“My confidence in my financial literacy levels is much higher now.”

Ida-Maja Tejle.

Ida-Maja Tejle has worked at the Clarion Hotel since 2007 in a variety of roles. After a stint as its Deputy General Manager and Operations Manager, in 2019 she became its Director of Operations and CEO. Recently she took over as General Manager at the flagship hotel At Six in Stockholm.

From the stage to the restaurant

Not that this wasn’t how she initially envisaged her career path. Ida-Maja studied the performing arts, film, and drama at upper secondary school while doing what young students do to stay afloat financially – working part time in restaurants and the service sector. Her goal was to become an actress.

But taking a gap year before continuing her studies led to her staying in the restaurant sector instead, and eventually moving into the hotel sector. A shift she looks back on fondly.

“I fell in love with the industry, with the opportunity to create experiences for our guests and help ensure that their experience was everything they could have hoped for – or more – whatever the occasion, from a major corporate event or a small Board Meeting, from a weekend away with friends, to a romantic dinner for two. There’s something magical about providing a service and creating something memorable for other people.”

I ask her how she feels about leaving behind the day-to-day interaction with customers now that she’s moved into a management role? Given how much she clearly loves it.

“Well, I wouldn’t describe it as having left the day-to-day interaction duties behind me, even though my work now has far more to do with commercial, strategic, and financial issues. I’m often involved in the operations side of major events or when backup is needed. Whatever your job here at the hotel, it involves focusing on the guest and the customer. It’s true, though, that I work with these issues through or via my management team nowadays.”

Promotion brings financial responsibility

After joining Strawberry (or Nordic Choice, as it was then known) Ida-Maja was promoted and given wider ranging, more general responsibility. It’s a pattern she remembers from her time as a 20-year-old, serving at the Gyllene Freden restaurant in Stockholm’s Gamla stan district, where she was soon given financial responsibility.

“I haven’t had any formal financial training, but over the course of my career, I’ve become an expert when it comes to my key ratios. I’ve always been interested in knowing how the business is doing, how healthy it is – and whether we’re doing a good job. Key ratios are interesting and over the years, I’ve come to realize just how crucial the figures are. Which is not to say, of course, that we don’t have other important goals, such as staff satisfaction and guest satisfaction.

"I HAVEN’T HAD ANY FORMAL FINANCIAL TRAINING, BUT OVER THE COURSE OF MY CAREER, I’VE BECOME AN EXPERT WHEN IT COMES TO MY KEY RATIOS. I’VE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN KNOWING HOW THE BUSINESS IS DOING, HOW HEALTHY IT IS –  AND WHETHER WE’RE DOING A GOOD JOB."

Humanizing lay-offs

Her path to the top since then obviously hasn’t been a walk in the park. 2019 – the year when Ida-Maja donned the hotel’s “leader’s jersey” – was dominated by the pandemic, and that was just the start of it. Her initial approach involved “cautious optimism” and “strategic goals” designed to ensure the hotel survived, but in the end, that wasn’t enough, and she was forced to lay off up to 80% of the workforce. She describes this as “shockingly hard.”

“I still get a lump in my throat when I look back on those interactions. Because how on earth do you humanize a lay-off?” She goes quiet for a moment.

She wanted her staff to understand just how serious the situation was, but not to feel badly treated or neglected.

“Those were undoubtedly the hardest messages I’ve ever had to deliver.”

What did you learn from that?

“That having worked closely with operations in my previous roles was an advantage – I’d learned to think on my feet. That maintaining a presence throughout those hard times and being honest about the information I had – even if I sometimes didn’t have any – was important. And that once a decision was taken, I had to stick it, which was sometimes absolutely grueling.”

Overall, it forced her to take a few steps back and look at her job’s big picture. She found her motivation in the fact that she knew that the decisions taken would be critical to the company’s future.

“My job now was to go on the offensive to ensure we survived as a workplace and to be an employer that people could come back to. And I have to say, we succeeded.”

What were your main expectations when you started the Business Administration for Managers and Leaders – Value Creating Business Development course?

“Despite always having learned through doing in the past, and despite knowing the figures and forecasts I work with inside out, my main aim was to get to grips with the bigger picture.”

"THE LECTURERS WERE BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND KNOWLEDGEABLE, AND REALLY GOOD AT GENERATING INTERESTING, CONTEMPORARY FINANCIAL DISCUSSIONS IN A CHALLENGING, EDUCATIONAL, AND ENTERTAINING WAY."

Were your expectations met and in what way?

“The lecturers were absolutely fantastic, so yes, I think so. They used really concrete examples, often from one of my fellow students’ organizations, which meant we had a really solid basis for discussion during our group work. The lecturers were both professional and knowledgeable, and really good at generating interesting, contemporary financial discussions in a challenging, educational, and entertaining way. Plus the course experience as a whole has enabled me to build up a really strong contact network.”

Ida-Maja is aware, however, that some things need daily monitoring, and finds that the scars left by the pandemic act as a reminder of the things that were lost on the way.

“We got rid of our individual hotels’ financial officers during the pandemic, replacing them with central support functions. I do miss having someone physically present in the hotel and in my management group. And there being somebody that someone in my position can use as a sounding board.”

What advice would you give to someone thinking of taking this course?

“Stay in close contact with your financial officer while you’re on the course – I’ve missed that, plus it’s valuable having someone to bounce the different parts of the course off. I think you’ll get more out of the course if you have someone like this standing alongside you while you study.”