When it Rained in Mumbai - Ramee Poured Help

GODS decided to test the people of Mumbai on July 26, 2005. It rained. And rained. And rained. And rained. The paper boats sailed for a while but then sank; limp and joyless. Smiles turned into wonder and wonder into horror as water refused to cease. And, in fact, kept rising.

In the jhuggis, it reached the ankles and so families folded their legs and sat huddled on the only bed in the house. It came up higher and the mattresses started floating in water. People stood up, cursing, petrified and then finally were pulled out by neighbours and taken to neighbourhood buildings, attics, higher floors.


In the apartments, one stood in the balcony and watched the cars disappear under muddy brown water, Planks of wood, leaves, plastic bags floated and stopped once in a while, stuck to a pole or two. “All’s well”, said nervous neighbours to each other through bravado and forced smiles. They decided not to think of their Honda Citys and the Astras and the jumble Marutis. The phones had stopped working long ago. One waited and waited. It was an eerie feeling. Homes surrounded by unrelenting, unmoving water. Marooned in the house, right in the middle of Mumbai.



Recorded as the heaviest in India and one of the heaviest in the world, the 90 inches of rains in six days brought with them devastation. Having measured up to 94.4 cm in one day in some areas, they left about half a million people homeless. The waters shut down the city which otherwise never stands still. The airport were closed and thousands of people were forced to walk home in chest-deep water all through the night. More than 150,000 people sere stranded in local railway stations. The country’s finance capital lost about $150m.

After a harrowing time, water receeded. One sighed with relief and got on with life. Electricity blinked back slowly and gradually. TVs started humming again. Computers let us be in touch with the world. “Phew! What was that?” we asked each other, now smiling real smiles. World was fine again. The only problem was that the maids and the cooks and the drivers had not come in. We chucked in disappointment and then shuddered at the thought: What happened to them? The families, the children, the aged in their homes? Their rations wasted, turned to lumps, the clothes, bags, mattresses….all gone!

Ramee Charitable Trust thought of that too. But instead of sighing and clucking in despair, it swing into action. Under the watchful but benevolent eye of Sudhanshu Kumar Singh, Group GM, Ramee Guestline, Mumbai, the trust began its work, swiftly and efficiently. People’s basic needs had to be taken care of. The chain of hotels distributed rice, daal, oil, sugar, teabags….and for children whose notebooks were wiped clean of the ink and all the work with it, Ramee’s humane concerns made sure that the kids would go to school and pick up from where they had left before the dreadful rains began. There were books, pencils, stationery…all distributed absolutely free of cost.

The Ramee’s Centre in Santacruz, a western suburb in Mumbai, was thronged by thousands of people who came there with tearful eyes and went back with groceries and hopes of rebuilding their lives. If the 29th , 30th and 31st were the days of back-breaking work, very different from the usual, nobody at Ramee complained. It may have cost the Group lakhs of rupees, but it was well worth the effort. And through the rains, Group GM Sudhanshu Kumar Singh smiled. Because hospitality is about people, and life is not only about money.

About Mr. Raj Shetty

V.M. Shetty is a self proclaimed ‘dreamer’ but with a difference because unlike the common man, his dreams are not restricted to the night time activity of sleeping. He brings them to a point of realizable in a man who has the courage to tread the uncommon path.

A humble man with a larger than life personality, Raj, as he is popularly known, can come across as intimidating. However, it is only when he gradually breaks down his protective barrier, that you see the true man – a go-getter with an ambition of being the best hotelier, a committed family man, and a mentor who pushes his team to strive for being number one. As Raj Shetty himself puts it, “the team makes a company succeed. My team of managers has to share my dream because if we don’t share a common dream, then we will never reach the point of realization.”

A man who lost his father when he was a mere 13 year old boy, Shetty knows what the term ‘struggle’ means – “My entire family was into the restaurant and food business so I wanted to be a hotelier ever since I was a child, but with the passing away of my father a lot of adjustments had to be made. I had to work towards my own education and my own dream, without the backing of a father. I began working at a young age ut even when I did work for others, I never looked at my watch. I have also worked ‘without pay’ for a friend because he needed someone at that stage of his venture – I never thought that I am working for my own friend or that I am doing it for free because at that point of time his success was more important than my ego. I preferred to view it as, “this is my friend’s dream and I am an active participant in helping him realize his dream.” It’s like when you watch a movie, it’s entirely someone else’s figment of imagination at play on the screen, but as the audience you become an involved participant and before you know it, you have participated in the realization of the conceptualizer’s dream.

