Hakan Ozel, General Manager of Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai..Difference is the secret of success

The Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai, did not become a landmark visited by everyone in the famous city until after years of excellence, distinguished by hospitality, distinguished by tastes, distinguished by luxury, and distinguished by its location, which directly overlooks the charming city center and Burj Khalifa.
Behind this success is a team that works day and night to provide the finest hospitality services that are in line with the luxurious Shangri-La chain and its exacting standards.
We met with Mr. Hakan Ozel, General Manager of Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai, to learn more about the management of this hotel and the secrets of its success

Q: You spent most of your career with the prestigious Shangri-La Hotel chain. How did Hakan Ozil's journey to success begin and when?
A: The whole journey started from the family. The roots of my mother's family go back to Bosnia, and I always have memories of those beautiful moments when my mother's relatives from Yugoslavia visit us, so we will host them in our house, we will bring them delicious food and arrange the dining table carefully. The greatest importance, and after high school we had to choose what we wanted to study, it was not only about me, although I used to look at myself in the mirror and see a successful hotel manager, but my whole family, friends, and our neighbors were telling me, you will have a dazzling future in the field hospitality.
During that period, the field of hospitality was flourishing in Turkey. I chose the best universities in Turkey, and I studied hotel management for five years. Due to my excellence in my university, I received offers from Istanbul's most famous luxury hotels to join before I graduated.
I chose one of these offers carefully, and after eight months, I was sorted to China, and my international career began from there.
By nature, I loved competition and did not accept anything but priority, as I was with my five brothers, where we were competing at home, despite our different fields of study, for the highest average.
I wanted to learn everything, and immerse myself in all the details because I knew that one day I would be responsible for everything, and I believed that difference and excellence were the secret to staying out of competition. This is how the story began and I was fortunate to join the chain of Shangri-La hotels, the best in the world, which cares about its staff as well. They care about them, I've learned a lot with them for over eighteen years.

Q: Where do you derive your passion from, what is the source of inspiration in the field of the hospitality sector, and the field of general management of hotels?
A: Every day and every morning the hotel is completely different. No day is the same as the other in the field of the hospitality sector because the guests are different, the taste is different, the expectation is different. This dynamism in the sector makes me excited every day to come to work with passion.
Also, this field requires thinking, imagination, planning, implementation, accepting challenges, and taking risks that force us to be different every day, and this is wonderful.
Living in Dubai is a great opportunity, because it is a city full of energy, development, and competition. Everyone has restaurants, rooms and services, but the Shangri-La Hotel's difference comes from our insistence on accepting only the best and nothing but the best.

Q: Do you try to motivate your team and teach them your philosophy of managing things and your own way?
A: When I look at the Shangri-La Dubai team, they are wonderful, a mixture of different cultures, and we are like a big family gathered in one workplace. When a problem is solved by one of them, I try as much as I can to support and extend a helping hand, because when the team is happy, it is More capable of giving, and when someone achieves success, I feel proud.
We also have a rewards program for our staff. We fulfill the dreams of guests at Shangri-La and provide hospitality from the heart, and it is our priority for the staff to be always happy and satisfied.

Q: At work, what makes Hakan Ozil smile?

A: Right choices, achievement, success. When the choice is right, the results are impressive, and success and achievement come later. Nothing can put a smile on my face, and make me feel happier than success. As for the wrong choice, it leads to disastrous results and thus failure.

So now we know what draws the knot between Hakan's eyebrows
Yes, it is the wrong choices that lead to undesirable consequences and our expectation of many problems. Likewise, working in the hospitality sector is a very big responsibility. It is not a delicious cup of coffee. We are an integrated block of services and technologies, and we are exposed at any second to emergencies and breakdowns. This matter also makes me in a state Great anxiety until everything is back to the way it should be.

Q: At the end of the conversation and after a successful and rich experience for years, advice you would give to a young general manager or to someone who aspires to be in this position
A: Build a good and integrated work team. The general manager cannot be present all the time in every place. A good and integrated work team is very necessary for the success of any establishment. Be flexible, be optimistic, be positive, be close to your work team, get to know each individual. From them, to know your work team means that you know their capabilities, abilities, talents, weaknesses and strengths. Make these individuals a distinguished and distinguished civilization, because successful work is a style and a civilization.

 

 

 

 

 

In conclusion, thank you for sharing your successful experience with us. Thank you for all the advice. We wish you and Shangri-La_Dubai more and more success.