The Key Highlights of My Career
NOMINATION FOR THE WORLDWIDE HOSPITALITY AWARDS 2019 – MANAGER OF THE YEAR
PARVEEN CHANDER KUMAR Area Director – West India and General Manager – Taj Lands End, Mumbai Indian Hotels Company Limited Taj Lands End Bandstand, Bandra (West), Mumbai – 400050, Maharashtra, India
I am a hospitality professional with 27 years of experience in operations and management of Luxury 5-star Hotels in India. I am currently the General Manager of Taj Lands End, Mumbai and Area Director- West India with a portfolio of 10 hotels with 1587 keys and a turnover of $ 101 million.
The key highlights of my career
During my tenure at IHCL I have managed some of the most iconic properties of India at leadership position such as Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi, Lake Palace, Udaipur, Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai and Taj Lands End, Mumbai I have been managing Taj Lands End, Mumbai as General Manager since April 2015 and have been responsible for the growth of PBT by 17.2% in CAGR terms As an Area Director – West India I have been responsible for the revenue growth of my portfolio by 10% from 2018-19 vs 2017-18 which is from $ 92 million to $ 101 million Profitability of my region grew by 19% on PBT from 2018-19 vs 2017-18 My strength being Food & Beverage, I have been involved in creating new Restaurants and Bar concepts in various IHCL hotels like Wasabi, Ricks, Varq, House of Nomad, Ming Yang and Atrium Bar and Lounge Handled the responsibility of opening and planning of new properties for IHCL in India and International locations like Taj Palace Marrakesh, Taj Dubai, Taj Tashi Bhutan and Imperial Towers, Mumbai in coordination with Executive director Operation of IHCL from 2011 to 2015 Was appointed as the leader of the Centre of Excellence for Food & Beverage for IHCL from 2011 -2018 which was responsible for setting brand standards, introducing new F&B concepts and managing the beverage program for IHCL I have been part of a steering committee involved in setting brand standards for three division of IHCL – Grand Palaces, Taj and Vivanta Have been responsible for the successful relaunch of the iconic Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai post the unfortunate event in November 2008 Responsible for the successful conceptualisation, design and launch of IHCL’s flagship Salon brand niu&nau in 2019 at Taj Lands End Represented the IHCL at various International Forums and Trade Fairs like World Economic Forum, Davos, ITB Berlin, ILTM Cannes and WTM London Awarded Most Admired General Manager of the Year 2018-19, and Taj Lands End was voted Best 5 Star Luxury Hotel of the Year 2018-19 by BTVI Business Television Voted Best General Manager of the Year 2018-19 by IHCL in the Annual Business conference 2019 Awarded Hotelier of the Year by Eazy Diner in 2016 Voted General Manager of the year in 2017 by Lonely Planet
My key strength lies in Hotel Operations, Food and Beverage, Revenue Management, Sales & Marketing and Finance. Areas, where I have achieved exceptional results are; delivering strong financial performance, improving service standards and maintaining excellent relationships with stakeholders.
Throughout my association with Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), I have had the opportunity to earn noteworthy positions across properties. I started my career as a Hotel Operations Management trainee in Food and Beverage in the year 1992 and worked my way up the ladder to Executive Assistant Manager – Food and Beverage at Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi in 2004. During my Food and Beverage tenure, I was involved in conceptualising and launching innovative bars and restaurants like Wasabi, Ricks and Varq. I was elevated to the Resident Manager of The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi in 2007 where I got an opportunity to sharpen my skills in managing a 300 rooms luxury property in heart of Delhi.
Recognising my talent, I was appointed as the General Manager at Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur, in 2008, which is one of the most photographed hotels in the world and is 275 years old palace. During my tenure, the hotel won numerous accolades and featured consistently in the top 50 list of T&L and Conde Nast Travelers worldwide award. I was involved in repositioning the hotel through the extensive refurbishment of rooms and establishing new service design and rituals.
