The employers give more importance to the candidates who have diverse range of employability skills, which are aligned to the various job-specific attributes (Finch et al., 2016). I am aware of the fact that the employability skills are often known as the soft skills, which are favored by the job givers. The employers are looking for certain skills beyond their job qualifications that are personal attributes of an individual (Tomlinson, 2017). These skills would help the employees to deliver improved performance in the workplace. I have done quite market research on this aspect and find that the employability skills are generic in nature. I have done quite research on this aspect and have found these skills are common across all the industries and all job roles. When I was in academics, I was worried if I would ever get any placement since I was not very good in studies. I was an average student with less focus on studies. I was more inclined to physical education and sports during my school and college days. Hence, I was apprehensive about the fact of securing good placement. I was also aware of the fact that there was a large number student who was competing for getting the best possible placement from the universities.
I have secured a position in the “Intercontinental Sydney, 117 Macquarie Street, Club Lounge” and my job role is F&B attendant. I am thankful to God for giving me this opportunity, however, my journey has not been so easy. The Business Council of Australia (BCA) along with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has formulated certain employability skills for determining the right candidates that would be employed in the hospitality domain (ACCI, 2014). Communication is one of the most important skills that are required in the hospitality industry since it is a service oriented industry (Argenti, 2015). I possess a fairly good communication skill as my supervisors expect me to interact with the customers regarding the meal requests and this can be achieved only if I possess sufficient communication skills. I should also be able to interpret the information on different menu items, operational procedures and recipes. I would also be able to discuss any potential service or operational difficulties with my supervisors. Another employability requirement of the hospitality industry is the problem solving approach. I was able to crack the interview easily as I possess good communication skills and I was able to answer the questions in a tactical manner.
My employer would definitely want me to have a problem solving approach. The problem solving skills of a candidate helps in the development of innovative, creative and practical solutions which are important in a professional setting (Stephenson et al. 015). My employers would want that that I can identify the strengths of the team members and work upon the weakness of any member, which would hamper the fulfillment of the organizational goals. They also expect me to test assumptions and take into account the current circumstances. During my academic days, I was personally not good at solving problems. I was confused when bombarded with problem circumstances. But, I was previously employed with the Radisson Blue, where I gained some practical exposure with the problem solving skill. I was employed as Food and Beverage Assistant and reservation agent. This gave me the opportunity to deal with different difficult situations. Once, I got an angry customer in our hotel restaurant and he was yelling badly at our hotel staff for unclean table. I was active in the situation and listened to his issue. I apologized to the client and also offered him a free pudding, which made him satisfied. This made me to imbibe the problem solving skills and help me to secure my current job.
I also realized that I am good at planning and organizing things. I was able to collect as well as organize customers the time they reach the restaurant. This also makes me competent for this kind of jobs. My employers would expect me to plan for both daily activities as well as operational activities in a day to day basis, which I would be able to do well.
I was active in the selection process at the time of campus placements, since I wanted to secure a good future for myself. I was also serious about the fact that I need to maximum number of interviews so that I would be selected in any one organization. This would not only give me financial aid but it would also help me to secure my future.
I was placed at Intercontinental Sydney and I would thank God and my family members for the same. The hotel is strategically positioned on Macquarie Street, which is adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens and Circular Quay (InterContinental Sydney, 2017). This location has an excellent panoramic view of the Sydney Harbor. It is an elegant hotel, which is included in the main attractions of the city. This majestic building gives unique grace with all the modern amenities of a 5-star hotel. It has won several awards and accolades, which has awesome view and world class customer service. It has a breathtaking balcony terrace that is favorite place among the boarders. This property is an excellent place for accommodation, dining, meetings, events, promotions, celebrations and others.
