|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Catalyst to creation of proficient employees
|
|
Saturday, 03 March, 2007, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
K Vasudevan & Suryanarayana Raju
|
hospitality industry before the micro view of the hospitality training trends reveals that Indian economy grew by 8% in the year 2005-2006 reaching a GDP of 700 billion USD. The hospitality revenue contribution is to the tune of 2.2% of the GDP with supply of hotel rooms in the luxury segment going up to 26000 as per WTTC and the future requirement is expected to be 1,00,000 to 1,25,000 rooms in the next 7 years across various cities in the country showing a rise in demand for hotel rooms is to grow at 16-20% CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate).
The outlook for the hospitality market in India is optimistic and will continue to remain so in a state of buoyancy and is being considered as investment worthy. India will emerge as one of the fastest growing tourism markets there by giving a positive effect to the hospitality industry.
With the improvement of air traffic and infrastructure thereby cleaning the dark clouds, the hospitality industry will have participation from both foreign and Indian hotel companies and will see the rise of several hotel properties. The above template states the rising number of the hotel properties getting ready for supply in 5 to 6 years thereby calling for trained human resources who are considered to be the main compounds for effective and efficient hotel operation.
One of the main concerns for hospitality industry is attrition which could be prevented by adding values or enhancing the growth of employees through training and professional certification thereby creating a sense of belonging and responsibility towards the organisation.
Issues and strategies
Human resources strategy is the key to becoming an employer of choice and needs to be a focus of the overall corporate strategic plan. Employees must be skilled in their jobs with the right mix of skills to fit into their jobs. Issues nagging the human resources in the Indian hospitality business:
#.Compensation by way of salaries, bonus and benefits. Indian hospitality professionals are paid mediocre salaries compared to their peers in the industry abroad.
#.Hospitality is not of the preferred choice of careers for the aspiring employees basically with the salary aspect in view when compared to IT, FMCG, finance and banking, pharmacy, fashion designing.
#.Retention of the employees with experience by competitors due to the shortage of experienced professionals.
#.Poaching from the other emerging sectors such as Aviation. IT & ITES. Real estate and retailing (multiplexes and organised retailers) poses a threat to human resources department. Loss of trained manpower to foreign countries by way of cruise liners, consultants, research analysis.
#.Continuous growing needs of human resources leading to a crunch in the already existing deficit between the skilled resources required against the supply.
#.Labour laws for the service sector not fully in place leading to overburden in terms of work load on the existing employees.
#.The 80/20 rule wherein 20% of the employees actually count of the actual performance of the hotel property and the remnant 80%are either not fully participative or support in their function. The training focuses on making the other 80% contribute to the work environment
The HRD strategy being practised by better hospitality organisation is structured to overcome issues encountered earlier.
Hospitality training - industry
Hospitality business invests significant amounts of resources in training and development. There are many interns on this investment in terms of productivity, service quality and retention of employees. However, the nature of the hospital/ business environment serves to drive up the cost of the training investment compared with other industries. As a service industry, there are more employees, with higher' training needs, and higher turnover rates. As a location-dependant industry, operations are distributed within markets that are geographically dispersed. As a business in which one must constantly innovate and improve to remain competitive, training content must constantly evolve, often at a rapid pace to suit the needs of the industry and the HR of the Industry.
The logistics of training investments in the hospitality industry have always been complex and challenging. Gathering staff members together m the same place at (the same time for training sessions is most likely the primary driver for training costs. Learning outcomes of such sessions are rarefy measured or documented, although significant amounts of resources are dedicated to their execution.
Hospitality training is an effort/input from an employer or in some cases by the employee resulting in doing their jobs effectively. The effort can be in the form of technical skills, conceptual skills, attitudes and behavior.
Training methods
There are five basic types of training: self-training with the use of a training mode, classroom training, on-site consultation, online programs done at your own pace, and Webinars, which are conducted live and online. Each has different benefits and costs depending on your need.
Self-training allows users to play out 'what-of' scenarios that will not affect your live systems. This can be helpful for someone familiar with the system. Moreover, there is no cost involved. Classroom training takes place in a training room where the students manage simulated hotel environments. Students benefit from live instruction and interaction with their own computers. This exchange also allows for the sharing of experiences between attendees. An outside consultation, however, involves one-on-one sessions with trainers, working directly on live property management systems. This training somewhat limited because work is done on the property's live database. The Webinar training allows you to hear a live conversation as well as see the training online. Hospitality industry has to play the role of positively presenting the industry as a career of choice: hoteliers and managers from the industry could be used as ambassadors to promote in the macro level.
The authors K Vasudevan is the senior faculty at NITHM , Hyderabad and Suryanarayana Raju, faculty at NITHM, Hyderabad
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|