Upskill to survive and grow through pandemic: Chef Neeraj Tyagi

“The Culinary community cannot sit idle,” stated Anil Chadha, Chief Operating Officer, ITC Hotels while moderating the webinar and putting forward the question on workforce engagement in the current crisis.

The hospitality and F&B sector are resuming their day-to-day activities from a break but, the effects of the pandemic are rippling through their operations as restaurants are witnessing low footfalls. One significant issue that requires attention while the customer count remains compact is creating a positive employee engagement mechanism by redefining the tenets of the restaurant. Speaking in this context, Neeraj Tyagi pointed out the need for virtual online sessions to uplift skill sets of culinary professionals.

Citing an example, Tyagi said that numerous webinar training sessions are organised at Pullman, New Delhi Aerocity where the employees can enrol in the subject of their interest to upgrade their knowledge and keep themselves updated.

Undeniably, the pandemic has gripped the hospitality business and adhering to safety and hygiene norms will keep them in this unprecedented race. Elaborating on how these are being implemented at Pullman, an Accor group brand Tyagi shared that to maintain social distancing; measures like floor markings and demarcation at workplaces as well as cafeterias have been carried out to keep the people apart. He further added, “Every employee is being given safety gears so that they feel safe while working with the hotel. Also, there are regular health check-ups done by our in-house doctors.”

While there is a sudden Covid-19 surge around the globe, the hospitality and F&B industry is looking at immunity-boosting food items to go with the in-house meal practices for the employees at the hotels. Adding to this point, Chef Neeraj shared, "There are immunity booster meals for every colleague. There is regular training on the new recipes which are being re-invented and re-created according to the pandemic."

Furthermore, he spoke about the ‘ALL Heartist Fund’ provision launched by the Accor Group to help the workforce with the pandemic situation in case of the cash crunch. “This is something unique which the Accor group has started. If our colleagues are having financial crunch, we help them with the finances,” he concluded.