The Taj Way: Organisational Behaviour In Action - Pooja, TISS Mumbai

Rohit Deshpande, Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing at Harvard Business School, and Anjali Raina, executive director of HBS India Research Center decided to investigate this phenomenon. Deshpande was working on a case study centered around branding at Taj when he heard about employee behaviour during that attacks. As he conducted interviews, he heard the people talking about the 26/11 attacks, and how they had impacted the organisation. With permission from the Tatas, he returned to find out the answer.

According to Deshpande and Raina, the answer lies in the unusual recruitment, training and incentive system at the Taj. Taj hires from smaller cities, not metros, and looks for people who display the values that the group prizes. Even the management trainees are not hired out of top tier schools - they prefer to hire people who are looking for a long term career with the company, and hence pass over the top tier schools where graduates are more likely to switch jobs. The training period is long and intensive. The staff is trained to act as the customers' ambassadors, which makes them feel empowered to make decisions. The same empowered behaviour was displayed that November night - they took decisions on their own, which allowed them to save lives of hundreds of guests. The incentive system at the Taj - STARS is a unique system that links customer delight to employee reward. STARS has won the Hermes award in 2002 for the best human resource innovation in the global hospitality industry.

This unique organisation culture has put Taj way ahead of it's competitors. The learnings that we can derive out of this are immense. The Taj case is an example of how organisations are built. All the processes in the Taj are geared towards one thing - delighting the customers. Is it any wonder that customer centricity is at the core of how the organisation works?

References:

https://hbr.org/2011/12/the-ordinary-heroes-of-the-taj, Retrieved 4 September 2016, 8:00 am

https://taj.tajhotels.com/en-in/taj-mahal-palace-mumbai, Retrieved 4 September 2016, 9:10 am

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About the Author:

Pooja Wanpal considers reading the sole aim of her life. She is obsessed with trekking, pani puri, and adores traveling. She is a freelance content writer, and has penned the novel, ‘Love and Lokpal’. She is currently studying Human Resource Management and Labour Relations at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She is also a part of the InsideIIM Student Team 2016-17.