Globally however, Omer Kaddouri’s ambition isn’t limited to the MEAI region. On the British-Iraqi’s wish list, there is one European city he feels would be “a major coup”.
“London would be a showcase for us,” he explains. “There are so many of our customers here that are travelling in and out of the UK, especially London so we feel it would do very well and our loyal customers in this region would definitely assist us in developing an occupancy there. Other developers and owners would see it and then we could grow a bit more in Europe,” he explains.
Reaching new heights
In parallel with expansion, Kaddouri is focusing on “improving systems and making sure our 12,000 colleagues are happy coming to work so that they can really deliver what we’re promising to customers.”
| Advertisement |
Having led many initiatives involving the retention and development of staff in line with the company’s expansion plans in his previous role, this is an area he aims to place even more importance on as staff numbers “double to about 25,000” by 2020.
“Doubling these colleagues, obviously there’s a lot of work to make sure they’re well-settled and well-trained.”
Outlining a “strong learning and development programme”, Kaddouri highlights TAROT — the Accelerated Refinement of Talent — an initiative that targets students from colleges and graduates as well as talented team members looking to advance their careers within the company. Duroob, a progamme focused on hiring locals in every market the company is based in, is also something close to his heart.
“Each hotel has a smaller and smaller share of the locals but we work very hard and try to develop and encourage them to stay within the industry,” he explains. “We’ve been fairly successful so far and it’s going to be a programme that is continually focused on because we want to have local culture in our hotels.”
However, as a leader, El Zyr warned that Kaddouri will take a bit of getting used to for Rotana staff. “Dealing with him is completely different to dealing with me. I am probably tougher than him,” he told Hotelier Middle East at the end of last year.
Kaddouri accepts that he “can be demanding”, but views himself as “a fair type of manager” nevertheless.
“I can push people to their limits to make sure they are delivering what they should be delivering.
“At the same time, I can make the work environment fun and a nice place to be because that’s what I want. I don’t want to be working in an environment where people are stressed out, because then I wouldn’t be happy either. So I think I’d say I’m tough and demanding, but fair and friendly.”
This balanced approach is something that Kaddouri also hopes to maintain in his private life going forward in his new role as top dog, which El Zyr has warned him, “can be lonely”.
“I have a very good work-life balance and I want to keep it that way,” Kaddouri asserts. “I think that’s the key to a successful career and a successful family life. I’ve been able to do that so far and if I can keep that moving forward I’ll be happy. I keep reminding myself that I have to keep being who I am, and it’s been a few months now and so far so good,” he says, adding with a chuckle that we should catch up next year so I can ask him the same question again.
Having his work cut out for the foreseeable future, Kaddouri expresses satisfaction at having finally arrived at the top, but admits that this is just the start of another set of hurdles.
“I think I’ve reached a level where I now know that I’ve got a lot of work to do in the next five to 10 years. So just by being in this position I’m happy because I know that I can make change, I can develop and improve things. I think I’m in a position where I’m satisfied with what I’ve got, I have enough and that’s how I would like it to stay.”
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
