Hotels such as Marriott International know that the secret of their success lies in their human resources. Gary Kaas, who heads Marriott International's training activities for the Middle East region, speaks to Gulf News about hospitality training.
Gulf News: Is cultural diversity among hotel staff a boon or bane?
Kaas: People who work in hotels are naturally warm, friendly, outgoing, and respectful people. Hospitality is pretty similar in all cultures.
It doesn't matter which culture you come from, if someone comes to visit you, you give them a warm welcome, offer them something to eat or/and drink, and enjoy a conversation.
We work hard to serve the guest, and we live in a multi-cultural environment. On any given evening you will find our staff relaxing by playing cricket, basketball, chess, or caromboard. When one of our sports teams is playing, people from all cultures go and support.
How do you overcome the language barrier? What if an employee's first language is not English, how do you manage their training?
We strive to ensure every interview takes place in English. We understand that not everyone will be 100 per cent fluent, but all our trainings are conducted in English.
We have started recently to use animated videos to break down the language barrier in certain departments where staff may not have direct contact with guests.
We are helping some staff with intermediate and advanced English lessons, as this shows they are committed to being successful in an international company.
What specific challenges do you face when training hotel staff for Marriott in Dubai?
I think all hotels have the same challenge: when is the best time to train? When the hotel is busy, we can't send staff for training. When it's quiet the staff have free time, but this does not happen very often.
How important is a well-trained workforce to a hotel's success?
I think it is paramount to success. Do your guests want to be served by trained staff or untrained staff? Some think training is expensive, but rebating a guest who is complaining about an issue that would not have happened if the staff had been better trained is much more costly.
How can you avoid falling into the trap of stereotyping workers from different cultures?
I can only speak on behalf of the four Marriott properties in Dubai. We recruit people, and in turn promote them, based on attitude, hard work, and the spirit to serve our guests.
Nationality does not play a role in our decisions. We have a broad mix of nationalities at all levels of staffing.
