The GRITers

When pandemic situations occur, after many considerations, the decision of closing Novotel Bogor temporarily has to be taken. This decision of course also impacted to the reduction of the manning cost. Mr. Charles CHOI then started to initiate by sacrificing the cut of his own salary to 80% and inspire his supportive HODs to agree a cut of 60%, and it continues to degrade to a cut of 40 % for his entry level (rank & file) team members. He also shares that in a crisis situation, your leadership plays a huge role. Different from management skills, leadership skills need to be built through time investment by being fully there for your team, listening and gain their respect & trust. Leadership is all about TRUST, he noted. Because of the trust built, around 30 Novotel Bogor team members are willing to help ibis Styles Bogor Raya without any additional compensation. The same voluntarily support came from the Novotel Engineering team member who took turn to came and maintained the supporting facilities such as generators, pools, etc. In return when the hotel reopened last month, Pak Charles invited the engineering team and their family to experience the new Novotel Bogor renovated rooms and facilities. His last advice for Future GMs, “cultivate success within your area of control and make it as habits, start with small objectives, and continue to challenge yourself with greater objectives”.

Take Action, Action does not always bring result. But there is definitely No Result without any action, quoted from Mr. Sunardi SONG. With a sincere intention to provide support to his Heartist team and his owning company, Pak SONG dare to take a lead and took prompt actions to pioneer a project between Accor and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy to open the hotel door for our Medical Heroes. Along with 4 other Accor hotels in Jakarta, they agreed on last March 2020, to provide an accomodation for more than 1100 Medical Frontliners. As a pioneer back then, he and his HODs Team had limited time to convince all stakesholder (owner and team members) and at the same time invent necessary protocols. It was heartwarming how his team supported the idea, there were 67 Heartists out of 78 who volunter to keep working and supported this project back then. Listen also on how his team lead by his EAM, Hilmansyah and his TCM, Andra took care of each other's well being while they worked and stayed in the hotel, away from their family. His advice to Future Leader, in Navigating in uncertainty, be brave to take every opportunity arise, in order to provide the best options for your team and owners, as Speed is the new business currency.

In any situation, the spirit of the Team is more important than any Individual, quoted from Mr. Gilles TRESSENS, General Manager of Pullman Ciawi Vimala Hills Resort, Spa and Convention. He highlighted that in a team, everyone need each other and everybody is equally important. This was the reason he launched Cling Cling program for everybody to assist the Housekeeping team as the Resort is located on 13 hectares of lush land with vast garden area including herb garden. Listen to how this program helps the team spirit, empathy, better collaboration and uplift the team motivation. He also shared how his and his EAM Adrian's vision at the end of last year, of creating a butler service with touchless contact (like using QR code, digital tools to personalized the communication), was actually very beneficial TODAY during the pandemic situation where they still accomodate guests in their 21 villas existing in Pullman Ciawi Vimala Hills. Listen to some of his very insightful tips on how you can be visionary Leader with a growth mindset, always be ready to ADAPT, be open, learn, listen, and Innovate together with your TEAM. #upyourgame

GOOD WILL, have it and do something about it, and you will gain your confidence, gain people TRUST and support so finally a way out to FIGHT will occur, a well said statement from Pak Whisnu Wijaya. Started with a simple activity of 15 minutes sharing every morning which aims to help us find new consciousness and mindset, to Find an Apple Moment. This activity then help the team member to start to think of alternative ways to survive. Listen to how this simple activity brought many alternative solutions and many amazing results from his departmental Leaders in Novotel Makassar Grand Shayla

As a Leader it is important to even be more available for your team member during this challenging situation, as it will increase the team involvement to collaborate with you as a Leader. Even when you have tough decisions to share, you need to always try to provide the best possible options for your team with a big heart and a good intention. Ibu Ina will share how she maximize her manning budget to maintain her 54 team member cash flow. She will also share some stories on how the existing Ibis Styles Malang team heartwarmed her and always be her strength to strive, with their continous suggestions and actions.

Transparency in Communication as a Hotel General Manager across different stakesholder is very important during this challenging situation. Pak Florent MICHAUD shared how he and his Novotel and Ibis Balikpapan team strive through the crisis by being entrepreneurial, act quickly, take new challenges, collaborate together, adapt and Innovate in different areas to maintain hotel cashflow. Pak Florent believe that we need to give our best in order to receive the same, just like the quotes from John F. Kennedy “Don't ask What your country can do for you, Ask What you can do for your country?”. Another growth mindset, so the question for each of us, What have we done to contribute and support our workplace to survive ? Listen and hope you are inspired as much as I did.

In this pandemic situation, one of the most important responsibilities of a General Manager is to nurture and support the people. Mr. Rhys CHALLENGER shared how as a Leader we just need to be present by being there, listen, inform, and share. Amazingly his team puts in place several initiatives in Pullman Jakarta Central Park. One of the heartwarming one is to contribute their own tipping money from hotel guests and share them with other 131 contracted team who's in need of them. How does Pak Rhys built this “we are one” belonging Culture as a Leader and What are his essential advices for future Leaders to create such enganging environment where each Talent continue to strive and #upyourgame, as Pullman tagline? Listen and get ready to be inspired.

One on One, We are One program initiative by Novotel Tangerang “luarbiasa” talents aimed to grow empathy and to strenghten the bond between talents and casual or outsourcing team members during this challenging situation. 71 casuals and 22 outsourcings are touched by the heartwarming gestures. Pak Windiarto, GM of Novotel Tangerang, shared how as a Leader, it is important to be inclusive, to have empathetic communication as well as integrity and commitment towards your Talent well being. This will enable the Motivational Culture to take place even in a challenging situation, as the success of a business lies in the heart of its people.

It is important as a Leader to have a vision, the drive and the focus to ensure actions are in place to pursue your vision, and the perseverance to bounce back yourself as we are solely responsible for our own success, “No Halu”, quoted from Pak Engkun Kurnia. This is also why he supported his F&B team to launch several initiatives. One of them is Herbalicious Drinks initiative. It is important that we continue to seize every opportunity to maintain the team spirit. One of other reason of launching this initiative is his personal belief to healthy lifestyle and he gladly share some tips with us on this podcast. Hope you enjoy and inspire as much as i did.

As we are getting ready for the new normal way of working, as a Leader it is extremely important to ensure our team is ready. In this episode, Ibu Eksi Ayuningtyas, GM Grand Mercure and Ibis Yogya Adi Sucipto will introduce a Learning Culture initiative during this challenging situation called CLBK (Continuous Learning and Be Knowledgeable). Ibu Eksi and the team are using the available digital tools as an enabler to Learning, such as Google Classroom, Google forms, Kahoot, Quizziz and AHAcademy Online Learning by Bridge. She will also share some Tips on how to get the team motivated to join Learning.

Eid-Il-Fitr Cookies are compulsary tradition for Indonesians. Being mindful that this is an opportunity of another revenue stream for the hotel, the ibis Styles Bali Benoa team strive to be ahead and manage to sell 28 Eid-Il-Fitr cookies jars within their first sales week.

The GRITers stands for Hotel General Managers who continue to Rise, Innovate and Thrive throughout challenging situations. On weekly basis, we will provide a series of interviews with our Hotel GMs who share business and people initiatives crafted in their hotels during the COVID 19.