Developing a top team - Qatar Hospitality Summit

Developing a world-class team is one of the main tenets of maintaining a solid, respected brand in any locale. The Middle East generally faces some interesting recruitment challenges and Qatar specifically has its particular issues. Our panel of experts discusses the best ways to attract staff to your brand, and how to keep them happy once they're there.

Attracting the best in the world to Qatar isn't an issue for those in sectors such as engineering and healthcare. But in hospitality, staff are often attracted by what they consider exotic locations. Some of the issues faced by the HR and recruitment teams in Qatar properties are shared with other GCC countries. But a few things are particular to Qatar.

For example, the male to female ratio (4.6 to 1 at working age as of 2013) can be intimidating to females. Also, many workers in the hospitality industry from countries with less expensive labour may have never lived away from home.  

“When we recruit candidates, we’re looking for a high level of adaptability, particularly as many in the hospitality industry have never lived overseas," says Lynne Inciong, HR manager at Crowne Plaza. 

All of our panelists said that they work hard to make sure their people feel that they feel as at home as possible in Doha - from their living accommodation to leisure activities organised within the hotel group.

Adham El Sebaey, general manager of Hilton Hotel, Doha, said, "Everyone in Doha is an ex-pat and is away from our home country and/or our family. So our goal as HR, recruiters and managers, is to create a home-away-from-home environment.

"It’s a journey that starts when they get on the plane to come to Doha. Our job is to make their entire experience a pleasant one, to engage the team members and ensure they have what they need."

Basel Jabri, HR manager for Grand Hyatt, echoes this: "Once the staff are here in Doha, we work hard to provide them the right environment so that they’re happy. Taking care of them and fulfilling recruitment promises is important."

All of our panelists addressed head-on the issue of visas in Qatar, citing strict visa rules as one of the bigger barriers to recruiting the best talent. Particularly highlighted were the Kafala laws and NOCs as well as only allowing a certain number of recruits from certain countries.

But whether recruiting from inside or outside Doha, how do our speakers source the top talent from around the world? 

Sebaey: "Hilton is already a big name globally in our industry, so it’s easy to attract good talent generally. However, Doha can be a harder sell sometimes as people haven't heard of it or aren't sure what to expect. But we’ve been successful, even when competing with Dubai or Abu Dhabi, which people have heard of more often.

Sometimes it's as simple as mentioning things people have heard of – Paris Saint Germain football team is owned by a Qatari, The Shard in London was built with Qatari money - simply showing them that Qatar is a switched-on location with a lot going on."

Recruitment, however, is only a small part of the equation: hospitality is an industry with a high turn-over rate and competition is strong amongst major brands, with competitors keeping a keen eye on good people at competing properties. So what are some key ways to keep your staff and ensure brand loyalty?

"We look for people wo are passionate about hospitality, not just looking for any job: people who are keen to stay and grow their entire career, whether that’s starting from an entry-level position or someone who has studied hospitality," said Hassan Hassan, director of HR for Movenpick Hotel. 

Jabri said that Grand Hyatt also looks for passion: "In Nepal, for example, we went to a hotel school to attract talent that is genuinely interested in hospitality."

Emmylou Nini Abejuela, assistant HR manager for Grand Heritage Hotel, says her property focuses on compatibility when recruiting staff.

"HR tries to consider the ideals and goals of department heads, as well as the attitude and personality matches that the job and department need, because ultimately, those are the people recruits will be working for, not the HR dept."

Inciong agrees: "We make sure we make the right match. People don’t quit companies – they quit managers."

The Hotelier Middle East Qatar Hospitality Summit took place on 22 April at Grand Hyatt Doha and was sponsored by some of the Middle East hotel industry’s most influential suppliers.

These were exhibitors Ronai, Coffee Planet, Papercats, Infoscape, Protect-A-Bed, and lunch sponsors Meat & Livestock Australia and Mulwarra.