As the CEO and co-founder of Ali Jirde Hotel, Hodan Ahmed Mohamed has leveraged herposition of influence to make the workplace a friendly environment that focuses on customerservice and genuine and thoughtful staff. She believes that when her team is satisfied withthe company they are more motivated to serve customers with enthusiasm.
As the CEO and co-founder of Ali Jirde Hotel, Hodan Ahmed Mohamed has leveraged herposition of influence to make the workplace a friendly environment that focuses on customerservice and genuine and thoughtful staff. She believes that when her team is satisfied withthe company they are more motivated to serve customers with enthusiasm.
In the early designing and planning stages I envisioned Ali Jirde to be a calm, serene and amodern oasis in the heart of Hargeisa. Today, that vision has become reality and Ali Jirde isone of Somaliland’s top destinations. It is somewhere our clients can visit and feel right athome and enjoy the very best the city has to offer whilst enjoying exceptionally clean andbeautiful high quality facilities, excellent food and entertainment and doting customer servicefrom our wonderful staff.
One of my main challenges for Ali Jirde has been maintaining the high standards that wehave set ourselves in terms of restaurant food, service delivery and general maintenance.Often, when these suffer inexplicably, it’s a case of inconsistency and in essence, theseinconsistencies with food and atmosphere can lose us the trust of our customers, and ourrepeat visits. But the good news is there are ways to improve on our areas of inconsistency.Over the past 6 years we have dedicated extensive time and resources to ensure that ourfacilities, and standards are of the highest quality. To ensure that Ali Jirde maintains thesehigh levels, we put a lot of time and effort into hiring, retaining and supporting ourexperienced staff. In addition to this we regularly conduct reviews and communicateextensively with our customers in order to see how we can grow and develop as a business.We have also invested heavily to make sure our buildings, and equipment are maintainedand follow a stringent maintenance schedule regularly. Personally, I dislike stagnation. I aman ambitious person and Hargeisa has a fast paced business constantly thinking ofinnovative ways we can grow and satisfy our customers.
We’re nestled right in the heart of Har- geisa’s city center, because of this we’re an ideallocation for both leisure and business guests to enjoy the best the city has to offer. Despitebeing in the middle of the city, our peaceful location and lush gardens can make our customers feel like they’ve found a peaceful oa- sis within a vibrant bustling city.
Yes, of course! I am excited to an- nounce that we are building a new state of the artbanquet hall on the east wing of the hotel. The banquet halls' beau- tiful and elegant designmeans it will be the ideal location to hold weddings, fund-raisers and an assortment of otherevents.We are also thrilled to roll out our new menu, filled with a variety of cui- sines. We will beserving up some new kid-friendly options for the little ones.Most important, after some comments from our female customers, we now of- fer a space forwomen to pray. I think it's important to recognize your cus- tomers' feedback because it willonly produce optimal outcomes. So, we’ve very excited about the direction these changeswill take us.
Customer service has been my main fo- cus since day one; I believe it’s the key to successin any business. The hospi- tality industry thrives on solid custom- er relations, so it's vital tome that my guests are looked after. As owner, I work hard to ensure that their stay is asrelaxing and comfortable as possible. Somali culture is an incredibly warm and welcomingone and I want Ali Jirde to represent that, so you can usually find our management teamaround the hotel chatting to customers and doing their best to make them feel at home andat peace. We take the utmost pride in satisfied and happy customers, and take time to listento all feedback so that as a business we can constantly strive to be the very best.
My staff are motivated by our aligned in- centives. Our training and our rewards systemensure that my team is working for a common goal in a positive way. For me, it is vital that Icreate a positive space within the office to help us attract and retain talent. At Ali Jirde, wepriori- tize the growth and development of our staff through providing them with opportunities to move up the ladder and gain skills. I take pride in my staff’s suc- cess andhappiness and I believe that it benefits us all and is the reason why we have a very low staffturnover.
It is important to me that I set a strong example for my daughter, and this mo- tivates meevery day. I have been able to balance motherhood with work-life through a schedule and Iplan accord- ingly. It is difficult, but I’ve found that cultivating a strong support network,including a very supportive husband, has been immensely helpful to me. Ear- lier in mycareer I enjoyed doing every- thing myself, but overtime I’ve become wiser and built anamazing team to del- egate to. This has given me more time to focus on my family. Also, I’vemade sure Ali Jirde is a family friendly envi- ronment where my daughter and other childrencan feel safe and at home and you can often find her alongside me in the hotel.
We’re really excited about what the fu- ture holds. One of our main goals is to one dayexpand enough to open multi- ple locations throughout Somaliland. Our hotel has becomesynonymous with a high set of standards, and we believe our country deserves to have atrusted franchised hotel that will offer top of the line amenities and services. We’ve come sofar and we are happy to see what's in store for us
“We pride ourselves on our warm wel- come and ensuring that all our guests' needs are metand expectations ex- ceeded.” - Hodan
“Guests frequently comment on how impressed they are with the cleanli- ness, customerservice and atmosphere of the hotel.” - Hodan