Leading in times of Crisis
The trial of Kasab, the lone terrorist survivor of the “The Mumbai Terror Attack”, keeps reminding us of the disastrous day when 179 people including 22 foreigners lost their lives. It fills our hearts with horror, anger and anguish at the same time. Being a management student, I would like to bring your attention towards the role of the management (especially HR) in this entire catharsis with special reference to The Taj Palace and Hotels.
Mr. H.N Srinivasan, Vice- President HR, Taj, who reported to the venue on 27th November enlightened us with the role and duties of an HR head at times of crisis during the monthly meet of NHRD, Chennai. He mentioned that the most important thing is to be in complete self control with a calm mind in order to act in the right direction.
Companies need to devise effective measures to handle the situation. Some measures like Safety and security of the guests as well as the employees go unsaid. Besides that the victims go through a lot of stress. Thus what we need is good counsellors and psychiatric help to get people out of the traumatic experience. This should be extended not just to the victims but also to their families as the concern for the well being of their loved ones causes a lot of anxiety and stress.
The families of the deceased and injured are the ones that need the most attention during such catastrophes. The management can provide its support not only by empathizing but also by designing a compensation structure that is all encompassing. The compensation structure designed by Mr. Srinavasan took care of the children’s education, the monthly expenses of the families, loans, medical insurance etc.
One of the major concerns of the employees is their job security. Taj management responded to this by declaring that all the employees who were on pay roll during the incident will not lose their jobs and that they would be paid their monthly salaries as well. The second announcement made was about the hotel reopening date. These measures were taken to make the employees feel that they have something to look forward to and to keep them motivated.
Some minor issues which we tend to ignore play a very important role. For example: Some families are not comfortable with their dear ones working in that company again. Thus we need to provide them with counselling that ensures the security and safety of their family members; some of the night shift workers might be scared to work as so many people had lost their lives in the premises. We need to take measures to free them of their fears and mitigate the impacts of such events.
A lot many changes took place in the hotel industry to recover from the incident. It completely changed the definition of security in the hotel industry. The various HR operations of recruiting, background check and training were improvised and more strictly followed. New training modules relating to security were included.
Our professor Mrs Susan Thomas mentioned this that at times of crisis we are forced to undertake responsibilities and perform tasks which do not fall in the widest purview of our job description. On the same lines, Mr. Srinivasan flagged the interaction by saying that Leadership in times of crisis questions ones own work ethics and values and how deeply they are rooted. It is not just about Human Resources Management but how humane an approach we take to maintain the morale in the face of crisis.
Mr. H.N Srinivasan, Vice- President HR, Taj, who reported to the venue on 27th November enlightened us with the role and duties of an HR head at times of crisis during the monthly meet of NHRD, Chennai. He mentioned that the most important thing is to be in complete self control with a calm mind in order to act in the right direction.
Companies need to devise effective measures to handle the situation. Some measures like Safety and security of the guests as well as the employees go unsaid. Besides that the victims go through a lot of stress. Thus what we need is good counsellors and psychiatric help to get people out of the traumatic experience. This should be extended not just to the victims but also to their families as the concern for the well being of their loved ones causes a lot of anxiety and stress.
The families of the deceased and injured are the ones that need the most attention during such catastrophes. The management can provide its support not only by empathizing but also by designing a compensation structure that is all encompassing. The compensation structure designed by Mr. Srinavasan took care of the children’s education, the monthly expenses of the families, loans, medical insurance etc.
One of the major concerns of the employees is their job security. Taj management responded to this by declaring that all the employees who were on pay roll during the incident will not lose their jobs and that they would be paid their monthly salaries as well. The second announcement made was about the hotel reopening date. These measures were taken to make the employees feel that they have something to look forward to and to keep them motivated.
Some minor issues which we tend to ignore play a very important role. For example: Some families are not comfortable with their dear ones working in that company again. Thus we need to provide them with counselling that ensures the security and safety of their family members; some of the night shift workers might be scared to work as so many people had lost their lives in the premises. We need to take measures to free them of their fears and mitigate the impacts of such events.
A lot many changes took place in the hotel industry to recover from the incident. It completely changed the definition of security in the hotel industry. The various HR operations of recruiting, background check and training were improvised and more strictly followed. New training modules relating to security were included.
Our professor Mrs Susan Thomas mentioned this that at times of crisis we are forced to undertake responsibilities and perform tasks which do not fall in the widest purview of our job description. On the same lines, Mr. Srinivasan flagged the interaction by saying that Leadership in times of crisis questions ones own work ethics and values and how deeply they are rooted. It is not just about Human Resources Management but how humane an approach we take to maintain the morale in the face of crisis.
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