Training during tough times

Therefore most of the requests that have come to me for cross-training have been for accounts, finance or revenue; they want to be in the front office where they perhaps feel they are doing something more professional than their current role.

Malik: I think it's a chain reaction; when I used to work in hotels, the kitchen porters wanted to come out onto the floor, waiters wanted to go into the payroll department and the payroll staff wanted to go into marketing.

How do you ensure trained employees will have jobs once their training is completed considering the current climate - or is staff retention a bigger issue?

Ormandy: Performance planning throughout the year helps us to identify high performers and helps in planning their development and career growth accordingly. At Rotana, our current rate of growth is high and employees have many options available to them.

Across the UAE for 2009 we have opened a new resort in Ras Al Khaimah and another four openings in Abu Dhabi are on the way - therefore our high performance staff have the opportunity to fast-track their careers and grow within the company.

Ahmed:  One of the problems with keeping people is that some places will pay AED 500 (US $136) extra and some people are paid at such a low level that AED 500 extra a month is quite a significant portion of that person's total salary.

It is also important to think outside that box and train staff to create what I would call a ‘memorable experience' for your customers.

That way your customers will keep coming back, because of what the waiter or waitress brought to the table. Measure trainees on their performance; by measuring through smart objectives you can start to move towards an objective-based recognition system.

Staff can then only expect automatic promotion if they achieve their objectives.

Nicdao: To ensure that we have a return on our investment, a bond agreement has been set up between the employee and company.  If the employee leaves the company without completing at least one year's service after their training courses have finished, then they have to pay the company back.

Gordon: There can be a lot of movement between hotels. In our induction training we have a session called ‘Initiation' where we initiate new staff from other hotels into our philosophy.

They already have the skills and the training, but we initiate you into our way of working. If it's made fun for people then you can get by all the problems changing hotels can present.

What attracts hospitality candidates to train in the Middle East?

Ormandy: I think the fact that you can get a career here is a great attraction. It's fast moving and compared to somewhere like England there are a lot of hotel openings.

Nicdao: The Middle East, particularly Dubai, was the place to be until the credit crisis. So many hotels were opening during the second half of 2008, which made Dubai very attractive to potential employees.

Different hotel brands wanted to be part of the game, new designs, innovative service and the latest trends were being implemented - so the desire to work for these new establishments was great. 

Ferry: I would have to say that many positions are open in the Middle East compared to elsewhere. Training in the region acclimatises one to the culture as well as giving the employee a foot in the door for future placements.

Ahmed: I think from a restaurant perspective, especially if you look at non-management staff, people are really here to earn money.

Most of the people I talk to in the restaurant business are here to earn money, to send money home and live in Dubai or the Middle East. It's a double-edged sword as some companies are only hiring based on a certain level of income.

Malik: Hotels and outlets need to start looking at getting some of their long-term staff official certifications, perhaps on a degree course or something that has more presence on their CVs.

Why not enrol them onto a hospitality management course at Emirates Academy? If you do that then your staff are more likely to stay.

Ferry: Retaining high-performance staff is not an issue when jobs are valued in a tight market, but finding work for the newly graduated is an issue in both the private sector as well as hospitality.

I am not sure anyone can guarantee placement unless those trained were brought in to fill the already expressed needs of hospitality venues. Otherwise the usual actions of working with agencies and hotels directly are the tools available to any school.

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