1. The journey for securing industry placement was started from the process of enhancing the employability skills of mine during college tenure. This is due to the reason that in the current business scenario, employability skills of the candidates are as necessary as the educational qualification in gaining placements. Also, it is also being identified by me that the selection process is also determined to employ the perspective of the particular company or industry. It is essential for the candidates to get matched with the skill sets and expertise expected by the specific organisation. Thus, it is necessary to consider the perspective of both the candidate and the industry to reflect on the journey of securing my industry placements (Gates, 2014).
From the side of my perspectives, it was the primary job of mine to gain both the educational qualification and practical exposure. In doing so, my domain knowledge got enhanced in my curriculum, and I tried to learn the insights of the hospitality industries from different external sources such as journals and articles and market research report. In this case, I got a problem of having the required skills and expertise in securing a job in the hospitality industry without having prior experience. Thus, the external sources of mine are the only available sources for me to have some exposure in the hospitality sector. My primary job was to have a basic understanding of the current expectations and requirements in the hospitality industry. Evaluation of the market research data helped me in shortlisting the skills I will require to secure my job in the said industry. By these identified skills, I tried to get aligned and get myself eligible with the current trends in the hospitality industry.
I targeted the hospitality sector from the time I created my LinkedIn account. I had the opinion that LinkedIn will be helpful for me in searching for potential jobs in the hospitality sector. I uploaded my professionally designed resume in the LinkedIn account, which further helped me getting job suggestions according to my skills. I have opted for the opening statement in LinkedIn over anything else due to the reason that it helped to have the idea about the current requirements and trends in the hospitality sectors along with having access to more strong job suggestions. However, apart from LinkedIn, I also searched some other leading job sites also to have more several suggestions and got some favourable openings. All these steps initiated by me can be included in the process of enhancing the employability requirements. This is due to the reason that employability skills also include getting proper exposure in the job market, which I achieved with the help of the LinkedIn account. Besides, apart from getting the required exposure in the job market, it is also essential to have the required job experience. This is due to the reason that in the current competitive job market, having work experiences will provide a competitive edge over the other candidates. In this situation, I had gained short working experience in the hotel industry, which helped me in having some preference in the interview process. Thus, it can be concluded that regarding the employability skills, I have tried to gain as much as possible to secure the job.
Apart from the employability eligibility of mine, the selection process also plays a vital role in determining my probability of securing the job. Even though I had work experience in the hotel industry but still I faced two round of interview. The first round was with the human resource manager and the second round is with the housekeeping manager. The first round was about the introduction of mine and how well I will be the perfect choice for the organisation. The second round of interview was about testing my skill sets by the job profile. In this round, my prior short experience helped me in matching the expected skill sets of the organisation. Besides, I also joined the firms six months ahead of my internship period to gain knowledge of at least one year. This is due to the reason that working experience below one year does not carry enough valuation in the job market. Thus, joining six months before the internship period will help me in having minimum one year of experience and therefore will assist in having a strong background in my resume.
2. Ovolo hotels are one of the leading chains of the hotel in Hong Kong, and Australia founded in 2002. The area also considered as one of the largest hospitality companies in Hong Kong. It is reported that they are mainly offering middle-level hospitality services to the larger customer segments. Some of the significant competitiveness of them are customer-oriented services, cutting-edge technology and award-winning interiors. These features are helping Ovolo hotels in gaining competitiveness over their competitors. Currently, they are having six properties in Hong Kong and 3 in Australia. Also, they are preparing to extend their foreign market operations by targeting more number of countries. In doing so, they are recruiting and selecting more employees to support their proposed business requirements. They are having diverse training programs for the new employees along with having effective induction program to get them accustomed with the existing organisational culture and practices.
