One management philosophy at the Xymax Group is "management should keep employees happy."
We believe that putting this philosophy into practice is tied to a sustainable hiring and working environment, and karaksa hotel also strives to support its employees through many different systems and policies.
Since opening our first hotel in 2016, karaksa hotels has proactively expanded the hiring of international and entry-level employees with the help of our parent company, the Xymax Group. This has created diverse teams made up of many nationalities and experience levels working alongside each other.
What's more, our hotels are not split up into departments or divisions. Rather, each entire hotel is treated as a unit where all staff share overall responsibility.
Even for cleaning and linen supply services, which are typically outsourced, we are able to conduct staff training because these services are also handled by our Group companies. This structure allows us to be better prepared and address challenges.
Our workplaces allow staff to feel comfortable working with us for many years, and this in turns allows us to offer higher standards of service to our guests. We have put several programs in place to this end.
We have clearly assigned duties for each employee level, alongside established career paths for employees who have worked with us long term. This system provides the groundwork for employees to always work in a role that suits them, rather than simply placing a management position as the end goal of their career path.
We offer bonuses related to language study to encourage staff to improve their language skills, especially for staff whose native language is not Japanese, and for Japanese staff who want to learn a foreign language. This enables our hotels to offer a higher level of customer service for our guests.
This system allows employees to receive their retirement bonus pay in monthly installments in addition to their regular salary. By letting employees choose how and when to use these payments, they gain more freedom, compared with a traditional arrangement where the money is disbursed after retirement.
We provide a housing allowance to employees who choose to live relatively close to their workplace. This not only lessens commuting cost and distance but also enables staff to be better able to respond to emergencies. This program also includes support for non-Japanese staff with Japanese residency procedures.
In accordance with the Labor Standards Act, we have policies to provide for childcare leave and nursing care leave, alongside reduced working hours to accommodate for childcare. We actively support positive work/life balance and respect the value our employee's private lives.
Based on our original human resource program (job descriptions), we conduct extensive job training that accommodates for each employee's level of experience, providing avenues for them to acquire new skills. We also conduct regular training programs hosted by the Group, including risk management related to compliance and sanitation, and Japanese language customer service training for non-Japanese employees.
Through these different programs, our employees acquire technical skills and knowledge, alongside opportunities to exchange information and network.
At karaksa hotel, we believe in the importance of information sharing activities regarding hotel management and operation. We have a quarterly meeting where all employees share their goals, achievements and issues.
We share in-house messages throughout the Xymax Group network, as well as the karaksa hotel internal email newsletter. We also share information through an online portal that allows staff to share any current challenges and successes or to simply say “Thank you” to others. We actively review guest comments—a practice that both boosts motivation and leads to improved operations.
By linking the hotel's core system to other extensive systems and developing new features therein independently, we work to optimize our operations to save time and effort. The reduced burden on staff improves motivation, allowing them to work to a higher standard and acquire new, relevant skill sets.
the Group has developed a proprietary room assignment system that uses data-driven optimization techniques. We have achieved significant labor savings by automating the complex task of assigning rooms, considering variables like connecting rooms and consecutive-night stays.
This newly developed function allows each room to display superficial increased availability according to the different room variations available on the channel manger, while managing to avoid overbooking. This means we can maximize reservations that meet specific guest needs. This is a unique feature of karaksa hotel's revenue management, which focuses on availability management, not just room rates.
Automated transactions are contactless and in high demand from guests. They save on labor and paper used, as guest information is immediately recorded and saved by linking to the hotel's core system.
We will continue to promote comprehensive optimization in hotel operations, including guest room cleaning and linen supply services.