The induction process at Intercontinental was a three-month process in which there is an integration policy. It focuses mainly on the management policy of the organization, training aspect, technical aspect and the various operating process that would be needed in day to day functioning (Salau, Falola & Akinbode, 2014). We were assigned respective mentors from the individual departments, who guided us throughout the induction period. The major steps in the induction process are discussed below-
I learnt from the induction process that the organization tried their best to give the best picture of the organization to the employees. However, I felt that there was still scope for improving the induction process. There was no departmental tour organized, which made it difficult for me to know new faces. This thing should be improved. I also feel that there should be more emphasis on the safety procedures. This is important especially if there is sudden emergency at the hotel such as onset of fire or any other sudden accident. I also feel that there should be a personal learning plan that should be made by the organization by taking into consideration the individual skills as well as expertise of the new employees. I also felt the need of more motivational sessions on which we would be oriented about how to deal with the work pressure. I would also prefer some sessions on the interpersonal issues and how to tackle them in an effective manner.
3: Evaluation of training in Intercontinental
Intercontinental Sydney believes in providing the best training program to the new candidates so that they can adjust with the organization as much as possible. I feel that the organization is competent for providing training to both the new employees as well as to the old employees. There are three basic steps that are being followed by the hotel for responding to the employee’s training needs-
The hotel authorities take initiatives to identify the need of training. I feel that this is a crucial step in the training process and should be undergone well. I have witnessed in this organization that it uses a variety of tools or techniques to assess the current skill set of the employees. The employees are being subjected to various degrees of tests such as observations, interviews, surveys and customer comment cards (Phillips & Phillips, 016). I have seen that customer dissatisfaction often forms the basis for identifying the needs of the training. This is due to the fact that the customers interact with the hotel staffs and when they find inadequate communication or improper behavior, then they give negative feedbacks for the organization. This identifies the areas on which the concerned employees need to be trained. The other areas of employee attributes such as low productivity, low motivation and others are also being addressed by the organization. The employees who are not motivated to work in the workplace are being given motivational trainings and career counseling. I have seen that the organization does its best for provide training to the employees so that there is a subsequent reduction in the attrition rate. This is done by determining the actual training needs and determining the skills, expertise and knowledge needed by the employees to improve their overall performance. The needs analysis of Intercontinental focuses on the identification of major questions related to training such as- Why, What, When, Who, Where and How. I have seen that the needs analysis is the basic foundation of the training undertaken to improve employee performance.
After the successful performance of the needs analysis in previous step, the organization engages in the development of the standard operating procedures for training and identifying the skill sets required to develop the employee. They engage in formulating a clear and transparent job description which is directly proportional to the job responsibilities shared by the employees. This step also comprises of the preparation of the training content and the training time required by the organization. The organization also tries to incorporate the various soft skills required to be successful in hospitality profession. The organization also engages in deciding the
I have seen that after the formulation of the training manuals, the organization designs trainers accordingly and the actual training process is formulated. The hotel authorities decide upon the type of delivery of the training process. I have observed that there are some characteristics that are identified for the purpose of selecting the best trainer. I think that the organization should emphasize on the qualities of an effective leader and designate him to train the underperformers or the new employees. I have seen that the organization has selected several tools of delivering training such as on-the-job training, face to face training, workshops and seminars for providing training to the members.
I have found that this training program lacks a last step, which is implemented in several other hospitality organizations. The evaluation of the training program is not done in this organization, which is vital for assessing the effectiveness of the training program. The other organizations use different kinds of customer surveys, cost benefit analysis, increase in the customer satisfaction levels and increase of profits for assessing the effectiveness of the training program (Kalinoski et al., 2013). The evaluation of the training program would help in the performance of the trainers and help them to design the future programs. This kind of evaluations also helps in the determination of the overall effectiveness of the training program and how it has benefitted the organization. This would also enable the organization to determine the customer satisfaction rates, value of the employees, economic realities and others.
4: Business objectives and formulation of strategy
The business objectives of Intercontinental revolve around the fact that the organization focuses on high-quality growth so that the diverse portfolio of the different brands are considered (www.icsydney.com.au). It also strives to undertake their action in a responsible manner. The last few years have shown that the hotel has maintained itself in a strategic position and be a global sphere. Intercontinental Sydney has focused on the income stream with strong emphasis on the cash generation tactics such as third-party investments (www.icsydney.com.au). It). The business objectives of the brand is stated as under-
The formulation of suitable business strategy is important for the fulfillment of the business objectives. The company is known for its reputed brand of hotels and extensive reservation system that makes it a market leader. The strategy of the business is such that it has sufficient opportunities of growing and sustaining in the competitive market landscape. The brand believes in delivering the best services to its customers and strives to hire the best manpower in the market (Bamberger, Biron & Meshoulam, 2014). The hotel has the best recruitment as well as selection process in which the best talent is selected from a pool of talents. This increases the operational efficient of the hotels and there is a subsequent increase in the customer satisfaction.