In 2010, I was appointed as the Deputy General Manager at the 543 rooms flagship hotel, The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai. This assignment gave me exposure to reposition and restore the hotel after it reopened post the 26/11 incident. During my assignment at The Taj Mahal Palace, my key contribution was to launch a new service philosophy called ‘Push for the finest’ that helped to improve the guest experience and move up the customer satisfaction scores. Being the flagship hotel of IHCL this assignment gave me an exposure to set new brand standards for the hotel that were later adopted for the Luxury division of the company. During my tenure at this hotel, I gained exposure and confidence to manage a hotel with a large inventory and iconic status.
My current assignment started in 2015 as the General Manager of Taj Lands End, Mumbai. In this assignment, I have been involved in upgrading the hotel by adding new food and beverage outlets like Ming Yang, House of Nomad and Atrium Bar. We carried out an extensive renovation of the conferencing facility, 350 rooms and public spaces that helped to reposition the hotel in the market. During my tenure, the hotel customer satisfaction has increased by 15%, and PBT grew to the tune of 17.2% CAGR in last four years. As a recognition of my exemplary performance at Taj Lands End, I was given the additional responsibility of heading West India as Area director for 9 other hotels in 2017.
My fortitude lies in the extensive knowledge of the industry, which allows me to maintain the discipline to be highly effective and exceed guest expectations while managing profitability. The one thing that has kept me associated with the company is continuous opportunities to learn and grow during the past 27 years of my association with IHCL.
I am an alumnus of the Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Pusa, Delhi and have completed my graduation from the University of Delhi. I hold a master’s degree in Business Administration of International Hospitality - Marketing and Innovation from the revered Glion University, Switzerland.
Recognition
BTVI Business Television India – ‘Most admired General Manager of the Year 2019.’ BTVI Business Television India – ‘Best 5 Star Luxury Hotel (Taj Lands End) of the Year 2019.’ Eazydiner Foodie Awards – ‘Hotelier of the Year award 2016.’ Indian Hotels Company Limited - ‘Best General Manager of the Year 2018-19’- Large hotels Lonely Planet – ‘Travel & Lifestyle Leadership Awards, General Manager of the year 2017.
Media feature: Hotelier India | July 2019 Link to the story: https://www.hotelierindia.com/operations/7993-pradeep-chander-kumar-area-director-west- india-and-general-manager-taj-lands-end-mumbai-on-the-evolving-luxury
Please find below a snapshot of the same:
Business performance
Being the Area Director – West Region & General Manager of the hotel, I am duly responsible for the turnover of the hotels in my portfolio of the western region.
At the Taj Lands End and the hotels in the Western region, our strategy for revenue generation is focused on improving our RevPAR index through efficient revenue management and catering to customers seeking unique luxury experiences. Taj Lands End and other hotels in Western region have been gaining share in the market year- on-year. Since 2017-18 we initiated the task of expanding our margin by 2% in EBITDA margin for the hotels of the region in line with our Aspiration 2022.
Business Performance : Taj Lands End, Mumbai
Total turover of the hotel (Million $)
Parameter 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 * 2018-19
Total Annual Turnover $ 40.30 $ 42.80 $ 44.05 $ 49.13
Gross Operating Profit (Million $) Parameter 2015-16 2016 -17 2017 -18 * 2018 -19 Gross Operating Profit $ 15.67 $16.91 $15.48 $18.24
Average Daily Rate (USD)
Parameter 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 * 2018-19
ADR $ 139.52 $ 147.09 $ 156.77 $ 155.10
RevPAR (USD)
Parameter 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 * 2018-19
RevPAR $106.81 $113.34 $ 111 $120.30
Room revenue (Million $)
Parameter 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18* 2018-19
Room Revenue $19.27 $20.40 $20.00 $21.65
Food & Beverage Revenue (Million $)
Parameter 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 * 2018-19
F&B Revenue $16.80 $17.63 $18.84 $22.31
Achievd an overall growth of 32.5% in Profit before Tax for 2018-19 over the previous financial year.
