Is Hospitality Winning The War For Talent?

Can the hospitality industry continue to find the skills it needs to support its huge growth potential? Recruiters and entrepreneurs representing a broad spectrum of businesses debated this topic at a recent event staged by Les Roches Global Hospitality Education. Stephanie Ruiz y de Jongh details what they had to say

HOSPITALITY is booming. Already generating a tenth of all global employment, the industry is set to increase this ratio to 1 in 9 by 2028; by which time it will offer more than 400 million jobs worldwide, according to WTTC Travel and Tourism: Global Economic Impact and Issues 2018.

The sector’s rapid expansion is certainly exciting in economic terms. But can it continue to be fueled by an adequate supply of fresh talent? And what are the key skills and attributes that the industry requires now and in the future?

A group of recruiters, managers and hospitality entrepreneurs recently sat down to debate this topic, in a special event convened by Les Roches Global Hospitality Education.

As one of the world’s top three hospitality management schools, Les Roches is in the vanguard of satisfying the industry’s hunger for skilled professionals. All the panelists were in Switzerland primarily to attend the School’s Career Day, where they could meet and speak with candidates for internships as well as potential future employees. What were they looking for, as they assessed the students at Les Roches? For Kerry Robbins, director of talent acquisition for Dubai-based Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts, emotional intelligence ranks at the very top of the core skills required for frontline hospitality roles.

“Great service is all the things our people do without being asked by guests. This only comes from being very attentive, having empathy and being able to read certain situations and circumstances,” she says.

Emotional intelligence: nature or nurture (or both)?