V.M. Shetty has 2000 people employed under him and owns 33 hotels but he considers himself as one of the workers “Every manager of mine is a leader and they have been given a free hand to make independent decisions. I am one man; I cannot physically run 33 hotels everyday. Besider, I believe in analyzing my time and its limitations effectively. I see no reason why I should be an autocratic employer; I have employed professionals who know their job well and their parameters have been clearly defined. My job was to create a team that could spport me in executing my dream as effectively as possible, and I have done that. From thereon, it is for them to exhibit their caliber and live up to the faith that I have put in them.”

V.M. Shetty says, “The secret of our growth is that we go out of our way for our clients and customers. Our service will never end at rigid rules and regulations of a company because we are in the service industry and situations vary from one time to the other. You will never hear my staff refusing a request from a customer because we go as far as we possibly ca. we train our staff and keep them annually updated on any new aspects of service. Good service is the key to being the best chain of hotels and this is what my team and I are constantly striving for.
A spiritual man rather than a ritualistic one, V.M. Shetty says, “I am merely the custodian of the material elements that God has blessed me with and which I attribute my team for having created. I call it ‘material management’ because nobody was born a tycoon. We have all made the money here and will not take it with us anywhere after we are gone. I am not here to reap harvests alone because I know nothing remains forever. One day when I am gone, someone else will carry on my dream because the journey never ends and there is no final destination when it comes to ambition. We can grow bigger as bigger as time moves on but I may not be there to see all of it. The dream has to go on.

Who Dares, Wins!

Success – the world has different meanings to all of us. For some it involves money, for others accumulation of desired assets and yet others emotional fulfillment in their personal and business relationship, or perhaps all of the above. However, there is most definitely a universal common denominator, and that is, the all encumbering, passionately-focused, positive mindset that successful people invariably have. Successful people do have some amount of luck on their side but luck comes only with tremendous hard work and a vision for the future. You are what you think about and if you think big, you grow big. Raj Shetty, story proves the point more than adequately. Raj Shetty, as he is better known, has proved that belief in oneself, trust in one’s ability and uncompromising hard work in life is a recipe to achieve anything. He wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Far from it, in fact, born in the small town of Kundapur, located near Udupi in Karnataka, on Oct. 13, 1960, Raj Shetty lived with his family in Mumbai for the early part of his life. When he was 18, he moved to Dubai in search of a better life. It’s the time for other 13 years olds to think of nothing beyond school and friends and a fun-filled life. But it wasn’t so for this destiny’s child. His teenage mind thought of what would make his future better, what would bring about an easier life for his parents. The opportunity could only come out of the country. The boy grasped that what most grownups pondered over. Raj Shetty applied for a job through an agent, and secured his first overseas break in Saudi Arabia at Costian Oil Refinery. Life was not easy for the little man who was called on to handle the most boring or unwanted jobs. He kept his chin up and his dream alive: One day he was going to build an empire in the hospitality business. The hospitality industry lured him. Albert abelas was his second job and a stepping stone to the industry. It is an experience that he will never forget. Having joined as Captain and being promoted to the level of Restaurant manager would have left a lot of us content and bereft of any further ambition. But Raj Shetty did not stop, he took us part time jobs and while his friends and colleagues were busy enjoying life, Raj Shetty worked day and night to pave way for his dream venture.

He returned to India with his savings and started a juice bar, which was successful for a short while. But he ached for more and so packed his bags yet again and came back to the Middle East with an even greater determination. He took up jobs at various levels, this time the entrepreneur did not hesitate to serve as a waiter, and then went on to become a captain and then a restaurants manager. In the process he also made good contacts and built relationships that came to good use one day with the local authorities and governments. His people skills were inborn.

His first independent opportunity in the Middle East came when he was offered lease to the first hotel in Dubai, UAE, to the start of the Ramee Empire. This was at the age of 25 years, barely decade after he started earning his first salary, The second venture was Glass Suites and then there was no looking back.

Al Ras in Deira was his first hotel. He put extreme efforts day and night, created his own team and profitably ran the hotel which earned him more monetary reserves. From 1997 to 2006 the company under the flagship Ramee Group of Hotels, Resorts and Apartments, chaired by him, owns 25 plus hotels, apartments and resorts in India, Dubai, Bahrain and Muscat. Regent Palace is his flagship hotel which has earned him tremendous credibility and a great reputation in the local market.

