Meet Stephan Kapek | 2022 General Manager Finalist

Born in Germany, Kapek left his hometown at a young age to embark on a 30-year long career in the hospitality industry. Take a look at Stephan’s thoughts, ideas and beliefs regarding what it takes to build and lead a great team, and how best to unlock the team’s full potential here! www.stelliers.com

Please share a short introduction about you and your career.

I was born in Berlin, Germany, and since leaving my hometown in 1988, I have had the great fortune of experiencing many luxurious hotels around the world. This amazing journey started in Berlin, where I worked as an elevator attendant for the first six months of my apprenticeship as a hotel business specialist. Following three years of learning the many aspects of the workings of a hotel, I was lucky enough to be accepted to work in Monte Carlo and, with that, my hospitality career across foreign lands began!

Since then, a lot of fond memories and invaluable experiences have been collected along the way, such as in locations like: Monte Carlo, London, Muscat, Paris, Dubai, Manila, Abu Dhabi, Cebu and even on a cruise ship. However, for the past seven years, I have been calling Beijing home and I look forward to experiencing even more fulfilment here in the coming years.

Over the years I have been recognized and rewarded for improving the revenue, market profile and reputation of four- and five-star luxury hotels operating in challenging, intensely competitive and evolving markets. Being fluent in German and English (and fair in French) facilitates easy engagement with our multi-national guests. I have been known to build, coach and inspire teams to deliver high standards of service and operational efficiency to very discerning guests – always with a good sense of humour.

I confidently believe that “commercial acumen and a passion for best-in-class service are the driving forces behind a progressively successful career and outstanding record” – so much so that it’s on my LinkedIn profile!

What best practices have you implemented to manage the stop-and-go pandemic situation in China?

With the pandemic now in its third year, I would like to highlight a few key areas where we have implemented procedures to keep the risk to our organisation as low as possible:

Firstly, at Shangri-La our philosophy and guiding principles are to ensure the safety of our colleagues and guests. Since the beginning of the outbreak, we have introduced many initiatives, including raising hygiene measures, supplying protective equipment to our staff and rostering in separate teams to minimise cross-exposure. We also launched the “Shangri-La Cares” program, which reinforces our commitment to our guests and our distinctive Asian hospitality. We remain humble and true to our founding ethos – to do our utmost to take care of people.

Secondly, I would like to mention the welfare of our colleagues. This year in particular has been very difficult at our location. The ongoing uncertainty, combined with the on and off business (depending on COVID caseload in the city), has had a negative effect on our people. What we found helpful was regular open communication through various channels; improved staff benefits such as cafeteria food, outings, and activities; improved and accelerated training facilities, and even offering professional counselling. This has helped the team to get through these tough times in much better shape.

Thirdly, we created a guidebook for the business. With constantly changing business levels we needed to be able to adapt quickly when either confronting tail or headwinds. Every department contributed and we continue to fine-tune our actions according to expected business levels.

What is it you are most proud of in your career to date?

In our line of work, it is all about people. Either in dealing with guests and focusing on their needs or working with your team. Over the years my main driver, and the area I am most proud of, is the continued development of my teams. I am lucky to be able to say that the hospitality business has provided me with a career development path I never thought would be possible. As a result, I enjoy sharing my insight and coaching the younger generation to help them find similar joy and development opportunities in their career. 

Can you share what you believe is key in leading a successful hotel today? 

Leading a successful organisation today requires a few key ingredients.

As a leader, you need to establish a shared vision with your team and stakeholders. One needs to establish why we are doing what we do here, and this vision needs to be supported by a structure of common goals and beliefs. The leader needs to be able to inspire the team to follow this vision and give the team a purpose they can embrace.

At Shangri-La our vision is to be the best-loved hospitality group, pioneering new horizons and setting new benchmarks.

Our support system of shared beliefs consists of five behaviours: do good, obsess over customer experience, own our success, compete to win, and never give up. I strongly believe that this sets the foundation of a successful organisation in any field.

Furthermore, there are other key factors and phrases that I believe support the above, including: walk the talk, establish trust and accountability with your teams, pursue the ability to adapt and change, think creatively, and communicate well to all levels and directions.

The magic ingredient for me boils down to the ability of a leader to surround themselves with a great team and to unlock the team’s full potential.

What do you think the next few years hold for the hospitality sector and its continued recovery?

This pandemic has changed the way in which the hospitality sector will establish itself again once travel across the globe resumes. One major trend is already here, with hotels increasingly focusing on guest safety and hygiene. This is certainly a trend that is here to stay, as the dangers of this pandemic will not be eliminated completely.

Another area that is uncertain when it comes to recovery is business travel. With reduced business travel over the past year, this segment of our business will be challenging to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

However, whilst there are some business segments that will be negatively affected for years to come, I do also see a more positive trend of increased travel awareness. We have taken travel for granted in the past and the pandemic has changed our perspective of travel – maybe even setting a greater value to it. This represents an opportunity for the hospitality sector to adjust its offerings accordingly.

For example, China World Hotel realised a renewed brand vision in 2022, using innovative strategies to bring the hotel back into consumer focus and make it the first choice for both business and leisure travellers this year.

Facing the “New Normal”, we embrace the challenges ahead and will continue to improve the customer experience at our hotels, including rebranding the outlets, upgrading dishes offered, and creating new menus, as well as holding more internal training sessions for staff.

What is a book, podcast or media resource that you have recently read/listened to regularly that inspired/inspires you?

The hospitality sector is evolving very fast and, as a leader, I am responsible for my teams. To become more effective in my day-to-day operating modus, I recently read ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear. This book outlines a very simple strategy to make tiny changes to your daily behaviour, resulting in much greater changes over time.

What is the motto that you live by?

“Treat people the way you would like to be treated.”

I respect every job in the hospitality industry, from housekeeping to management. For me, everyone is important and part of the team.