THE TAJS PEOPLE

PHILOSOPHY AND STAR SYSEM

PRESENTED BYPROSEN DAS

RAHUL JAISWAL
RAHUL PATHAK
UJJAL JANA
UTTAM PATRA
VAIBHAV SHRIVASTAV

TAJ HOTELS RESORTS & PALACES

Established in 1903.
Asias largest and finest group of hotels.
60 hotels in 42 locations across India.
17 international hotels in the Malaysia, Australia, UK,
USA, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Africa and the Middle East.

INTRODUCTION

In 2000, to show its commitment and belief in employees, The Taj Group
developed The Taj People Philosophy (TPP). They believed that
employees were the greatest asset to and the very reason for the survival of
their business
In 2001 The Taj group started employee loyalty program known as Special
Thanks and Recognition System (STARS) .It aimed at motivating
employees to transcend their usual duties and responsibility, It also
rewarded hard working employees who had done excellent work.
The STAR system also led to global recognition of the Taj Group of Hotels
in 2002 when the group bagged the HERMES Award for Best innovation in
Human Resources

TPP Case Study

1.TheTajPeoplePhilosophywasdevelopedtoshowtheTajGroups

commitmenttoandbeliefinemployees.Whatdidthephilosophyent
ailandwhatwereitskeycomponents?Explain.
2.TheSTARSprogramwascreatedtorewardemployeestodeliverth
eirbestattheworkplace.
Inwhatwaydidthisprogramacknowledgetheworkofitsemployees,
andwhatwerethevariouslevelsofrecognitionitofferedtoitsbest
employees?Howdidtheprogramachieveitsgoal?Explain.
3.STARSwasnotonlysuccessfulasanHRinitiative,butitbrought

severalstrategicbenefitstotheTajGroup.Whatwerethevariousben
efitsbroughtaboutbytheSTARSprogramtotheemployeesandthe
group?How?Discuss.

TPP KEY COMPONENTS

The Womb To Tomb Approach . It covered all the aspect of an

employee career from joining the group until his/her retirement.
All the new employees were placed in an intensive two year
training program which familiarized them with the business ethos
of the group.
Work system and process, learning and development and
employee welfare. Which ultimately resulted in customer
satisfaction and retention.
The TPP was based on TATA BUSINESS EXCELLANCE
MODEL.

THE TAJ CHARTER

Every employee of the Taj Group would be an important member in the Taj family.
The Taj family would always strive to attract, retain and reward the best talent in the
industry
The Taj family would commit itself to formal communication channels, which would foster
transparency.

Balanced scorecard system (BSS).

Employee satisfaction and tracking system (ESTS).

To weed out under performer.

It also rewards it best employees.

STARS VARIOUS LEVELS OF RECOGNITION

Level 1 : Silver Grade 120

points in 3 months

Level 2 : Gold Grade 130 points

in 3 months
Level 3 : Platinum Grade 250

points in 6 months

Level 4 : 510 < 760 points. (MDs

Club )

Level 5 : 760 points or more.

(Chief Operating Officers
)

club

Points were granted on basis of

parameters like integrity, honesty,
kindness, respect for customers,
environmental awareness, teamwork,
trustworthiness, excellence in work,
new initiatives, courage and
conviction among other.

STARS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF EMPLOYEES

The Level system of earning Recognition.

The point needed for the STARS could be earned by appreciation by customers,
compliment a colleague, forums and various suggestion schemes.
An employee could also get default points if the review committee couldn't give
any feedback to the suggestions of the employee within two days.
According to the point the employee could get a star , which would be pinned on
their coat as a recognition.
The winners were facilitated at the annual function held by Taj, they would also get
gift hampers, cash vouchers or a vacation in Taj hotel of their choice in India .This
ceremony significantly boosted their morale.

SUGGESTIONS MADE BY EMPLOYEES OF THE

TAJ GROUP UNDER THE STARS

After the STAR initiative was launched, the following suggestions were made
by Taj Group employees and accepted by the organization:

Name of employee: G. L. Murthy

Level: Silver level
Location: Taj Krishna, Hyderabad.
Suggestion: It is suggested that cars owned by inhouse guests and parked in our hotel overnight should be cleaned and a small note left behi
nd for the guest saying, Your car has been cleaned. This act will dazzle and delight our gue
sts.

 Name of employee: P. Makhania

Level: Silver level
Location: Taj Mahal, Mumbai.
Suggestion: Room No 287 is kept as or designed for handica
pped/disabled people. I suggest we keep a
bulb, which flickers when someone rings the bell (this for a g
uest who is deaf but not blind). It could be
just like the housekeeping corridor bulb.

case collection

Source ICFAI

STARS ACHIEVEMENTS

Happy Employees lead to Happy customer

After implementation of STARS customer satisfaction levels increased

significantly.

Large number of Taj employees started working together in a true

spirit of teams.

Many employees to that extra bit and go that extra mile, out of the
way to dazzle the customer satisfaction with employee recognition.

The recognition of Taj employees directly linked to customer

satisfaction.

BENEFITS BOUGHT ABOUT BY STARS

Service standards at all Taj hotels improved significantly because the employee felt
that their good work was being acknowledged and appreciated.

Repeated footfalls of customers were noticed after implementation of STARS.

Taj group won the Hermes award in 2002 for best innovation in HR, and in the
hospitality industry.

It also got offers to set up hotels in France.

The Taj group of hotels was placed at the top of the list of the best hotels in the
world after winning the Hermes award.

The Employee Retention Rate of the Taj group was the highest in the hospitality
industry because of its employee oriented initiatives .

THE HERMES AWARD

The Hermes Award is decided by a 22
member jury, which includes representatives from top hospitality
chains from all over the world. This is the only award given for hum
an resources in the hospitality
industry and is also one of the most prestigious awards in the hospi
tality industry. 120 applications
were received for the award for the year 2002, among which five w
ere short- listed for the final round. The Taj
Group won the award for its innovative STAR program.

FUTURE PLANS

STARS- BEST HR INITIATIVES & BROUGHT A LOTS OF STRATEGIC BENEFITS TO THE

TAJ GROUP.

BECAUSE OF STARS WON THE HERMES AWARD 2002 IN THE HOSPITALITY

INDUSTRY,WHICH PLACED TO TAJ GROUP HOTELS IN THE TOP OF HOSPITALITY
INDUSTRY.

CONTD..

MANY ANALYST BELIEF THAT THE SUCCESS STORY LIES OF TAJ HOTELS ,,BETTER
OPORTUNITIES & GREATER RECOGNITION TO THEIR EMPLOYEES.

FOR MORE DEVLOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE TAJ GROUP OF HOTEL PLANS TO

INVESTMENT IN T & D.
IN CAREER PLANNING,&EMPLOYEE WELFARE.
STANDARDIZE ITS VARIUS PROCESS.
ESTABLISHMENT OF BSS.