An Interview with a Hilton General Manager - Michael Bourne.

Hilton International employs over 65 000 staff in over 70 countries and is listed No 1 as the best known brand. It's seen as an innovative corporation in the eyes of its future collaboratives. The group is praised for its continual commitment to development and attracting top talent to Hilton and the hospitality as a whole.

How do you attract top talent to the Hilton?

"To attract good people is to be multi dimensional in what you offer. Firstly, people want to work for a company they can be proud of. I also think people want to work for a brand they can be proud of.

A multi-dimensional approach to attracting people over a long period of time is important. It isn't a one shot wonder. It is about building your brand in the minds of the work force. Just as we aim to build our brands in the minds of our guests."

Whilst the bigger the brand and the more well known the company, the easier it is to attract trainees, the pressure is on at the top to maintain their market position and reputation…..

"In Hilton hotels we have the responsibility to maintain value in our Brand and add value to our Brand. We are marketing to more diverse customers and asking them to try our brand and trust our brand and we are also marketing to people in the work force to try and trust our Brand.

Currently we have a worldwide labour market that is fairly tight, so to actually find good people is tough. To stay ahead as a hotel in this competitive world, we have to have good people. It really is what sustains us."

In your opinion, what attracts people to work in hospitality?

"When we talk about hospitality management, and look at the business from an employees perspective, the business has changed. Over 20 years ago, when I joined hospitality, I joined for a career. I joined hospitality simply because I love hotels. I started with 11 trainees on the same day. Within 12 months there were 2 of us left. In 18 months I was the only one. Back 20 years ago, people mainly joined the hospitality for a second job.

There was a high component of staff who worked a few hours… something to do while they do their real job, or whilst they are studying, or to fill in whilst they waited for their real job…. This has changed, although we do still have a lot of students, casual labour and we do have hospitality students. Not many people went through hotel school when I started. People weren't joining hospitality because it was a career.

Many also joined because they were attracted to this ‘glamour world' of hospitality which of course is completely false. It is hard work and it is a real business; a real business with diverse challenges. There are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes. We have to be tuned into to complete business management: marketing, buying, managing our people, managing the numbers, forecasting…… it's an incredibly and diverse challenging business.

For people looking for a career, there is a career here. However, people coming out of schools and Universities these days are probably a little bit more discerning than I was then. They are looking for a job to earn money, with plenty of opportunities and that will grow and expand their careers.

Peers of mine that did continue on in hospitality, mostly now occupy good senior positions within the business. Like in any other business, there are great opportunities but they don't just fall in your lap. You have the responsibility to do the best you can and it is competitive."

What is drawing people to work for the Hilton and other leading Chains and to Hospitality in general?

"We have to understand our labour market the same as we have to understand where our customers are coming from. We now have the generation Y people that make up a fair proportion of our work force. For some, they look similar to people 20 odd years ago, often seeing hospitality as something to do on their way to where they want to go to.

There are a larger number now however, who see hospitality as a career. They see this as a satisfying job that will get them working with a lot of good people and they can earn a reasonable salary, unlike years ago. The money is getting better for staff starting out. It is reasonable and given that the business is still evolving it will continue to get better. You can still argue that it could still be better of course.

People are now of the understanding that the more value they bring to a business then the more they are worth and this should translate into remuneration."

How have you reacted to the change in the Market?

"We have consciously and specifically aimed to create a culture which is highly conducive to a positive work environment where people can do their best. We do certain things that involve contributions from all levels of the hotel. We try and work in a fairly egalitarian style, meaning we are reducing communication barriers. We look to get contributions from everyone. We have a Credo that says, ‘you can not add value unless you are truly valued.' I believe in this and I've seen that this makes such a difference."

What's the essence of your overall attitude toward staff ?

