Bellboy to General Manager – How Long Is The Road?
May 08, 07 | 2:00 am

By Tatiana Veller, HVS


For those just entering the Hotel Industry, the ultimate career goal may be the position of General Manager. For others, it may be CEO of a Hotel Company. Less ambitious ones may settle for a Director of Rooms or Director of Sales title.

We took a look at Hotel General Managers across the world, to determine how long it took them to get to their current position. We sliced and diced the data on 60 people from various countries and backgrounds to answer this question – How long is the road? How much time does it usually take from the moment when a young person walks into the door as a receptionist or a bellboy to the moment they land their first seat in the big leather chair of a GM’s office, guarded by a dedicated personal assistant?

Table 1



Table 1 reflects the length of time it takes a person to get from an entry-level position to a General Manager role in various parts of the world. Interestingly, the shortest time it takes is in North America (only 14.75 years on average), and the longest is in Asia (16.5 years). Europe is in the middle at about 15.8 years.

This could be contributed to the differing values placed on climbing the career ladder in various cultures, or to the average age at which people retire (thus creating opportunities for the younger colleagues to be promoted), or to the size of the industry which translates into the number of opportunities available to upcoming professionals.

We also found that the area of specialization made a difference in how fast the person rose to the top ranks of management. The data on all professionals we studied was split into 4 common categories – Administrative Personnel, Food and Beverage Division, Rooms Division and Management Trainees. Although not an exhaustive list, it covers 97% of all GMs included in the survey.

Table 2



Some of the examples of entry-level Administrative positions were Accountants and Night Managers. In F&B, young professionals often started as busboys, waiters, stewards, cooks, assistants F&B managers. Typical entry-level Rooms Division positions included: receptionists, PBX operators, bellboys, Assistant Front Office managers.

Unsurprisingly, it took the shortest time – 14.8 years - for people who started as Management Trainees (across all cultures) to get to the General Manager job. These are usually top graduates from Hotel programs, handpicked by hotel companies. They are invited to be nursed through all various departments in order to be seasoned as General Managers in the shortest possible time. People who came up through Rooms Division followed the Management Trainees (at 15.3 years).

Table 3



For those trying to select the job that leads to the General Manager position not by the fastest, but by the most assured road, Table 3 offers the set of data on the make-up of the General Manager population we studied categorised by where they started.

A clear majority of General Managers around the world (40%) started their careers in F&B in entry-level positions. Interestingly enough, this is very characteristic for Europe, where the number reached 55%! At the same time, in the US it’s Rooms Division, and in Asia it is an almost even split between the top 3 most popular areas.

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Although jobs in the Hotel industry vary in popularity around the world, the General Manager position is one of respect and financial satisfaction. Taking one’s time to climb up the ladder from the entry-level job as a waiter or bellboy has its’ hardships as well as rewards. It also doesn’t have to be the end goal, but rather just another step on the ladder of one’s career success. Many CEOs and COOs are made from former General Managers.

About the Author:



Tatiana Veller

Tatiana Veller, MBA heads up Moscow office of HVS Execuitve Search. Tatiana has been involved in hospitality industry in Russia and US for almost 10 years. Having academic degrees in Hotel Management and International Business from US and Russian institutions, combined with line and managerial operational experience with some of the top companies and several years in Executive Search with a focus on Hospitality, gives Tatiana a unique view on developments in hotel industry in Russia and CIS and an ability to compare it with practices and standards worldwide.




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Think 4
During my presentation with the title: "THE DIFFERENCE", I also highlighted to all associates that we want them to make a career." and not just think of just having a job. We all have to keep learning for as long we are in business. We all can do better and achieve much more than what we are presently doing. So we all have to step up to the challenge. We are giving to all of you the opportunity to grow in knowledge. Competence in to a better and more rewarding life. Remember we can achieve this only as a team. The management of each hotel must support this idea full hearted as well as every department head must support this idea and make it to the highest purpose.
Team work means to help each other.

