Get ready for an Educational Adventure with Signum Hotel Academy
Signum Hotels, a fast-growing hotel management company, is soon set to launch a hospitality learning academy. The Signum Hotel academy will focus on training and preparing the entry-level workforce in hospitality. The well-researched educational courses will offer an integrated approach of theoretical knowledge and practical training across Signum properties pan India. Mehul Sharma, Founder & CEO, Signum Hotels & Resorts, an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of creating and scaling the Hospitality Business, interacts with TTJ to discuss the upcoming Academy.
Signum hotels operate properties on lease in India & abroad, and they are open to takeovers if the property is really valuable. During the pandemic, the hospitality industry was amongst the hardest hit and so was their business. But they are gradually picking pace and have opened six hotels after the first wave of the pandemic. They currently have five properties operational in India and seven properties are being readied for launch over the next one month, in addition to their international expansion.
About launching their own learning academy, Mehul says, “Signum Hotel Academy is scheduled to be formally launched on 15 October 2021. Embodying the outlook of the modern generation by emancipating the gift of knowledge at a reasonable rate is something Signum Hotel Academy strives to achieve while providing its prodigies an experience of a lifetime. Our focus lays in the idea of creating world-class leaders and hoteliers. We are different from other academies in the way that we are value for money, provide the best resources and we provide placements.”
Signum Hotel Academy’s mission is to be the most preferred destination for the aspirant of a career in the travel and tourism and hospitality industry across the world by assimilating global improvement in education and adopting the most upto-date technology. Also, their vision is to be a vibrant and innovative academy for students with defined information and provide opportunities to recognise their full potential and thus shape them into responsible and good human beings and professionals.
Speaking about the courses, eligibility and criteria to get enrolled in the Academy, Mehul shares, “A selection committee will pick up students based on various parameters like communication skills, education background, etc. The courses at the Academy will be online which are segmented into Room Division, which is further categorized into Front Office, Housekeeping, Food Division (Food Production and F&B Service) and Soft Skills where behavioural skills, negotiation skills, etc, will be taught.”
The duration of the course is of three months, which is further divided into one month of online and two months of on-the-job training in the student’s core area of interest department.
“The pandemic has indeed taught us more about the importance of upgrading our skills and personal career development. A lot of jobs were lost due to the pandemic reflecting on the need to be flexible enough to adapt and contemporise our skills, to deal with this dynamic new normal. It is ever so important to upgrade our skills to remain relevant with the changing times. We at Signum Academy, not only focus on enhancing the technical skills of our students but also ensure their intellectual, emotional and social evolution along with their employability. We aim to provide employment and life skills to our students to kick start their journey with us,” explains Mehul to highlight the importance of skill and personnel development in the post COVID world.
Hotel businesses have had to develop more efficient approaches, innovate and employ bold new strategies. Last year saw unprecedented growth in the adoption of digital technologies for hotels and the hospitality industry. When asked about, if the growth of technology due to the pandemic will affect the personal touch element, a prime requisite of the hospitality industry, Mehul opines, “The hospitality sector is indeed known for giving a personalised touch to its guests. But it’s equally important to stay ahead with technology as it helps drive efficiency in operations and service delivery. Hospitality remains a people-first business and the personal touch may be restricted due to the pandemic but the human warmth will continue to reflect in the new initiatives and strategies rolled by hospitality teams.”