Sanjeev Singh, Operations Manager at La Cabana Resort and Spa

Sanjeev Singh started his career in 2008. He completed his BSC in Hotel Management from Agra, a 3 years program which was affiliated with Punjab Technical University. In 2010, he completed his training and has, since then, worked in the industry for the past 10 years.

The glamour of this industry inspired him to join it. “Every day is a new and interesting day to meet many people. You do not get bored. You need young and vibrant people in this industry.

Somewhere in 2013 or 2014, he was confronted with a difficult and challenging situation. “I was working as a Front Office Executive and a guest who was a regular at the hotel for a long time, committed suicide. Personally I was very new and had not faced such situation before in my life. When I came to know about it, I went there and handled that situation at that moment. If we had not done the formalities, taken the ID cards or done the other formalities, then it would be very tough.”

Another challenging task, according to Mr. Sanjeev, is handling Guest Complaints is a challenging task. “Sometimes the food is not up to the mark, or sometimes something happens suddenly like the AC does not work or the bathroom is not proper or be it any kind of problem. You have to manage it in a way that should not be uncomfortable. We have to give them proper attention as a manager. We have to attend them in a professional way. We have to give them what they want. We have to be pro active in each and every field. We have to see each and every single thing while allotting the room to a particular guest to make sure that everything works well. If it is a function then we have to see that everything is done in such a way that it should not come to a complaint or a negative feedback.”

In his opinion, safety, comfort and privacy, these are a customer’s preference. It does not matter whether it is a four star or five star hotel, if they are able to provide this then the customer satisfaction will definitely go up.

“In order to enhance the guests experience, we need to check, from time to time, what are their likes and dislikes and what extra can be given to them. We have to look after them, sometimes even after their departure, if they have a birthday, anniversary or any other such occasion. You can put a message or you can just leave them a couple of gifts or hampers or a bouquet. So that makes them feel that someone cares. So that makes people come back to you again.”

“The management of a hotel, first of all, should have a professional and healthy work environment, where we can get the exposure to enhance and improve our skills as well as the training modules and all these things help the staff to learn. When they can work for a company they can give something extra by developing these skills. The guest satisfaction level will go up.”

We should have all comfortable amenities and a proper hierarchy in the system where it should not come on a single person who is responsible for everything. Everything has to be conducted in such a professional way that the guest should not feel uncomfortable. That is why we conduct daily HOD meetings, staff meetings and briefings. If anything happens wrong we get it rectified so that the same incident does not repeat itself and end up in yet another bitter experience for another guest.”

His next higher goal would be to be a General Manager or a Group GM and in another 3 to 5 years he wants to achieve that goal and will be focusing on achieving it.

According to Mr. Singh, Hygiene does not only mean that the room is clean. “Every single thing, be it linen or tiles or anything else, we think it comes in hygiene. Everything has to be checked as earlier people were not so much active or proactive because there was no such situation such as a Pandemic that existed earlier. So the entire definition of Hygiene has changed. Now we have to be more careful or more vigilant in respect to guest safety security or comfort. Once people are sure that they are having the confidence, that the hotel is hygienic or safe, they will definitely come back. So the entire environment has to be proper. Even in the kitchen, all equipment must be clean and hygienic and properly sanitized. That gives the entire property a feeling of a safe zone for the guest.”

To the readers and youngsters, he would like to say, “The hospitality industry is always coming up with new things, new SOPs, new experiments, etc. because we have an industry where we do not have a fixed limit.”

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