Managing Staff
With several new elements being introduced at the hotel simultaneously, training staff and managing the team during the transition period was something the executive committee had to plan carefully.
“During the course of the renovation, our plan was to reduce the number of associates by 30%. So we decided we wouldn’t ask anyone to leave, but whenever someone resigned, they would not be replaced.
“We started this three months before the renovation so by the time the renovation started, we were right on point with the manning level,” comments Starwood Hotels & Resorts area director of human resources Mahmoud Abulwafa.
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Rooms division manager Matt Griffis adds: “We didn’t really have to move too many staff around. You sort of have the natural attrition within the department. Because we have been under renovation constantly for just under three years, we haven’t really had a full team particularly in the housekeeping department because you don’t really need a full team when you’ve got 80 or 90 rooms under renovation.”
Over the course of the renovation, however, Griffis kept the housekeeping team involved right from the start.
“Because we made changes from the first phase of the renovation and then the second phase and then the third, you’ll notice subtle differences in each of the rooms. The fabrics have changed, the armchairs, all sorts of things like that.
So we had to make sure they know the difference between a room on the eight floor, a room on the 12th floor and a room for example, on the 19th floor.
“We took the associates in at an early stage. Once the rooms began to develop, we started to take them in and show them the rooms so they could see the differences between the various floors. We then did our training in the rooms,” he explains.
With the renovations split into two phases, Abulwafa was also able to implement a clear strategy for recruitment and training.
“In May we started planning the recruitment trips, which we divided between myself and the general manager. Once the associates were selected, we did not bring them over immediately because of the costs. We asked them to arrive one month before the opening date where we had planned the training to be ready for the opening,” he says.
“Now we are in the second phase of recruitment, which concentrates on the F&B, Daniel [Van Der Heijden, deputy general manager] is in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Mumbai for the interviews, and Christina [Bowen, director of food and beverage] is going to the Philippines. Now that rooms are finished, the second phase concentrates on the F&B, so that’s our focus now” he adds.
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