AXIS Hospitality International

HOW CAN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY RECOVER ITS 000s OF LOST EMPLOYEES

THE INDUSTRY BLEW IT. THEY WERE TREATED AS EMPLOYEES, NOT LIKE PARTNERS.

The value of a lifelong employee is worthy of a partnership but how many 'lifers' feel that they were actually treated like partners. Many feel that they were part of the family but if the truth be known, it was only their fellow workers who were truly family.

How many of them ever spent holiday weekends in their manager's cottage or were invited for a BBQ with their families?

How many of them were laid off during slow periods, every year?

How many of them were known by their first name by all the managers?

How many of them had a career path to financial success mapped out for them with their senior colleagues?

How many of them were taken care of during the pandemic at home?

Are the owners an intricate part of the family?

Unfortunately, we know the answers to all those questions and virtually none of them are positive but the questions must be asked and many more formed to create a map, back to the future, for a cultural and financial revolution in our industry. It must start at the top and include the bottom, the insides and the outsides. The very structure of the industry must be re-imagined to recognise that the employees are the front-line of our industry. They are at the sharp end of hospitality where the rubber meets the road. They are our 'surgeons' whose many skills depend on their colleagues to pass the right instrument at the right time so that the patient lives. They have no script. Their lives are impromptu and they shape the experiences of kings, princes and paupers tirelessly without support or any real encouragement. They create the experiences of which management boasts

The reputation of our industry is poor. We have done nothing to change that image as an industry. Sure, we have major corporations that boast of their close-knit 'associates' and carefully structured HR programs for encouraging retention but as soon as the occupancy drops a couple of points, all bets are off. It is said that 'the best time to make a friend is before you need one'. I say that time has come but before we embark on another temporary fix, we need to structure the participants to include the governments, the hospitality and tourism industry associations, the trade unions, the owners, the lenders, the brands, the operators, the educators and the employees.

THE MISSION. To create an environment in which the hospitality industry is the very best employment opportunity to build wealth and a great lifestyle for all partners and their families.

THE OBJECTIVES. There will be many objectives identified in the early stages of this worldwide effort but the fundamentals of this Hospitality Partnership will build toward a situation in which,

• The industry will be seen as a highly desirable career option.
• Opportunities for advancement will be open to everyone.
• All partners will enjoy full-time employment with vacation time increasing over time.
• All partners will accumulate equity ownership in the business, growing over the life of their service.
• Equity earned will be transferable as the partner advances in the industry.
• Accounting systems will be modified to include a reserve for partner FT employment similar to the reserve for FF&E.
• Innovative educational and health programs will be encouraged to occupy partners and their families during slow periods.

While the pandemic has decimated the employment base worldwide, there was already a global shortage of manpower in hotels and restaurants pre-pandemic that was estimated between 12 to 15 million. Contributing to this shortage were a number of factors that included,

• Low wages in entry level positions with little job security.
• Restrictive visa regulations prohibiting job seekers from the job openings.
• Poor reputation as dead-end jobs.
• High turnover due to seasonality and other factors.

These factors require the participation of governments & politicians (Federal, State/Province, City/Town), all industry players, employer countries, employee countries, hotel and restaurant groups, educational institutions, trade unions, suppliers of consumables and FF&E.

This industry is an industry that cannot export its jobs abroad. Jobs in a hotel are there for decades and for as long as the building functions as a hotel.

Shortages of employees translates to lower GDP, lower tax revenues, lower profitability and lower investment returns. The only way forward is with full fledged, committed partners with a hands-on interest in the success of the business, their business.

Let's get back to the future together, as a team.

 

HOW SHOULD HOTELS FUNCTION IN A PANDEMIC

IF THE HOTEL INDUSTRY CREATED A SITUATION IN WHICH IT FULLY FUNCTIONED THROUGHOUT COVID19......

................What would be happening?

It has been catastrophic to watch the hotel industry be decimated by well-meaning politicians and the bureaucrats when it could be offering so much to the community as a huge collection of essential and perfectly matched, well-located resources.

This is not an occasion when the industry can sit on its' hands at home. This is war! This is an international catastrophe potentially worsening as wave after wave creates and accentuates the human and commercial damage.

If the creativity of our industry is harnessed and cooperates, we can quite possibly be functioning at record occupancies and with a full complement of employees and caregivers. All of the tools are there for the hotels and local restaurants to provide goods and services to those that need it, when they need it and how they need it.

It is not too late and we can not wait another moment.

What do we have to offer?

1. Around the world presence in every community on the planet.
2. Millions of furnished rooms and public areas that can be reimagined if needed, cleaned daily and if necessary 2-3 times daily.
3. Millions of trained employees that perform identical tasks to those performed in hospitals, prisons, institutions and senior care homes.
4. Hundreds of thousands of trained cooks performing around the clock.
5. Infrastructure for people management, purchasing, transportation, communications, recruitment and training.
6. Air conditioned Convention facilities that could do double-duty for ICUs, the homeless, schools etc 
7. Empty rooms that could do double duty for front-line workers, quarantine, employees and the partly sick.
8. Room service to hotel rooms, local homes and apartments using rotating local restaurants to keep them all open.
9. Provincial, State and National Hotel Associations to coordinate government participation.
10. Owners that are willing to roll up their sleeves and cooperate.

What would be the benefits?

1. The economy would continue to function.
2. Full employment from one of the world's largest employers.
3. Expanded and improved mental health.
4. Massively expanded and improved community services.
5. Hotels and restaurants would be doing what they do best. Safely, securely and happily.
6. Governments could take credit. Politicians would be in the loop.
7. The industry would survive and a template for the future would have been created.
8. Break-even financial saviour.
9. Full-time employment restored.

Nothing needs to be built. No-one needs to be recruited. Re-training is part of the industry's vocabulary and all the resources are located in every community.

Where and with whom do we start?

1. We start small and we start rapidly.
2. We start global, national and local.
3. We involve governments, healthcare, hotel groups, trade associations and perhaps the military.
4. We start in small circles and work out, ironing out the wrinkles as we go.
5. We develop checks and balances to ensure full compliance.
6. The Team. Here is the first 'small group',
   1. IH&RA (International Hotel & Restaurant Association)
   2. UNWTO (UN World Tourism Association)
   3. WHO (World Health Organisation)
   4. ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation)
   5. UN (United Nations)

There exists an international hotel and restaurant association (IH&RA) that is formally recognised by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and whose members include National Associations and Hotel Groups that could and should be mobilised to oversee this catastrophe. Global Councils of Security and Human Resources could be employed to provide oversight and guidance. The association (IH&RA) has already worked with the other international organizations.

Adapting to the new Reality

For comments and suggestion, email [email protected] or contact your local hotel or restaurant association.