Shared Vision

Ramiah addressing the corporate team of Auromatrix Hotels, Appollo Finance, Aloft Starwood & Sparsa Hotels General Managers and Finance Heads… Chennai, 14 Mar 2014

In a recent presentation made out to the corporate team of Auromatrix Hotels, Appollo Finance and Aloft Starwood and Sparsa Hotel General Managers and Financial Controllers, my theme revolved around the fact that a “Shared Vision enhances Profitability”.
  • Bill Marriott famously once said “I want our associates to know that there really is a guy named Marriott who cares for them“. He understood that if his team were to share his vision, they needed to know of his existence as a caring, understanding and existing personality!
  • Ricardo Semler who pioneered the Semco story and articulated his success in empowering and creating a common vision believed in a decentralized, participatory style and has let his employees set their own hours, wages, even choose their own IT. In 1990, the Brazilian economy went into a severe downturn, forcing many companies to declare bankruptcy. Workers at Semco agreed to wage cuts, providing their share of profits was increased to 39%, management salaries were cut by 40% and employees were given the right to approve every item of expenditure. How has he fared? Semco’s revenues have jumped from $35 million to $212 million in NINE years, with an annual growth rate of 40% and the firm grew from several hundred employees to 3,000—with employee turnover of about 1 percent.
  • Henry Ford said once that “if everyone moves forward together, then success takes care of itself

Beyond a point, an employees primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he’s treated and how valued he feels. If you are losing good people, look to their immediate supervisor/manager. Findings through a survey by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman revealed that “People leave Managers, not Companies.

Is a shared vision possible? If so, then is it also possible that senior resources who hold the reins of a hotel company re-look at these phrases?

  • The General Manager… a) must take ownership… b) is the owner of the P&L… c) is a stake-holder.
  • The Owner / Investor / Promoter must… a) have empathy… b) understand operational needs… c) care for the operational team

With the Auromatrix Corporate Team, Apollo Finance & Aloft and Sparsa Hotel GMs/FCs

Posted in Guest Discourses, Seminars & Events | Leave a reply

Ethics – 4th Accountancy Concept

Ramiah Daniels and Vice Chairman C.A. Ravindranath with the 106th Batch of ICAI – Bangalore Chapter

Hospitality Paradigm recently delivered a talk to Chartered Accountants on what I call the 4th concept of Accountancy – “The Code of Ethics” for the 106th Batch of General Management and Communication Skills on 01st September 2012 at Bangalore Branch, ICAI.

Accountancy outlines the three concepts of accounting, “Money Measurement Concept”, “Separate Entity Concept” and “Dual Entity Concept”, but what puts this together to make a trustworthy and reliable Finance Manager is eventually his or her code of ethics. Having superior accounting skills without honesty is akin to a rotten fruit in a beautiful skin!

What was also nice to see is that all Chartered Accountants since the past few years, in order to achieve certification must compulsorily attend the 15 day in-house program which hones their behavioural skills in terms of public speaking, presentation, neuro linguistic skills, time management, goal setting, team building & interpersonal skills – thereby improving their personality before they set out into their first job.

Posted in Guest Discourses, Seminars & Events | Leave a reply