Case Study:
Heros of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel
In November 2008, the world was shocked when terrorists attacked locations around the Indian city of Mumbai. One of the targets was the prestigious Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. There, terrorists armed with grenades and automatic weapons held hostages for three days and two nights. During the siege, they killed several people and started a fire in the hotel's magnificent dome.
But amid the horrors was an amazing story of bravery. All of the hotel's employees stayed on the job. Rather than escaping to preserve themselves, they remained to help the guests as well as they could. Thinking fast as they heard gunshots, employees rushed guests to safe locations in kitchens and basements. A young manager kept a group of banquet guests quiet and calm through a long night, offering water and checking on their well-being. Employees enabled over a thousand guests to slip away, guiding them to back entries, even though the terrorists might have killed them for doing so. In fact, some were killed, including a head waiter who directed kitchen workers to serve as human shields for guests being evacuated. Telephone operators were evacuated, but went back to call guests and offer whatever information they could.
Later, reflecting on what had happened, senior managers of the hotel were simply amazed. They struggled to comprehend what had driven their own employees to put guests' well-being ahead of their own. Certainly, employee conduct far exceeded any company policies that were on the books. Researchers from Harvard were equally intrigued and decided to investigate by reviewing human resource policies and interviewing employees. They concluded that the exceptional conduct resulted largely from the company's recruiting, training, and rewards practices.
The Taj's approach to recruitment is a departure from the norm in India, a fast-developing nation that has not yet developed a business culture of customer service. Because the major schools of the urban areas have focused on preparing technically skilled people who tend to aim for high-paying careers in science and technology companies, the Taj recruits in smaller towns and cities, where there is less competition to pay for the best talent. They work with local schools known for high standards, asking the schools to identify people who stand out for traits such as respect and empathy. These traits are consistent with traditional culture that persists in these communities, including a high value placed on discipline, humility, honesty, respect for one's elders, and consideration of others. The Taj focuses on personal traits on the assumption that these are harder to teach than the skills for running a hotel.
Candidates for entry-level jobs are recruited from high schools and paid a stipend to attend skill certification centers. They live rent-free in the training center dormitories and learn basic skills. Those who do well during this experience are hired by the hotel as trainees. For supervisors, the Taj selects students at India's hotel management and catering institutes, again primarily focusing on candidates' values, such as integrity and conscientiousness rather than strictly hiring for technical skills. The Taj fills its ranks of middle management with graduates from India's second- and third-tier management schools, where it hopes to find candidates who are more customer-centered than money-driven.
Employees undergo an extensive 18-month training program that includes on-the-job training. The effort emphasizes learning to make decisions independently. One training tool is a weekly debriefing session in which the trainee's manager asks, “What did you learn this week?” and “What did you see this week?” These questions offer practice in figuring out how to respond to new situations, especially situations in which employees must listen to guests and respond to their needs. Always, the goal is to put the guests' interests first, on the assumption that when the guests are taken care of, the hotel's needs are protected, not the other way around.
Those who work at the Taj become part of an organization that is relentless in measuring and rewarding superior service. The management of the Taj has determined that in a typical 24-hour period, each guest has an average of 42 interactions with a hotel employee, mostly unseen by supervisors. The Taj considers each of those interactions to be a chance for an employee to delight a customer by being kind. It backs up that belief with a program of rewards. Whenever a guest compliments management about an employee's conduct, the employee is supposed to be rewarded within 48 hours. The rewards are points that employees accumulate to receive a variety of awards delivered at annual celebrations. Perhaps more important, supervisors are expected to thank their employees personally for their efforts to please customers.
Q1. In what ways does the Taj meet the criteria for a “sustainable” organization?
Q2. What would you describe as the Taj's basic strategy as a hotel? How do human resource practices support that strategy?
Q3. The head researcher who studied Taj has said this case shows that HR practices can ensure that employees will behave ethically. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Your answer must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format and also include references.