Sitting With A Staff

EHL has grown into so much more than a hotel school, expanding beyond our founder’s wildest dreams. Learn from our CAO, Juan F. Perellon, what he’s most loved about working at EHL for nine years and what ‘Transformation’ means to him, in his own words.

Interview with Juan Perellon

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do at EHL.

JP: I’m the Chief Academic Officer of EHL Group I’ve been in this function for the last two years I started at EHL as Director for Accreditations and Quality Assurance and progressed over the 9 years to this position. I’m in charge of formulating the education strategy of EHL Group, submitted to the Board of Directors, and, more in general the education and training portfolio of the EHL Hospitality Business School and EHL SSTH

Why did you choose to work at EHL? How did that happen?

JP: It goes without saying that EHL’s variety of cultures is captivating on its own What’s more, I’ve known Michel Rochat from previous jobs and have always been fascinated by how fast the School continually evolved over the years. Mr. Rochat always seemed like a huge motivator, having always had ambitious projects for EHL

Congrats on your 9 years work milestone. Care to share with us your most memorable experience working at EHL?

JP: Thank you so much *laughs*. Opening our Singapore Campus definitely was an amazing one And on a more personal level, I’d say meeting my colleagues, meeting new people from all over the world.

One person who I’ve learned a lot from was Michel Ferla Unfortunately, he is no longer with us, but he’s taught me so much over the years and this is something that I will always remember and be grateful for.

As you may know, the theme for this edition is ‘Transformation’. Tell us, on the brighter side of things, what would you take from the pandemic?

JP: Probably what I learned is to remain even more aware of how my colleagues feel and their internal struggles

In the past, I would have regular face - to - face meetings on campus With the remote work possible , this is a huge aspect that has certainly changed for me Virtual interactions have made this social awareness aspect of my job more important.

I want to find more sources of motivation outside of work that can improve my situation and my capacity to help out my colleagues. It’s all about the importance of humanness, ease, and never taking anything for granted.

For the School was the acceleration of digitalization From one day to the next, in one week we managed to do what would have taken us 2 years This was a huge tangible transformation for the Bachelor ' s program and I ’m proud to have contributed to shaping this evolution

When talking to Ines about EHL’s rebranded name ( page 18), she said we should come to talk to you , so here we are . To your mind , what does the name change entail for EHL?

JP: Oh really ? I ' m flattered . Some still see us as a “ Cooking School ”, which we are not. We are so much more than that.

This to say, our old name was not aligning with what we were preparing our students to be The new name change also helps us position ourselves in international recognition , and how others see us .

It ’s anchored in our ecosystem : we are a business school with hospitality know - how, hence the new branding “ EHL Hospitality Business School ”. This to say, EHL is a very specific type of business school and we want this to be our USP

Enlighten us , Juan How can Alumni embrace the name change and keep up being great EHL ambassadors ?

JP: Basically by turning to us and challenging us to what we provide in the market in terms of education .

Let us know how we can support you in developing your career We ’ ll be thrilled to learn what you need in terms of new competencies and skills We ’ ll make sure that we formulate the most adequate training program to be delivered both online and on our state - of - the - art new Campus facilities !

HAVE FEEDBACK TO SHARE WITH US ABOUT THE IMPORTANT MARKET SKILLS YOU’D HAVE WANTED TO HAVE LEARNED AT EHL?