“ Here is a traditional risk view versus a contemporary outcome view : Most organizations train for script and measure against compliance .
SPECIAL REPORT
is that hospitality is about human interaction between people . The compliance can be 100 % and the experience can be s ** t . We hire for attitude and look solely at guest satisfaction .” CitizenM owns , operates and develops hotels and has eight branded hotels in Europe and the U . S .
Levie , who came from a big-company background with stints at Sonesta Hotels and NH Hotels , is skeptical that most big hospitality companies are walking the talk .
“ Generally the industry and the majority of the hotel schools are educating for a top-down organization that through clear job descriptions provides the content and process of each job , and then measure quantitatively against that desire ,” he says . “ What I think more contemporary organizations , and definitely what we do , is we look at the context in which service is provided and see that there is a connection or a need for connection between the guest and the hotel employee . A more human or natural flow of that through empowerment and a cooperative spirit provides higher guest satisfaction .”
That doesn ’ t mean tossing out job descriptions . “ But it is mostly empowered to the employee to execute , and the context is provided as to how they know the organization would like them to focus . They have all the autonomy . They deal directly with the guest , and you need full autonomy to handle the guest needs in every sense .”
Levie wouldn ’ t detail how CitizenM screens potential employees except to say the techniques help character show through – “ not role playing , that would be too easy ” – that looks at outcome and not necessarily behavior .
CHANGING THE APPROACH The old way to train graduates for a hospitality career involves becoming a management trainee . Now , bigger companies are reducing the duration of trainee positions or skipping right to a formal contract that still allows hires some unstructured time as long as they are always contributing ,
“ Here is a traditional risk view versus a contemporary outcome view : Most organizations train for script and measure against compliance .
What they forget is that hospitality is about human interaction between people . The compliance can be 100 % and the experience can be s ** t . We hire for attitude and look solely at guest satisfaction .”
MICHAEL LEVIE , CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER , CITIZENM
Lausanne ' s Fresnel says .
“ We have , on a scale of 1 to 10 , reached an 8 or 9 in the number of opportunities out there compared with 20 years ago in terms of jobs and career paths ,” he says . He adds that the fast-tracking is happening at a much greater scale in Asia , where hospitality and tourism are booming .
“ Today , younger generations have different affinities with corporations ,” CitizenM ’ s Levie says . “ People are willing to change careers , have a certain relationship with an organization that still allows them freedom privately .”
were referred back to social media to monitor next steps .
“ We didn ’ t want to hire from other hotels ,” Rose says about the process . “ We had to tap into another market – people who didn ’ t have any experience but had an amazing attitude .”
The next phase was a six-day job fair , modeled after a similar fair at a Florida Hilton , which has become a model for future hotel openings . Each day focused on a different job , such as F & B or engineering . Computers were set up so people could submit applications , and staff members were deployed as support .
Applicants first underwent a prescreening . “ We were looking for the hospitality personality ,” Rose says . Once through , applicants went to a second interview with hiring managers . Successful candidates celebrated in the “ blue energy ” room with music and food , to get their formal offer , get fitted for uniforms and get their background checks .
At the end of that week , 267 jobs had been filled – and there was no time to lose in training and preparation , with the NBA championship , the Republican National Convention and a Hilton sales conference all happening within a couple of months .
“ We can teach you how to do pretty much everything in this industry ,” says Rose , whose background includes front-desk and F & B experience . “ It ’ s been very apparent that we have to educate the community that you can get in the door , just get in the door , if you have the right attitude .”
And the community , it seems , was clamoring to come in .
26 hotelsmag . com December 2016