After my joining, I was sent for the induction program. This program is having the number of training given to me such as first aid training, RSA training, housekeeping training, security training and fire training. Thus, I was given training not only relating to my job profile but also for added requirements. This is denoting the diversity of the induction program by covering more substantial organisational requirements. It should also be noted that the induction program of Ovolo hotels is being designed in such a way that it will include the product knowledge along with the organisational competencies of the employees. This is important due to the reason that according to the human resource concept of recruitment on-boarding of the new employees, it is essential for the organisation to assist the new employees in getting accustomed with the existing organisational practices and processes. In the case of the Ovolo hotels, first, two days of the training program are being entirely for the induction purposes and gradually the on the job training program is initiated in the following days. In the first day of the induction, I was given the tour of the entire premises along with the introduction to the existing housekeeping department and their staffs. This helped me in gaining an understanding of the departments and also got introduced with the current teams. On the other hand, they also got to know about me and will not in any awkward position upon my arrival in the department. Apart from the introduction with the housekeeping department, I was also given the tour of the conference room, laundry, pool, steam room and storage. This was also important for me due to the reason that being a housekeeping staff, and I should know the private premises and route map.
The next day of the induction program was for gaining the product knowledge and service delivery approach. This helped me in learning the basic understanding of the service offerings of the organisation and how the customers are being managed. Being working in the service sector, it is essential for me to align with the organisational approach of service delivery and providing the best possible service to the customers. One of the significant features of the induction program of Ovolo hotels is the involvement of the front office manager and food and beverage department. This helped me in gaining knowledge about the competencies of the organisation and the justification of their particular approach of service delivery. According to the different authors, it is essential for the employees to have the favourable understandings about the organisational strategy. In this case, the front office manager briefed me about the service delivery process, and in the following stages, it will help me in providing the services accordingly. I addition, I also observed that employees of Ovolo hotels are cooperative towards the new ones and this is assisting them in maintaining the positive vibe.
However, it is recommended that the first day of the induction should have the provision of meeting with the top level management. This is due to the reason that leadership level roles are having the maximum influence on the employees and in the case of the new employees; they will get more motivated in their workplace. Also, I also recommend that the induction program should also have a certain allocated period for new employees to have the free conservation with their fellow employees. I think this will help the new employees in creating a comfort zone in the new environment and can build a good rapport with others.
3. As discussed in the previous response, there are different and diverse training being given to me as well as to the other new joiners. One of the significant features of the training program of Ovolo hotels is the training of alcohol serving for the bar service. Even though this service is not directly related to the housekeeping service, it is helping the new employees including me in having multiple skills and competencies. Thus, also of my housekeeping job, I will be competent enough to also work in the bar in case of any requirements. Also, the training for the housekeeping job was having the duration of 10 days. In these ten days, the majority of the time and resources are focused on the practical works. From the very first day of the training, the housekeeping job was divided between houseman, public area and room attendant with having different sets of responsibilities. The entire practice of the housekeeping jobs is being supervised by the housekeeping manager, assistant housekeeper and supervisor. Thus, it helped in maintaining the existing service standards of the organisation along with equipping the new employees accordingly. Particular time is also being allocated to me in the housekeeping training program to maintain the punctuality in the job. From the fourth day of the training, positions are being awarded under the supervision of the manager.
Apart from these training facilities, workplace health and safety training is also being provided to me. The primary objective of providing this training is to make aware the employees about the health and safety standards to be maintained in the workplace. Also, it should also be noted that housekeeping services involve some potential occupational risks that should have been mitigated. In conclusion, it is observed by me that the training given will be useful for me regarding my workplace efficiency and in the providence of the highest level of service to the customers. Another primary instruction given to me was about the security of the premises. This is relevant and important in the current global scenario due to the reason that issues such as theft and terrorism are on the rising and it is essential for all the staffs to secure the safety of the guest to a certain extent.
However, on the other hand, some differences are being identified by me between the training program of Ovolo hotels and a leading hotel chain in Australia. Hilton hotel is one of the major hotel chains operating in the Australian market. Some of the friends are having their joining in Hilton, and thus I got to know about their training approach. One of the significant differences in the training program between the two brands is the focus. This is due to the reason that the primary objectives of the training program of Hilton are to align the individual perspectives of the new employees with the organisational approach (Verhoef & Lemon, 2013). By this intent, employees are given the training about the mission and vision of the organisation and how the employees can further enhance the brand value among the customers for the first few days. However, on the other hand, Ovolo hotels are focusing mainly on improving workplace skills and expertise. Thus, I was given training of housekeeping services over others. Therefore, in this case, the employees of Ovolo hotels will be useful in their respective job roles but will not be efficient enough in enhancing the satisfaction level of the customers. This is due to the reason that Hilton is more focused on improving the motivation and involvement level of the employees over the utility centred training approach of Ovolo hotels. Thus, it is one of the significant differences being identified between the training approach of the Hilton and Ovolo hotels.
