Mogul Hospitality, a venture-backed startup has announced the launch of Mogul Hotels and Residences, an (ESG) brand powered by a trailblazing elite talent engine.
EMPLOYEES FIRST
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 3 - 4 million annual hospitality job openings with 70% turnover with a 6% quit rate. One in three workers or 53 million Americans are freelancers, and that number is expected to exceed 90 million by 2028.
To attract and retain talent, Mogul Hotels and Residences has redefined the employee experience. The company has designed hospitality workplaces that include chef-hosted culinary innovation, high-tech experiential learning zones, leisure and well-being areas, and daycare services for employees.
Mogul Hotels and Residences has also established a new paradigm for an employee-owned and governed business model. Employees are empowered rather than putting control in the hands of big corporate offices or labor unions — something that has never been done before in the hotel industry. Mogul Hotels and Residences’ employees have board representation, write the brand standards, and devise work rules.
“We are firm believers in the service profit chain, which starts with investing in creating an employee experience that attracts diverse elite talent from all walks of life,” said Alexander Mirza, Founder and CEO of Mogul Hospitality. “Front-line employees to their supervisors and above will be shareholders in each property, receiving up to 10% of hotel profits.”
To address the paradigm shift, Mogul Hospitality is collaborating with Cornell Center for Innovative Hospitality Labor and Employment Relations (CIHLER) to develop talent algorithms and alternative models for compensation. “Mogul Hospitality is stepping into uncharted territory with their innovative employee-owned and governed hotel brand,” says David Sherwyn, Cornell’s Academic Director of CIHLER. “Today’s hospitality worker is skilled in accounting, finance, statistics, marketing, operations, plus the softer skills of culture, and how to serve others. Mogul Hotels and Residences is making its hotel employees vested owners to increase transparency and they’re aligning their compensation with how value is created in hotel real estate. These are important first steps.”
SUSTAINABLE WORK/LIVE BRAND
Properties will be a mix of hotel, serviced apartments, and vacation homes, allowing guests to have the flexibility of short or long-term stays. Mogul Hospitality will partner with real estate developers and investors through software, branding, and property management.
In a world where hotel rooms are becoming smaller with fewer total rooms (micro-hotels), and with the skyrocketing increase in remote work, Mogul Hotels and Residences has designed a tech-led, work/live brand. Mogul Residences will include digital, tech-inspired art renderings boasting a giant screen on the walls, a hydraulic mechanism for the bed, a digital mirror, and recycled wood flooring, all built for a comfortable remote experience. Guests can work from an in-room sofa or bed that drops from the ceiling. To take it a step further, the design concept will be supported by diverse local communities in the art, culinary, music, and interior design genres.
Seed investor Randall Ussery, Founding Partner at L37 Ventures says, “Mogul is creating innovative technology and disrupting the hospitality space. I am thoroughly impressed with the team’s vision and execution to date in creating a new category of people-first hotel brands not seen since Four Seasons Hotels. This is going to change the antiquated and systematic hierarchies that are currently in place and stimulate a revolution of sorts in the hospitality sector.”
Sustainable food and beverage options will be provided via on-site farming, in partnership with Freight Farms. The partnership will utilize their modular hydroponic farms to build a sustainable model of growing delicious, healthy food for all hotel patrons and the local community. A container farm from Freight Farms grows the equivalent of 3 acres of traditional soil farming per year and can be farmed 365 days a year, regardless of environmental conditions. These turnkey systems also use 98% less water than soil farming and require a fraction of the labor time.
“We know that sustainable, fresh produce can drive affinity and traffic to hotels,” said Rick Vanzura, CEO of Freight Farms. “Our containers will allow Mogul Hotels to offer unique produce experiences for guests while keeping labor costs low.”
TALENT SEARCH ENGINE ACCESSIBLE TO INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS
Since May 2021, MogulRecruiter has gained significant traction with over one million users and as the first two-sided talent marketplace for hospitality where talent and employers are ranked, matched, and appraised. Its innovations include an AI-driven matching system, compensation prediction and employer talent and DEI rankings.
“Mogul’s talent engine addresses the number one long-term issue facing hotel investors and owners,” said Afshin Kateb, DBA and CFO of Nimes Capital and Mogul Hospitality Advisor. “By focusing the initial years of their venture on developing and testing algorithms to assess and fairly compensate talent, Mogul has laid the foundation for a significant industry disruption.”
Just as Tesla and Allbirds shared their IP to encourage EV and sustainability development, Mogul Hospitality is sharing its elite talent search engine and talent data subscriptions so industry stakeholders can establish fair compensation for elite talent and accelerate diversity and equity.
Frances Kiradjian, Founder of the Boutique Lifestyle Lodging Association, the first and only alliance dedicated to uniting the world's upscale, independent boutique and lifestyle hotels, and small brands says, “Boutique hotels have historically led the way in innovation. MogulRecruiter's focus 
on recognizing, hiring, and promoting diverse talent from all walks of life enables everyone to have a fair shot at an upward career path in our industry.” For information, visit www.mogulhospitality.com
Tags: Mogul Hospitality, ESG Hotel Brand
