A fistful of pearls - from Rafayel’s Management Handbook

Rafayel – a living breathing thing – has its unique approach on training its executives and staff.   We are proud to share a few tidbits off its management handbook.

Human culture is a sum total of constructive and destructive activities of our leaders, scientists, brilliant minds and tyrants of the world. Let optimism, confidence and hope thrive over cynicism and negativity. 

 

Aesthetics and ambiance of any place comes from variability of ideas.

 

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided upon is being carried out.

  

We incorporate outside the box thinking, maximising and multitasking within a person helps person grow, it is all about growth in terms of capacity and capability and this is the challenge that the contemporary companies face.

 

The Mantra

 

“All work is honorable.”

No Excuses, No Regrets
"Wisdom knows no rank."
"It's not our abilities that define us, it's our choices.
Time should be precious, but not anxious.

Build your team

The industry will need new kind of MBAs with great emphasis on skill training, interpersonal skills, reaching out, technical and software awareness:

Continuous Communication between employer and employee is most important.

Teaching them new skills should be the goal.

Keep an eye on over-ambitious internal power strugglers.

Teach them the whole hospitality not a part of it.

Recruiting the "hospitality mindset" is more important than any number of degrees.  Technicalities can be taught, but being a "hospitable mind" cannot.

Any employer who cannot empower people to take decisions when they are required will fail to keep employees.

Customer complaints needs big decisions to be taken at the spur of a moment, an employer who does not empower its front office staff to write-offs when they deem it necessary will make them feel miserable.

 

Time to listen and learn about philosophy of service industry - do you really want to work for satisfaction of others or just fill in hours?

Customer service should be your pride and a career path you choose with sincerity.  Those who think of it as ‘servants work’ and beneath them will hurt the industry and themselves. 

Living in the mighty bygone days of majestic hotel standards without realising that the world around has changed is a self-serving and destructive approach. 

It is absolutely required to address every customer complaint. The hurdle of satisfaction and survival rate of good properties will just move a tag higher; far more concentration is required by the employers and employees. 

On success

Success is about three things asking the right questions, liberating from daily chores to have a view from the balcony, and admitting responsibility of failure. Failures are ladders to greater success.

99 percent of your results will depend only on 1 percent of your tasks. So quit wasting your time on unproductive activities, like idle chatter - idling should be constructive. 

Focus your life on the activities that produce the greatest rewards of human endeavours.  Focus on your priorities by sharing knowledge and experience; optimism and positive outlook will help you grow. 

Get the best out of your team by giving the best to the people around, become an icon of change. 

Let people look forward to you for change that you can bring by your talks and ideas; be an “idea” man.

Most people only accomplish a fraction of what they could accomplish because they spend majority of their time working on meaningless tasks. 

No two days should be the same. If you want to have a successful day, you must plan your day.  

Planned days are productive days!  Think what you achieved out of the whole day, anything optimistic will add to your armoury of experience; all unconstructiveness will destroy your career. 

You must fight for want you want!  Don’t get “depressed” when things get hard.  Remember, it’s darkest just before dawn. 

Tough times will come on the “road to success,” …but you have to keep on moving!

Instead of self-destructive obsession in proving one’s self-importance through shortcuts, one should immerse in the quest of true knowledge.

You can’t make progress until you know your weaknesses well. You build your vitality by protecting your Achilles' heel.

You expand your mind by constantly associating with people who think in a different way; if someone is not challenging you, something is seriously wrong. It is from your worst critics you learn your best.

You are a product of who you associate with. You should be known by the company you keep and the best company you can keep is with ‘knowledge’ and impart it well. 

Don't selfishly accumulate knowledge; it only is effective when dispersed.

Learn every day; nothing can take the place of experience.  Do what you’ve never done, to get what you’ve never gotten.  You have to expand your horizons; you have to enter new waters.  When you do, you will grow, and you will change.

The reason many people don’t succeed is because they underestimate the amount of work requisite for success.  Those who play with timing and allocate rotas to their work ethics will only end up as subordinates. 

Those who learn everything all around and are seekers of knowledge they will break the barriers of ignorance and become stalwarts.

Mountains don't cry they only grow taller. The twist and turns of life are such; the sand of today becomes the mightiest peaks of tomorrow.

Your time will come just keep thinking and daring yourselves with a new challenge. The triumphant always has a number of projects planned, to which he looks forward. Anyone of them could change the course of his life overnight.

On failure

Admit failure freely - Admit mistakes and move on.
 
Don’t blame others - Don’t make excuses. Be strong enough to assume immediate and full responsibility. 

Learn from failure - Every success I know has been reached because the person was able to analyze defeat and profit from it in the next undertaking.

Don’t take failure too seriously - Develop a sense of humour. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Have courage - Do not be intimidated by setbacks.

Balance your life - Develop interests in several areas of your life. Then, when you fail in one area, your whole life doesn’t lose meaning. "No single venture should support your entire emotional life".

Set new goals - "Failure is the only opportunity to begin again more intelligently." Henry Ford

Separate failure from self worth - Losers say, "I’m a failure." Winners say, "I failed in my attempt, but I shall win and overcome these obstacles facing me". People must separate performance and occasional failures from their worth as a person.

Be willing to fail more often - Nobody learns to walk without falling. Expect failure regularly.

Failure is part of winning and many people don’t win more because they are too afraid of failure. Successful people fail often.

Remember, failure is success - Failure is success in the making. The person who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.

Hospitality and how to handle people

Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.

Arouse in people an eager want.

Give honest and sincere appreciation.

Make People Like You.

Remember to smile.

Use the person’s name often.

Listen well and encourage people to speak first and often.

Become genuinely interested in people.

Always make people feel important.

Always talk about people’s interests.

Hospitality is a business of love and amour, it is about exceeding expectations, hurdles always define our objectives.

''You can have the best looking property, the best chef in the world, the most expensive operating equipment or the most consistent service style day in and day out, without hospitality which is lived and breathed within your organization you have already failed.''

Improving your learning skills

The best workmen DO have the best tools, but it's not about the tools.

To learn how to learn, you need to revisit the way you learn. You need some kind of program that will take you from where you are to where you want to be.

You need to get on the program of lifelong learning. You need to get to understand good learning principles so that you can record and retrieve information as quickly and accurately as possible.

You need to have a vision, become motivated, and set goals.

You need to manage your time effectively.

You need to read faster, with better comprehension.

You need to record what you have read with more creativity and accuracy.

You need to remember what you have read.

You need to maintain a sound mind and a sound body.

How to lead

“Leading from the balcony” allows you to focus on your most important work – improving the overall functioning of your team rather than just doing the day-to-day work.

When your team functions at a much higher level, the quality of their work improves, their confidence soars and their pride in their accomplishments increases.

It is only when they feel “we did this ourselves” that they will assume responsibility for on-going improvements that would have escaped your notice.

Self-accountability is key for a high performing team.

That management is best which manages least, and in the end, when workers are ready for it, that management is best which manages not at all.