After the accession of my country (Cyprus) to the European Union, a huge number of EU citizens have been integrated in the local workforce, most of them in the tourism industry. It was not “bad”, I’d say it was inevitable, due to staff shortage, especially in high season, as well as the weakness of the country to anticipate and be prepared.
Taking into consideration that migrants around the world are usually people at low income, sometimes having difficulties to get a job in their countries, Hoteliers saw the opportunity to reduce labor costs, recruiting Europeans.
Hospitality occupations might sounds easy and probably most of us have experienced been a waiter, sometime in our lives. Even though we are dealing with a good person or a good professional, it is absolutely unprofessional to “throw” him/ her in the fire of the high season, without an induction training.
Facing a Chinese hospitable face in the Chinese hospitality industry is the expectation of a visitor in China, but facing a German hospitable face in China, treating you the German way probably sucks! Imagine if a guest ask the employee about the heritage culture of the country, or he is looking for places to visit, and the non local replies with something like “I am not from here. If you come to my country, there is a lot to see….! (true story)
Prepare your new employees for the new work environment following a training and orientation process. As a friend –hotel manager says, at the end of the day, either you pay for training… or for the lack of it!
