Business Leaders interview: Ross McGregor

Tell us a little about yourself and your business.

Working throughout my teen years in various hospitality venues, as a dishwasher, delivery driver and other junior roles, I never thought that I would stay in the industry for as long as I have. But hospitality has allowed me to live and work in 3 Countries and 8 cities over the past 20ish years.

After graduating University, I left Australia as 22 years old and became an expat living and working in Shanghai from 2002-2016. On arrival, I studied Chinese at Jiao Tong University, trying to get a foundation to learn Mandarin Chinese. I was able to learn enough in the short time studying to then continue learning vocabulary and from other expats and Chinese friends. I worked in Hospitality for some time, then explored export and contract manufacturing, as at this time a large portion of products were manufactures in China. Learning quality assurance and quality control, shipping and freight, contract negotiations and customer acquisition, was all part of this early on the job business ‘school’. Working for a Trading company first and then going out on my own, opening and operation a business in China, working for customers like K-Mart, Target, Harris Scarf. Then I had the opportunity to be part of establishing the first Hospitality venue with the Camel Hospitality Group came up. This is when my focus went back to Hospitality on a more senior level. Starting with a single stand-alone venue, the group quickly expanded having multiple venues and brand operating across Shanghai and Suzhou. Pre-Openings, openings, concept development, ID process and branding, then over all operations, from Project Managing the build of the venue, recruitment, SOP implementation, training, purchasing etc, were all part of the positions held with in the group. In 2016 I moved countries arriving in the Philippines and went from the stand-alone venue structure in to Hotels, specialising in F&B. Working with different 5 Star groups in the Philippines until covid, when I returning to Australia after being away for 18 years. Making the transition from a departmental specialist in to General Management after arriving to Australia and waiting the country to open back up to enable people to work, I have been in Hotels & Resorts since.

What motivates you in your work and what do you find most fulfilling about being a business leader?

I am an extremely results focused leader. These results can be financial targets, team development goals, operation standard or individual mentoring achievements. Sharing in the small and large successes is what keeps me going, and motivates me for continued betterment across all elements. 

How did you develop your leadership skills and how would you define your leadership style?

Development of leadership is something that is a blend of education and training, but most of all exposure and experience, with great guidance and direction from those moguls with in your industry. Learning from the best to be the best.

Innovating is crucial in our very diverse industry. How do you stay ahead of trends and incorporate them into your global strategy? 

Continuous evolving, flexibility and the capability to embrace change. Trends can be short sharp and over or they can have some longevity. Being malleable and first to market when embracing and programming is imperative. 

What do you consider to be the key component(s) of effective business operational development?

Care, Passion, understanding, knowledge, experience and capability. The correct guidance and layers across the operations of the business to ensure learning, on the job training, team and individual development and growth. Human resources and the right people are large components.

How do you approach identifying areas for improvement within a company's operations? 

In short, areas of improvement should be based on data. For business/financial aspects room for improvement can be measurable via quantifiable KPI’s. GOP (Gross Operating Profit), RevPar (Revenue per available room, CPOR (Cost per available room), Occupancy %, ADR (Average Daily rate). Other things such as employee retention rates, employee surveys, returning guest ratios, guest surveys, GRI (Global Review Index) can be data used to determine Human resources and guest satisfaction.

Where do you think the most promising investments should be focusing on and/or made on?

Usually within a business structure, no matter which industry, time analysing a proposed investment is part of the process. Knowing and understanding the proposed investment is important. Choosing to go ahead with and investment will depend on the outcome of the analysis. Perhaps there is a very fast ROI (return on investment) and the up side is then the money the initial investment makes ongoing. Or perhaps the investments value is not directly financial but perhaps add to the brand or business scope, or enhances this in some way. Or perhaps it will improve employee engagement, attitude or moral, and deemed a valuable investment to the business in this way.

What is or are your biggest career achievement(s)? 

Successful Pre-Openings and Openings are always something to be celebrated. In additional restructure and change management with regards to a business culture is also very rewarding. Developing teams and individuals, and seeing them succeed, I also class as a big achievement.

Do you have examples where your leadership made a difference? 

If so, what were they? Leadership makes a huge difference when dealing with any type of conflict. This could be internally, or external, employee or client. How conflict is handled by the leader, can dictate the outcome. Often it the leadership and decisions made, decide if the outcome is a positive or negative for all parties involved.

What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned? 

In any circumstance stay calm and ensure communication is always 100% 100% of the time. Clarity of direction and management, across all aspects and departments is paramount to effective leadership.   

How did you identify and seize opportunities for advancement in your career? 

Being self-aware and understanding yourself is important. Clear progression planning from yourself is important. Things such as continuous education, training and learning should be part of this progression. Understanding there is always something more to learn, and continued development to be had. This based with experience, delivery on results, clear communication of progression with senior management is how advancement can occur. 

Have you achieved everything you wanted in your career so far? 

I have not yet achieved everything I want to, and my personal goals always move, as I continued to learn and progress. I wish to continually grow and gain more knowledge and get better with in the industry.

How important is personal development to your success, and how do you approach it? 

For anyone, I believe that personal development is extremely important for growth, experience, and career advancement. I approach if by taking every opportunity that becomes available to me. Embrace change and walk towards challenges and things I may not have done before that day.

How do you prioritise tasks when everything feels like a priority?

 By being decisive and determining an actual priority order to follow. Delegate so that items can be completed simultaneously where possible. Perhaps even when things feel like they are all priorities, perhaps once evaluated there is a clear order that best serves all parties involved. 

What was the hardest decision you have taken as a leader? 

The hardest thing or decision as a leader was having to inform large percentage of a team that they either did not have a position any longer or would be on half pay till further notice. This was during covid. Many people after the decision were made were stool down.

What steps do you take to measure your own performance? 

I measure my performance directly to brand standards, guest satisfaction, employee retention, financial targets, personal development.

What does success mean for you as a business leader? 

Success can mean many different things to different people. As a Hotel General Manager, for myself it is a clear measurement that shows constant improvement of all elements across all departments. Moving the needle and driving results continually, for the betterment of the business and quality of the property work.