Under his direct supervision, the company’s strength has been in running budget hotels in excellent locations with themed outlets. Some of his own created signature outlets like Rock Bottom Café, Rocky’s café, Far East seafood Market and Bollywood café are successfully running in his hotels.

The story of Ramee is the story of one man’s dream with his team, his spontaneous creativity, the ability and willingness to make decisions and the courage to take risks. Raj Shetty has been driven by the need to create something new, build something tangible – the sing of a true entrepreneur. For him the game of life has meant betting on himself, winning, attracting new opportunities and creating good luck and good fortune not only for himself but also for the hundreds of people working with him as well as their families.

The company’s vision is to operate and own as many as 200 hotels in a short span of time. The Group aims to come out with more budget hotels in the near future.

THE WOW EXPERIENCE

It's not enough to achieve some or even most of our customers' expectations-our objective is to meet them all. Yet, this can be quite a challenge during peak times when the counter witnesses queues, the phone keeps ringing and you are short staffed.

Customers are just like us! They like dealing with people who are pleasant and smiling. Those on our team who appear to enjoy their jobs and who make customers want to deal with them achieve greater success. If everyone pitches in to do the work of others, never mind the job limitations or the fact that it doesn't match the job description, the organization can benefit as a whole, for whatever the job nature is, we are selling the image of the Ramee Group every time we are in touch with a customer.

This is a real life incident which I experienced. After checking out of a 5 star hotel, I experienced a nasty surprise. The housekeeper, apparently a very busy person, curtly told me that he has his hands full with doing up of the rooms, and I would have to wait a good ten minutes for the bellboy. Not wanting to wait, I hauled the luggage down myself. It would not have taken the housekeeper more than a couple of minutes to create a WOW experience, but the job description in his mind, was compartmentalized. The whole experience let a bitter taste behind. Maybe the training environment in that particular hotel was missing.
Consider why you select the suppliers with whom you do business. Why do you go to one bank versus another? Why do you have your car serviced by one dealer versus another who may be closer to you? Why do you prefer a certain restaurant? Why do you select a particular dentist or doctor or favorite retailer? Chances are your selection criteria parallel that of your customers. You probably like the people or know you can depend on their thorough service. Or, perhaps you enjoy the fact they recognize you and remember your name and make you feel important, or you consider them to be professionals who know their business, understand your needs and take care of them. But the fact is, a WOW experience is created making you want to go back again. There's no secret to what keeps customers coming back for more, contributing to the growth and profitability of the company.

Here are three questions that our people can ask themselves to create the WOW experience for our guests:
· What's something new and innovative I can do today?
· What is the relative advantage for the consumer of this idea?
· Is this idea relatively simple and duplicable by others?

Starting now, let each one of us become the self appointed custodian of the WOW factor and create
a series of WOWS for our guests!

Personality Plus

Some interviews leave a lasting impact on the interviewer. This was one such experience. Try as we might to be impersonal and detached, Mr.Raj’s insightful views left us wondering about the depth of the man.
For a person forever on the move, the CMW was gracious enough to pause a while and gives us his candid responses, which made for an altogether delightful interview.

What is a typical day like for someone in this position?
My typical day is extremely busy. I go to the gym at least three days a week. Then, I either have a business breakfast or my favorite television show, and read newspapers in an effort to keep on top of happenings that can affect the business. Then, it's spending time at my hotels and in meetings concerning business strategy, financial planning, sales management, marketing, branding, invention, development, raising finance, business growth, business development, negotiations, and presentations which go on till late. Some time is also factored for changing the mind-set of our employees. These are great people, but they constantly need to learn what guests expect today, not relying on what we know they wanted twenty years ago. I think we're doing a good job of adapting, but it is something I am continually thinking about.

What are some of the key issues affecting customer satisfaction and retention in the hospitality industry today?
Employees are vital for enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty in service organizations because their proactive involvement is an essential part of delivering the services offered. Increasing occupancy rates and revenue by improving customer experience is the aim of modern hospitality organizations. To achieve these results, our people need to have a deep knowledge of Guest needs, behavior, and preferences and be aware of the ways in which the services delivered create value for the customers and then stimulate their retention and loyalty.
Understanding the customer is among the top five challenges for us. Obtaining precise customer information is crucial for us to fulfill their requirements, to foster innovative and tailor-made services, and develop targeted marketing strategies, the final goal being to acquire and retain valuable customers.
Each interaction with the customer either builds or erodes value in the relationship and then impacts future contacts, depending on the information and
behavioral insight hotel organizations gain during the process and the ability to translate it into a coherent response.