Parameter (Million $) 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 * 2018-19
PBT $10.04 $12.20 $13.57 $16.16
* In the year 2017-2018 the hotel had a renovation of 160 rooms that were out of inventory for a period of 180 days, this impacted the overall revenues, and a part of cost of renovation was booked under operating expense.
STR Taj Lands End – Please find below snapshot of the same
Parameter 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 * 2018-19 RGI 120.9 118.7 110.8 115
Business Performance : Western Region Since the time the western region has become a part of my portfolio, the Total Revenue for the region has grown by 10% from year 2017-18 ($ 92.09 million) to 2018-19($ 101.2 million). Along with the growth in revenues my region has managed its cost extremely well. The overall operating cost has reduced by 7%. With an increase in overall revenue and the ability to control the overall costs, our EBITDA has increased by 17% over last year. Pune hotels have shown a great growth in EBITDA margins along with Taj Lands End, Mumbai and Taj Santacruz, Mumbai. PBT has also grown by 19% as compared with the previous year. RevPar, which is a key indicator of your performance in the market has increased by 13% in FY 2018-19 from 2017-18.
Sr Total Revenue PBT RevPAR (INR) Hotels No 2018-19 2017-18 Variance 2018-19 2017-18 Variance 2018-19 2017-18 Variance Taj Lands End, 1 Mumbai $49.90 $44.74 12% $16.41 $13.78 19% $122.18 $112.91 8% Vivanta Aurangabad, 2 Maharashtra $3.30 $3.10 6% $0.65 $0.63 3% $78.10 $77.49 1% Blue Diamond, 3 Pune $5.96 $5.40 10% ($0.01) ($0.40) 97% $65.81 $61.44 7% The Gateway Hotel Ambad 4 Nashik $6.35 $5.09 25% $0.72 $0.12 495% $56.34 $51.23 10% The Gateway Hotel Balaghat 5 Road Gondia $0.34 $0.22 60% ($0.33) ($0.41) 19% $13.67 $8.55 60% Taj Santacruz, 6 Mumbai $20.98 $18.63 13% $8.48 $7.12 19% $106.15 $91.09 17% Vivanta Pune, 7 Hinjawadi $4.61 $3.81 21% $0.85 $0.25 241% $42.81 $37.66 14% The Gateway Hotel Athwalines 8 Surat $5.89 $7.32 -20% $2.16 $3.20 -33% $72.35 $48.95 48% Vivanta, 9 Vadodara $3.35 $3.14 7% $0.94 $0.85 10% $55.07 $54.80 0% The Gateway Hotel Gir Forest 10 Junagadh $0.64 $0.66 -3% $0.07 $0.08 -15% $39.14 $34.89 12%
Area West Summary $101.3 $92.09 10% $29.92 $25.22 19% $86.40 $76.40 13%
Customers Satisfaction
At Taj Lands End after my appointment, we set high internal benchmarks to build a culture that revolves around customer-centricity. Our internal processes were re-engineered, re-structured, re-imagined and made simple for colleagues to practice. We established guest engagement activities and magical moments in the life cycle of the guest to ensure they have a memorable stay with us. Staff is trained in identifying both explicit and implicit guest needs and deliver them seamlessly. We carried out extensive product upgradation and refurbishment to support guest in-stay experience.
