“ The focus is now shifting toward the soft skills , the savoir-être , that allows ( graduates ) to adapt to new jobs .”
Special RepoRt
The line for the Hilton Cleveland Downtown ' s hiring fair in April
No experience necessary and the ability to adapt technology to the more experiential priorities of younger generations . One Les Roches student developed an app that helped offer choices of wine for a meal according to the food being served and type of crowd being entertained , the reason for the gathering and the budget . “ You ’ re not just getting the wine , you are building the whole experience ,” Tatar says .
Emotional intElligEncE If more hotel companies are looking beyond hospitality students to fill jobs , the approach to finding like-minded employees must change as well .
It partly requires being willing to ask different questions during the interview
“ The focus is now shifting toward the soft skills , the savoir-être , that allows ( graduates ) to adapt to new jobs .”
— Fabien Fresnel , chieF academic oFFicer , ecole hôtelière de lausanne
process . “ To get to the root of what motivates this person , what is their inspiration , what is the source of their inspiration , do they find joy in serving others ,” Leondakis says . “ In the interview process , you do have to ferret that out . You have to get into asking questions that give you a sense of how that person thinks about the world .” That could involve situational role playing or asking for examples of how the interviewee handled a problem or challenge .
“ What you want is them to tell you stories ,” she says . “ If you ’ re really listening , you can detect the source of their inspiration and what motivates them . If being of service doesn ’ t motivate them , you ’ re going to hear it in the tone or the judgment in their voice or pick up on other cues when they tell stories about their past .” She likes taking potential hires out for a meal to see how they interact with staff . “ If someone doesn ’ t make eye contact with the server or gets seated by a hostess and doesn ’ t say thank you ,” she says , that ’ s a clue that they won ’ t show respect to the very people they ’ d be required to work with day to day . That attitude starts at the top . “ A lot of it starts with hiring the right leaders ,” Leondakis says . “ Hiring leadership that understands and actually lives by the notion of servant leadership .”
outcomE , not bEhavior Michael Levie , chief operations office of CitizenM , agrees – mostly .
“ Top-down management doesn ' t change by talking about empowerment ,” Levie says . “ An empowered organization ’ s culture can only survive if lived from the top . Hotel companies and hoteliers are mostly driven by experience . Changing this fundamental will require major friction ” – Levie ’ s word for employees ’ willingness to give management a reality check on what works , and what doesn ’ t , concerning based on their direct contact with the guest .
“ Here is a traditional risk view versus a contemporary outcome view : Most organizations train for script and measure against compliance ,” Levie says . “ What they forget
When the Hilton Cleveland Downtown was preparing to open early this year , it needed to fill 300 jobs , but it wasn ’ t looking in the usual places .
“ We were very focused on hiring people without hospitality experience ,” says Kelly Rose , the hotel ’ s human resources director .
The 600-room Hilton received 2,500 applications the first day jobs were posted , from people from temporary agencies , customer service , fast food , home health care and daycare . Social media – Instagram , Twitter and Facebook – played a big role through the whole process .
Shortly after Rose joined the hotel in October 2015 , the campaign took shape . Early this year , the hotel spread the word that it would post jobs on March 1 and hold a six-day hiring fair in April for a June 1 opening . “ You ask any of our team members how they heard about us , and it was all over Facebook ,” Rose says .
The hotel wasn ’ t just selling jobs . “ A lot of people don ’ t realize how many careers you can have in this industry , so it was really educating people through social media ,” she says .
After the jobs were posted , the hotel used social media to promote five one-hour preview sessions , attended by more than 1,000 people . Resumes were accepted and interested candidates
>> Continued on page 26
24 hotelsmag . com December 2016