Exclusively for L’Officiel Hommes, Tansel Bey, General Manager of the Rixos President Astana hotel, shares the secrets of building a business process, the Rixos brand’s strategy in the Kazakhstan market and how business in Kazakhstan differs from Türkiye.
Tell us a little about yourself. How did your career in the hotel business begin?
If you are involved in managing a hotel business, every time you come to work you make someone’s day a little better. Our business is about people. It is not only about gadgets or spreadsheets; it is about making people happy. It is a creative business. It opens the gates to the world. You get to take on responsibility. You can climb the career ladder of the hotel business just as easily and quickly as you can move horizontally.
How do you build your business process?
The first thing is identifying your needs. Finding the key performance indicators in order to determine what is working well and what needs improvement. Setting a time frame for achieving the goal. Making sure the expectations are reasonable. Being confident that your employee will be able to meet their goals within the deadlines you have set. Appointing a person in charge who will oversee every step of the process. This ensures transparent reporting for each step within the process. Involving the heads of sections in the creation process, working together with them, having explained your requirements and expectations. Giving the heads of departments time and your support to achieve the goals set for them.
What is Rixos’s strategy in the Kazakhstan market?
We listen to your needs, design them with your requirements, and do everything to make your dream come true.
The hotel business in Astana is developing in a fairly competitive environment. So why should guests choose Rixos in particular?
Not everything in life can be bought with money. For example, experience, people’s attitude, memories and Turkish hospitality. We want to think on your behalf and anticipate your wishes before you yourself become aware of them.
Your duties include quickly resolving problems that arise in the company, which suggests that you are very resistant to stress. Have you always been so “iron-willed”, or did you somehow manage to develop this skill?
I work on developing my skills every day. Each time I find the points that matter to us to one degree or another and analyse them. After that I prepare projects that can be worked on with the team. I believe that professional training is the most important thing, and we have to know how to develop the skills of the brain.
Tell us about the most unusual deal you have had to conclude.
In fact, I have not had any unusual deals. I really am a good analyst. I trust myself and believe in my credo in life.
Do you prefer to negotiate orally or in writing, and why?
I prefer to negotiate orally. That way we can understand each other better and reach a decision quickly. Written forms are needed for documentation and for the subsequent steps. One of the most important things in the Universe is the ability to think. It does not matter what you know or which school you graduated from, with the exception of certain fields such as finance. But in the tourism industry the most important thing is to be able to use the mechanism of the brain and develop your skills. After that you can take your career step into the future. The human brain is an endless factory of desires and ideas, where you can build yourself and grow.
How much does tourism in Kazakhstan differ from that in Türkiye?
In fact, there is no difference at all. We speak only one language in the hotel business; our common language is “love” and our good service in every respect.
What is it like to work far from your family?
Can this be considered a negative side of your profession?
In our age of advanced technology, we can use every advantage to ease the feeling of loneliness. It is not hard to live far away. We are professional managers. My wife also works in the tourism business. Undoubtedly we miss each other, but we try to find time to visit each other as often as possible.
You played professional volleyball for 16 years; how do you keep in shape now? How much time do you devote to sport or the gym? Which sporting habits have stayed with you?
I live in the hotel. I usually exercise in the fitness club and always look after my health. I prefer to eat, every day, food that contains the vitamins and minerals my body needs
In which country do you like to holiday, and where do you like to spend your leisure time?
I adapt easily to any surroundings. Learning something new is my hobby. In my line of work it is hard to find free time, but if such an opportunity arises, I prefer to spend that time with my family.
Your credo in life?
Or what are your goals for the future?
Every person should have a goal; it is their guide. For the future, I would like to write a book about tourism in order to pass on all my experience to the new generation of hoteliers.
What books do you read?
The Evolution of Personality. Scientific books, mainly about the human brain, because I want to know more about our boss, the one inside us – that is, our brain. We need to know how a person develops in order to be able to fulfil ourselves in life.
So what is the secret of your success?
Love for people. Every time, I listen to their needs and wishes, design around their personal characteristics and try to turn their wishes and expectations into reality. Making people’s lives easier and better – that is the success of our work.
Translated from the Russian original.