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This article is brought to you by Marco Polo Hotels – Hong Kong
The hotels support flexible and effective ways to cater to the expectations of the younger generation and support their personal development.
“Hiring the right talents is the key to tackling business challenges,” emphasises Cyrina Chan, Area Director Human Resources, Marco Polo Hotels – Hong Kong. These words ring true for a customer-oriented business like the hotel industry.
Operating in a fast-paced industry, Marco Polo Hotels – Hong Kong recognises the importance of keeping up with current trends and consumer behaviours for effective business strategies. Therefore, incorporating young talents, who are usually seen as creative and innovative, has always been a top priority for the hotels.
“We see the younger generation as one of our major sources of new ideas and inspirations,” says Cyrina. “Young talents contribute creative ideas and passion to our hotels. Recruiting and retaining outstanding and passionate young talents would definitely help take our business to the next level.”
However, given the relatively higher turnover rate for the younger generation, and different constraints brought on by the pandemic, recruiting and retaining young talents is no easy task. To tackle these challenges, Marco Polo Hotels – Hong Kong has taken up flexible and effective ways to develop suitable trainings and job rotations for young talents, address their expectations, and support their personal development.
This is all achieved through its unique one-stop hybrid recruitment experience, namely the ‘Hybrid Early Career Development’ programme. Under this programme, candidates are offered opportunities to explore their future working environment through a hotel tour during its Hybrid Recruitment Fair before making the decisions to apply for a job, helping them to make the best choice of which department/restaurant suits them the most.
To prevent losing potential good candidates to other companies and to improve hiring efficiency, interview procedures have been integrated in one day. Online recruitment talks and Zoom interviews are also available for overseas or local applicants who are unable to attend the on-site recruitment fair, enabling Marco Polo Hotels – Hong Kong to broaden its pool of quality candidates.
After identifying high-potential young hoteliers, they are placed into the hotel’s management trainee programme, which is bolstered with tailor-made training plans, intensive learning programmes, and business projects to allow them to rotate across different departments in the hotels, gaining a thorough understanding of how to manage a hotel.
(Left to Right) Dalip Singh, Area General Manager; and Cyrina Chan, Area Director of Human Resources, Marco Polo Hotels – Hong Kong
All these cannot be made possible without support from the management. “Management from different departments works together to develop suitable trainings and job rotations for young talents, catering for individual differences,” stresses Cyrina (pictured above). “We care about the feelings and needs of our employees, thus we communicate with them actively and regularly to understand and follow up on their personal development, supporting them through all kinds of challenges.”
The revamped management trainee programme has also shed light on the phenomenon whereby some associates, no matter whether from operations or the back office, do enjoy exploring different job roles in the hotels.
“In the future, we would provide more opportunities for our employees to work in different departments, and improve the agility of staff through cross-departmental projects,” affirms Cyrina. “This will also enhance mutual understanding and trust across different departments and facilitate collaborations.”
Seeing the role of HR evolving from mainly being an administrative role assisting the daily operations, to an important business partner in the company that helps the team solve business risks and challenges, Cyrina believes the key to success for HR leaders is in being adaptable and responsive.
“To tackle challenges triggered by COVID‑19 and the problem of high turnover rate, our HR leaders reacted to the situation swiftly by coming up with innovative changes to our traditional recruitment methods and staff development programmes, engaging outstanding young talents to nurture future management team,” she concludes.
“Moving forward, with signs of recovery visible and the anticipation of border reopening, we are preparing well for the exciting business opportunities. Our talents are equipped with multiple skills and knowledge to face any challenges and opportunities ahead.”
Photos / Marco Polo Hotels – Hong Kong
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