Since customer centricity cannot be achieved without employee training, we looked at all measures to reduce Emotional Labour and bring happiness to each one of our colleagues. My team and I came up with staff training programs like emotional intelligence, cultural imperatives, mindfulness and behavioural training that led to better understanding and increased confidence among associates. Employee empowerment was identified as a critical driver of customer-centricity, and we created manuals specifying empowerment levels for employees in the hotel. This manual is currently being used chainwide as a benchmark for employee empowerment. Our efforts helped us to achieve renewed enthusiasm, vigour and drive among associates towards customer satisfaction and we achieved 16% increase in Net Promoters Score. The Journey of last five years is shown below;
Taj Lands End Parameter 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 Net Promoter Score 52% 58% 57% 63% 68%
Western Region Parameter 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 Net Promoter Score 53% 61% 68%
Quality control program set up and personal involvement
As a General Manager, I have been actively involved in setting an in-house quality assurance department that pays attention to various details like Food Hygiene, Fire Life Safety, Brand standard compliance and maintaining zero- defect product and services. This is achieved through rigorous internal audits on operations, hardware, safety and Hygiene. We have made a departmental dashboard for quality checks that are reviewed periodically, and action plans are made for identified gaps. We have a fully operational internal Microbiology lab and the hotel is compliant to Schedule 4 part V of FSSAI. In addition to this, we have external agencies who audit Safety, Hygiene, Statutory compliances and Brand standards. I believe in leadership by ‘walking around the shop floor’ and spend significant time speaking to the employees on the floor and checking standards. This helps me to be always connected with the ground reality and engage with the workforce
Staff Management
With the vision to keep the team motivated, we have adopted multiple initiatives for them such as; Behavioral Training, Employee Welfare Programs, Employee engagement tracking and Performance recognition. Another key initiative introduced at the hotel is succession planning for our key leadership roles that is achieved through mentoring of the existing workforce. Along with the senior leadership of the hotel, I ensure constant engagement is active within the various teams. This is done by using performance targets, instilling regular review mechanisms through daily dashboards. Each department has weekly performance reviews that are supported by action plans to align with the overall hotel strategy. The employees have well defined Employee Empowerment manuals that encourage speedy decision making and enhances delivery time
Initiatives to enhance associate’s motivation and satisfaction
Training The Company follows the Department Trainer system wherein associates who are experts in the department are identified and trained to deliver functional training on the shop floor. I encourage and extend the opportunity for Cross-Functional training to associates to inculcate a thinking mind. We also ensure that the aspiring Heads of Departments get exposure to the latest trends in hotels through cross induction in various Taj hotels.
Employee Welfare The Hotel has initiated a host of employee engagement activities to enrich the employee experience. Some of the key facilities & initiatives are providing accommodation, In house doctor, Daycare facilities, fitness center, a drop facility for ladies in the night, monthly wellness Programs such as in house dieticians, yoga classes, introduction of “Mauj Masti”- an activity comprising of Indoor games and entertainment conducted every Friday, AHP (Associate Holiday plan for 10 days in a year), monthly birthday bash, providing meal vouchers on birthdays and discounts for groceries on Big Basket.
V Connect We have a real-time engagement platform for employees to share their feedback towards the work, culture, leadership, their careers, morale etc. daily. Along with the Human Resources team, I proactively overlook to ensure all feedbacks receive responses within 1 week by the leadership team of the hotel. Based on the data collected, measures that drive the engagement score are strengthened, and for negative feedback, immediate corrective actions are evaluated and implemented. Taj Lands End was the pilot hotel for this initiative in 2017 which worked successfully – Our scores moved up from 54% in FY 2018 to 65% in FY 2019. Based on this, V connect was deployed across IHCL.
Celebrating Excellence With the aspiration to acknowledge and reward our employees, we run a weekly recognition program where we celebrate the success of unique stories that each of our associates have scripted for our guests.
STARS Special Thanks and Recognition System is the employee engagement platform of IHCL that helps us to reward and recognise employees. It considers three main parameters to recognise an employee. These are: 1. Guest comments 2. Employee Suggestions 3. Colleagues’ Recognition
Besides these, all big and small festivals and occasions are celebrated. Employee birthdays are also celebrated in the monthly town hall meet that serves as a platform for dissemination of information as well as for employees to air their concerns.
Candidate’s corporate vision of team management
I focus on setting stretched targets, breaking them into measurable goals and periodic reviews to enable the team to achieve their goals. My leadership style is a combination of goal-oriented and mentoring leadership. I invest my time in coaching my leadership team to collaborate better, find solutions to problems and prepare themselves for senior roles. We follow the goal-oriented approach towards various parameters of business that are well defined into departmental dashboards. We have conducted multiple workshops to foster a culture of teamwork like Belbin Team Roles, Arbinger Outward Mindset and Mindfulness.
