“Don’t see yourself as a department that just hires and fires. You are a key part of the strategy of your business.” – Ingrid Eras-Magdalena, retired EVP Chief HR Officer of Belmond talks about the significance of HR in an organisation.
As part of our commitment to support candidates in developing fulfilling careers, we’ve invited HR Leaders from a wide variety of organisations to share their insights on building a career, the challenges they face and what advice they would share with those hoping to follow their footsteps.
Recently, we had a great conversation with Ingrid who found her passion in the hospitality industry, where she built her fruitful 35-year-long career. She held regional and global corporate roles in the U.K., Belgium and multiple countries, gaining insights and experience in HR, operations, organisation learning and design as well as mergers and acquisitions.
Can you share with us what made you decide to pursue a career in HR?
In my younger years, I always thought I wanted to either become a nurse or a social worker when I realised that I connected very easily with people. I frequently played team sports and usually was made the captain of the team. There was something in there that made it clear to me that this is the kind of thing I’m good at and I do enjoy. It’s always been about people.
When I was about 14, I worked part-time in a restaurant and that is where I realised that I actually loved working in the hospitality business. I spent many years in operations in about every department in the hotel. Working in the hospitality industry became my passion.
I love to make the guests feel cared for. I honestly believe that every business is about its people. You can have the best product possible, but it’s the people that sell it to you. If those that provide the service are not caring or efficient, then you would probably look somewhere else. People don’t buy you because of a logo. They buy you because they had an amazing experience, and they met some people there that were absolutely outstanding. That’s usually why people come back.
In addition, I really enjoy helping people grow and develop. In this industry, we very often get young professionals of all walks of life, who are very passionate and willing to learn. It is amazing to help them develop and grow, resulting into them being more mature & caring human beings.
What key challenges are you currently facing and how are you dealing with them?
The biggest challenge is finding the people because if you don’t have your staff, you can’t give the service that you want to provide. During the COVID pandemic, like many others, we had many challenges but as a company, I’m very proud of how we dealt with that. We looked after our people as best as we could, engaged with them on a very regular basis and tried to keep everybody employed for as long as we could.
We felt it important because people are with you in good times, and we should be with them in bad times. During the pandemic, all of our HR directors at every property stayed in touch with everybody. They organised all kinds of things from yoga classes to cooking glasses to keep everybody engaged and connected to each other.
Did that go perfectly? No, of course not. But we all made a huge effort to ensure everybody felt that they were cared for. It helped us all cope, and look with a positive feeling towards the future.
The global staffing shortages which we are now all feeling, creates an additional challenge as we want to ensure that our levels of excellence match those of whom we are now part of.
Belmond which is part of LVMH ( Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a very high-end luxury company) now continues their focus on excellence including evolving its culture from the bottom up. Employees at every level are involved in defining how they want the culture to be.
Behaviours were defined and they guide everything that is being done: not only in the properties but also at the divisional and corporate levels. Absolutely necessary as the key to having a great culture is that everybody lives by the values or by the behaviours that you set as a company. Tools and processes were adapted, to make sure that everyone works towards the same objectives and behaviours within their specific roles.
And of course an incredible amount of training was carried out to make sure all employees do understand the direction and expectations.
What advice would you give to someone striving to establish their HR career?
There are two main things. First, as part of the human resources team, you need to see yourself in a department that is an integral part of the business. You need to proactively reach out to the other departments, speak with them and understand what they do. Only if you know what is happening within the business then you are able to do the right thing as HR. Don’t see yourself as a department that just hires and fires. You are part of the strategy and an integral part of your business.
For example, you need to understand what legal does and why they do it. You need to understand what are the financial objectives and how that will affect HR. You need to be clear which kind of KPI should you work towards and how should you control your payroll? You need to understand how marketing works. And importantly, you should have that seat at the table. It is not about you just sitting there and talking about HR. It means that you need to be able to contribute in every area of the business because that is your role when you are at the table.
The other thing I always tell people, nobody gets anything offered to them on a silver platter. If you want to make a career, then you need to work for it. That means that you need to do that little bit of extra, or that much extra, that all the other people don’t do. Be willing to do that extra project, willing to help in difficult things. That will be recognized and rewarded one way or the other. And I’m not necessarily talking about money. You are seen, you’re being watched. You are someone that is looked at for the next promotion.
Ingrid, who is retired now, joined Belmond in 2014 as its Senior Vice President for Global HR and became its Executive Vice President/Chief HR Officer in 2017. Prior to her 8 year-stay in Belmond, Ingrid worked at the Le Meridien for 9 years and at the Starwood Hotels and Resorts for 18 years.