The hotel industry is well respected for offering fantastic careers, renowned for its structured development paths, healthy benefits packages and an opportunity for global travel that is second-to-none. Cross training, task force and job swaps are a given in the sector. It’s a people-powered, customer-driven business that is fun, rewarding and varied, albeit hard work.
Hospitality offers a route for people from all backgrounds to engage in a long and fulfilling career, with the concept of ‘working up the ranks’ encouraged and admired. There are numerous success stories and case studies demonstrating how the industry has helped those less fortunate to develop and thrive. Ask any 40-something GM, and you will find they started out as a commis chef, waiter or receptionist. Plus, we have the ultimate role models to aspire to, with stories of the bell boy or bathroom cleaner turned CEO (Eric Danziger and Chris Nassetta, two examples of many), the front office manager fast tracked to GM, or the hostess that opened her own restaurant.
In many ways, this ‘equal opportunities’ approach is ahead of its time, and quite rightly paints the hospitality industry as one of the best employers globally. It’s no surprise to see a few major hotel names in Fortune’s 100 Best Companies To Work For List, with Hyatt Hotels at 47 in the 2016 ranking, Hilton Worldwide at 56, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts ranked 70 and Marriott International in at 83. The top ranking hotelier, however, is San Francisco boutique firm, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, at number 20, with Fortune highlighting its pet-friendly policies, which provide workers with pet insurance and compassionate leave if their pet dies. (As the doting owner of three dopey cats, and foster parent to two hyperactive kittens, this is revolutionary.)
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Also in the hospitality bracket in Fortune’s list is The Cheesecake Factory, ranked number 98 and well known in the restaurant business for its phenomenal staff retention record. Here, 100% of the general managers, executive kitchen managers and area field leaders in the US were hired internally, and started in either hourly jobs or as first-level managers.
That is a fantastic achievement, for which The Cheesecake Factory should be lauded. After all, most hotel and restaurant chains pride themselves on a recruitment strategy that seeks out attitude first and foremost, in the belief that skills can be trained and acquired. The Cheesecake Factory, among others I’m sure, is proof that this really works.
I’m absolutely 100% behind the industry for its inclusive and open-eyed recruitment philosophy, and support the notion that the best hoteliers are usually those that have worked in several departments and engaged with guests at the coalface of the business.
However, I wonder, is the grass roots reputation also selling short a career in hotels? Does the emphasis on attitude over skill mean the industry overlooks those ambitious superstars looking for an exciting job in a forward-thinking industry? Hotel companies invest so much time in targeting the youth and the less academic; are they perhaps missing out on those top graduates and entrepreneurial folk that could take our businesses to the next level?
Jobs in the hotel industry are intellectually stimulating, commercially driven, technology oriented, trendy and unconventional. Isn’t it time to refresh our marketing recruitment messages and encourage the most highly skilled and enterprising candidates to consider career in the hotel industry? With more senior roles, shouldn’t the industry be targeting talented commercial minds from other sectors, rather than always looking within? It’s about getting the balance right, and while current messaging is both commendable and fruitful, surely it’s better to cover all bases and attract the cream of the crop as well.
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