How is the profile of the general manager evolving?
Heinrich: Leadership capability is the key ingredient regardless at what stage of our career we find ourselves in. Irrespective of origin, all aspiring hospitality executives must focus on building their careers on a solid base rather being under the illusion that there are shortcuts.
One has got to put in the time and effort, short of that the person will be ill-equipped to steer a complex business like a hotel through the tough and competitive environment Dubai has become.
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Eddy: We have a leadership development programme, which I know a lot of other companies do, but we really take it very seriously. We started with only Swiss hotel schools — the very well known ones.
But then there were arguments that for this region we needed to get talent also from this region and from Asia. So we’re very active with that. Each hotel has at least three or four leadership development programme colleagues at a certain time and the promise is ‘GM in 10’ but that’s obviously dependent on how well they do. Some of them might make it in seven; some of them might never make it.
Mark: I believe there is an absence of Emirati GMs but this will need to be addressed on a wider issue of the industry successfully convincing young Emirati’s of the huge role they should be playing in promoting hospitality and tourism in their country of origin. It is great to see more female GMs in the region, however, I am not sure that GMs are getting any younger — it is just the existing GMs are getting older!
The talent pool now in Dubai means new openings recruit up to half their staff from within the city. What can GMs do to retain staff?
Heinrich: GMs need to be in close touch with their leadership team and coordinate hands-on activities around retention with their HR departments. Job development programmes, career development plans and proper appraisals are key to ensuring that the team knows where they stand and what their future is in an organisation.
Mark: Staff retention is always a challenge within the hospitality industry — not only in the UAE but also in other parts of the world. There are no rocket science solutions to staff retention — running an exciting property, in a professional way, growing and developing your team, and prioritising promotion from within are all tactics that have been successful in the past and will continue to be successful in the future.
I believe the GM has a huge role to play in setting the scene — the ideal work environment for a particular property — and this will play a huge role in creating loyal teams who believe in the strategy, who live the ‘spirit’ of the hotel and who appreciate that their future career development is more important in the mid-long term than job hopping for a few hundred dirhams more per month.
Serge: We are successfully operating an iconic destination resort; we do not rest on our achievements but challenge ourselves daily to deliver excellence to our guests. Dubai’s economy is dynamic and has attracted the attention of other hotel operators from around the world. Atlantis The Palm has a great reputation to blow away our customers and to keep up with this we need to attract and retain talented and passionate people.
A genuine focus on training and professional development of all our team members is crucial because these are the people who will ultimately deliver the guest experience. Employee engagement is the key to retention.
Allowing employees to gain an intimate understanding of the purpose of their role, allowing them to be innovative so they have the autonomy to deliver service excellence based on their interpretation of the company’s vision and investing in their development so they master the necessary skills will keep them engaged and motivated to produce excellence.
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