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Ms Diana Ee Tan, Managing Director, Raffles Hotels & Resorts
She counts the achievements as particularly significant on two fronts. Firstly, the top two rated employers in Singapore are stand-alone hotels - Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton, making Raffles the top and only hotel management group in just-released Best Employers in Singapore 2007 list released by Hewitt Associates. This is the group's fourth consecutive award as one of Singapore's best.
It is also ranked among the top 20 in the Best Employers in Asia 2007 list, the second time it has been recognised as one of the region's most admired employers. (The Best Employers in Asia 2007 is a study of people management practices across 750 companies in China, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. The award-winners list from this study is determined by an independent judging panel based on the human resource practices of participating organisations as well as a detailed Employee Opinion Survey conducted by Hewitt Associates, ensuring an objective view of each organisation's practices.)
Secondly, the achievements come at a time when Raffles Hotels & Resorts has been through a turbulent period of integration over the past 18 months. First there was the acquisition by Colony Capital, then the integration with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts after its new owners purchased the Canadian luxury hotel group in a partnership with Dubai-based Kingdom Hotel Investments.
"With any integration, there is always uncertainty. System changes, new paradigms … but our employees embraced the changes because they understood the need for a new organisational structure that would enable us to be part of a bigger hotel company and play on the world stage," Ms Ee Tan, who also oversees Fairmont's interests in Asia/Pacific, told P@SSPORT.
The power of two
The combined group - Fairmont Raffles International - owns and manages 120 hotels in 26 countries under four brands, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Raffles Hotels & Resorts, Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts and Delta Hotels.
Raffles has nine properties in operation, with the 10th scheduled to be opened later this year in Dubai. In the last 11 months, it has confirmed agreements to manage another seven properties across locations in Asia, the Caribbean and Maldives. In total, it now boasts 17 properties (approximately 3,000 rooms), spanning 16 locations.
What helped the integration process was the high-level commitment by Fairmont management to be personally involved in explaining the integration and engaging the staff at all levels.
"The Chief Operating Officer made it a point to be at all the integration meetings whether in Singapore or Toronto. He chaired bi-weekly conference calls to employees and explained and encouraged discussion," said Ms Ee Tan.
A year on, most systems have been integrated including reservations, financials, accounting and legal functions or as Ms Ee Tan says, "services that do not touch the customer".
"Shared services benefit a small brand like us; they give us economy of scale. However, functions that are brand-centric, such as marketing, design and human resource, are kept separate."
Raffles Hotel
Rebranding of Raffles The Plaza
Rebranding will also be taking place. Raffles The Plaza, Singapore, will become a Fairmont by year end. "For the longest time, the hotel never sat comfortably with the Raffles brand which is more into individual/residential sanctuaries.
"With Raffles The Plaza, at 760 rooms, it was difficult to provide that individualised level of residential service," said Ms Ee Tan.
The high ranking by Hewitt will also stand Raffles in good stead as the industry competes to hire talent in what will become a highly competitive environment for staff. With the two new Integrated Resorts coming up, manpower needs in Singapore must be met.
The fight for human capital
It is not just a Singapore problem, but a global issue that's confronting the hotel industry. Developments in the Middle East are also sucking up labour - Kerzner, which is developing Atlantis in Dubai, is said to be looking for 5,000 staff alone for its themed resort. A booming Macau is taking staff from Hong Kong and other Asian sources, including Singapore. China which is seeing unprecedented hotel development is looking out for middle to senior management staff throughout the region.
Singapore, an established hotel market with well-trained staff, is a prime target for candidates. And Raffles, which runs the Raffles City Convention Centre, knows its proximity to the Marina Bay Sands makes it a particularly prime target for recruitment by the new IR, due for completion in 2009.
It is for this reason companies like Raffles are stepping up their training programmes in a bid to retain staff. With more than 2,000 employees on its payroll in Singapore, the company puts two-thirds through rigorous training in service skills, personal development and growth.
"We give 60 hours of training a year. We have our own training arm, the Raffles International Training Centre which gives our employees more opportunities for learning and development.
"At Raffles Hotel, 25% of our staff have been with us for 15 years. Our turnover - 2% every month - is behind the industry average of 36-40% a year.
"Recognising the competition for staff, we have put in stronger retention programmes. Being part of the Fairmont/Raffles group now gives us a much larger portfolio of hotels that our staff can aspire to be part of."
Some of these programmes include the Pathfinder Career Opportunities programme to aid employees who seek cross-training and career development opportunities. Pathfinder lists all job vacancies across the hotels under Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, and employees are welcome to put in an application for positions they are interested in. Internal candidates are given consideration before external recruitment begins.
Destinations Travel Programme is another employee benefit programme that includes attractive rates on accommodation, dining, golf and spa experiences at any property within the Fairmont Raffles Hotels International group. Employees simply need to make their booking online to enjoy these perks.
In November 2006, Raffles Univirtual, an online distance learning programme was developed in partnership with Cornell University and eCornell. Raffles Univirtual enables Raffles managers to earn Certificates from Cornell University in fields such as Hospitality Management, Financial Management, Foodservice Management and Leadership. In addition, employees are encouraged to take up the diverse courses offered through Raffles Knowledge Pte Ltd (Raffles Hotels & Resorts' training arm), such as Wine Appreciation, Time-Management Skills and even Neuro Linguistic Programming for personal development.
It has also introduced Selection of Talent at Raffles (STAR), a customised talent-based selection programme developed by The Gallup Organization to help assess the fit of new candidates with the Raffles culture and job role.
"Raffles a part of Singapore"
Ms Ee Tan, who is also active in the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA), said the association had made representations to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to relax the rules and regulations surrounding foreign workers.
"It's not just hotels which need staff, but retailers who are also competing for the same pool of talent," said Ms Ee Tan
As Raffles expands overseas, Ms Ee Tan said it was also promoting Singapore to new sources of travellers. "Raffles has always represented Singapore. It was writer Rudyard Kipling who said, ‘when at Raffles, why not visit Singapore?'"
Add writers Somerset Maugham and Joseph Conrad to the Raffles Hotel Singapore's distinguished guest list and one can see how its reputation was founded and its brand broadcast to the world.
"Now that we are flying the Raffles flag in other countries, we can't help but promote Singapore," said Ms Ee Tan.
In particular, the Raffles platform would be ideal for targeting the luxury traveller. Recently, the group bade for and won the high-level Virtuoso meeting, which is a global network of luxury travel specialists. The 500-strong group met in Singapore and then flew on a SilkAir charter to Siem Reap for dinner at Angkor Wat.
Asked if she saw Raffles Hotels & Resorts as akin to the "Singapore Airlines of the hotel industry", she nodded enthusiastically and said, "That's true."