Customer expectations from hospitality industry seem to be rising all the time. What are the kinds of conveniences and innovations that will be required in the future?
Generally, hotel and restaurant operations are often pro-active in formulating their own standards designed to meet their customers' expectations. Anticipating, meeting (and even exceeding) customer expectations is the art of all successful hospitality businesses. Just what these expectations are varies considerably from country to country, from culture to culture and from customer to customer. Each traveler can wear more than one hat on the same trip - a demanding time-pressed business traveler during the week can turn into a carefree but cost-conscious leisure traveler on the weekend. All in all, a stay at the hotel will indeed be a royal experience .
All these expectations will be met through efficient operations that offer the greatest convenience, the best quality and most attractive proposition.
For example, service requests need to be dealt with quickly. Also, for long term business, the lifelong relationship with the customer needs to be managed. This takes an integrated solution that removes the need for manual effort, and can manage the different interaction points, such as the hotel store, bar, beauty saloon and front desk in one holistic manner.
Currently, at many hotels, all these are managed using disparate systems, which increases the chances of manual errors, and also increases costs. The key is to have integrated solutions and increased efficiency, which helps to ensure customer loyalty.
For example, let us imagine a chain of hotels, with 2 or 3 properties in the same city. If you stay at one hotel, then decide to move to another property of the same chain and in the same city, when you check in, you expect to get the benefit of the loyalty points that you just earned.
In hospitality, the future will belong to the most innovative players who can manage operations smoothly and effectively. Technology will be the vital cog towards making this happen.

What does the new age guest expect from a hotel in terms of convenience, and how does the Ramee Group match up to these expectations?
Everybody expects a comfortable bed, good shower, color TV with umpteen channels and internet access. Business travelers want more recognition and more control; the hotel bedroom has become a command center, not so much a home away from home as an office from home.
The key today is flexibility, allowing them to control their environment through technology, allowing them to create a true home from home. But certain old fashioned traits like personalized service, for instance, will endure.

Where would you like to see the Ramee Group in 5 years' time in India?
We are aggressively expanding and plan to add at least ten more hotels. This synchronizes with the growing demand for rooms in the mid market segment where the Ramee Group have established themselves. All our hotels are competitively priced offering high quality facilities. We undoubtedly provide true value for money and are strong in the city hotel segments.
The company has a very healthy growth model and is keenly looking for more hotel properties in the Gulf Region, India, Eastern Europe and UK. We are currently in negotiations with hotel and serviced apartment properties in these countries to achieve our growth plans. We will also branch out into stand-alone innovative restaurant concepts and an industrial catering division in the near future.
In the highly segmented hotel market that exists today, a company must know its position to successfully distinguish itself from a wide array of competitors. And, it must have a clear, focused vision of its future. As a company, our values, our personal relationships and our solid track record of success will enable us to continue to grow and develop. We will do this with steady, planned growth and by taking advantage of strategic opportunities.

How would you describe the management style here?
There is a special entrepreneurial spirit behind the operation and thrust of the Ramee Group. We are an innovative hospitality management group that believes breaking the industry mould by combining an upbeat management style and creative spirit, with result-oriented business practices. We are committed to creating a business environment that is progressive and enjoyable and where honesty, integrity and ethics matter.

What are your expansion plans and what are the key locations in the group's radar?
We will identify the markets where we feel that we already have critical scale and an opportunity to leverage the existing infrastructure. Of course, these are also the markets where we see the most significant growth opportunity. We are looking at India and the Gulf in a big way to expand as the markets there are stable and they are certainly countries in which we have had a presence for many years, though not with the kind of penetration that we are now able to achieve. So expect to see more aggressive growth there.

What is the kind of expansion in terms of monies that the group is looking at and how are the funds being accrued?
A decision to raise funds by way of a private placement or an initial public offering will be taken up by us soon. We are debating on raising a sum which will give a fillip to our expansion plans. We want to expand to cities like Pune, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad, and later in Goa, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi.

What have been your organization's major achievements in regard to continuous improvement of the quality of care that you provide?
As a truly multi-national company, the Ramee Group of Hotels and Resorts, currently operates and manages (32?) properties in the mid-market segment as hotels, resorts and apartments in UAE, Bahrain, India and Oman. Each year, we have added new members to our portfolio, showing a steady growth in the number of properties. To date, all group properties enjoy over 90% guest room occupancy throughout the year and operate about 27 themed outlets entertaining thousands of guests daily. Capitalizing on the strength of our hotel group, we have expanded on our other brands too. Rock Bottom Café, and Bollywood Café, Elegant Beauty Saloon have all created waves in their respective market niche. Our current employee strength is over 3,000 and the human resources activities operate from India and Dubai sourcing skilled staff and management professionals from over 15 countries! Our hospitality operations today have visionary leadership backed by expertise in all disciplines. It is the endeavor of the company to keenly pursue growth in numbers and quality management in newer territories around the world.

