason for being here, it’s a daily task and is at the forefront of all that we do in our hotels. What I’d suggest is that by being obsessed with quality and guest satisfaction you’re always looking for ways to be better and the proof of that is in the feedback you receive. I’m pleased to say that across our hotels we have higher than industry norm scores from our guests.
8-With your background in managing both upscale and mid-scale properties, how do you adapt your leadership style to different hotel segments?
There’s absolutely no difference. People are people, and respond in the same way to their colleagues regardless of what style of hotel they work in. The main point is in being consistent as a General Manager in terms of your behavior and style plus treating very person exactly the same way.
9- What do you consider to be the most crucial qualities for a general manager in the hospitality industry, and how do you embody these qualities in your daily work?
Be yourself. Be consistent in being yourself. Be fair and true to yourself. Look at everything from a guest point of view. And finally, try and enjoy your role, it’s a great job and yes there can be pressure but ultimately, we’re here to make sure our guests enjoy themselves and our team members are well looked after…if you look after your team, they’ll look after your guests believe me!