We have listed below several courses that are available and you can book them to be held at your Hotel. We (trend-z hotel and tourism school and your hotel) can become partner in business and enjoy the awesome results of active and creative achieved results together.
In the spirit of Win Win. We have become a real learning organization.

Let me explain of how this is going to work.
We are providing courses at a fixed price courses.
Regardless of the topic we charge to you for a course as follow:
1. One Day Program Rp. 7.000.000
2. Two Day Program Rp.12.000.000
3. Three Day Program Rp. 15.000.000
Plus your Hotel has to pay the airfare of the teacher and provide Comp room and meal during the workshops for the Instructor,

You can sell the course to up to 30 people.
You can sell it to the hotel staff at a better price and at the same time sell it to an other hotel or outsiders for a bit more expensive price. So your staff is getting it cheaper and you even might make a profit. Of course you have to produce the hand outs. We shall provide you the cd with all the data inclusive promotion artwork for printing.
Well let's act fast and let's move the time is moving forward very fast. We cannot procrastinate.

trend-z hotel and tourism school courses.

Food and Beverage Courses.
1. Accounting for Non Accountant. (3 days)
This course is for F&B Managers, Executive chef or for anybody who wants to understand how accounting works. You will also learn how to calculate Menus.

2. Food safety (2 days)
Quality starts with food safety.
The greatest dining experience will be spoiled when the guests feel sick after the meal.
This course is a must for anybody who has to do with food preparation and food service.

3. Fair pricing (1/2 day)
How to develop fair pricing strategies.
Provide Value for money. Learn how to calculate Menu prices. That's the program for chef de parties, Executive Chefs, F&B managers. Catering managers, restaurant managers, catering sales managers.
4. The Quality Dining Experience (2 days)
Learn how to serve in style. Make the meal an unforgettable experience. How to amaze our guests. A must for anybody who wants to learn good Food and Beverage Service.

5. Food safety for everybody. (1 Day)
How often did you have a nice meal?
And later you felt uncomfortable and you wondered what really the cause of feeling ill was. Quality starts with clean food standards and uncompromising hygiene standard
This course is for every body. See how the chefs are cooking.
6. The Service Experience. (2 DAYS)


THE COURSES ONE TO SIX WILL BE CONTACTED BY CHRISTIAN SCHILD FROM THE SWISS/GERMAN UNIVERSITY.

GENERAL COURSES,
These courses are provided by trend-z hotel and tourism school Batam

7. THE SPIRIT OF HOSPITALITY (1DAY)
Learn what good hotel guest service is all about.

8. INTERVIEWIMG AND SELECTION (2 DAYS)
The right selection is very critical to your job. How can you ask questions to discover the capability and potential risk of an applicant?
This course is a must for any going to be department heads.

10. TEAM BUILDING (1 DAY)
To succeed we need highly motivated employees. We need enthusiasm and passion for the job. This can only be established if we create an awesome working environment and everybody feels that they are respected and associated within the team.
This course is a must for every supervisor who understands that leading team needs knowledge.

11. LEADERSHIP SKILL (2 DAYS)
Nobody is a born leader; we all have to learn it. To establish trust and spark our exciting mission and vision on people needs knowledge. Learn what it takes to be a good leader.



12. TRAIN THE TRAINER (3 DAYS)
Today the market place becomes more and more competitive. To find highly trained employees is very difficult. Our hotels are not better than we are. That is why we have no other choice than train, train and train. This course is a must for any employee who wants to become a supervisor, manager. A good manager must be a good trainer.


13. TRAIN THE TEACHER (1 DAY)
How to be a good teacher. Produce good supporting material. Learn about how to influence people. How to motivate people to learn. Important to any HRD officer, training manager and hotel school teacher.

14. BASIC SUPERVISOR SKILL (1 DAY)
A one Day course and practice leadership.
How to supervise and motivate employees.

15. TABLE MANNERS & ETIQUETTE (1 DAY)
We also have a table manner course. You might learn of how to do it better.
This course is for everybody.
16. PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT ( 1 Day)
To develop an awesome personality. This course is a must for anybody who wants to move up.

