Chapter 7 Careers in Hospitality
125
Other Areas Related to Hospitality
The areas of human resources and marketing
and sales perform vital roles in hospitality orga-
nizations. The opportunities are as varied as the
types of organizations within the industry.
Human Resources
Human resources professionals increase an
organization’s competitive strengths by link-
ing workforce trends and characteristics with
the most effective methods for enhancing the
productivity, motivation, and well-being of
workers. In the hospitality industry, as in other
industries, human resources managers:
• build effective work teams through careful
hiring
• work to provide compensation and benefits
• consult about legal issues
• design and implement employee training
and development
help open the Hotel Indigo New York City–Chelsea as front office manager.
Through hard work I was promoted to assistant general manager after one
year and a year later, I became the general manager.
In the hotel industry there is no typical day. My day is based upon
employee relations and guests of the hotel. If you treat your employees fairly
and take the time to listen to them, they will feel valued and create positive
experiences for your guests. I like to go around and listen to employees, get
involved in morning department meetings, check in/out a few guests at the
front desk, check on the breakfast service, and talk to patrons. Employees
seem to really respond positively to an active manager.
For the other 50 percent of the day, I spend time in our executive offices.
I analyze revenues and expenses. I need to ensure the owner is pleased
with the performance and that our franchise is satisfied with our corporate
and hotel involvement. Because we are a boutique hotel, we have a small
management team of eight people. This means I get personally involved in
reservations, revenue management, sales, events, and marketing. Larger
hotels have a manager and supervisor for each of these areas. I look at it as
an advantage of knowing everything about the hotel and the industry.
What does your
“typical” day entail?
I have the opportunity to improve the lives of employees and guests. I
hire staff that DO NOT want to be front desk agents or servers or bellmen all
their lives. I hire them because they have an interest in hotels and people. I
want them to gain something here that will prepare them for their next step,
whether or not that is with my company.
Each employee has the opportunity to positively impact staff and
guests. If a guest needs a sewing kit, it could be to sew a button on his/
her suit, the suit which he/she wears to an interview, the interview in which
he/she gets the job, the job which establishes his/her future, and so forth.
This sounds like a stretch, but I have been around to see some powerful
moments created by the staff I hired, staff that I genuinely care about.
Together, our impact on our guests creates success which pays itself
forward. When we do it right, we help change the world.
How do you fulfill the
mission of family and
consumer sciences—
that is, how does your
work improve people’s
quality of life?