W's got talent

A hotel for the "young and the young at heart," the W brand is best known for its high energy designs, top class service and stylish ambience. However, being at the W is a cherished experience not only for its guests, but also for its skilled and committed employees, or 'talent', as W prefers to call them.

"The hotel industry is all about service. It's about the only way one hotel can distinguish itself from another," shares Safak Guvenc, General Manager of the W Doha Hotel & Residences. "So we've made it a practice to hire only the finest talent, and to treat them accordingly." And 'talent' is more than just a buzzword at the W. Extensive screening is used to not only pick the right people, but to pick them for the right job. "The W caters to a certain type of guest - the young at heart, confident traveler who appreciates great service and is at home with the technology-driven modern lifestyle," says Mr. Guvenc. "So we take great care to ensure that each employee 'fits in' with this culture."

Consequently, room attendants become 'room stylists', doorpersons are 'door ambassadors', engineers are called 'stage managers' and supervisors are referred to as 'talent coaches.' Without doubt the most unique of the W offerings is the Whatever/Whenever® service - a 24 hour concierge that will arrange for whatever a guest requests, from a favorite cigar to a chartered jet, whenever it is requested, as long as it's legal. All these skilled, motivated people work together with one common goal - to deliver the "wow!" experience to every guest of the W.

The wow! concept is taken a step further with another unique position that W has created - the W Insider. "We want to do all we can to personalize the service experience for each of our guests," said Mr. Guvenc. "The W Insider will know the Hotel and the city of Doha inside out, and will ensure that guests are welcomed, wowed and delighted whenever they enter the Living Room." The W Insider will also serve as a liaison between newly discovered guest wishes and the hotel teams who work to make those wishes come true.

Featuring 291 guest rooms including 31 suites, 154 W Residences, concept restaurants by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, La Maison du Caviar, a poolside sheesha lounge, champagne bar, meeting & event space and luxury retail stores, the hotel will require a lot of "talent" working in tandem to ensure smooth operation.

W has dropped the traditional nametags sported by staff at most hotels. "We don't believe in the concept of nametags," said Mr. Guvenc. "We all wear a W lapel pin that's part of every talent's wardrobe, allowing us to always introduce ourselves in person with a warm W welcome."

Marieke Schellen, Director of HR of W Doha, elaborates on W's hiring philosophy, "Training for skills is not always easy, but training for personality is nearly impossible. So we make it a point to hire for attitude and then train for aptitude." This works out equally well for the talent, who are placed in roles where they are most likely to thrive and succeed. "Once hired, we go to great lengths to cultivate innate talents, personally engaging them with the witty, warm world of the W brand," Ms. Schellen added. "We encourage creativity and collaboration and welcome perspectives and opinions from all talent."

Working in a dynamic environment with bright career prospects such as the ones offered by the W is the dream of many hospitality professionals, and résumés of aptly qualified candidates arrive each day by mail and over the internet. Getting hired by the W in any position is "quite a challenge" according to Ms. Schellen, but successful candidates more often than not find themselves in the most exciting and rewarding phases of their career. It begins even before they arrive, with a set of pre arrival documents and a personal phone call from the talent coach. A half day introductory session familiarizes the talent with the W brand, followed by a month long induction program called "The World of W". Each talent is given a personal Dream Book that allows them to track their aspirations with W by keeping personal notes and tracking their progress.

"At the end of the day, a happy talent makes happy guests," says Ms. Schellen.