Marketing and Communication
In the last four years, the hotel has taken various marketing and communication activities that have helped to reposition the hotel as a trendy destination in Mumbai. The hotel has a robust social media strategy that focuses on promoting a strong relationship with customers and create visibility. The hotel organises and sponsors various activities to network with the local community and the target audience that frequently use our hotel. We have introduced new concepts like niu&nau salon, House of Nomad Gastro Bar, Atrium Bar and Lounge and a Chambers business club. We launched a series of new initiatives to enhance the in stay and F&B experience like Tajness rituals, Bandra Heritage walk, Live entertainment in the hotel and concept of E concierge
Social Media Strategy The hotel has been using social media and useful tool to create visibility and communicate with the target audience. The strategy focuses on creating exciting content that creates adequate interest and increased brand awareness. This further helps in driving traffic to the brand website and generate business. Our social media content is boosted to target the selected target audience, and we measure ROI on the marketing spent to measure effectivity.
Key marketing campaigns and events New Salon Launch The Indian Hotels Company Limited announced the launch of its new salon brand, niu&nau. The unisex salons present a re-imagined experience with distinctive design and cutting-edge treatments delivered by professional stylists and therapists. Housed at Taj Lands End, Mumbai, the first niu&nau opened its doors on July 2019. The launch of niu&nau was attended by our key/high spending customers, major media houses such as Vogue, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel + Leisure, Verve, celebrities and influencers.
Food and Beverage At the Taj Lands End, we have introduced multiple concepts in the last 4 years to elevate Food and Beverage at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. We opened an all-new Ming Yang in 2016, and lately, we unveiled two unique bars concepts – House of Nomad and Atrium Lounge. House of Nomad is a fun, high energy Gastro bar with a focus on cocktails and music Atrium Lounge and Bar that is a lobby bar with the largest selection whiskies in India with 189 labels and is known for its relaxed yet sophisticated ambience
Rituals created to enhance the stay experience The Bandra Walk – Taj Lands End introduced a walk in the Bandra heritage zone curated by a Historian Viren D’sa. This walk orients guest though some of the historical places in 17th century Bandra churches and heritage buildings Wakeup Yoga Ritual – The hotel offers a rejuvenating yoga session to all resident guests in the lush sea- facing gardens under the guidance of Yoga masters. This session helps to start the day with positive energy Afternoon Tea Ritual – Atrium lounge and bar offers Bandra and Indian high tea inspired by the heritage of Portuguese and English tradition. Evening Light Ritual – Every evening, the hotel hosts a candle-lighting ritual in the lobby. I the traditional Indian style this ritual showcases lighting of 500 candles in the lobby with a classical flute recital by a local folk artist. Cocktail Ritual- This is a ritual that marks the start of the cocktail hour at the Atrium Lounge. It showcases bagpiper music and fancy cocktail tasting session for all guests in the lobby.
Involvement in community intiatives
Being part of the Tata Group we are a significant contributor to CSR initiatives that are focused towards creating livelihoods for women and young adults. We are also actively involved in community initiatives for our neighbourhood Bandra sea front and gardens. Some of the initiatives that are championed by the hotel are ;
Swachh Bharath Abhiyan Ever since the initiative was launched, Taj Lands End has created awareness amongst the employees for garbage segregation, cleanliness and Hygiene. We participate in clean up drive at Bandra Fort, sea front and hotel periphery. The hotel has adopted 4 gardens of 100,000 sq ft in the local community and we take care of these gardens that are used by the residents. We have installed an Organic waste compacter in the hotel to convert 100% of our organic waste into manure. We recycle 100% of our grey and sewage water and reuse it in the hotel
Golden Threshold Program We provides career opportunities for promising students having recently completed 10+2 education. This Three Year Vocational Educational Program gives students a richness of learning through on-the-job training in Taj Hotels as also by attending classes in Hospitality Education, arranged by the School of Vocational Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. On completion of three years, students obtain a B. Voc. Degree (Bachelor of Vocation in Hotel Management). The degree is offered by TISS (SVE) as a Deemed University. We have enrolled 7 students till date.
