What does HR mean to you? Hospitality and catering is all aboutdelivering the best food and the best service. To do that, we need thebest people in the industry. Our business has doubled in size over thepast few years and, moving forward, we have further ambitions in termsof growth. We know there is real competition for talent in our industry.So the emphasis for our human resources department has to be onattracting good people at all levels, developing teams to empower themto deliver and retaining them by satisfying their professionalaspirations wherever possible.
How does good HR help your bottom line? Our own business growth providesopportunities for our people. HR supports that growth through managedsuccession planning and talent management in order to steady our peopleenough to take the next step when the opportunity arises.
Recruitment and selection is critical to our business. We know this canoften be an expensive process and that it is not without risk. Our humanresources team supports our recruitment and selection procedures throughboth local initiatives and a centralised recruitment department in orderto source the best candidates possible and to mitigate costs. HRprovides valuable advice and guidance to our management team throughboth a central helpdesk and through a dedicated HR team that provideshands-on support where necessary.
What do you look for in a good recruit? Whether we are looking forsomeone to be customer-facing or to work behind the scenes, the abilityto provide great customer service and act as a good team player isessential to all of our positions. Although craft skills are clearlyimportant, enthusiasm and energy are often as important as technicalskills which, in many cases, can be easily developed.
The company has great ambition and we look for people who have anappetite to grasp new opportunities as they arise. So personal ambitionand a commitment to success is a vital requirement.
What's the biggest HR cock-up you have ever seen? I once worked in acompany which grew quickly but there was insufficient attention paid tosupporting that growth by investing in its people. It was so busy doingwhat it thought was important that it failed to communicate changeseffectively to existing staff. This resulted in considerable disruptionto the business and a certain amount of ill-feeling, which took its tollon staff morale and retention.
