Staffing professionals for Lankan hotels hits crisis
The lack of a new professional breed of specially trained hotel staff has become a growing concern among Sri Lankan hoteliers as most are found to be moving out faster than they get in.
The industry in the post-war era is currently looking at serving 2.5 million visitors by 2016 but retaining staff has become an issue since most employees were found to be leaving for better prospects in other hotels within or outside the country, industry analysts point out.
Last year there was a total of 16, 223 rooms in 279 hotels, up from the previous year’s figure of 15, 208 rooms and 264 hotels.According to Sri Lanka Tourism estimates, the country needs 42,840 rooms by 2015 and approvals accordingly have been given to construct this number.
In the post war period, five years back in 2008, the number of rooms stood at 14,793 in 256 hotels, a slight increase from the 2007 figure of 14,604 in 245 hotels.
Veteran hotelier and Galle Face Hotel’s Senior Vice President Chandra Mohotti speaking with the Business Times said on Thursday that not just buildings but the right training for the hotel staff was key without which the intended efforts would not bear fruit.
He noted, “During the war we were competing with each other just to survive and now it’s with the world.”
Mr. Mohotti explained that today Sri Lanka is competing with the rest of the world and not simply their own counterparts locally and in this respect there was a need to provide services with a professional treatment especially in this region, which is very sought after for its hospitality.
It was pointed out that hoteliers needed to concentrate on not just the management staff but at every level from the doorman upwards professional training was a necessity even in the selection of food variety, quality of room and cleanliness, etc.He noted that Sri Lanka’s 30-year war took its toll on human resources in the hospitality sector since the industry was on a downturn and income levels dropped. With most employees depending on the service charges there was a drastic reduction in the number of opportunities within the sector or furtherance.
In this respect, General Managers to kitchen stewards were impacted and during this period, which coincided with the Middle East boom, there were more opportunities outside the country.
This led to the huge drain not only to the Middle East but the higher ranking services from the General Manager downwards who went to Australia, Canada, US, New Zealand and Singapore.
But with the war ending in 2009 no professionals were to be found in the country as a result of which entrepreneurs also did not identify the need for adequate training as a future investment.
Mr. Mohotti observed that entrepreneurs depended on the Sri Lankan cultural attributes and hospitality to keep the ball rolling.
However, by this time when the country started to open up to tourists from all over the world there was increased competition from the region and this led to the service levels in the country falling due to inadequate professional training of local hotel staff.
“Suddenly, Sri Lanka became a peculiar destination and the market went from a buyers to a seller’s market,” he said.
Considering the demand in the country for professional staff, the present training imparts little, the veteran hotelier noted adding that in essence the country was using staff that has received very minimal training. It was also pointed out that the rates too did impact on the service levels, since these two did not match.
Mr. Mohotti observed that with the increase in rates the service levels needed to improve to professional standards as was provided in the rest of the world. Higher rates meant improved services and the standards currently present were okay when the industry was going through the war period when the rates were relatively low, he noted.
Responding to claims by hoteliers that employees provided with 6-months training would soon quit their jobs for some other place, Mr. Mohotti explained this was expected “since the hospitality industry is a fast upward industry and a young man would want to join at a lower level and then move up with exposure into hotels in other countries.”
Commenting on the state-run hotel school, he noted that the industry’s dependence on this was not sufficient to meet the demands and believed that the private sector needed to cater to this requirement.
It was pointed out that the private sector was mainly geared to teaching degree and diploma and that none of the major private hotel schools was well established in the country yet except for the franchise bodies set up here.
With the state-run hotel school running to capacity, he noted that there would be around 2000 graduating each year from the five centres around the country from the Craft and Certificate levels.
Another past head of the state hotel school said that it was also imperative to improve on the training personnel and bring in more foreign trainers as well.
It was noted that since the industry was competing among them it was not possible to ensure that they work together for the larger society.
City Hoteliers Association President M. Shanthikumar told the Business Times that hotels recruit new persons and train with an additional tutoring in the English language as well.
It was pointed out that however, inspite of these efforts the trend was that at least 50 per cent of those thus recruited would leave the hotel for an establishment of a higher star rating or the Middle East, with chefs and managers seeking opportunities mainly in Australia and New Zealand.
It was noted that better pay and remuneration were the sought after benefits by these employees and in this respect, the industry would be faced with a crisis situation should this continue in the future as well.
He pointed they were in touch with the education authorities to introduce a new module for the industry in the state universities in a bid to cater to the growing demand from the sector.
Moreover, he explained that the industry was also working with the schools, students, principals and teachers aimed at creating increased awareness of the growing demand in the sector and the opportunities available to those willing to join it.
The Hotels Association had invited almost 30 schools in Colombo for a brainwashing exercise and awareness creation and how the industry is going forward.
He noted that the “severe shortage” experienced lately especially for hotels was a result of the hotel schools inability to cater to the demand.
Mr. Shanthikumar explained that during the war time “since the industry was not doing well nobody was interested in joining a hotel school or learning hospitality and many parents never saw a future in this industry but now there is a lack of training.”
Best Western Elyon Colombo Executive Chairman Priyantha Jayamaha as a new hotel chain joining the local hotel industry said they were training most of their staff and would even hire fresher’s and experienced novices of six months to one year. He noted that it was evident that most even lack good English skills and even the soft skills had to be taught.
But he was certain most were definitely leaving for better prospects as they get placed at better hotels across the world. Mr. Jayamaha noted that this was not a problem in the short term but would become an issue in the long term.