Another significant difference is identified between the training program of Hilton and Ovolo hotels is duration. This is due to the reason that employees of Hilton are being given training in two phases. It is identified that training program of Hilton is classified as primary and secondary. In the first ten days of primary schooling, employees are given the foundation course, and in the following stages, the secondary training program is being initiated based on the feedback and actual performance of the employees. Thus, the employees are more equipped and trained before their work allocation. On the other hand, in the Ovolo hotels, only the first ten days of training are being provided to the new employees. Thus, the probability of giving enhanced training based on the feedback of the employees is less in Ovolo hotels.
4. The primary objectives of Ovolo hotels are to make the guests shine brightly that denotes providence of most effective and highest quality of the service to the customers. It is identified that they also aim to become a leading name in providing the lifestyle-oriented hospitality services to the customers. Also, they are also preparing in entering in the foreign markets also of their existing operations to enhance their global operations and brand value. Thus, the business objectives of Ovolo hotels states about their improved customer service as well as an increase in business operation. One of the primary strategies being initiated by them in attaining their business objectives is recruiting diverse employees (Blackburn, Hart & Wainwriight, 2013). This is helping in building a diverse workforce in place and the later stage; diverse workforce will be beneficial for catering to different customer segments across the world. Also, added workforce being recruited will be in the line of having more properties around the world. On the other hand, the more features they will have around the globe, the more diverse will be their target customer segments. In this case, the diverse workforce will help in meeting the different cultural factors of the customers.
The training program of Ovolo hotels is also designed by the objective of providing enhanced customer service. This is due to the reason that I have attended their entire training program and observed that every little detail in the customer service is being given focus. New employees are being made aware of how the little detail can make a difference in the entire process of customer service (Jehanzeb & Bashir, 2013). This characteristic of the training program of Ovolo hotels is in the line of providing the most detailed service to the customers. Thus, the employee-oriented approach of them is enabling in having rightly skilled employees in place to ensure the particular service level. Also, the employee adapted approach of them is also helping Ovolo hotels to have satisfied and qualified employees in place, which is, in turn, helping them to provide the active service to the customers.
By the business objective of market development, the service offerings of Ovolo hotels are also diverse. I have identified that in Australia, they are having different types of properties for different customer segments such as Ovolo laneways are inspired by famous street arts of Melbourne and provides more causal accommodation. On the other hand, Ovolo Woolloomooloo is more inspired by heritage and luxury, and it is mainly catering to the family segments. These diverse offerings of them are helping in targeting the different customer segments, and it will further help them to provide the different needs of the customers in foreign countries. Ovolo hotels have also taken a different route in communicating with their customers such as introducing lifestyle blog to supporting startups and entrepreneurship. This is helping them to have various streams of engaging with the potential customers. Ovolo hotels introduced Mojo Nomad for supporting the budding entrepreneurs and startups. Also, they are also having lifestyle blog known as The Silver Egg that provides information to the foodies and beachgoers.
Ovolo hotels also aim to have a positive social image among the target customers. This is due to the reason that in the current business scenario, the social perception of the brand determines its market potentiality in the long term. To gain positive social image, Ovolo hotels maintain extensive social responsibilities including fundraising programs and volunteering activities. This is helping them to create a positive image among the community they are operating along with enhancing the ethical values among the employees. The positive social image of Ovolo hotels in their existing market will further help them to penetrate in the foreign markets effectively. I have also observed that top level to lower level employees is involved in the initiation of the corporate social responsibility. This is further helping them in maintaining their social and ethical approach in the organisation. Thus, it can be concluded that strategies initiated by Ovolo hotels are well aligned with their business objectives, and it is helping them to gain competitiveness in their existing market of operation. On the other hand, their business strategies are also providing them with the opportunities to tap the growing business across the globe and enhance their business in the long term.
