Quality Staff

Good accommodation also plays a role in attracting a high calibre of staff to hotels. With most new recruits either coming from overseas or expatriates already in the Middle East, they will undoubtedly see the housing they are provided with as a deciding factor in their job choice.

And just like the guests in a hotel, staff are looking for a good standard of room, facilities, and location but more importantly, they will look for the additional factor of being able to call their accommodation ‘home’.

“Housing is competitive and with many new hotels opening, what a property can offer can be of great appeal to employees. We benchmark within the market to monitor what is being offered and strive to lead in terms of housing,” says Ritz-Carlton’s Meale.

Rosewood Corniche organisational development manager Amro Hussein says reputation is key in the hospitality industry, and this includes the reputation of the accommodation provided for the staff as well as the guests.

“Happy and motivated staff helps in the recruitment process. Word of mouth spreads quickly and this helps us to attract the best quality people,” he asserts.

Making staff housing a priority is an attitude which Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts president of worldwide operations Jim FitzGibbon believes should come from the top down.

” I flew into Riyadh and I went to the employee housing first not the hotel. I phoned the general manager and asked him to meet me there and he wasn’t surprised. That was to me a very important message: first I will go to the employees to see that they’re looked after and then I’ll go and see the guests. A lot of what you do in my position is symbolism, I can’t change it physically but I can certainly put it high on the priority list. It’s about who emotionally connects with the employee and cares enough about them because they’re all individuals and honestly, I think in this part of the world, because a lot of people are away from home, that takes on a whole other dimension,” FitzGibbon says.

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Creating good accommodation

That good staff housing is an important contributor to both staff attitude and retention rates is not surprising, but what exactly do employees expect from their employer? Do they care about having the latest pool table and TV stations, or are safety and ease of communication more important? And how much of a role should housing play in internal interactions?

For EHG’s Yago, who lives in the staff accommodation himself, the fact that the housing is shared by so many levels of employee plays a vital role in encouraging team spirit.

“I think it is very important that I myself live in the accommodation as well because it shows the associates that the facilities we provide are just as good for any level [of staff]. It also gives me a chance to show my face to the associates and show that I support them in anything they have to say. But the biggest thing about living there for me is the feel of it — you really feel like you’re part of a community,” he says.

Best Western’s Waris believes location is key when considering staff accommodation, particularly since many staff work a variety of shifts and may be returning home late at night or early in the morning.

“The most important consideration is accessibility to the place of work as this saves employees transport time as well as the cost,” he says. “It is also just as important that the accommodation provided is safe and comfortable to live in.”

Safety is a concern which was also highlighted by Batal at Coral Deira who outlined the main factors in staff accommodation considerations as: safety and security, comfort, privacy, proximity to the workplace and convenience of public transport to places such as the supermarket, hospital and mosque.

During submission for the AHIC Staff Accommodation Awards, a recurring theme mentioned by all entrants was the need to develop environmentally sound accommodation, with winning Jumeirah citing a recycling system as one of the important features of its housing.

Although there are many considerations which must be taken in to account in order to develop good staff housing, it must be seen as a necessary investment into both staff wellbeing and the future of the company’s business.

And with the benefits of creating good quality employee housing including higher retention rates, better quality service for guests, and your pick of the best staff, it is an investment worth making.