Interview with Sharda Fonia,Complex Director of Human Resources and Training at The Westin Gurgaon New Delhi and The Westin Sohna Resort & Spa

Please give a brief business overview of your organization and how it has evolved over the years in India and abroad.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is the most global high-end hotel company in the world with more than 1,200 properties in 100 countries. Our strength lies in 10 distinct lifestyle brands, an award-winning loyalty programme and 240,000 talented associates worldwide. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis^®, The Luxury Collection^®, W^®, Westin^®, Le Méridien^®, Sheraton^®, Four Points^® by Sheraton, Aloft^®, element^® and the recently introduced Tribute Portfolio^TM. Starwood recently announced plans to spin off its Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. business, a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands, into a stand-alone public company by the end of 2015.

We plan to have 100 hotels in India by 2016 including the launch of the prestigious St. Regis brand at Mumbai. In the South Asian region, Starwood’s presence can be seen in India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Maldives and is soon to open properties in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

How do you define the organizational culture of this company? And on a global scale how do you spread the corporate DNA?

At Starwood we are committed to giving our associates a better way to experience the world through a culture of care that embraces care for associates, guests, business and community. Starwood cares culture permeates through everything that we do across our 10 brands.

Today’s workplace is bursting with more demands than ever—from management, supervisors, guests and our associates so much so that it is getting increasingly difficult to stay focused and committed to providing quality service. Innovative and creative associates are a vital component of Starwood’s ability to maintain such commitment to quality. Our unique culture provides our associates with an opportunity to “Live Starwood Cares” everyday through their words and actions in their day-to-day interactions. We value each associate who contributes to an enriched experience for any of our stakeholders—our guests, associates, business and community.

Starwood Cares is not just a reward and recognition programme, rather it is the very DNA that serves as an embodiment of what we collectively believe in and the values we share. Starwood Cares is our journey towards service workplace excellence. Our goal is to make an indelible mark of distinction for all concerned—our guests, associates, properties, brands, owners and the industry. Our returns are strong guest loyalty and business success together with owners and associate engagement. Starwood Cares takes on a totally integrative approach and synthesizes organizational strategies with business operations, guests and associate satisfaction. It is not a one-time effort; rather it is a series of interventions orchestrated in a progressive and timely manner.

Our associates are familiarized and immersed in the Starwood Cares culture from day one all over the globe by participating in the associate Discovery, our specially designed orientation programme. This immersion is mutually beneficial to both the associates and the company as it ensures associates’ self-satisfaction in their daily interactions with Living Starwood Cares and in turn leads to happy associates and happy guests, thereby benefiting the overall business output.

Please describe your company’s leadership team—its vision, leadership style and how do you select and groom senior managers.

At Starwood we believe the purpose of our existence is to “create a better way to experience the world.” Our leadership team strives to live up to this purpose and has created programmes to ensure we groom our managers to meet the expectations of the company. Starwood believes in a democratic leadership style, each associate is accountable for their individual roles.

Our Starwood Talent Management model shadows the practices of many Best-in-Class organizations in that we are strategic and deliberate in how we source, attract, select, train, develop, retain, promote and move employees through the organization. We provide career development opportunities for our associates by embracing a proactive, inclusive and structured talent development approach. We build strong Employer Branding & Loyalty through consistent practices and “Bubbling-Up” of talents across layers. We create a culture of continuous people development and organizational capability building. We believe in “Winning with Talent.” Starwood Careers, our pathway to building talent, has three tracks catering to the needs of entry-level, mid-level and senior-level associates. Thus, providing a platform to not only groom senior managers but also groom associates who can make great senior managers in future.

What differences does the company find in terms of its Indian employee profile, workforce capability, leadership competency etc. compared to staff in other countries?

Starwood is an equal opportunity employer and believes that each associate, irrespective of nationality, religion or gender, is capable of achieving the highest pinnacle of success. We encourage associates to apply for internal transfers and task force opportunities not only within their specific regions but also across geographies and have many such success stories, which further reiterates the fact that our associates across the globe are at par with each other in all aspects.

Can you briefly explain the similarities and differences in HRM in the South Asian region in your company?

Starwood’s policies and procedures as well as functioning of the hotels in the South Asian region are similar. The leadership team ensures consistency is maintained in all systems and processes. Thus, barring legal obligations, there is no major difference that exists.

How integral is the HR strategy to the overall business strategy of your firm? How it is operationalized?

The HR strategies across properties are in line as the leadership team provides clear guidelines for each property to align their goals to achieve the overall business goal. This activity commences at the beginning of the year with the Regional Director of Human Resources’ goals being rolled out to the property HR heads who further cascade and assign responsibilities to their teams. Thus, this collective effort contributes immensely to the overall strategy and success of the organization.

How do you see the evolution of the HR function in your company?

Over the past few years, the HR function at Starwood has undergone a major shift—from administrators we have become business partners. The earlier role of HR was very transactional in nature, it has evolved to become a function which not only adds value but “‘creates” it. As we have progressed up the ladder in the HR function, the HR role has become more strategic in nature and has added tremendous value to not only the leadership potential of the organization but also across levels and departments, in turn strengthening the long-term sustainability of the organization too.

Our biggest asset is our people and as HR business partners, we constantly strive to reinvent ourselves in order to attract, develop and retain talent. Globalization of the workforce has led us to be more connected than ever before. Knowledge and data sharing is now possible at the blink of an eye. Such paradigm shift in technology has crept into every area and every function of the organization, thus providing the tools and techniques to accomplish the pinnacle of HR deliverables.

What are the HR practices in your organisation that promote employee well-being and employability?

