adhere to set timelines, with close
supervision from our company and
regular follow up on the progress by
the owners. In our set up there were
also teams contributing to the process
from the office of the owning company.
During this period, due to complexities
and non-availability of basic facilities
onsite, some of our leadership team
members had been sent back to work
offsite (from home) for few months.
Communication protocol was clearly
established to effectively monitor
progress during the pre-opening
phase through routine Skype calls,
ensuring the monitoring of project
developments.
Another key task we executed during
the early stages was preparation of
a detailed back of house budget for
all equipment needed to operate
the resort; this budget included all
items that were not in the general
interior design of the resort such as all
operating supplies (glassware, silver,
linen, kitchen utensils, bars utensils,
chinaware, uniforms, engineering
tools and chemical supplies, some
standard printed materials including
menus, and all other rooms and food
& beverage operating supplies, staff
welfare, recreations items, clinical
items), IT equipment, offices furniture,
telephone system, computer terminals,
photocopiers, and any other material
not addressed by the interior design
items. The budgets in coordination
with respective divisional heads
were completed and submitted with
enough time for obtaining quotations
and placing the orders. All items as
requested were later received in the
resort before the estimated opening
date and we have had the time to place
the office furniture, store them, issue
all operating supplies to the various
operating departments in time for test
– try and train.
Beyond this, between me and the
General Manager, we prepared a
detailed, comprehensive, and realistic
pre-opening HR manpower budget
36 ILHA
including the timing of hiring and the
start date of all department heads
and associates indicated by position
and level. A complete budget for
compensation and benefits in the
pre-opening period was prepared
and presented. The HR pre-opening
budget also reflected anticipated
expenses associated with operational
activities such as executive hiring
and relocation, staff recruitment
and training, temporary office space,
accommodation, equipment and public
relations.
During the interim period, many factors
changed, exposing us to complications
and uncertain business challenges
(e.g. introduction of remittance tax,
change in immigration policies, work
permit grant of quota restrictions,
new requirements for grant of license,
amendments in legal procedures and
inspection requirements etc.) and
challenged our planning and forecasts.
The General Manager effectively
managed to get hold of these ad-
hoc challenges by logically assessing
and re-evaluating the same against
market realities while anticipating and
mitigating potential and relevant cost
issues; he was always able to convince
the owning company with his factual
and logical approach. I recall several
instances where I and the General
Manager in coordination with our facts
& figures and reasonable contingency
ensured justifying our decisions in
certain areas with an ownership at the
forefront of critical issues to make
strategic decisions, rather than simply
reacting to statutory and non-flexible
static recommendations on areas such
as finalizatio