Hospitality has been a part of Puneet Chhatwal’s life for more than four decades, including his days at the hotel school. The MD and CEO of IHCL chatted with t2 about his learnings, over a relaxed conversation at a recent weekend retreat at Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa in Sikkim. Excerpts.
What has the collaboration with Ambuja Neotia been like so far?
It started two-and-a-half years ago and it is already getting close to 20 hotels. So, it may be the most impressive collaboration that we’ve had in our 120-year history... that has shown great results in Kurseong, New Town, Taal Kutir and we just opened this one. Raajkutir was also repositioned. Now Raichak will come, Patna will come and then the Tree of Life. We plan to collectively take Tree of Life to a very different level.
Can you elaborate on the demarcation of duties and do some things always overlap?
Something always overlaps. There is nothing like this is black and this is white, but one thing is clear: the ownership is with one and the operational leadership is with the other. That works very well but if you are making decisions about say whether the property should have a swimming pool or not or how much should be the space for wet areas, an asset owner can work with the brand which has so much experience on what is the ideal space... it should not be too small and it should not be too big for that destination. Many destinations revolve around leisure space.
It all depends, in a good partnership, to leverage the experience and the strengths of each partner and to drive the best possible results for all stakeholders and not just for customers only.
What are the first things you notice when you step into a hotel?
You know, it keeps changing as you climb the ladder. What attracted me 35 years ago is not what attracts me today, but I think with a great degree of confidence, the moment I walk into a hotel, I can say where it is positioned, what is positive and not so positive, what could be improved upon and it happens in the first, maximum five minutes. And it continues. If you see anything great, you see that greatness carried through till the end. If you see something mediocre or something that just doesn’t stack up, you also see that throughout and you can make out if it’s been done by an experienced hotel architect, or designers or whether good, operational inputs have gone into the property, how does the brand come through or is it just putting a sign on the door... all the brand ethos gets reflected in the first five to 15 minutes. And after four decades, that’s where you stand.
What is a make or break in hospitality?
Serving with caring is not only an important cultural fit from where we come from, but it is also an organisational fit with the group that we belong to and what the brand stands for. Your service with caring can only happen if your employees are also treated with caring because ultimately, your associates and employees are the ones who have to deliver. So, any kind of mismatch doesn’t work and there is no substitute for it. That is the basic.
When we were stuck on the highway (on the way to Taj Guras Kutir), we stopped at a place and the way the lady was handling... there was no signal and she immediately connected us to her Wi-Fi, that kind of attention in hospitality is basic.
Then when you build on the culture of your brand, then, what are the enablers and then how do you carry it through in terms of performance, purpose and getting the ethos of the company through. For example, for Taj, we say Tajness. That is equivalent to self-actualisation... the top of the pyramid. Tajness includes leadership and how we treat our people. It also includes all the rituals we perform in our hotel, the evening aarti and the lighting of the lamps. Tajness includes the small things we do around the bedside as a surprise for the guest. So, there is a customer-driven Tajness and there is a community-driven Tajness, how we look after our community. Jamshedji Tata who founded the Tata Group said 155 years ago that the community is not just another stakeholder, but rather the purpose of existence of every business. We are the oldest operating company of the Tata Group. So, it is deeply ingrained in all the legacy companies and is a part of their business plan. That is how you create and make a difference from one brand to the other.
How long have you been with the company?
Six-and-a-half years now.
Do you see a difference in how you approach hospitality now?
Huge difference. I spent almost three decades in Europe and worked in three different companies.... the beauty is if you can marry both. When East meets West, that is the sweet spot and magic happens. I have led a German hotel group for five years and there are certain things about German discipline. I call it a cocktail of European management combined with American marketing and Asian emotional skills. If you can marry these three, the consequence is outstanding hospitality.
What has hospitality taught you about people?
Not only your associates, but no one customer is like the other one. The needs and wants keep varying and as long as you are able to adapt quickly and proactively anticipate the needs and wants, that is when excellence in hospitality can happen. It doesn’t have to be at the luxury level, but it can happen at any given level.
In my student days in Europe, I ran a youth hostel, in the summers in Paris, which would convert for backpackers, anticipating their needs and addressing them in a timely and good fashion, making the magic happen.
What are your top tips for budding hoteliers?
We had a theme for our annual business conference last year on how one can marry purpose and passion to create the best performance. It’s a generic thing. Purpose-led and people-driven organisations end up in an abundance of profits. If that is the focus, success just comes in. If it doesn’t come in immediately, please don’t give up. It is a journey and not a destination.
Consistently doing things right is where purpose plays a role, keeping the focus on whether you are customer-centric or people-centric... we say customer first, people always. And, finally, looking after all stakeholders, whether they are shareholders or suppliers and the communities we work in creates the performance.
We don’t measure performance only in terms of profitability and that’s actually reflective of the last seven quarters of the results which were being announced by the Indian hotels. Post-Covid, there has been no looking back, because of the good work we did during Covid.
Besides the Taj hotels, which are the top three hotels you have stayed at, around the world?
It’s the Regent in Hong Kong, the Victoria-Jungfrau in Interlaken and the Gleneagles in Scotland.