Agathe ROGER is currently sales executive at the Savoy in London.

With an MBA in International Hotel Management, Agathe Roger is now the Supervisor at the Executive Lounge in the London Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel, a 5* hotel with 237 rooms. Let's have a look at her success story. 

INTERVIEW: 

How did you begin to work at the Marriott International in London? 
After I graduated from Vatel Bordeaux, I went to Australia for six months to improve my English and it was a good idea. I was a waitress in a Pullman, but I wanted to have a high-responsibility job. Unfortunately, in Australia it’s hard to get one when you only have a vacation-work visa. It was much easier to do this in London. The manager who hired me had studied at Vatel Lyon a few years before, so the Vatel network helped me. I really like working for this large luxury hotel group.

And why ?
And that will allow me to do my next project: going abroad in a city where the sun shines more than it does in London!

What are your missions? 
My role is to: 

• Supervise my team so they’ll give the best service to obtain the best possible satisfaction rate! I’ve got to keep them motivated, make sure everything is going well for my guests and my team. 
• Assist my manager for HR missions: recruitment, training my team, managing orders and payments, creating schedules, etc. He went on vacation for ten days and during this time, for instance, I was completely in charge of the lounge. 
• Making our lounge attractive for our clients with a maximum of innovations. 

What do you mean exactly by “Making our lounge attractive for our clients with a maximum of innovations?” 
We made a lot of changes with the Chef. Especially the diversity of the breakfast buffet, for example. Now each day we propose different dishes. We also change the vegetables: grilled vegetables, mushrooms, etc. And we also change the flavors of our yogurts, our cold-cuts, etc. Our customers really appreciate this diversity. 

And in your opinion, how do you motivate colleagues? 
It’s important for me to have a good atmosphere in my team. I spend time with them, listen to them when needed. I’ve also put challenges in place with gifts for the person who sells the most cocktails, or the person that our customers mention the most. For instance, the person who sells the most cocktails wins a voucher for two cocktails in one of the trendiest bars in the city. 

How do you carry out your team training sessions? 
When I start, I explain to them how to do their missions and show them the example. Then I give them a goal, explain why this is necessary and validate a means to measure results together. And after that I support them until they are self-confident and let them do their jobs, helping them if they need it.

How did your education help you in your life and your current job? 
It allowed me to acquire all the basics of my current job. 

What memories do you keep of Vatel Bordeaux ? 
Very good ! Particularly because Mr Christophe Coulomme, the Corporate Relations Director of Vatel Bordeaux helped me a lot to find my internship.