SEASONS GREETINGS

MAY THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST COME ALIVE TO YOU ALL THIS SEASON AND AS WE ENTER 20I8

CLOSING THE YEAR 2017

"IF YOU WISH TO MOVE MOUNTAINS 

TOMORROW,

YOU MUST START BY LIFTING STONES

 TODAY"

This blog became active this year, 2017. It had been dormant for sometime.

As a Certified Hospitality Educator, I intended the blog to serve as a platform to share concerns and observations on the hospitality industry in Ghana, from the perspective of hospitality employees/personnel. I had read several articles on the industry from the points of view of  guests/customers, a few on owner/investors but hardly any from the point of view of the workforce. Having worked through the rungs, beginning as a front desk clerk, I thought I could carry the voice of hotel personnel.

My approach has been to set alerts and offer critiques with the aim of generating relevant 

discussions and hopefully motivate members in the hospitality fraternity.  

My goal this year was to touch down on every department of a typical hotel; the front office, housekeeping, maintenance, food and beverage service, kitchen operations, finance, administration and human resource. I did not quite cover as much as I planned since there was a 2-month break period and shortfalls of planned articles during some of the months.  

Do find below a summary of the articles shared beginning with the latest:

	WHO WE EMPLOY MATTERS: SOMETHING MUST CHANGE (Part 2 cont.)						12/12/2017
	PART 2 WHO WE EMPLOY MATTERS: SOMETHING MUST CHANGE						30/11/2017
	WHO WE EMPLOY MATTERS-SOMETHING MUST CHANGE						30/11/2017
	MARBLE & STEEL MAY CREATE HOTELS OF DAZZLING BEAUTY BUT THE HEART & SOUL OF HOTELS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ARE THEIR EMPLOYEES.                             Anonymous <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0						30/10/2017
	BEYOND THE BRICK AND MORTAR: HOTEL EMPLOYEES						28/10/2017
	COMING IN NOVEMBER 2017HOSTING A HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONAL IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRYON THIS PLATFORM						17/10/2017
	THE HOTEL FRONT DESK: A SLIPPERY WORK ENVIRONMENT?						25/08/2017
	UNPREPAREDNESS OF HOTEL FRONT DESK PERSONNEL						05/08/2017
	HOTEL FRONT DESK: THE QUESTION OF SITTING OR STANDING						10/06/2017
	HOTEL FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE: THE QUESTION OF TIPPING ed al.						31/05/2017
	HOTEL FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE; THE MOMENT OF TRUTH						24/05/2017
	HOTEL FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE; PREPARATION FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE PART 2						10/05/2017
	HOTEL FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE; PREPARATION FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE PART 1						05/05/2017
	HOTEL FOOD & BEVERAGE SERVICE: ATTITUDINAL CHANGE FROM THE TOP						12/04/2017
	HOTEL FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE: CREATING THE EXPERIENCE						12/04/2017
	HOTEL KITCHENS: THE SACRED KITCHEN AND ITS FOOD PORTFOLIO						29/03/2017
	HOTEL KITCHENS: THE STEALING STIGMA						23/03/2017
	HOTEL KITCHENS: 'THE INTRUDERS'						23/03/2017
	HOTEL KITCHENS: BASIC PRACTICES						15/03/2017
	HOTEL KITCHENS: TEMPERATURE AND TEMPER HOT- PART 2						09/03/2017
	HOTEL KITCHENS: TEMPERATURE AND TEMPER HOT- PART 1						09/03/2017
	DISPLACING THE 'MAD' MAN						28/02/2017
	DAYTIME NIGHTMARES						28/02/2017
	HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING: NEW TRENDS AND PRACTICES						26/02/2017
	DIGNITY FOR HOTEL HOUSEKEEPERS: A '3-MAN AFFAIR'						22/02/2017
	HOTEL GUESTROOMS: ENCOUNTERING THE UNEXPECTED PART 2						10/02/2017
	HOTEL GUESTROOMS: ENCOUNTERING THE UNEXPECTED PART 1						10/02/2017
	HOUSEKEEPING: YOUR ATTITUDE IS SHOWING PART 2						30/01/2017
	HOUSEKEEPING: WATCH OUT, YOUR ATTITUDE IS SHOWING						27/01/2017
	AYEEKOO HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING						05/01/2017

The quotation I started this article with is an African proverb.

The articles discussed are the 'stones' I have picked up with the hope of one day moving some mountains. Of course that cannot be done alone. You are an integral part to 'this journey' to achieve the vision of moving mountains.

Assessing how far I have come, I must confess I am yet to generate the much needed discourse required to move a mountain, much more MOUNTAINS!

I do look forward to engaging you, my readers better in 2018. I would therefore appreciate your comments and views on the blog; from the structure of the design, to content, to frequency of new articles e.t.c. Suggested subjects would also be considered as long as they will fulfill the objective spelt out above.

I am aware December is full of activities for hospitality personnel. I am therefore closing up for the year. I cease this opportunity to wish you all a Meaningful and Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2018.  

Thank you for being a loyal reader and request that you invite fellow hospitality personnel to visit this blog in 2018.

WHO WE EMPLOY MATTERS: SOMETHING MUST CHANGE (Part 2 cont.)

