In-conversation: Kartiman, Director, Park Hyatt Jakarta
“As hoteliers, you make the difference. You give the hotel its soul.”
Kartiman is a veteran of the hospitality industry with over 18 years of experience. He currently leads the rooms division at Park Hyatt Jakarta. As with many in hospitality, he worked his way through the ranks, first starting in the front office at Four Seasons Jakarta.
His is a serendipitous tale of an almost-accidental falling into hospitality, but one that led to a discovery for a passion of connecting with people. His passion struck us across this wide-ranging discussion that explores his take on a great hotel product, and how he manages his teams to deliver authentic guest experiences.
His first role in hospitality at Four Seasons Jakarta - originally the Regent - instilled core values that he continues to practice today. What are these core values?
“We always talked about the 3Ps: people, product, profit. People come first. If we care about the people, the product will be managed and profits will come.
It’s the people - both hoteliers and guests.
As hoteliers, you make the difference. You give the hotel its soul. You give it the vibes.
For guests, a good hotel makes you feel like you’re not alienated. You’re just comfortable. Just be you.”
What does putting your team members first look like in practice?
“In my role as a division head, I have many subordinates who come from different backgrounds, which requires me to lead them inclusively. That also means I need to treat them fairly no matter their role.
As a leader, putting them first means turning the workplace into their stage, with me facilitating behind the scenes. My job is to ensure they have the right rules, know what to do, and know what to achieve. In the end, when my team is able to create a great experience or journey for guests, they will be acknowledged by guests in reviews or surveys. When guests appreciate the things we do, as a leader, that really makes my day.”
Empathy is central to his philosophy of people management. In keeping with the times, Kartiman has also had to adapt his approach to training his staff.
“I am old school. I come from a culture where yes, this is my passion, I want to work, I want to become a hotelier, and I want to basically follow the hierarchy. In the past, If I was mocked or critiqued, I’d say ‘yes, sir, I promise I won't repeat it again.’
It’s different now. If I say something, they’ll have an opinion on it. As a leader, we have to learn to understand that. The strategy now is to empower them.
Say you are my front office executive, and you ask me if you can give an early check-in. I’ll say ‘What do you think? Do you think that will make you comfortable? Is it going to make your job easier?’
You’ll respond ‘Of course, if we are not busy, we sometimes have people come at 9 AM.’ I’ll then tell you ‘You’ve answered it yourself.’ Empowerment does not come in the form of a memo.”
His own start in hospitality was marked by empowerment - as a front desk cashier in Singapore - that gave him the confidence to pursue his hospitality career wholeheartedly.
“I didn’t jump into hospitality on purpose. I was actually a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) person in high school. I loved math, physics, and biology. My goal was to become an engineer or doctor at the time.
My brother suggested I sign up for the Bandung School of Tourism because my English was good. I ended up signing up for 3 universities, including that university, and took all 3 tests. They were the first to come back to me, and my sister suggested I just take it. I did.
Eventually, I went to Singapore for training for 6 months. During that stint I was the only trainee who was entrusted to become a cashier. I worked on checkouts, and worked with guests. That’s when I started to see that, hey, I’m okay at this - I saw that I had an ability to click easily with people.
I've stayed in hospitality ever since and have done basically almost every role possible across room divisions.”
Even as the sector becomes increasingly digitized, he emphasizes the importance of vendors being human-centric. Technology ultimately should serve fundamental human needs well.
“Technology [vendors] have to listen to hoteliers. You cannot come to me with a rigid product, tell me how to use it, and expect me to adapt [my processes] to it. It takes two to tango.
I met a young technology company in Gaia. They tried to pitch me on their IPTV solution that would display hotel amenities - facilities information, spa menu etc. - on the in-room guest TV. I didn’t need that. It was basically just a static display and a set of templates. We could already do that.
But they actually listened and learned our needs. They ended up evolving their product to allow in-room ordering of amenities using the guest’s mobile phone. Now it also allows guests to login so we can store preferences. From there we are able to gather data which is valuable. For example, we can learn about guests’ demographics and their objectives. We learnt for example that leisure travelers tend to only stay for two nights.
Technology can help, but it must be user-friendly. It shouldn’t be complicated.”
As technology reshapes the industry, Kartiman's focus on the human touch and adaptation ensures that the Park Hyatt Jakarta remains a haven of personalized service, where guests feel not just welcome, but understood.
