CANDIDATE SCREENING QUESTIONS

General Manager:

1. Why do you want to switch your current job?

 I want to switch my current job because I am ready for a
fresh and new challenge with an exciting organisation who
has ambitious plans and will allow me to grow. My employer
has been fantastic, and I would be leaving them on very good
terms. We have achieved amazing things together in the last
7 years and set gold standards in the luxury safari and
galmping business. I am looking for a long-term employment
just like my last two stints and I could not think of a better
company than yours which has such strong values.

2. What is the designation that you are aspiring for?

 General Manager/ Hotel Manager

3. What are your expectations for this new role?

 To get up to speed in the new leadership role quickly and to
become a productive and trustworthy resource for Leela. My
goal is to learn and develop in the role and expand my
professional network as I believe you are only as good in
your career as the people around you, and I plan to build a
strong and helpful network that enables me to achieve the
objectives set by my employer.

4. What are your total years of experience as a General Manager?

Were they Corporate Hotels or Resorts?
 4 years and General Manager and 3 years as Resident
Manager. All the properties were luxury resorts.
5. How do you balance between the owners and the
stakeholders?
 Every owner has a vision and expectation of their business.
Its important to understand what short term and long-term
deliverables and outcomes that they are looking for and if
they have any suggestions, guidance or a preferred path that
they would want the Management team to take to achieve
the goals.
Once this is set in its place, its very critical to communicate
the expectations, deliverables and outcomes of the owners
to the respective stakeholder. Once the expectations have
been laid out, its important to get the stakeholders
perspective and create a common path which aligns with
the owners requirement.
Once the above two activities have been done with due
diligence, it is an easy path ahead to balance both parties.
This would also require a periodic review of the path set out
to ensure that the path we are on is matching up to the
promoters expectations, and if not what corrective action
can be taken in a timely manner.

6. How do you rate yourself as a leader (On a scale of 1 to 10)?

 There is always room for improvement so I would rate
myself an 8 but hopefully you will rate me higher.

7. How would you describe your leadership style?

 Autocratic, coaching, and transformational depending on the
situation.
 It is firm, fair, consistent, and motivational.

8. How do you manage inter-departmental conflicts?

  I will encourage the team members to resolve the conflict
themselves, but if they don’t then I try to resolve any conflict
quickly and amicably. Whenever I notice conflict, I will
establish why is it happening, who it is with, and what steps
can be taken to resolve it.
 I encourage team to tackle conflict with confidence and
tackle it head on. I believe if a conflict is left to fester, then it
can become a bigger problem.

9. How have you improved rational efficiency/ productivity in

your hotel?
 In my experience I have seen the best results come from an
inclusive approach where we open the room to the rank and
file to come up with suggestions.
 My team and I have practised this year on year and have
successfully walked through challenging times (including
COVID) and have delivered benchmark setting results.

10. What economic/ environmental factors do you take into

account when you prepare budget for the following year?

There are multiple factors that require listing while budgeting,

however a few key areas that I hold very strongly are as
follows -
 Central Government policies
 State Government policies
 Market mood and pulse
 Festivals and local events
 Taxation
 Political environment
 Geopolitics
 Fuel prices
  Inflation in India and source markets
 Competition Intel
 Demand and supply in the home and competitive markets

11. What is your guest voice score/ Guest satisfaction survey?

 Being an experience driven organisation, we do not have a
corporate guest voice score. The onus is on the property
head to be fair and honest about the feedback received and
further action upon it.

12. How important are social media reviews to you and how do
you handle the negative ones?
 With every guest having easy access to social media and
reviewing portals, Social Media at a broad level is an
extremely important tool that needs its due focus and
importance. Having said that, there are also often instances
where certain guests may weaponise this tool to take
undue advantage. Thus it is very critical that every negative
review be objectively assessed and reverted to
appropriately.

13. Do you have any experience in handling Head of States?

 Yes.

14. How often do you appraise your department head and how
much ownership do you take for their Personal Development
Programs (PDP’s)?
 Financial reviews are conducted weekly
 Personal reviews are conducted quarterly
 PDP’s are set out at the beginning of every financial year
with a half yearly review with inputs from the monthly
review.

15. Have you received any awards/ recognitions in your career?

16. Rajasthan’s Best General Manager by CMO Asia, June
2022.
17. SUJÁ N Jawai voted as Best Boutique Hotel in India, 2020,
under Travel and Leisure, Editor’s Choice Awards
18. SUJÁ N Sher Bagh Voted as Favourite Safari Lodge in India,
2020, under Condé Nast Travelers Readers’ Travel Awards
19. SUJÁ N Sher Bagh featured under “The Worlds 50 Greatest
Honeymoons” by Telegraph Travel in 2020.
20. SUJÁ N Jawai voted as Runner Up - Favourite Safari Lodge in
India, 2019, under Condé Nast Travelers Readers’ Choice
Awards
21. SUJÁ N Sher Bagh featured under “The Most Beautiful Hotels
in India” by House and Garden Magazine in 2019
22. SUJÁ N Sher Bagh featured under “The 10 best Mother-
Daughter Bucket List trips” by Forbes in 2019
23. SUJÁ N Jawai voted as Best Safari Lodge in India, 2018, under
Condé Nast Travelers’ Readers’ Choice Awards
24. SUJÁ N Jawai, under The “Most glamourous eco-hotels in the
world, 2018, under Tatler
25. SUJÁ N Sher Bagh featured under “Sexiest Hotel Rooms in
India” by Condé Nast Traveler
26. SUJÁ N Jawai Won the 'Best Boutique Camp' Award under
Outlook Traveler Boutique Hotel Awards, 2017

27. Have you had any short stints in your career, and why?
 No. I have served 11 years with Oberoi Hotels & Resorts and
07 years with SUJÁN Luxury.