Exclusive Interview | Anuraag Kadam, Human Resources Manager, Conrad Pune

“Be yourself and always be humble and curious to learn”

— Anuraag Kadam

Editor: Tell us about your journey. How did it all start? 

My tryst with hospitality began in the year 2010 and while unknown to me, my fruitful journey in HR was not planned. My learning at the hospitality school helped me become a confident and outgoing personality which truly was a life-changing element for me. It was during my industrial training, that my interest leaned towards the human resources field where I enjoyed the guest’s interactions and found happiness in assisting them. My operational journey in human resources began in 2013 with Park Hyatt Goa and I currently head the human resource vertical at Conrad Pune. 

Editor: What do you think it takes to succeed in this industry? 

Success is never easy and it doesn’t come overnight. One should be constantly disciplined, passionate, and dedicated to their work. If you have the vision to grow, never hesitate, be adaptive to changes and have the will to be a lifetime learner, you will gradually succeed in this industry. 

Editor: What are the attributes you look for while selecting or hiring?  If someone wants to work with you, what should they do? 

Attitude is the foremost attribute I look for – Attitude cannot be taught or inculcated, it comes within. Commitment & Ability to work with the team comes secondary. Hospitality is all about people serving people, technical knowledge can be taught or learned but if you don’t have the right attitude – organizational culture can go for a toss.

Editor: What advice would you give to a young, aspiring hotelier for their internship?

Be yourself and always be humble and curious to learn. Ask questions at every point of your training, and take every day as new learning. In order to get successful, you need to step out of your comfort zone and give your 100% at work. Be positive at every point, remember your internship will be the most difficult tenure of your degree – make the best of it. 

 Editor: What is the one tech/app/software feature you would like to see?  This could be for guests, operations, etc. 

Artificial Intelligence has been sort of dominating our industry. Personally, I would love to see software that can read the minds of employees – want to be so quick in gauging if anyone is feeling demotivated or needs immediate attention. This will help in controlling attrition and enhance work-life balance. 

Editor: What is your favorite interview question and why?

What does being a Manager mean to you? This question helps me to understand how the candidate views the role of a manager and you can understand his/her thinking towards work, whether he is a potential leader or a Boss. Whether likes to give orders and demand results or work along with the team to achieve goals. His/her answers will help you to determine if the candidate is the right choice for your organization.

Exclusive Interview | Jagadish Dadi, Human Resource Manager - Marriott (Surat)

“In order to build a rewarding employee experience, you need to understand what matters most to your people”

— Jagadish Dadi



Editor: Tell us about your journey. How did it all start?

I belong to the city of destiny, Visakhapatnam. Where I have completed all my schooling 10+2 from Kendriya Vidyalaya & Graduated in Business Management(BBM) from GITAM University., later I perused PG Diploma in IR&PM, Labour & Industrial Relations and Masters in Human Resources management(MHRM) from Andhra University.

I am a thorough Human Resources Professional with 13+ years of experience in the hospitality industry.

My career into hospitality industry is certainly an accident & was not aware of this industry any time before as a whole, however the destiny is what it decide for us to cherish lifetime. People also have this misconception that if you do work in a hotel then you’re either a receptionist, doorman or a housekeeping attendant which are all absolutely false assumptions and merely stereotypes.

It all started with the first flag ship hotel of Accor Hotels in Hyderabad, India i.e.; Novotel Hyderabad & Hyderabad International Convention Centre in the pre-opening as a Human Resources Coordinator (July 2006 to Aug 2011)., this is the property taught me all the skills & best practices that I have used in the coming stints of my career. later I was transferred to be part of another pre-opening property of Accor Hotels in Visakhapatnam, India i.e., Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach as Human Resources Executive and promoted to Asst. Manager – Human Resources (Aug 2011 to July 2014). I moved to Qatar Airways in Doha, Qatar as Huma Resources Officer (July 2014 to Jan 2015). I returned back to India and joined HMSHost International, An Auto grill Company as Asst. Human Resources Manager where I used to handle the Airport HR Operations of India and Middle East (May 2015 to Sep 2016)., later I have moved to Visakhapatnam with Fairfield by Marriott Pre opening team as Human Resources Manager (Apr 2017 to Aug 2019) and moved to Surat, Gujarat with Surat Marriott Hotel as Human Resources Manager( Aug 2019 to current)

Editor: What do you think it takes to succeed in this industry?

The key thing for our industry is a definite commitment to a very high level of service culture and also a personal commitment to those beliefs. One have to keep personally motivated and passionate about the industry. I believe having the right attitude is the most important thing to succeed in the hospitality industry, along with common sense. A ‘can do’ attitude with a smile. Generally people see only the glamorous side of hotels, but there is a lot of hard work and long hours that go on behind the scenes.

Editor: What advice would you give to a young culinary student?

All it takes is to enjoy the work and sky is the limit. Honesty, passion, smartness and sense of humor., a mix of all these attributes with the right kind of attitude will definitely give an extra mile in his/her career.

Editor:What are the attributes you look for while selecting or hiring? If someone wants to work with you, what should they do?

The right kind of attitude is definitely an essential part of what we look for when hiring for our hotel. Also, we require candidates to have strong interpersonal skills as they have to deal with clients and customers at all time and someone who is flexible and a team player.

If someone wants to be working with me should be no excuse, all that they need to have a right attitude towards work & associates, Dedication, the urge to be different from others, should be able to perform under extreme pressure, constantly challenging self for an improvement etc.

Editor: What are some of the trends you see impacting the hospitality industry?

The hospitality industry is competitive, and businesses need to keep up with the latest hospitality trends to avoid being left behind. Additionally, keeping pace with the industry as a whole is a great way to ensure our business delivers the kind of customer experience people want and expect. However, the needs and priorities of customers have also changed due to COVID.

1. Safety & Hygiene - As the world adjusts to the virus and efforts to contain the spread. It is essential that safety & hygiene are a priority for hotels, which will certainly builds confidence among the Guests and associates.

2. Mobile Check-In Service - Offering a mobile check-in service is one of the most useful hospitality trends for reducing the need for human-to-human contact and this is an especially important concept within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated efforts to contain the virus.

3. Healthy & Organic Food & Drinks - There has been something of a cultural shift with people becoming more aware of the things they are putting in their bodies, leading to healthy food and drinks trend., hence hotels are now are very much keen to cater the healthy & organic way of food style.

4. Sustainability - This has been one of the most noticeable hospitality trends of recent times, customers are concerned with environmental issues and want to know that the businesses they deal with are behaving ethically & promoting the eco –friendliness.

Editor: Two things you would like to change in the industry.

With the changing trends & competition, the hotel industry is making all the best possible efforts to meet the guest & associate satisfaction., however 2 things I would like to change in our industry would be

1. Long working hours, especially at the shop floor which is an on-going and need to be changed for a proper work life balance of associates.

2. Salary structures or pay scale, which is still a debating point in most of the hotels but not all.

One with a Team

---