News & Stories
Munich. Sabrina S. Gambino-Kreindl and her brother Alessandro A. Gambino want to operate and upgrade the successful but inconspicuous traditional hotels in future. They do not have to be family businesses, but hotels with style and potential. On July 1, 2009, the two former Astron Hotels employees leased their first 3-star hotel at Munich Central Station. This was the visible foundation stone of a new hotel group: gambino Hotels. With their idea, the two occupy another market niche. Further projects are already under negotiation.
Singapore. In these days, communication is the number one issue among Human Resources experts. At a roundtable at Singapore's Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management in May a good part of the discussion centred on methods of communication and how best to get key messages across to employees today. The overall impression was: All international hotel groups face similar challenges and choose similar tools to talk to staff.
Augsburg. Hoteliers are not "greedy" and their bonuses are not "obscene". Such words have often been used through the course of recent months with reference to the managers of ailing banks and have given rise to hefty public debate - especially when the banks were at the same time cashing in rescue payments funded by the taxpayer. Top managers of European hotel companies occasionally look to America with envy when the heads of listed hotel groups leave the companies they once worked for with a golden parachute. In Europe, things are more moderate. hospitalityInside.com asked managing directors of various hotel groups how they are remunerated and what system should generally be applied in order to determine staff pay.
London. Chief Executive Officers pay continues to be a highly scrutinized topic, especially in today's economic environment. The experts of the international consultancy HVS argue that when compensation programming is done correctly, a CEO's pay should be based on performance relative to his or her peers.
Duesseldorf. Konen & Lorenzen, a personnel agency for the hotel, restaurant and tourism industry, is currently conducting a pay survey of all specialist and management posts in the German hotel industry. The agency requests your cooperation!
Dubai. The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, the Arab world's leading educational institution in the field of hospitality and tourism, will offer a new study programme as of October 2009: Master of Science in International Hospitality Management. It is the first of its kind in the Gulf region.
Munich. Following on from their fleet of company cars and their IT systems, more and more companies are considering outsourcing certain human resource tasks. In particular, "recruitment process outsourcing", RPO for short, seems to be growing in appeal as a cost-saving device - especially in crisis times such as these. Critics view the process with scepticism. The acquisition of staff is a core competence, they are quick to remind. External service providers often lack the feel for the particular industry as well as the proper understanding for the emotional process. A discussion which is also relevant in the hotel industry.
Munich. In order to secure the best talents in an increasingly competitive environment, ever more companies are working on their "employer branding" - on their brand as employee. Discussions on employer image are also more common in the hotel industry. Nevertheless, anyone looking to see what approaches or activities are behind the trend generally finds only empty or superficial answers.
Munich. Ever more job applicants are finding the internet to be a significant stumbling block, or better said, the internet is the stumbling block they don't know about. A fifth of Human Resources managers admit that dubious internet findings can reduce an applicant's chances of employment - despite best qualifications. Around one third of managers already search the net for additional information using new person search engines. The chances of a mix up are high.
Duesseldorf. The crisis can be an opportunity in the "war for talent". In the current economic climate, many international companies are choosing to pursue a strategy of anti-cyclical recruitment. This is the finding of an international study which surveyed almost 500 international companies, most of which recorded annual sales in excess of 1 billion USD. According to the study, 42 percent of companies have geared up their recruitment of qualified personnel who have lost their jobs elsewhere. A further 27 percent have gone one step further and are attempting to use the crisis to their advantage in poaching qualified staff from their competitors.