5. In the above response, the primary business objectives of Ovolo hotels are identified and analysed. However, to achieve the defined goals, coordination and productive relationships between the internal and external stakeholders is essential and this should be well aligned with the business strategies. This is due to the reason that according to Drori and Hoing (2013) that legitimacy between the internal and external stakeholders is the key to organisational success. The authors have also stated that if the approach of the internal and external stakeholders cannot be aligned, then the organisation will not have a universal plan. Also, I have also identified some factors concerning the stakeholder relationships in Ovolo hotel. Further analysis of these factors also of the academic views will help to determine the value of interrelationships between internal and external stakeholder in achieving the organisational goals.
According to Pinheiro (2015), external stakeholders are as relevant as internal stakeholders for contemporary business organisations mainly for the service sector organisations. This is due to the reason that external stakeholders are the only source of revenue for the organisations and in the case of the service sector organisations; customer service determines the extent of positive relationships with the external stakeholders. As discussed in the above response, one of the primary business objectives of Ovolo hotels is providing the highest level of service to the guests and by the individual choices and preferences of them. In this case, Ovolo hotels have initiated the strategy of equipping the employees using training and development in providing effective service to the customers. This strategy will get succeed only if the service providence of the employees is getting matched with the expectation of the customers. For instance, the service quality being initiated by the employees may not fulfil the hope of the customers, and thus the organisational objective of Ovolo hotels will not be achieved.
Regarding my department, the primary objective is to achieve the highest possible standard in housekeeping and room services for the guests. In doing so, I have been given training for providing the minute details of the housekeeping services to the guests. However, in this case, also, it is essential to have interrelationships between the employees and the guests. This is due to the reason that I have been given the training to provide service of a certain standard, but if this standard cannot get matched with the desired standard of the guests, then the departmental objective will not be achieved. According to Hawn and Loannou (2016), the interrelationship between the internal and external stakeholders is essential in the case of corporate social responsibility. This is due to the reason that corporate social responsibility being initiated by the organisations is being oriented and targeted towards the local community members and also requires the approval of the authority.
In the case of Ovolo hotels, I have observed that corporate social responsibilities of them involve fundraising programs, which will require the acceptance from the side of the targeted communities and approval of the authority. Thus, the more will be the relationship and coordination between the employees, leadership, cities and power, the more effective will be the process of the socially responsible activity. As discussed in the previous section, I have identified that top-level management to the bottom level employees is involved in Ovolo hotels in initiating the process of corporate social responsibilities. Thus, it is essential to have the productive relationship between the top level management and the lower level employees to ensure that that vision of the upper-level managers is well communicated to the employees. On the other hand, as stated by Korschun (2015), the interrelationship between the internal and external stakeholders is essential due to the reason that requirement of the targeted communities should be gathered and determined before the initiation of the socially responsible activities. This will ensure that the initiated activities will meet the exact requirements of the cities. Also, authorities are also included in the external stakeholders, and the relationship between the authorities and the top level managers will help to have the initiated activities being approved. Thus, it can be concluded that interrelationship between the internal and external stakeholders is essential in achieving the organisational objective of launching corporate social responsibilities.
Interrelationships between the internal and external stakeholders are also important in the case of employee training and development program. This is due to the reason that one of the primary objectives for Ovolo hotels is enhancing the skill sets of the employees to ensure the maximum level of productivity from them. According to Mishra, Boynton and Mishra (2014), relationships and connection between the stakeholders is essential for the initiation of a training and development program. This is due to the reason that in the case of designing the training program, it is necessary for the managers to have an understanding of the requirement of the employees. The primary objective of initiation of the training facility for the employees is to overcome their skill gap by enhancing their expertise. Thus, if the relationship between the employees and the upper-level management is not valid and proper, then it will difficult for the managers to design the right approach of training for the employees.
On the other hand, it is stated by Alt, Diez-de-Castro and Llorens-Montes (2015) that relationship between the external stakeholders such as the customers and managers is also essential for the initiation of the training facilities. This is due to the reason that in the service sector, managers should have the knowledge about the expectation and trend among the customers and should include these factors in the training program for the employees. This will help in meeting the objectives of having the right skills for the right employees and by the current market requirements. This will also help Ovolo hotels to meet the demand and expectations of the customers and enhance the level of satisfaction of them in the long term.
