Human Resource practice is holding an increasingly important role in luxury hotel people management as the shifting attitudes in culture and guest experience shift it into a more strategic process . Vaibhav talks about how customer satisfaction has impacted Training and Recruitment , developing the right talent and Accor ’ s two new hotels opening in the Maldives this year .
How have you found that new expectations in guest experience and customer satisfaction have impacted Training & Recruitment in the luxury hotel space ?
The guest expects good quality hoteliering and what delights them is quality experience . It is the experience that will make them feel invigorated and want to return . Today ’ s customers look for efficiency at every touch point . So efficiency should never be compromised . Luxury is all about exclusivity and personalization . A personal warm and caring approach should be on top of efficiency but not a substitute as customers sees efficiency as a pre-requisite and
warmth and caring as a delight factor . The need of the hour is to train our employees in more professional , confident and eyeball to eyeball service to meet and exceed the expectations of the today ’ s customers who are demanding professionals and expects us to be professional in our approach . But this does not mean to shade away from the personalized care , warmth and humility in the service delivery . We need to blend this “ human approach ” to service in a modern and contemporary service philosophy .
Both recruitment “ hiring right talent ” and training “ train employees so that every guest enjoys impeccable quality of service ” processes and approaches have been greatly impacted by ever changing customer expectations and their evolved travel & leisure exposure . To increase guest satisfaction , human resources plays a vital role ; if we want to make our guests feel like family , smile and be happy , we must hire and train people who can deliver this customer service . Next step is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of employees , frontline staff and anyone who interacts with guests and then train them right .
How do hotels attract the right kind of talent ? How do they build a strategy appropriate for them ?
Delivering a reliably good employer brand experience is seldom sufficient to win the war for talent . A strong employer branding affects external attraction as well as internal engagement . Selecting the right talent for the needs of the business is often challenging task . The first step in the process is to identify what skills , knowledge and behavior is required , then what is essential and what can be developed if the talent has potential . This is also crucial to identify if there is an opportunity to expand one of the existing team member ’ s role to encompass new duties . Alternatively can they be promoted to the role ? Internal promotions and mobility ensure that we retain our star talent and that they feel valued . This further leads to employee loyalty and advocacy .
Mecure Kooddoo
ILHA 15