This is a continuation of discussions between  Egi Gaisie, a Hotel Educator/Trainer with Kodjo Hazel a former Human Resource Manager of Golden Tulip Hotel, Accra and Alisa Hotel, Accra respectively and who is currently a Human Resource Consultant in the hotel industry.

Mr.Hazel has been expressing his general opinions about personnel working in the hotel industry in Ghana from an earlier article.   
Welcome.

Question: How would you describe the performance of personnel in the various departments; the front office, housekeeping, maintenance, food and beverage service and food production?

Response: Performances in the stated areas are really not good due to lack of strategies and practical plans and programs. Additionally production costs are very high leading to unprecedented losses in revenue. The area most affected is food production where food percentage costs are high on the average.

Question: Would you agree that placing the customer first instead of the employee first has contributed to negligence in addressing human needs in the industry?

Response: I will agree to a large extent. Most industry practitioners tend to focus heavily on customer satisfaction and paying lip-service to the prime-movers of the industry.

It is now a proven fact that one cannot grow a modern hotel without a strategy that shares equity among the customer, staff, the process, the finance and the environment.

Follow up: You know the Ghanaian hotel environment is quite different from elsewhere.

A few Ghanaian hotel entrepreneurs I have talked to may not agree with you on the  need to share equity as you have suggested. It may not be practical in our environment.

Response: Well, they will discover it sooner or later.

Question: I find hotel personnel working in different hotels comparing themselves to each other without considering that every hotel has a unique environment. Would you encourage or discourage this practice and why?

Response: If such hotels are in the same star-rating category, then there is everything to compare. Even so, there is a grounded reason for comparing hotels of different sizes, that is, different numbers of room-inventory and environment.

At the end of the day it is not the hotel with a large fair-share that matters but the one, in spite of its size, has a sizeable market-share.

Question: What advice will you give those already in the industry who may be thinking about leaving the industry because they do not see advancement coming their way?

Response: They have no other option than to stay. The job-market is saturated with an attendant growing army of unemployed youth. The future portend is bleak and so my little advice to them is to “brighten the corner where you are”. 

Follow up: Don’t you think this will make them become disgruntled, lose interest and become square pegs in round holes? 

Response: That’s the reality. You can talk to most service providers in our hotels-Golden Tulip, Alisa, Aqua Safari and more.
 
Thank you very much.

PART 2 WHO WE EMPLOY MATTERS: SOMETHING MUST CHANGE

Egi Gaisie, a Hotel Educator/Trainer, talks with Kodjo Hazel a former Human Resource Manager of Golden Tulip Hotel, Accra and Alisa Hotel, Accra respectively. He is currently a Human Resource Consultant in the hotel industry.

This session focuses on his general opinions about personnel working in the hotel industry in Ghana.
The discussion has raised various concerns which has been lingering in the industry for far too long. I intend to address them at an appropriate time on this platform. Welcome.

Question: What have you found to be unique in managing personnel in the hotel industry?

Response: Very interesting; you manage all manner of people, i.e. religious groups, ethnic associates, interests groups, etc. The important thing is how the HR person is able to convert them into customer-service providers.

Follow-up: Are these groupings in relation to personnel in hotels?

Response: Yes, there are many informal ‘unseen’ groups that can make organizational behavior difficult to manage.

Question: General observations deduced from talking with heads of departments of hotels give me the impression that current personnel in the hotel industry do not seem ready to commit themselves to learning, thus the high turnover.  Can you confirm this? And why do you think this is a trend?

Response: This assertion may be true to only a limited extent. The reality is that most heads of department do not really commit themselves in making learning and development an organic part of modern day hotel’s organizational and strategic philosophy.

High staff turnovers may themselves not be entirely negative in as much as they can also serve as growth factors for other hotels.

Generally, learning and development is not taken seriously. The caliber of personnel usually hired requires much more attention in training than is given.

Question: How important is language in the hotel industry in Ghana? How do you think we are doing in this area?

Response: Language is a baseline requirement for effective communication. We are not doing well at all; even when statutory regulations require us to do so; not even in our own local languages and dialects let alone the foreign ones.

There is the urgent need to drill deep in the area of language expansion as this is also becoming a universal cultural standard in the industry.

Question: Hotels are in the business of selling intangibles- unique experiences. How do Employers get their personnel to create those unique experiences?

Response: Through

•          Continuous well-designed training programs, at all levels and which will meet market needs

•          Productivity measurements along with desired performance motivational programs

•          Total practical exposure, at all levels, on the workings of the hotel

•          Exchange programs with sister-hotels, both local and abroad

•          Bench marking

•          Continuous research and development on industry trends

Question:  What role do you play in the above?

Response: Virtually any or all of them.

Question: How would you describe the status of the hotel work force in Ghana? 

Response: Very despondent, laid-back and lethargic. A lot of individualism, less teamwork, largely unskilled and unprofessional at all levels; highly mercenary and predatory. However I must add that this is through no fault of theirs. 

Follow-up: Wow, that suggests a lot to be done on us. Where does one start? Who should start it and how? 

Response: It is a huge task. Private hotel owners need to demonstrate care beyond their projects. Once profits are assured they seem to care little about staff development; only a few are committed.

Question: Productivity in most of our hotels seems low yet hotel personnel feel very stressed and exhausted. What are the challenges?

Response: Most of our hotels do not have strategic plans; they are very commercial and developmental, spending on the product and not as required on the staff.

 to be continued.