The ATM Apprentice

Millennium & Copthorne Middle East Holdings regional head of human resources Middle East & Africa, Chris Watson, reveals why he is following Donald Trump’s example.

Attracting hotel professionals to the Middle East is proving more challenging than ever, as recovering economies in traditional feeder markets result in more people opting for work in their home countries for a similar wage to that offered by hotels in the Middle East.

For others, the regional unrest of 2011 has undoubtedly skewed their views of many countries, putting them off of a move to the Middle East, for the time-being at least.

Chris Watson, regional head of human resources Middle East & Africa at Millennium & Copthorne Middle East Holdings, says he’s witnessed a noticeable shift in people’s approach to the region.

“When you talk to candidates, the Middle East is now not on their agenda for that reason,” says Watson. “Even from the perspective of recruiting GMs and management teams, we’re facing challenges.

“They’re fearful. I think there are a number of different factors. People aren’t making moves from their current employer because of uncertainty, they’re unsure, they don’t want to be last in, first out,” he asserts.
Consequently, hotels in the Middle East will have to ramp up their efforts to recruit skilled professionals.

“I think people would say that recruiting in the current climate is quite easy, because lots of businesses are closing, business is not at its best, there’s less expansion, so anyone who is expanding is probably well placed to get the best candidates — but that’s not the case.

“The challenge is finding people. It’s always challenging to find good people no matter what the world is doing,” says Watson.

So once good people are recruited, hotels must do everything possible to retain them, Watson continues.

“I don’t think companies here have been used to taking care of employees when it comes to accommodation. Nowadays we’re looking at putting fewer people in rooms; now it’s two or three. Anybody who puts four or more is not a preferred employer.

“What we’re trying to do is improve the benefits that we’re offering our employees. We’re a lot more employee-focused than we were before. Once you get a good employee you can’t afford to lose them,” he says.

Companies will need to focus on offering better support to expatriates, from accommodation to annual holiday allowances and more opportunities for career progression.

For all of these reasons, Watson and Millennium & Copthorne Middle East Holdings have teamed up with Arabian Travel Market (ATM) and Hotelier Middle East to launch a unique programme for the region that is targeting aspiring hoteliers — The ATM Apprentice.

Millennium & Copthorne is offering three apprenticeships — one each in sales, HR and management — to up-and-coming hotel professionals looking for fast-track opportunities.

Inspired by television series The Apprentice, Watson is following in the footsteps of programme hosts Donald Trump and Alan Sugar as he puts the applicants through their paces over three tasks — before the winner is announced at ATM.

The Apprentice initiative is part of a wider approach being taken by Millennium & Copthorne to offer better career paths to graduates and talented staff.

“The reason why people don’t want to go into this business is it takes 20 years to become a general manager, and this is the problem. Our promotion and our fast-track programmes are not really fast track enough; other industries have done a better job of it.

“So I thought this was an opportunity to attract one person into HR, one into a management traineeship and one into sales — and really make a commitment to fast track them,” says Watson.

And while there are three jobs guaranteed, Watson says he would be pleased to give positions to more of the applicants should the quality be good enough.

“Some of the applicants are working in hotels, some are graduates, some are from within the Middle East and some are from outside,” says Watson of the 30 applicants received when Hotelier speaks with him in mid-April.

“It would be really nice if we ended up with half a dozen for each role. I have no preference to announcing just one winner for each, but what we’ve said is we’ll guarantee one job for each at any of our hotels; we’ll offer a role in Dubai, a role in Abu Dhabi or outside the UAE, whatever is preferable.”

The winners will be announced on May 5 on Careers Day at ATM. Visit HotelierMiddleEast.com to find out who Trump, sorry Watson, hired as his apprentices.