GRATEFUL GESTURE
MacGrath (third from right) and his team show their appreciation for the efforts of Philippine General Hospital frontliners during the pandemic.
nicate effectively, be it a high-level business strategy to hotel owners, reasons to frequent your hotel to customers, or simply keeping your team members engaged and updated to show them you value them.”
Leadership is critical, MacGrath stresses, and this is underpinned by being visible, hands-on and leading by example. “Add to that equation [is the] razorsharp attention to detail and at times, the ability to take feedback. You’ve then covered most of the core qualities,” he says.
His dedication to duty during this particularly challenging time in the industry, when a strange new DISEASE HAS SHATTERED ALL WELL-LAID PLANS, REflECTS HIS acceptance of the true situation of his work world. BEHIND THE POLISHED MARBLE flOORS AND LUSH INTERIORS is a lot of hard work. “Hospitality is more than a job,” MacGrath says. “I [learned] quickly that it becomes a ‘lifestyle.’ The unusual and sometimes long hours see you mold your personal life around the demands of the role. The supposed ‘glamor’ aspect of the industry is well and truly counterbalanced by [the] realities of the day-to-day expectations of any large servicerelated business.”
For MacGrath, working his way up the corporate ladder from bartender through various positions, including cost controller, assistant food- andbeverage manager, food- and- beverage director, rooms director, director of operations and now general manager, has been a necessary journey. It has helped him, he says, gain a more holistic view that is needed in his current role.
“I often refer to the back or ‘heart’ of house functions as the engine that drives the machine, which is the hotel,” MacGrath says. “If the engine does not work, then everything stops. Understanding the backOF-HOUSE PROCESSES ENSURES WE CAN EFfiCIENTLY DELIVER on the expectations of the guest in the front of house.”
Asked about what he loves about being a hotelier, he replies: “It’s simple: every day is different. Working in a service-driven industry, you deal with many people, as well as their expectations, needs and problems. Working for the last decade with Hilton has certainly kept my interest, as it is a dynamic organization whose company values align well with my own personal values.”