Forte said the app is launching first with Brown’s Hotel in London, and The Balmoral in Edinburgh this month. Then, she added, it will be pushed out to market. “It’s been built as a white label product so that others within the industry can purchase it and can tailor everything to their own needs.”
Speaking about the aim of the app, Forte said: “In hospitality, there are hotels and restaurants opening left, right and centre, and people move. The idea is to show the progression route and make people understand this is a viable career option for them and that they can really grow within it.” She cited the skills shortage in the industry as a concern which also prompted her creation of the app.
Hearteningly enough, 60.8% of our respondents said they were offered training opportunities by their employers in the last 12 months.
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Kocsis said training is a “huge part” of Six Senses’ DNA. “Training and development utilises a huge part of our resources. We do a lot of initiatives from the head office and locally from Zighy Bay. This involves new hires as well as existing employees.”
Alila’s Ayers pointed out that training is an added value for employees. He said: “Money isn’t everything. You have to train them, give them opportunities elsewhere within the company — so from that point of view it’s important to make sure there’s a certain amount of on the job training, as well as training away from the property.”
More worryingly, when asked whether hotel companies have made employees aware of their career road map or development route within the organisation, 56.4% said no.
However, FRHI Hotels & Resorts SVP development Europe, Middle East, Africa Francois Baudin said employee satisfaction and long-term progression is key. “We need to make the employees happy and believe in what they are doing — happy employees result in happy guests.
“In FRHI there is a high level of training, and a high level of follow-up as well for careers and goals and making sure people explain to us how they build their careers with us because retention is very important in the hotel industry. Turnover costs money.”
He continued: “Staff turnover is very low in our brands, and you can recognise that when you go to any of our hotels, they feel proud to work for the hotel.”
AccorHotels managing director and COO Olivier Granet also said it was important to engage teams. “In AccorHotels, what was previously called ‘human resource’ has been renamed ‘talent and culture’. This illustrates the change not only of the words but what is behind them. Hospitality is a great opportunity for career and development and we can do it through our training programme.”
Stat attack
18% Hoteliers who picked ‘10’ when asked on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most likely, how likely were they to recommend their employer to others in the industry
6.97 Average rating when respondents were asked on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest score, ‘how satisfied are you with
your job?’
30% Female respondents
12 C-level (CEO/COO/CFO etc) respondents to the Salary Survey
5.1% Hoteliers who have worked in this region for more than 20 years
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