TALENT & RECRUITMENT


available to them. “Mr Sintès and the team are then launching the Career Question, which is ‘where do you want to see yourself in Mandarin Oriental, or in hospitality?’. From this, we will have really effective data, so we can sit with colleagues and map out a really good plan.” The London hotel’s plan will link with


the company’s global strategy, whereby the Hong Kong-based chief operating officer Christoph Mares and senior executive team have a key supporting role in talent development at Mandarin Oriental. Rising stars have the opportunity to


Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park


sector, represented by the British Hospitality Association (BHA), has been vocal about the impact of Brexit and the uncertainty currently faced by EU nationals working in the UK. “Every meeting we go to as HR directors;


this subject arises,” said Jon Dawson. “We are working very closely with the BHA on taking action. “However, it is difficult for us at the


moment to put in any robust measures because of the uncertainty. “One thing we can all do, and what we


are working particularly hard on here, is to focus much more on retaining people. I think that, in hospitality in general, it’s been too easy for us to just go on recruiting. “What Brexit is going to do is make us


focus more on the retention aspects and the question ‘what can we do to really engage our talent so they don’t want to leave us?’ It’s going to mean a paradigm shift for how we think. A lot of our strategies here at Mandarin Oriental next year are really going to focus on that. “As we’re in Knightsbridge and


recognised with the very best in the luxury market, we have a strong brand presence, but recruitment is still going to be a challenge. As an industry, we need to go a lot more to UK schools and colleges, and the grass roots, and not just focus so much on the traditional hotel schools. “We need to promote the industry better in the UK as a great place to work.”


Planning for the future With Brexit and the retention piece in mind, the 10-strong HR team, which was formed under Jon Dawson in 2016, has created, and are now implementing, a three-year HR plan to support the business before, during and after the refurbishment. This


includes detailed workforce


planning for the first phase, where the headcount had to be reduced, to where the hotel is now at the beginning of the build- up recruitment phase, and putting in the foundations for a revitalised engagement strategy to secure retention ahead of the building project’s completion in 2018. In the next three to six months, Jon


Dawson and his team, including his HR manager and a head of talent and capability, will introduce a new payroll, HR, learning and development (L&D), talent acquisition and capabilities strategy. “This


year is really about the


proposition we want to launch to the team: ‘here is our promise to you’. There’s a lot of work and conversations that will go into that, Mr Dawson explained. “We have partnered with an outside


supplier who I have worked with in the past. They are coming here in November and December to do a sense-check with all our colleagues by face-to-face interviews and questionnaires. This stage is also to check where


they feel we are with our vision of being relevant and different. From that, we’ll then build a strategy from January about where we are in our field. “One of the areas I’m really passionate


about is the whole package, rewards and benefits in the context of Brexit: what we promise and our colleagues’ growth. “The new core system is also going to do


some really interesting things around career and development. In the old Mandarin Oriental, you had a rota on an outdated system. Now, our employees have an app; they can see the rota, they can sign in, and they choose their shifts and holidays. “Now, with my L&D manager, we are


launching the learning and development phase, where people can also see what training and development are relevant and


shadow executive board members; an arrangement that also facilitates reverse mentoring.


The value of employer brand Ultimately, building an employer value proposition that reflects the hotel’s world- class luxury hotel status makes recruiting the right people relatively straightforward, believes Mr Dawson. “There are some amazing hotel and catering brands out there. When you talk about the value proposition for the employees, you’ve got to be so strong,” he said. “I also look at the talent strategy for


each of our different employee segments,” he explained. Mr Dawson is working with recruitment channels in the spa industry, including magazines and specialist recruiters, ahead of the relaunch. “A one-size-fits-all approach to


recruitment doesn’t work any more in hospitality. If you want to find people looking to work in the best hotel, spa or restaurant in the world, then you target where those people are now, and market the company’s recruitment that way. “Talking Brexit, we’re focusing so much


on the attraction piece, and I see us moving much more to the retention piece in the next few years,” concludes Mr Dawson. “My advice to people in my position


is, don’t be afraid to take risks and do something different. Ask yourself what the purpose is and why you are doing it. “For us, it all goes back to the guests.


When the refurbishment is complete next year, I hope that, as well as having an amazing product, it will be the people that will really shine through. I’m confident we are going to achieve that.”


Learn more about creative talent recruitment at the Festival of Global Mobility Thinking, on 11 May 2018, London.


28 | Re:locate | January 2018


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