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Any hospitality company worth its salt is looking to develop its people – whether for internal promotion or to give them the tools they need to move on to a head of department role elsewhere. Arguably, then, the first thing you should check as an ambitious junior manager is whether your employer fits the bill. We took a look at what some cutting-edge companies are doing to develop their people – and we find out what qualities you need to get their attention. Rosalind Mullen reports


T


he heady uncertainty around Brexit is just one of many reasons why employ- ers in the hospitality industry are keener than ever to ensure their junior managers have the tools to progress into senior roles. That said, the happy truth is that demand for talented future leaders is strong whatever the background political noise, because companies at the sharp end recognise good managers are crucial to the growth of their businesses. Simon Coulson, director of human


resources at the 160-bedroom Hotel Café Royal, London, says: “Brexit aside, it is imperative that hospitality businesses focus on not only the continuous development of existing heads of departments (HoDs), but also identify future leaders at supervisor/entry levels and provide the necessary learning for them to step into their manager’s shoes at the right time.” Underlining the importance of HoDs to the five-star property, he says: “They are the lifeblood of Hotel Café Royal – these are the women and men who run the business from day to day and have the most influence on decisions involving guests. It is vital that this group are part of the hotel’s overall deci- sion-making process and have input into the strategic direction of the business.” He does add, however, that Brexit is mak-


ing it more imperative than ever for employers to nurture strong managers. “Succession


Aspire | The Caterer


planning and the identification of high performers, combined with setting these colleagues up to succeed, is the only way hospi- tality businesses will thrive once the full impact of Brexit is realised,” says Coulson. Judging from the high quality of slick in- house training The Caterer has found out there, companies are clearly competing hard to attract or retain aspiring managers. Progres- sive companies such as Firmdale Hotels, for instance, ensure female staff get the flexible working patterns they need to juggle childcare and get to the top. Many of the general manag- ers in the eight London properties are women and there are eight female deputies. The luxury hotel group also prides itself on promoting a third of its employees a year. Operations director Anna Jackson says: “We have an unrelenting focus on promoting from within and ensure that onboarding, develop- ment and apprenticeship initiatives support this focus. As we continue to expand our port- folio of properties, every hotel opening will create management roles and pathways to support internal moves.” So what’s new on the training scene? Well, this year, Hotel Café Royal launched its first HoD development programme, a full-day work- shop on delegation and leadership led by an external consultant. Not only were participants encouraged to think about how their role fits into


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overall hotel management, they also learned how to improve their skills on a daily basis. As part of this process, the managers devise their own capabilities matrix. The next step is to invite their staff to evaluate them against these, providing a safe space for hon- esty with each other. Following the initial workshop, HoDs meet monthly to discuss everything from quality con- trol to P&L and are offered more workshops, including finance and HR management, to fur- ther enhance their accountability and enable them to have ownership of the business. They are also assigned a senior leader as a mentor. A similar programme helps supervisors – the number twos in the department – to


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