The Westin brand is all about wellness. The tagline of our brand is “for a better YOU.” We try to live up to our brand value by encouraging the well-being of our associates. For the same we organize “Wacky Wednesdays” wherein associates take a break from their day-to-day work and spend some fun time with short games once a week. Recently we have opened an associate gymnasium in the hotel so that the associates can work out in the comfort of their workplace. We also organize sports events on a quarterly basis to help our associates feel rejuvenated. Our onsite yoga instructor organizes meditation sessions with the associates and our recreation room provides facilities such as pool table, carom, chess and table tennis.

As you enter new markets and as your workforce increases and becomes more diversified, how do you manage the associated challenges of workforce diversity?

Workforce diversity is a broad term embracing the similarities and differences among associates from all walks of life in terms of age, gender, background, culture, race, orientation and education. Inclusion on the other hand is a state of being valued and supported. It means leveraging on the diversity regardless of the differences.

At Starwood we are not simply accepting diversity and inclusion; we are running towards it. We are actually on a mission towards diversity and inclusion. We seek out the difference and strive for variety and push diversity to the forefront. It is not because we should but because it is vital for the success of our people and our company and because it matters.

Taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity in the workplace is not without its challenges. Some of them are:

Despite the challenges, diversity and inclusion have become the buzzwords in today’s world. At Starwood, we have partnered with various organizations worldwide to welcome inclusion by hiring differently-abled associates. At The Westin Gurgaon New Delhi, we have four associates in Finance, Food & Beverage Service and Food & Beverage Culinary departments who are championing the cause of the hearing and speech impaired.

Please describe your company’s policies and practices on corporate governance, including corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Starwood is committed to finding innovative ways to do more with less in a manner that makes business sense for the company. Our environmental policy addresses critical areas of focus, with our initial global focus being a 30 per cent reduction in energy and a 20 per cent reduction in water by the year 2020. We recognize that the vitality of our business is directly linked to the vitality of the communities where we operate. Our Community focus areas are: Opening Doors to Opportunity and Taking Pride in our Places and Responding to Neighbours in Need; all with the goal of helping associates and neighbours around the world reach their potential. With more than 1,200 properties across 100 countries working together and focused on a few key issues, Starwood can have tremendous impact and countless lives can be improved.

What are the business and social drivers that encourage Starwood hotels to engage in CSR?

Social responsibility is about our intention and obligation as a global company to maximize the benefit we bring to the communities where we operate, while minimizing any harm that may result from our operations. It is in our character as hoteliers to take care of people and places. And as business people we recognize that the vitality of our business is directly linked to the vitality of the communities where we operate. When we open a hotel, we are not only building a business, we help build the community that surrounds that business. Thus, CSR initiatives are not business driven; they are purely driven by the company’s drive to contribute towards a sustainable future.

To what extent do Starwood hotels in India encourage and reward their employees for engaging in CSR and sustainability activities within and outside the organization?

The biggest reward for CSR and sustainability activities is self-satisfaction which each associate engaging in such activities experiences. However, as a company we appreciate our associates for such contributions. The Starwood Cares for the Community Program supports the efforts of all Starwood associates engaging in meaningful volunteer work to create a positive difference in the communities where we operate.

Author’s Concluding Comments

This interview has highlighted the emphasis that Westin hotel places on managing diversity, which Cox (1993, p. 6), the founder of this concept in management theory, defined as: “planning and implementing organisational systems and practices to manage people so that the potential advantages of diversity are maximized.” The goal of managing diversity is to maximize the ability of all employees to contribute to organizational goals and to achieve their full potential unhindered by group identities such as gender, race, nationality and departmental affiliation (Cox, 1993).

Managing diversity entails creating opportunities for everybody regardless of personal characteristics, with the aim to utilize the talents of each individual employee (Blom, 2015).

The Starwood Talent Management model reflects this managing diversity within Westin as the hotel provides career development opportunities for its associates by embracing a proactive, inclusive and structured talent development approach.

The managing diversity approach advocates that diversity in the workplace can make a considerable contribution to achieving the aims of the organization (Blom, 2015). As can be seen from the interview, the hotel embraces the managing diversity approach by leveraging on diversity, seeking out differences and striving for variety because the organization acknowledges that diversity is vital for the success of its people and the company. This supports Blom (2015) who posits that organizations that respect diversity and capitalize on the differences are better able to be an attractive employer for their employees and to present their clients with more appealing offers. Diversity in teams is beneficial for the way in which organizations can cater to the wishes and desires of their different client groups.

This is particularly important for the organization as their clientele that is, their guests, are very diverse in terms of ethnic background, race, religion, nationality etc., and each group has its distinct wishes, needs and desires during their stay at the hotel. A diverse workforce means that there is more knowledge of a broad group of clients which enables better alignment with the wishes of the client (Blom, 2015). Hence, the hotel’s diverse workforce will be better capable of providing a wonderful guest experience that it has committed itself to, expressed through the shared values as outlined in the interview.

In the interview, Ms Fonia expressed that taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity in the workplace is not without its challenges, for example communication problems. Despite the challenges, Ms Fonia stated that diversity and inclusion have become imperative in today’s world. This is not surprising, as organizations that manage diversity are more profitable and even more importantly are better able to fulfil their tasks in society (Blom, 2015).

This leads to the second leading topic of the interview: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The interviewee clarifies that the organization through its managing diversity approach wants to be seen as a Corporate Citizen (Mittal, 2013). This is reflected in the organization’s environmental policy, its professional CSR activities and Community Program in which associates engage in meaningful volunteer work to create a positive difference in the communities in which the hotel operates.

Overall, the interview has shown that Ms Fonia is an advocate of managing diversity and in her role as complex director HR is empowered to “make a difference” in order to promote employee well-being, satisfaction and associates acting as active corporate citizens, thereby contributing to wonderful guest experiences, business profit and a sustainable community in India.