By Dr S. Sri Kumar
COLUMN: The hospitality industry has a great opportunity to create a trained, youthful workforce that empowers young people to find stability in their lives. The hospitality industry is a major employer of people aged 17 to 24.
The industry as a whole has the capacity to provide thousands of jobs for this age group. And every hospitality business big or small, including yours, can do its part. Hospitality Industry has always seen an uphill task of attracting youths due to the insufficient approach towards providing information as to what the industry as to offer.
In the past, a career in the hospitality industry was guaranteed to offer a floodgate of opportunities streaming in one’s direction and experiencing the different landscape of the industry.
Hospitality is an important industry for any nation, and it allows one to travel, within the country and also abroad. As an employee of the industry the main purpose is to create memories but young talent are not aware of the offerings brought forward by the Industry.
Hence, the first and foremost thing is to make them aware of opportunities and attract them to work in this industry to fulfil their long-term goals. Investing in young talent in the hospitality industry is important not only for the growth and sustainability of the industry but also for young people and the society in which they are residing.
In the absence of this investment, the productive potential of a generation will remain untapped. Youth today is not aware of the opportunities available in this industry. They consider it as a halfway job. This lack of information about the good job opportunities available in this industry leads more employees to leave jobs after working for some time in the industry.
The industry should try to give more information to people about the industry and how it helps to build the career of young talent. Many people enter the industry without having sufficient skills that are required for a job. Thus, it leads to a mismatch of skills that are required by an employer and what is delivered by an employee. Also, create placement opportunities for youth who are pursuing an internship in the industry.
This not only helps youth gain knowledge and skills requirements for the industry but helps to build their confidence. In developing countries like India, we see that among all sectors of travel and tourism, the hotel industry can be most likely to improve the economic condition of people.
Creating jobs and training youth can substantially improve the lives of people, their families, and their communities.
Organisation that provides pre-employment training and on-job training help to attract and retain youth and hence bring sustainability. With your hospitality business, you have the chance to skill youths up in ways that will serve them for the rest of their professional lives.
Hospitality work is the perfect training ground to teach young people soft skills, such as how to:
- work in a team
- communicate effectively
- problem solve
- take responsibility
- provide exceptional customer service
- remain professional
Hospitality also provides a great way for young employees with little academic background to find an entry-level job with reliable pay and safe working conditions. Quality service plays a huge role in determining whether your business will be a success or a flop, so it’s always a good idea to invest in your employees’ skill sets.
Mentoring and apprenticeships provide longer-term, hands-on skills development. and also offer online training modules to get your staff quickly up to speed on certain skills.
By investing in younger people and helping them prepare for employment, your business can make an incredible contribution both to local youth and the local community. Providing these opportunities can help increase staff loyalty to your business as well as engagement in their job.
You could tackle poor turnover and foster great relationships with young adults who could eventually become your business manager. The industry should try to build a belief, values, and attitude that defines the hospitality establishment, henceforth employees will feel the privilege to be a part of them.
The industry should look in providing flexible working hours to its staff, which leads to more productivity of employees. After opening young people’s eye we should make it easier for them to apply for the job. Today’s generation lack patience, they have distinct expectations from their workplace and want things to happen quickly and results known as soon as possible.
Create ways so that people can easily apply for a job and directly take their face-to-face interview.
We can conclude that, for the growth of both youth and the hospitality industry we need to attract young talent and we have to make people aware of the opportunities available and develop them accordingly.
Dr S. Sri Kumar is the President Malaysian Hospitality Association