Crisis was 'blessing in disguise'

[L-R] Ziwa Htun, CD Kotze and Marianna Couvaras.

Despite the global gloom that has surrounded the recent financial downturn, it has had some extremely positive repercussions for the Middle East hospitality industry, according to recruitment professionals.

Foodfund Internaitonal’s head of HRD — Middle East and London, Marianna Couvaras, said she felt “the whole global recession was a blessing in disguise for everyone”.

“It made people more appreciative of the jobs they actually have, because I think everybody was getting a bit bolshy, thinking you could do anything and get paid any salary you wanted with massive bonuses, for actually doing very little,” she asserted. “Everything was overinflated.

“So this financial downturn really cut things back down to size, and it also made employers choosier about who they decided to take on board, rather than just hiring masses of people for the sake of filling space.

“We didn’t freeze recruitment or retrench anyone during the downturn,” continued Couvaras. “Instead we used it as an opportunity to train more effectively, to improve our processes and our systems, and to look at the way we recruit.”

CD Kotze, F&B manager across Southern Sun’s UAE hotels Al Manzil and Qamardeen, agreed: “Sometimes [this region] got ahead of itself, in terms of what expectations people had when they came here and that resulted in people moving [jobs] for the wrong reasons.

“The good thing about the working environment now is that people understand it’s not just about what you get in your bank account at the end of the month, it’s also how much respect you get at work, what your environment is like, how secure you are there, whether you’re empowered — those things are increasingly important.”

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Samer Abiad, assistant director of food and beverage at Al Bustan Rotana Dubai, agreed the slow period during the downturn had allowed operators to focus on developing and retaining their existing staff.

“We retrenched staff to various new properties rather than effect redundancies,” he explained.

“Then we decided to cross-train our staff so they became multi-skilled — which they appreciated, since it enhanced their skill base and development, and which was helpful for us when we had fewer staff at a property.”

Traders Hotel Dubai HR director Ziwa Htun pointed out that such preparation would be a boon to operators in any tough times to come.

“Planning in this way stands you in good stead for the harder times,” he asserted.

“When you go through a tough situation, you’ll be able to streamline operations — plus people will benefit in the long run.

“The main thing we saw people concerned about was job security; once they knew that wasn’t an issue, and they were in fact being trained and developed further, they could continue with peace of mind,” he said.

Southern Sun’s Kotze noted: “It’s very important for employees to see you keep your promises and remain strong during difficult periods.

“That will help you grow your core of loyal staff, and the bigger that core is, the less turnover you will see in the long term.”