FROM THE OBEROI GRAND, KOLKATA

                                    “BORN TO TEACH”

Last month, during my stay at the Oberoi Grand Kolkata, I had planned to write blogs on three Oberoi employees. All three are jewels in their own right - the first being the Executive Chef of this hotel, Saurav (who is  also the senior most Chef in  the Oberoi group), the second one was Sabrina Dey -F&B Manager of this hotel and thirdly Jinia Adhikari -  the Training Supervisor at Oberoi Grand, Kolkata.

Unfortunately (and as luck would have it) my blogs on Chef Saurav and Sabrina did not materialise for different reasons. Chef Saurav got tied up with some important guests and the new batch of Operational Trainees who had just joined in June 2016. (as many as 66 of them)…whereas Sabrina was not well.

However I was lucky that I could interact with Jinia during my stay ….

She was orchestrating my training sessions this year (she is presently running the show in this hotel). Though she is a Supervisor, she behaved, acted and conducted like a Training Manager. This inspired me further to write on her.

Listen to what Lionel Vincent (Senior Assistant Manager -HR) had to say on Jinia:      "She is very meticulous at work; her follow up skills are very sharp & she is very humble and courteous as a person".

"If an employee is not well trained then his/her guest care may not be proper. We at the Oberoi Group give lot of importance to training" says Jinia Adhikari, an IIM Kolkata Hotel Management graduate while explaining the Oberoi culture of training and development to me.

A four day workshop at OCLD (Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development) in the month of April this year has been an eye opener for Jinia. The 9.00AM – 7.00PM workshop on Behavioural Skills helped 14 training Supervisors from various Oberoi/ Trident hotels including Jinia to sharpen their skills on people management.

“Previously, I had no connect with other training supervisors. Now, I know whom to talk to when I need help on training related matters. After attending the workshop at the OCLD, I am more confident and many creative ideas readily come to my mind" says Jinia who is a voracious reader.

Born in Burdhwan (70 kms from Kolkata) she is fond of travelling too. Jinia joined the Oberoi Grand in June 2011. Since then she was in the training function. Jinia is a 'born' teacher. She is very passionate about teaching.

That said, far as many as 1727 employees have attended my workshops in this hotel since 2006 and I have known Jinia from 2011 . What I find profoundly appealing is that she is very cool, calm and composed…..always smiling and pleasant plus ready to help….. I am always delighted by her positive attitude and swift execution of my requests.

My reverential pranams to Jinia Adhikari.  I do respectfully bow to her. Undoubtedly, she is a great asset to the Oberoi family. 

Text and Pictures: R Kesava Mallia in Kolkata.