Sujata Agrawal

Shirin Batliwala has a way with people, a penchant for innovation and a feel for leadership. It’s a near-perfect blend for the hospitality industry

It is nearing dawn and Shirin Batliwala is ready for her customary 7-km morning walk along the windswept seaside promenade hugging her home in Mumbai. It marks the beginning of another working day in the life of the vice president, coordination (luxury division and MD’s office), Indian Hotels, a time to reflect on the responsibilities that lie ahead in one of the top jobs at the Taj Group, her company’s standout brand.

"I enjoy my walks," says Ms Batliwala. "It is my one form of exercise and it gives me the time to think by myself." She needs the space to process her thoughts, given that she has her hands full with a high-pressure task.

The diminutive Ms Batliwala has achieved large chunks of success in a career that has stretched more than three decades. She was, in a way, to the hospitality industry born, with an elegance and energy that has fitted in perfectly with the Taj’s trademark style of doing business.

Ms Batliwala joined Indian Hotels as a trainee in the banquets department in 1970. It was about the time the Taj got serious about recruiting women for functions other than housekeeping. "I had always wanted to be in the hotel industry and I was keen on working in food and beverages [F&B]," she recalls.

Ms Batliwala was among the first women to breach the previously male F&B bastion in the Indian hospitality business. It was to be one of many firsts: Ms Batliwala became the first woman F&B manager in the country when she was appointed to the position with the President Hotel in Mumbai in 1980. She was also the first woman to be made general manager of a major Indian hotel (the Taj Bengal in 1989).

The Taj was a single-property group — the renowned Taj Mahal in Mumbai — when Ms Batliwala became part of its fold. "At that time everyone’s ambition was to be the general manager of the Taj Mahal; it was the ultimate post." The industry itself was small, the Taj had just 400 employees (compared with 12,000 now), and institutions that imparted training in hotel management were few and far between.

There has been a sea change since then. Today hotel management as a career stream is well paying and firmly established, and those who come through the system are considered excellent candidates for service sectors such as banks, cell-phone companies and call centres.

"It’s all about dealing with people," says Ms Batliwala. "Even if you have worked for only a short time in this industry, you have this culture of understanding people and their requirements ingrained in you."

Ms Batliwala has some useful advice for newcomers to the hospitality segment. "You must enjoy working with people and you should be ready for hard work, because this is a demanding industry." She feels that the way the hotel business has evolved there is an increasing requirement for general management skills, which means that hospitality professionals have to continuously update their knowledge base. Add to that the need for innovation and out-of-the-box thinking.

When it comes to breaking fresh ground, Ms Batliwala speaks from experience. She helped create two new restaurants — Trattoria and Gulzar — and the Library bar at the President during her period there as F&B manager. "Trattoria and the Library were new concepts then and they completely changed the President’s image. And they continue to run successfully."

For Ms Batliwala, the President was a breeze when compared with the most demanding assignment of her career: being general manager of the Taj Bengal. "It was a new hotel and I was the first general manager there. Kolkata, with its strikes and its power and telephone problems, made our work extremely difficult and, therefore, that much more challenging."

The Taj Bengal focused on personnel. "We wanted people who had not worked in other hotels in the city. We did not want any of that, if I may say so, cholbe na Bengali attitude. What gives Ms Batliwala immense pride is the fact that, in a place like Kolkata and despite pressure from political parties, there was no union in the Taj Bengal (there isn’t one even today).

The efforts paid off in spades for her and the hotel. In 1995, Hotel and Food Service magazine adjudged her ‘General Manager of the Year’ and the Taj Bengal ‘Best Hotel of the Year’. By then Ms Batliwala had come to love Kolkata and its people. "Once you know the people, it’s a lovely city. I adore Kolkata."

Her years with the Taj have instilled in her the essence of the hospitality business: each person is different and needs to be handled differently; every day and hour brings different challenges; it is as important to have excellent relations with your staff as it is with your guests, because unless your staff is happy, your guests won’t be.

"You must learn to say sorry even if you know the guest is at fault, and you must never lose your temper," says Ms Batliwala. "You cannot work in this industry if you cannot manage these two aspects. You have to learn to handle situations with tact and diplomacy. Usually, an irate guest’s anger or frustration dissipates if you apologise first. It makes it easier to talk to them."

Ms Batliwala’s leadership philosophy comes from the J. R. D. Tata school of thought: "To be a good leader you should lead human beings with affection." That she is a people person becomes evident from the warm and affectionate responses she evokes in subordinates as she goes about her work. "I feel that your management style has to be adapted to the situation. Sometimes you have to take total command and at other times you have to get into consultative mode."

The hotel industry is hard if you have to juggle your professional life with family responsibilities. Ms Batliwala believes that the Taj group recognises this fact. "I think what helps women grow in the Taj is that the group has always given equal opportunities to women to do whatever they want — as long as they can compete in an open field."

Given the nature of the hotel business — operational every hour of the day, every day of the year — those working in it have little time to call their own. Even so, Batliwala finds time for reading, television, and, most enjoyably, travel. Not to mention those long morning walks.

Uploaded on October 27, 2003