What have been the main factors or reasons behind your success in these areas?
It takes great people to make great teams. Our Group boasts the best group of individuals from Dishwasher to Executive Chef, from Banquet Houseman to Sales Manager. Our team focuses on one thing - customer satisfaction.
We are dedicated to honoring our guests by providing value and quality through friendly and efficient service, and by fostering a supportive organization that instills pride and exceptional team morale based on the core values of caring for people, valuing teamwork and delivering results.

How would you describe your organization's culture? How strong is it?
The shared values, norms and expectations that guide our family in terms of how to approach their work and deal with each other and their customers, is what I would call organizational culture. It is a key determinant of staff satisfaction, intention to stay and whether staff recommends their organization to others as a good place to work.
The Ramee Group is managed with a balanced scorecard, and the training mandate is a minimum of 40 hours of training, per person, per year. We believe that as employees grow, their enthusiasm and talent will improve the Company, enabling the development of new ideas and standards of excellence. Ultimately, it is the highly skilled employees who will provide our customers with even better service, making Ramee the benchmark in the industry.
In what ways has society helped you to become successful?
People who I meet from various strata of society and different cultures, influence the way I think and the way I am. I spend time talking to all types of people be it the tea boy or the driver. I enjoy getting down to the same sensibility of these people, for it is them along with friends and family that make me what I am. The community we live in, its character and viewpoints are major influences in my life and each one of the interactions I have had, has shaped my character and encouraged me to set my sights further.

How would you like to contribute back to society?
The renowned philosopher Albert Schweitzer once said, “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.”
Recognising our responsibilities, we will devote ourselves to the progress and development of society and the well-being of people through our business activities, thereby enhancing the quality of life.
At Ramee, we are committed to maintaining the same philosophy wherever we operate. This philosophy is characterized by the following tenets:
1. Providing solutions that enhance the quality of life.
2. Constant endeavor to create employment opportunities and to enrich the quality of the workforce through skill up gradation and training.
3. To participate in activities that reflect our commitment to corporate social responsibility.

What are your views on charity?
Charity is an act of gratitude. Happiness arises by genuinely showing gratitude to the family and community that has made you what you are. There are scores of people and institutions that have given a lot to make you what you are today. Start with your parents, the sacrifices they made, the time they spent caring for you; your school that made you a wholeperson, gave you knowledge and shaped your core values and character; the society / country that gave you the opportunities to be free from fear, and the cultural moorings of self-hood. We must respect and acknowledge them. Gratitude is best expressed by action in living up to the expectation of those who care for you.

Compassionate Giving

Did you know that India not only has the world's largest number of children but also the world's largest number of children who are unable to access education? With a mission to make a difference to this alarming situation, the Ramee Group ably led by the CMW Mr. Raj Shetty, has taken charge to right the situation.
A small village, Kalavara, in Kundapur District, Karnataka, has been the immediate benefit of Mr. Shetty's largesse.

Mr. Raj Shetty, who was born in Kalavara, has taken the necessary steps to sponsor bright and deserving children from underprivileged families. Mr. Shetty's mother, Ms. Gulabi M. Shetty, who incidentally still stays in Kalavara, spurred him to explore his charitable side.

The Ramee Group is today rendering educational support with the help of the local representative, Mr. J. P. Shetty. The group has already disbursed almost a lakh of rupees towards this cause.

Today, Kalavara boasts of a well constructed school with computer facilities. Here, educational training along with necessary educational materials, entertainment programs, uniforms and medical support is provided. The proper environment for education is maintained at all times Subjects like Basic Mathematics, Languages, Social Science, General Knowledge and training in Crafts are taught. Physical Exercises aimed at the general well being are also provided.
Every three months, each child is counseled by trained experts to further their all round growth. Once a year, the families of the children are invited for a get together. The educational support is alsobeing extended to the outskirts of Kalavara in phases.

Says Mr. Raj Shetty, “The everyday choices we make as citizens and corporates determine the future of our country. We hope that what we do at a micro level will translate itself in a mega manner.” The only condition is that the grateful beneficiaries will take the cause forward by contributing their mite for the education of children in the future. A truly laudable sentiment, that.