The Taj Group: Valuing Employees as Assets through the Taj's People Philosophy and the STAR System

The Taj, an iconic name in the hospitality industry, is not only known for treating its customers with a memorable experience, but also for cherishing the efforts put in by its employees to maintain its brand value. What drives Taj to success is the recognition of its employees' endeavors by the founders and senior management. And thus, the Taj's People philosophy came into the picture. 

Introducing the Taj's People philosophy

In 2000, the Taj group developed the Taj's People philosophy, aimed at transforming employee-focused practices. The philosophy considered every aspect of the employee’s journey in the group from the day he/she joined, till their retirement. TPP helped in boosting the morale of the employees, and in turn, improved its service standards.

Re-enforcing the people-oriented work culture

The Taj group not only wanted the best talent they could have from the country but also wanted to retain that talent. This could only be ensured if the employees could feel a connection with the grout itself. Here, the Taj's People Philosophy played an important role.

From the first step of hiring fresh graduates from leading hotel management institutes in India, it put them in a two-year training program. The aim of the program was to gain knowledge of Taj's business ethos that formed the base of its culture and the working of cross-functional departments.

The training was rigorously done in many fields such as sales and marketing, finance, hospitality and service, front office management, food and beverages, projects, HR, promoting them to participate in personal and professional leadership development programs. Employee assessment was done on their potential, and continued till the employee stayed in the organization. This ‘womb to tomb’ approach, the former name of the Taj’s people philosophy, believed that talent management was of great importance to achieve competitive advantage. Most of its employees, satisfied with the upskilling opportunities they got on the job, were willing to put extra effort to ensure customer loyalty. 

The Pillar of the TPP - Balanced Scorecard System (BSS)

The Taj's People Philosophy also supported the Taj employee charter that saw the employees of the group as family members, and aimed at ensuring transparency in communication through formal channels. To convey the feedback on the performance of the employees, as well as link individual efforts to the group's performance, the Taj group introduced its Balanced scorecard System (BSS).  BSS under the Taj's People Philosophy measured performances against predefined targets and identified variations. It was employed to the lowest levels of hierarchy, as people at Taj believed that assessing an individual’s potential irrespective of his/her position in the company, was essential to ensure their growth in the future.

The Employee Satisfaction tracking System (ESTS) under the BSS handed out surveys to employees on a quarterly basis to assess employee satisfaction. The concerns put up by the employees have to be reviewed and replied to by the review committee within two days or less from the time of completion of the survey. 

360-degree Feedback System - Subordinates Evaluating Supervisors

The 360-degree feedback system was also introduced in the alignment of Taj's People Philosophy. This was a very unique approach entailing evaluation of the performance of all senior management officials by their immediate subordinates. This was followed by interviews of these individuals to counsel them to overcome their deficiencies.

Apart from these initiatives, Taj group also established centers for excellence for its employees in five cities of India - Jaipur, Bangalore, Ernakulam, Chennai and Hyderabad. Departmental heads were trained at these centers, which further trained their own staff at the hotels. All the programs were according to the Taj's People Philosophy and standards.

The STAR system - A unique employee loyalty and reward program

The 'Special Thanks and Recognition System' (STARS) was the brainchild of Bernard Martyris, Senior Vice-President, HR, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL). It was created in accordance with the Taj's People Philosophy to treat its employees well and in turn get more customers. The STAR system was put in place throughout the year to identify and appreciate excellent employees through rewards for them. After its launch, it was promoted in all the hotels of the Taj group nationally and internationally. 

STARS had five levels. The employees gained recognition through points accumulated and the stars that they got to pin while they were working.

The parameters for these points were integrity, honesty, kindness, respect for customers, environmental awareness, teamwork, coordination, cooperation, initiative taking, trustworthiness, conviction and others. The Taj group not only wanted to assess its employees through the STAR system but also wanted them to feel like a part of the organization in the true sense. They encouraged their employees to give constructive suggestions and receive points for that. If the suggestions of the employees were not heeded within two days of making by the review committee, then too the employee received 20 ‘default points’. Along with it, they also received points through appreciation by customers, 'compliment-a-colleague' forums etc. 

The STAR system thus was a self-sustaining system. It ensured that the guidelines were followed timely. It helped the employees bond better, and go that extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. Excellent employees were awarded prizes and even a vacation at a Taj hotel of their choice. The Taj group enforced its Taj's People Philosophy and went further, to even organize an annual event to facilitate the highest point scorers in the STAR system.

The Stupendous Results

The vision of Taj through its Taj's People Philosophy and the STAR system of ensuring employee satisfaction through the promotion of their growth and development within the Taj ethos brought improved customer satisfaction as well employee retention rating (ERR). After the introduction of STARS, Taj earned the highest ERR in the country among all chains of hotels. Not only in numbers, but the employee conviction and bond with the Taj group was especially evident at the time of the 26/12 Tsunami as well as the 26/11 terrorist attack. There were several employees that put their lives on the line to ensure customer safety. 

The constant effort towards HR policies in the Taj group provided them with the ‘Hermes award’ in 2002 for the best innovation in HR in the hospitality industry. Analysts from all over the world too supported the view that Taj owes its success to its efforts towards recognizing and retaining employees and taking measures to improve satisfaction. And today, Taj is still carrying its legacy and work culture of prioritizing its employees. After all, Taj's People Philosophy states, happy employees, lead to happy customers.