The company has always used extensive promotional campaigns so that they are able to be visible in the target audience. The franchises of the hotel have to pay a hefty amount to the central funds every year (InterContinental Sydney, 2017). The company has engaged in various kinds of promotional activities such as television advertising, brand sponsorships and various public relations (Thorson & Moore, 2013). The hotel is strived to incorporate the best technological platform in their systems and hence fulfill their business objective of incorporating a high degree of technological advancements. It has several global reservation offices which are available to accept hotel bookings from the guests 24 hours a day in over 26 languages. There is also a major web presence of the hotel in which it takes over 7.4 million bookings every year (O’Connor, 2016). The hotel has started the global reservation system in which there is an introduction of the advanced reservation system. These strategies are designed a better technological edge for the company.
The company strives to make valuable insights into the way consumers receive, perceive and interpret data for the services provided by the hotel. This is being achieved by the company through the use of exclusive channels from various regional, global and local sources. Intercontinental aims to have sustainable growth process so that there is sufficient scope for the creation of profitability (Roy et al., 2014). The brand engages in effective channel management, which emphasizes on the superior shareholder returns, which take place through considerable time period. There is also a superior shareholder management in which the company is able to manage all it shareholders in a major way.
The hotel is successful in providing a wide range of services for the customers with varying needs. There are various offerings of the hotel ranging from the overnight gateway, family celebration, weekend destination, party spot, seminars and extending to marriage location (Koutoulas, 2016). A wide range of the client needs are being satisfied by the hotel by their diversified services. It also caters to a large number of target audiences ranging from the upper class to the affluent class.
5: Interrelationship between internal and external stakeholders
I have found out that the organization Intercontinental believes in the fact that it is important to communicate effectively with all the stakeholders and strike a balance between them (V?duva et al., 2016). There are multiple stakeholders of the Food and Beverage Department, which includes both the internal as well as external. The stakeholders are affected by the internal as well as external environmental factors. The internal stakeholders of the organizations include the suppliers, creditors and employees (Benavides-Velasco, Quintana-García & Marchant 2014). There are certain external stakeholders of the organizations such as activist groups, catering groups, public communities, customers and others. I have seen that my hotel maintains a good relationship between the external entities so that the organizational objectives are being fulfilled. I have seen that my supervisors give importance to the demands of both internal as well as external stakeholders. One of the most important methods of building good relationships between the stakeholders is implementing a transparent communication channel (Tang, Amran & Goh, 2014). I have witnessed in my earlier organization there is the formulation of both internal as well as internal communication channel. The internal stakeholders are informed with the help of different communication tools such as intranet, emails, notice boards, bulletin boards and others. The external stakeholders of the firm comprises of telephone, fax, mail and face to face communication. The external communication also comprises of the public relation, which often takes place with the help of effective public relations (Cornelissen & Cornelissen, 2017). I have seen that communication strengthens the relationship between the stakeholders and they are able to transfer their feelings and information easily.
It is imperative for the organizations to maintain amicable relationships between various kinds of stakeholders, which would help in the fulfillment of the business objectives. The effective stakeholder management would help in the better management of the organizational resources (McQuail & Windahl, 2015). This would help in the better task management and better delegation of the complex tasks. I have observed that when my manager didn’t have the time to do a presentation, he often asked his most engaged operations manager to give that on his behalf. I found that this is an excellent tool of doing the job duty well while fulfilling the organizational objectives. This would not have been possible without proper stakeholder management and maintaining adequate communication with all groups of the stakeholders. This is possible as my supervisor maintains amicable relationship with all the internal stakeholders and helps them as and when required. I have seen the creation of a mutually benefitting relationship between the internal and external stakeholders, which has benefitted the organization in several ways. I have also noticed the fact that effective stakeholder management often reduces the risks inherent in the organization. The more engaged stakeholders can help the organization to determine major risks when implementing a new project or initiative (Wicks & Harrison, 2017). In my earlier experience, my hotel authorities decided to introduce a new range of desserts which had high calorie content. However, the head chef suggested that this should be replaced with a dessert with low fat content, as most of the customers coming in the hotel opting for healthy foods since they believe in being physically fit.
