Dr. Denis Amirtharaj - Unveiling the Path from Hospitality Management to Academic Leadership

 

 

Dr. Denis Amirtharaj, Associate Professor and Head, BBA, at the Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science

                                     

Hi everyone, my name is Dr. Denis Amirtharaj, and I’m working as an Associate Professor and Head, BBA, at the Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science (deemed to be a university) located in Padur, Kelambakkam, Chennai.  I'm excited to be here today to introduce myself to the Business Talk audience.

 

 

Could you tell us about your educational qualifications?

 

"I graduated from SLCS College, affiliated with Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, with my Bachelor of Science, majoring in Hospitality, in 2002. I have completed a B.Sc., M.T.M., M.Phil., M.B.A., and Ph.D. My education helped me to build a strong foundation and professional discipline, allowing me to continue to develop in-demand skills while working for the fastest-growing tech industries in the world." 

 

“I majored in hospitality management studies, so several of my courses directly prepared me for the role of hospitality HR and training personnel in the industry as well as in teaching. Each course in my major required extensive hospitality research and writing. Specifically, my Ph.D. thesis is titled “Impact of Training & Development on Employees’s Performance, with Reference to Hotel Industry in Chennai. “Thesis topic was a capstone project in which I gained real-world experience in the industry."

 

 

Could you tell us about your professional journey?

 

"After completing my degree in hospitality management, I started my career as a faculty member in the Hospitality and Tourism Management Institute and continued to establish my proficiency for about 10 years in various reputed institutes located in Chennai. In September 2012, I switched over to the hotel industry as a hospitality trainer. Life gave me the opportunity to work with a variety of industries, professions, and learners. It also paved my way towards getting certified in whatever I pursued. You will be surprised to know how my journey began and how my learning started.

 

I never imagined I would be in both educational institutions as a professor and in industry as a training manager. All we need is love and passion."

 

Teaching: This involves me imparting knowledge and skills to students in a formal setting, often through structured lessons and curriculum. Initially, stepping into this role was not by choice but by necessity, which slowly became a part of my life. Interacting with pupils, teachers, parents, management students, professors, and educationists started developing my skills of mingling with intellectuals and my love to learn more.

 

Career History in Teaching

 

• College 1. : Neenas Polytechnic, Small Industries Service Institutes, Guindy, Chennai.

          Designation: Lecturer for catering division.

          Duration       : 2002-2003 [one year]

• College 2. : Chennai National Arts and Science College, Avadi, Chennai – 54.

          Designation: H.O.D., Department of Hotel and Catering Management

          Duration: 2004 January to 2007 May.

• College 3. : Sathyabama University, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Jeppiaar Nagar, Chennai – 119.

          Designation: Asst. Professor, Dept. of Hotel and Catering Management

          Duration: From 2007 June to 2012 August.

 

Learning and Development Manager: In this role, I oversee the training and development programs within an organization from September 2012 to November 2021. They identify training needs, design learning strategies, and manage the implementation of training initiatives. The Learning and Development Manager post gave me insights into how budgets are created, TNA is done, and so on.

 

Career History as Industry Personnel:

 

• Hospitality Industry. : Worked as a part-time trainer at Ambassador Pallava. 

          Designation: Part Time Trainer

          Duration: 2006 to 2007 (One Year)

• Hospitality Industry: Worked as a Corporate Training Manager [from September 2012 to December 2015] at VBH Group of Hotels Pvt. Ltd. (an ISO 22000-certified company) in Chennai. A chain group of restaurants having 14 branches in Chennai with 1100 staff in all the branches.
• Hospitality Industry: Worked as a training manager at Fortune JP Palace, a member of the ITC Hotels Group, a five-star property in Mysore. [From January 2016 to June 2017]
• Worked as a training manager at Hotel Savera, Chennai. (From 19^th June 2017 to 4^th October 2021

 

A couple of roles I am about to mention, during my younger days, were part of being a learning and development manager at various hospitality industries, like Ambassador Pallava Chennai as a part-time trainer, VBH Group of Hotels Pvt. Ltd. Chennai as a corporate training manager, Fortune JP Palace (ITC Group) Mysore as a training manager, and Savera Industries Ltd. Chennai as a training manager. So, I guess I was fortunate to learn, implement, and gain experience in all.

 

In the hospitality industry, I have performed as a training manager, e-learning developer, training facilitator, soft skills or behavioral trainer, product trainer, sales and customer experience trainer, on-the-job trainer, learning evaluation specialist, performance assessor, and so on. It was great hands-on learning while walking through each of these roles.

 

• Currently working as an Associate Professor and HOD (BBA), School of Management, at Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science (Deemed to be University), Chennai, from November 2021.

 

 

Areas of Expertise as an Industry Personnel

 

Strong communication skills, leadership and management skills, analytical skills, planning and organizational skills, technical skills, flexibility and adaptability, and interpersonal skills

 

 

Areas of Expertise as a Professor

 

Intellectual development of student’s ability to provide mentorship, motivation, and inspiration to the young generation to learn and grow in mind and body and ability to manage, control, and shape up the students in class engagements and also outside team-building activities.

 

 

My teaching philosophy

 

My philosophical approach to student learning is Students engage in experiential learning and directly participate in concrete activities like case studies, individual PPT presentations of their own topics to enhance their communication and presentation skills, group activities to realize their leadership responsibilities, and simulated work experiences. In such a way, my students will have the opportunity to critically analyze and reflect on those experiences through class discussions and debates, individually written exercises through assignments, and also with insightful debriefing activities.

 

 

Awards and Recognitions

 

• Developed and implemented major training programs for Vasanta Bhavan Group of Hotels staff towards ISO 22000 certification.
• Out of 46 hotels in Fortune Park Hotels Ltd., my unit achieved the best among the five top-performing hotels in training and development from June 2016 to May 2017.
• Performed as a COVID-19 safety officer as an additional responsibility at Savera Hotel from April 2020 onwards and achieved a post-COVID precautionary requirements audit score of 93% for the year 2020 and 100% for the year 2021 through the Central Government agency.
• Certified Hospitality Training—Skill India.
• Certified Internal Auditor for the Food Safety Management System.

 

 

Advice to Aspiring Academicians

 

“Teaching is a great thing, as everyone is able to recognize it very well. “There is joy, value, and dignity in this job. There's pride in what we're doing. We will get true appreciation from parents in terms of what professors do on a daily basis as a part of learning activities. “This is where we are building our future leaders and future generations. And it's a great way to influence all that and be part of helping our students get where they need to go.”

 

As academicians, we must consider our reputation in our own field of profession. Our professionalism, instructional methodology, collaborative spirit, and willingness to build meaningful relationships with the student community and also with our colleagues are all assets to building our teaching career and maintaining consistency in it.

 

Our students are always watching us very closely, and they do respond to our energy. Sometimes they are able to sense when we are being dishonest in any aspect, and they can feel if we care about their intellectual development. So let us always strive to wow our students by creating a great learning experience for them and shaping them up to meet industry expectations to strengthen their career in the future.

 

I wish you great joy and success in all your future endeavors.