"We treat them as we do our guests. Once they are on board we don't want to loose them. It is so important to recruit the right people. It's really important to the good internal environment. You have to protect the good team ambience and culture that you already have on the inside. We prefer to run one or two team members short than bring in the wrong type of person. We don't compromise by bringing people who just won't fit into the environment. They are problematic further down the track. If people come with no experience but the right attitude then they'll get an opportunity. The right attitude, approach, demeanour is very important to us. To qualified people who fit our job description but are not the right people, we say no. It is a very clear cut policy here."

A good recruit is a dynamic well-rounded individual. Skilled or willing to gain skill in their particular area is essential. Most jobs in hotels have a practical and intellectual element.

Once recruited what happens next?

"Staff are inducted and welcomed. Then there are regular performance reviews. They are very positive in that they break down barriers of communication and understanding.

We organise on-going training and talk to our staff regularly about what are they looking for. Career aspirations, training and development are really important.

Within the group GM meetings 2-3 hours are spent looking at who are our people. We discuss opportunities for people who want to move within the group etc. Peoples aspirations are taken seriously."

In-House Training - The Elevator Training Course

Taking the Elevator to the top in in-house training, the Hilton is no off the cuff style in-house training. It's in-house training is structured, flexible, encourages mentoring, on going learning and involves continual assessment. In the 2005 worldwide Hospitality Awards, the Hilton Elevator Programme beat strong competition to win the ‘Best Development Programme for the Young Employees'.

Adding to the image and reputation of the industry as a whole means, one aim of their in-house training programmes are to attract, retain and nurture staff and to protect their own brand image. This is not the place for those less than with the ambition and ability to be the best.

Do you currently have any of your staff on the Elevator Training course?

"Yes, we have had a new member of staff arrive as part of the Elevator Training Programme. He will be with us for 9 months. He has a programme for his time here. He speaks more than one language, he is internationally mobile, he's a graduate and he got through the vigorous testing, one of few. He has this great opportunity now. He's an additional member of staff, he's not just slotted in to make up numbers. He's an addition. He has a number of projects to complete and it will truly test him. Hilton is committed to recruiting high calibre staff and to giving them the fast track to good positions and plenty of opportunities.

For senior levels, there are more training opportunities at our online University. We move around in our jobs at healthy intervals."

Being a company that seeks to grow both in profit and expand and achieve standards of excellence in the industry means growth…..

"One of our philosophies is that we should be striving for continual improvement. We encourage constructive and feedback that is given in a constructive and positive way.

We keep our people in an environment that is positive encouraging and supportive to enable them to reach their potential. There are always issues in hotels but we have the systems in place to manage these issues. Allowing people to have a fair hearing is important. We work toward understanding. There is a trust component which evolves over time and this is extremely important."

Our Staff help us recruit….

"We look at our team members as being Ambassador. Our staff talk about their job and we attract people this way. Now there is an emphasis to balance work and life. There are still expectations to perform and spend time to take off."

"We do look for staff off shore, and within our group, bringing staff back from their moves."

The Changes in the industry….

"We are getting more lifestyle customers but we are also getting more customers that are Brand Savvy. People are travelling more regularly and have far more experience in international hotels. They understand the big Brands, they understand the differences and they have expectations. Expectations regarding facilities for example. Generally customers are very fair and don't really like to complain. If they have something to complain about it is usually highly credible. They also understand that we want their feedback.

Competition is something that we spend a lot of time keeping an eye on. We are working in a highly competitive industry……"

Many thanks to Michael Bourne, The Hilton.

SpotLight is the weekly column exclusively written for 4Hoteliers.com by Sarah Muxlow, it is highlighting the challenges and issues which the global hospitality is facing today.

Sarah is writing for hotel and restaurant owners, hotel chain managers, producers/growers/sellers of food & beverage, restaurant associations, governing bodies and hotel schools. She is looking at the problems they face...competition, trends of branding, staff shortages, unskilled staff, turning out students who are looking for good in-house management training schemes with hotel chains, what makes a good quality training course at a hotel school and more... 

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