Hotels tap local stars for foreign ventures too
Indian hotel companies have begun sending local employees to man key positions in overseas properties despite the extra cost involved in doing so.
By Lijee Philip, TNN |
MUMBAI: Indian hotel companies have begun sending local employees to man key positions in overseas properties despite the extra cost involved in doing so, hotel executives say. Indian Hotels, part of the Tata group, began this exercise some time ago after it acquired properties in London, New York and Boston. Key functions such as food and beverage (F&B), accounting, revenue management, IT and finance are ones where the group feels Indian expertise or talent is needed.
"It is need based and we sent employees to man key functions according to the requirements," said a source. He added that the group, as a policy, likes to retain employees in all the properties it has acquired so far. It does not like to disturb the existing structure. For instance, it would make little sense to send employees from India to man the front desk of Pierre in New York or act as waiters in Boston’s Ritz Carlton. Key functions such as IT or finance is another matter altogether. They do not require much interface with consumers and Indian employees can actually add some value.
The cost involved in such exercise is much more. Indian hotel salaries have skyrocketed in recent years thanks to the boom in the industry and the shortage of talent in the sector. For instance, a chef, working in a premium 150-room hotel in India earns (cost to-the-company) around Rs 60-65 lakh, while in the international markets it would range between Rs 60-80 lakh.
Industry executives say that salaries of hotel staff (particularly in premium hotels) in India have risen 20-25% in the past one year. According to industry sources, salaries of development heads, managerial staff particularly general managers, project heads have jumped in the range of 60-80% followed by food and beverage (F&B) managers which include chefs by 40-50%.
While development heads earn anywhere between a crore to Rs 2 crore, F&B manager (including chefs) salaries range between Rs 60-65 lakh. The shortage of trained manpower and the large scale expansion by hotel majors are reasons for the rising pay packages.
Executive sous chef earned the maximum at Rs 43 lakh (54,000 pounds) followed by fine dining restaurant managers at Rs 41 lakh (50,000 pounds) and front office managers at Rs 37 lakh (44,000 pounds).
In India, as compared to the global markets the payroll costs are low. The payroll cost is 11-14% of the revenue as compared to over 30% in US and Europe and around 20-25% in other South East Asian countries. The additional cost to be incurred by Indian companies when they send executives abroad would lie in areas such as health\life insurance, pension, or the well-being kind such as childcare or home-working options.
These costs add about 15-20% to the cost-to-company package. But hotel companies, especially Indian Hotels do it, as it is an additional incentive for employees.
"It is need based and we sent employees to man key functions according to the requirements," said a source. He added that the group, as a policy, likes to retain employees in all the properties it has acquired so far. It does not like to disturb the existing structure. For instance, it would make little sense to send employees from India to man the front desk of Pierre in New York or act as waiters in Boston’s Ritz Carlton. Key functions such as IT or finance is another matter altogether. They do not require much interface with consumers and Indian employees can actually add some value.
The cost involved in such exercise is much more. Indian hotel salaries have skyrocketed in recent years thanks to the boom in the industry and the shortage of talent in the sector. For instance, a chef, working in a premium 150-room hotel in India earns (cost to-the-company) around Rs 60-65 lakh, while in the international markets it would range between Rs 60-80 lakh.
Industry executives say that salaries of hotel staff (particularly in premium hotels) in India have risen 20-25% in the past one year. According to industry sources, salaries of development heads, managerial staff particularly general managers, project heads have jumped in the range of 60-80% followed by food and beverage (F&B) managers which include chefs by 40-50%.
While development heads earn anywhere between a crore to Rs 2 crore, F&B manager (including chefs) salaries range between Rs 60-65 lakh. The shortage of trained manpower and the large scale expansion by hotel majors are reasons for the rising pay packages.
Executive sous chef earned the maximum at Rs 43 lakh (54,000 pounds) followed by fine dining restaurant managers at Rs 41 lakh (50,000 pounds) and front office managers at Rs 37 lakh (44,000 pounds).
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In India, as compared to the global markets the payroll costs are low. The payroll cost is 11-14% of the revenue as compared to over 30% in US and Europe and around 20-25% in other South East Asian countries. The additional cost to be incurred by Indian companies when they send executives abroad would lie in areas such as health\life insurance, pension, or the well-being kind such as childcare or home-working options.
These costs add about 15-20% to the cost-to-company package. But hotel companies, especially Indian Hotels do it, as it is an additional incentive for employees.
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