6. After the completion of my one-year internship journey with Ovolo hotels, I have identified some strengths and weaknesses of mine. I have judged myself by my performance as well as comparing my performance with that of other’s performance. One of the significant strengths of mine being is the ability to cross-cultural communication with others in the workplace. This is due to the reason that I have identified that I have been able to have more impressive ability over others including the colleagues and customers from different cultures and social background. This skill of mine was further got improved due to the reason that my home and country is different from where I am working. Thus, I have the idea about different cultural factors in different regions. In the case of the Ovolo hotels, this is being considered as my strength due to the reason that Ovolo hotels are operating in the service sector and communication will be the customers have a more significant influence on their customer service experience. Also, Ovolo Hotels have customers from different regions and cultural backgrounds. Thus, my skill of cross-cultural communication helped in effectively communicating with the customers and providing them with more personalised services.
According to Young and Schartner (2014), cross-cultural communication is mostly useful in the international scenario. This is due to the reason that in the global situation, individuals are more diverse regarding cultural and social backgrounds. Thus, the effectiveness of the cross-cultural communication will determine the extent to which coordination and connection can be maintained among the stakeholders. In this article, the authors have given the example of the international students, and in my case, the same is applicable in a diverse workplace.
Another major strength identified by me is managerial skills. This is due to the reason that I have lately identified that I have been able to coordinate with different workplace responsibilities and can properly manage them. Even though I have not been given any managerial roles in the workplace, but I have been able to better coordinate with my colleagues with different matters and have the ability to solve them. This also helped me in gaining different added expertise part from my core responsibilities. According to Laud, Arevalo and Johnson (2016), the contemporary approach of the managerial skills is different from that of the plans being maintained a decade ago. This is due to the change in the current business scenario and trends. Thus, further developing my strength of managerial skills will help me in becoming an ideal contemporary leader in future.
On the other hand, I have also identified a few weaknesses apart from the strengths. One of the significant gaps being identified by me is lack of practical experience in working in the service sector. This is mainly due to the reason that the majority of my colleagues are well ahead of me regarding years of workplace experience. Thus, I was trailing behind them in matching their competency in the workplace. This also reflected in my performance graph. Another weakness identified by me is more occurrence of an error in providing the service. This is may be due to the reason of my lack of experience. There are many instances occurred in this last one year where I committed an unexpected error in the service delivery process including in the housekeeping job and affected the entire customer service approach of the organisation. Also, I have also identified the mistakes being made by me are not expected and obvious instead it is due to lack of concentration in work properly. Thus, it should also have to be improved by me.
During placement, I have a few achievements of mine including getting the internship opportunity in Ovolo hotels. This is due to the reason that they are an international brand with good market presence even in Australia. Thus, getting the chance to work with them itself is an achievement. Another major success for me is getting rewarded as the best new employee of the quarter. This reflects my performance in the organisation and the extent to which I have contributed to enhancing the organisational value. Thus, I also consider this as an achievement of mine of participating in the success of an international brand such as Ovolo hotels (Krathu et al., 2015). The last result identified by me is the gaining of enormous experience, skills and expertise in 1 year. This will help me in developing my corporate skills further in the future along with supporting and complementing my domain knowledge to a large extent.
Based on my placement, I have identified that leadership is not only about leading the employees by the managers but includes other elements also such as determining their needs and issues, focusing on their welfare and maintain the effective interrelationships between the stakeholders. Thus, leadership is a complex subject, and an ideal leader should have the ability to keep all these elements along with having the visionary power for the future development of the organisation (Bolden, 2016). The market-oriented training program in Ovolo hotels is mainly for the visionary skills of the leaders. It is my ambition that in the next twelve months, I will strive to achieve more what I have done in my internship. I will target to secure a better permanent job in a renowned global hotel chain. I will leverage my domain knowledge along with this experience of working in the service industry. This will help me in pushing my career further and adding value to my resume.
In doing so, I have planned to attend different workshops on leadership and managerial skills. These workshops will help me in gaining more idea about the current trends and patterns of administration. Also, these workshops will have diverse sets of individuals, which will further help me in enhancing my cross-cultural communication skills. Attending workshops over depending only on books will help me in having more practical knowledge than just having domain understanding
Reference
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