Attack on Taj Hotels

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The Ordinary Heroes Of

ABOUT TAJ MAHAL PALACE,MUMBAI

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel is a five-star hotel located in the Colaba region of Mumbai, next to the Gateway of India.Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D. N. Mirza are the architects. First opened its doors to guests on 16 december 1903. Jamsedji Tata decided to build the hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city's grand hotels of the time, Watson's Hotel, as it was restricted to “whites only”.

WHAT HAPPENED ON 26/11 ?

A group of 10 terrorists attacked a dozen different locations

One of the location being the iconic,beautiful,103 year old Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

WHAT WERE THE REACTION OF EMPLOYEES ?

Who knew all the back routes, the exits, how to get out and how to get out fast….

SO….

How Many of them fled?

Instead of fleeing…

The Taj staff kept calm, according to the guests, and constantly went around offering water and asking people if they needed anything else

Few of them even helped guests out and came back in to help more guests

Kitchen employees formed a human shield to assist guests who were evacuating, and as a result lost their lives.

The Ordinary Heroes Of 26/11

 Mallika Jagad : 24 year old Banquet Manager (probably the youngest one to be

present there)

What explains this behaviour?

Taj employees’ actions weren’t prescribed in manuals; no official policies or procedures existed for an event such as 26/11.

• There are no appropriate reasons as to why the employees  from all levels of the hierarchy did it, even when they knew the secret routes and could have saved their lives.

• Indian Culture: The value system is such that a guest is to be treated like god.

• The TAJ is owned by a family i.e. The TATA Group• Hospitality Industry: those businesses which are

characterized by generosity and friendliness to guests.• The organizational culture of Taj is such that employees

are willing to do almost anything for guests. 

What Practices They Follow ???• Seek fresh recruits rather than lateral hires.• Hire from small towns and semi urban areas, not metros.• Recruit from high schools and second-tier business schools rather than colleges and premier B-schools.

• Induct managers who seek a single-company career and will be hands-on.

• Focus more on hiring people with integrity and devotion to duty than on acquiring those with talent and skills.

• Train workers for 18 months, not just 12.

Ensure that employees can deal with guests without consulting a supervisor.

Teach people to improvise rather than do things by the book. Insist that employees place guests’ interests over the

company’s. Use timely recognition, not money, as reward. Ensure that recognition comes from immediate supervisors,

not top management.

Hiring and Training Policy:• They don't look for students who have the highest grades. They're actually

recruiting for personal characteristics. They recruit graduates for attitude, not grades.

• 18 months training – 6 months more than the industry standard• Trained not just on the area of expertise but all the related functions• Build Leaders – Each employee is given an authority to take the decisions

pertaining to his work and this empowers them and helps in building a leader in all• The employees can be trained to be better chefs or waiters, but they cannot be

taught to be good individuals.• They train employees to be the voice of the customers.

             STARS (Special Thanks And Recognition System)

“Customers of an organization can be satisfied by it only when its employees are satisfied”

Recognizing and rewarding employees who showcased excellent performance at their work

Promoted successively to various levels Employees were not just assessed on their

performance but also on parameters like honesty, trustworthiness, concern for the environment, team spirit, cooperation etc.

Appreciations from the customers also fetched points

Outcomes of these Policies:

ERR (Employee retention rate) is the highest amongst all its competitors.

Drives employees beyond their duties which was totally unexpected of them as was in the case of 26/12 Tsunami and 26/11 attacks.

In 2002, Taj Group was conferred HERMES Award for its innovative HR practices.

With the implementation of STARS, there was tremendous improvement in the service standards and also the customer satisfaction level.