The interrelationships between the stakeholders are important for increasing the perception of success in the organizations (Weiss, 2016). The engaged stakeholders would perceive the organizational success in a greater manner instead of the time when they are being neglected. I have also seen that such enriching inter-relationships also make the organizational project closure much easier. This is because of the fact that the enlightened stakeholders are aware of the major milestones of the project and the important information regarding any particular project. In my earlier organization, there was the organization of “2 days culinary festival” in which there was participation of more than 20 chefs. I thought that there would be large number of chaos in such a big event, but it went down smoothly. This was due to the fact that the all the stakeholders engaged in the festival was highly motivated, informed and they participated fully in the event. This helped in the successful closure of the event.
The effective stakeholder management also helped in the achievement of the business strategies outlined in the previous step. The better stakeholder management would also help in the fulfillment of the value creation of the organization. This stakeholder’s engagement would also help in the effective channel management as there would be more integration, coordination and support among the different stakeholders. A better coordination with the IT personnel of the organization would help in the better incorporation in the IT technology of the firm.
6: Self-evaluation
I have evaluated a thorough performance check and have found put interesting insights about myself. My self-analysis is elaborated as under-
One of my biggest strengths is that I have good communication skills. During my placement, I found out that I am able to communicate well with my interviewers. When I was asked questions in the interview process, I was able to articulate my feelings and open up about my actual understanding. I was able to answer the questions in a proper manner by utilizing all the knowledge and skills. I was able to use my expertise to instantly think and answer the various tricky questions that were presented to me. I was also able to handle a lot of questions asked to me at the same time. I had to face panel interviews and hence had skills to handle multiple questions at the same time. I am also good at having patience. I have high levels of patience and I do not display impatient behavior. During my placement time, I appeared for several interviews for different companies. However, I was unable to crack the interviews in the initial stage since I lacked some basic hospitality knowledge. But still, I had the patience and hoped that I would get a good job soon. So, with God’s grace I got myself placed at Intercontinental. I also have active listening skills which are important for surviving in the hospitality industry. When I am taking orders from customers, it is important that I listen to them and listen to all their minute details.
I have identified that I have certain areas for improvements, which would help me to gain good professional excellence. I need to improve my planning as well as organizing skills. I was not able to plan for my interviews or failed in my interview preparation, for which there was a delay in getting job. I trust people easily for which I would not be able to proceed well in my professional endeavor. There are times when I trust the wrong people and this lands me up in trouble. I am also bad in time management, which is one of the most important skills in today’s world. If I am not able to manage my time and devote it equally to all my activities, then I would not be successful in my professional sphere. This also prevents me from finishing my work on time. I would like to devote my time equally among number of different attributes and work so that no single work is affected. This would also ensure that I would be able to able to do all my pending work in stipulated time frame.
I would also like to improve on my skills of teamwork. I lack the skills of working with a team and become shy when there are many members working in a single team. It is true that I am able to work independently but when it comes to several group members, I am unable to perform well. I become apprehensive of the fact that what should I speak and this hampers my team building skills. I know in hospitality industry, it is important to work together and hence I should focus more on team building skills.
My biggest achievement during the placement was that I was able to interact with a large number of industry representatives. I am fortunate enough to get good industry exposure and this has made me network well with people. Before, I was apprehensive to talk to people and I have learnt networking skills during the placement season. I have become more analytical and I am successful in extracting the crux of the matter. One of the biggest achievement during the placement session was that I was consecutively selected for three different hospitality ventures, but eventually finalized Intercontinental. Initially, I was not being selected in any interview but after that I was selected for three companies, which made me feel happy. I couldn’t believe the fact that I was so good in my interviews, which made the interviewers to select me. It is true that I would be able to select only one company for doing the job but I think this is one of my greatest achievement during the placements.