NGO procurement The hotel procures items like amenities, uniforms, linen, premade food and decorative items for usage in guest and staff areas through local NGO’s like Cancer Patients, Tribal and traditional weavers, underprivileged women and orphan children.
Tata Strive Hotel funds a skill-building initiative called Tata Strive that is engaged in skill building for the underprivileged class of children. We train 300 students every year for a 90-day training module in hotel skills of Housekeeping, Food Production and F&B service.
Other Initiatives The hotel caters food to 250 relatives of cancer patients receiving treatment at the Tata Memorial hospital and Borges Homes daily The hotel hosts Lunches in association with the Seva Sadan Society for underprivileged girls and women. Our chefs at the hotel teach the art of baking and cooking skills to underprivileged women and young adults to generate livelihood for them
Environment & Social Sustainability
Earth Check Initiative: Taj Lands End, Mumbai has earned the prestigious Earth Check Platinum certification in 2019. This was an up-gradation from the Gold level (2014-2018) certification. To achieve the prestigious Platinum certification, Taj Lands End hotel has undertaken the following initiatives: Green House Gas Emission: Key actions taken to reduce these are; buying wind power through open access system, CFC free refrigerant for chillers, use of split AC, use of pipe natural gas for boiler and cooking. We have reduced our electricity consumption per occupied key by 10% in last two years Water conservation: Key initiatives taken for water conservation are; installation of aerator taps, regular leak checks, waterless urinals in public area, a chemical in the laundry for low water consumption, STP water recylced for cooling water, gardening and exterior washing, GTP water for WC flushing, sprinkler system for gardening. Waste Management System: Key initiatives taken for waste management at Taj Lands End are; segregation of dry and wet garbage, OWC machine to convert organic waste to manure, recycle waste oil , responsible electronic waste disposal.
Professional Memberships
Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI)
Asia Society of India Hotel Association of India Indo German Chambers of Commerce Mumbai Chapter IMC chamber of commerce and industry Jury for Hotelier India hospitality awards 2017-18 Jury for India Wine awards 2017-18, 2018-19. Jury for Good Food awards 2018-19.
Contribution towards IHCL & Western Region
IHCL is a purpose-driven organisation. Its value-based system has enabled me to actualise my professional potential while giving me a deep sense of belonging. Being an Area Director & General Manager, I play a crucial role in implementing the company's vision of Aspiration 2022. This is based on three pillars of re-structuring, re- engineering and re-imagining the company’s portfolio. The strategy is aimed at margin enhancement and growth to fulfil our aspiration of becoming the most iconic and profitable hospitality company in South Asia. Therefore, our key focus is on exploring new markets, monetising non-core assets, optimising costs and simplifying the group structure to grow the bottom line. This five-year program will also include leveraging the digital channel to strengthen the brand and generate more revenue. I am the custodian of the hotel’s performance, and I have a strong oversight on profitability, our iconic brand image and employee engagement. We have renewed focus on driving our EBITDA margins in line with the company aspiration of showing 8% growth by 2022. I have been actively involved in the implementation of a new initiative for the company. These include Piloting HR initiatives like V connect, Shop in Shop, surplus food takeaway by Staff, TIDI process of talent identification, CAS module for a competency evaluation. With my role as Area Director for West India, I also oversee Taj Santacruz, Mumbai and IHCL hotels in Nashik, Gujarat and Pune. I am responsible for the operations and P&L of these hotels. A single regional dashboard was created by me to oversee these hotels and their daily, monthly and Year to Date performance with respect to Revenue, STR positioning, Guest satisfaction and Employee engagement score.