I have learnt that organizational leadership is important and I should possess leadership qualities if I wish to be in managerial position. It is to motivate, manage and direct team members so that they can fulfill the organizational objectives. I have learnt that the leaders should prove as an excellent example to his team which would make them to give more output. I have also learnt that it is important for a leader to choose the best option among the available source of options. I was presented with several jobs but still chose the best job at Intercontinental since I felt that this job would give me the biggest career growth. It is also important to communicate well with the interviewers or any official person as I have seen this during my placement session.
I am at present recruited as the Food and Beverage Assistant in my selected organization. I want to be promoted to the level of Food and Beverage Manager in the coming 12 months. I feel that I am competent enough to occupy this position. I want to achieve my goals through consistency, hard work, dedication and effective leadership. I have to prove my worth and contribute to the betterment of the organization. In this way, I can achieve my goals. I have to work on the problem solving qualities and I should be able to solve the problems of my team. If I am unable to solve my own problem or my team’s issues, then I would not be able to be a good manager.
References
Argenti, P. A. (2015). Corporate communication. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). (2014). Employ outside the box: the business case for employing Indigenous Australians.
Bamberger, P. A., Biron, M., & Meshoulam, I. (2014). Human resource strategy: Formulation, implementation, and impact. Routledge.
Benavides-Velasco, C. A., Quintana-García, C., & Marchante-Lara, M. (2014). Total quality management, corporate social responsibility and performance in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 41, 77-87.
Cornelissen, J., & Cornelissen, J. P. (2017). Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice. Sage.
Finch, D. J., Peacock, M., Levallet, N., & Foster, W. (2016). A dynamic capabilities view of employability: exploring the drivers of competitive advantage for university graduates. Education+ Training, 58(1), 61-81.
InterContinental Sydney. (2017). InterContinental Sydney. Retrieved 4 September 2017, from https://www.icsydney.com.au
Kalinoski, Z. T., Steele?Johnson, D., Peyton, E. J., Leas, K. A., Steinke, J., & Bowling, N. A. (2013). A meta?analytic evaluation of diversity training outcomes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(8), 1076-1104.
Koutoulas, D. (2016). Selecting a partner chain by the hotel. The Routledge Handbook of Hotel Chain Management, 406.
McQuail, D., & Windahl, S. (2015). Communication models for the study of mass communications. Routledge.
O’Connor, P. (2016). Distribution channel management in hotel chains. The Routledge Handbook of Hotel Chain Management, 251.
Phillips, J. J., & Phillips, P. P. (2016). Handbook of training evaluation and measurement methods. Routledge.
Roy, S., Roy, S., Mohapatra, S., & Mohapatra, S. (2014). IHCL’s menu of hotels: competing for the Indian hotelscape. The CASE Journal, 10(2), 171-184.
Salau, O. P., Falola, H. O., & Akinbode, J. (2014). Induction and staff attitude towards retention and organizational effectiveness. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM), 16(4), 47-52.
Stephenson, T. J., Mayes, L., Combs, E. M., & Webber, K. (2015). Developing communication skills of undergraduate students through innovative teaching approaches. NACTA Journal, 59(4), 313.
Tang, Y. H., Amran, A., & Goh, Y. N. (2014). Environmental management practices of hotels in Malaysia: stakeholder perspective. International Journal of Tourism Research, 16(6), 586-595.
Thorson, E., & Moore, J. (Eds.). (2013). Integrated communication: Synergy of persuasive voices. Psychology Press.
Tomlinson, M. (2017). Introduction: Graduate Employability in Context: Charting a Complex, Contested and Multi-Faceted Policy and Research Field. In Graduate Employability in Context (pp. 1-40). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
V?duva, S., Alistar, V. T., Thomas, A. R., Lupi?u, C. D., & Neagoie, D. S. (2016). Stakeholders’ Management. In Moral Leadership in Business (pp. 45-75). Springer International Publishing.
Weiss, J. W. (2016). Business Ethics: A Stakeholder & Issues Management Approach, 2014. Cyrus Chronicle Journal, 1(1), 66-69.
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