17. ACHIEVEMENT AND MORIVATION
No great achievement will happen without that we are able to encourage, motivate people. We must set reasonable goals.
This course is a must for any supervisor.

18. PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS
The good and the pitfalls of job appraisals.
How to conduct such tasks. Performance appraisals can be de-motivating. Jet still we have to review whether we have achieved our goals. This course is a must for every supervisor.

19. BASIC MANAGEMENT SKILL
What is the function of hotel management?
What methods will be applied? How to make a mission statement, a vision statement.
Why management by objective and job description alone does not work.
How to give clear Instructions and also how to follow up.


20. SUPERVISORY DEVELOPMENT (
Anybody who wants to be a good supervisor needs for him selves a development plan.
Learn from the mistakes.

21. OFFICE MANAGEMENT SKILLS (1 DAY)
How to run an efficient office. How to keep productivity in an office high. For every secretary, administrator, office manager, sales manager.

22. MOTIVATING PEOPLE THROUGH CHANGES (1 DAY)
You can hear it almost every day. People, managers, guests, politicians are talking about change. In life nothing is permanent everything is changing. People are often scared of change. Yet change is not avoidable. Learn how to cope with change and make it even work for you.
This course is for everybody who believes in life long learning.
23. HOTEL SALES DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP (2 DAYS)
Here is the course for all the sales managers and people who want to become a sales manager. You will learn how to offer and how to cut a deal.

24. The War College by Karl Waelti
Only two times available per year. In September and December. 3 days
To understand that in a competitive environment marketing will be like fighting a war. Learn how to win the marketing war over and over again.
This course is for sales and marketing professionals, public relation managers, GM, F&B, and every body who wants to understand the challenges a company is facing today and who are not just satisfied by surviving but who are eager to win the marketing war. Learn to win the war game.

25. Career development workshop 2 days. By Karl Waelti.
I can guaranty that by the end of these two days you have a clear personal vision, a clear personal mission. You have set for yourselves a career plan. You have identified your purpose in life and you will know who you are. You will get guidelines of how to learn more about yourself and how to create wealth. This will be the most important course for a successful, fulfilling life and how to overcome any kind of problem in life.

25 courses for you to select, promote, sell and profit.

Your hotel becomes a few times a year a "place of learning". This is good for the image as an International Hotel. To be looked at as an Industry leader where employees and managers from other hotels can come to attend a seminar/workshop. Your hotel is our partner in education. We will make sure that every course we offer is of highest quality.


What we provide:
We provide the course
A qualified teacher
The course material on a disk with guideline of how to print and prepare the hand outs.
We provide the certificates from the "trend-z hotel and tourism school"


What you provide:
You pay the fixed fee and the airfare.
Provide free accommodation and meals for the teacher.
Airport transfer
You will print the course material and prepare the folders.
The name tags for the participants
The function room.

Your opportunity
You can add Lunch and coffee break and mark it up. But just make sure you do not over price. You can sell it to outsiders at a slightly higher price than to your associates.
You can award to some of your best performers a scholarship instead of any other prices.
Please arrange a press conference and let the public know that you are the industry leader and your idea is to become a "place of learning"
Some of these courses can also be offered to non hotel professionals.

For more information:
Please Email to Dora at the Career Development Institute in Jakarta
"dora@
How to book:
Send Email to Dora and book at least one month a head.
Before you book go to the-core and check whether there this course is already booked. Or whether the teacher is already booked.
When a course has been booked we shall mark it on our colander.
Dora will then send you a confirmation note and to confirm it from your side you have to transfer the course fee.
How to promote and organize it:
We will produce some fliers with details of the courses and you can then print them out and distribute them according to your marketing requirement.
Feedback about the courses to be send to Dora.

Looking forwards to any comments, suggestions, kW

THINK

DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER I SHALL VISIT ALL THE HOTELS IN JAVA AND IN EAST INDONESIA. DURING THE VISIT I SHALL MAKE A PRESENTATION TO ALL THE EMPLOYEES WITH THE TITLE:
“THE DIFFERENCE” BELOW PLEASE FIND A WRITE UP OF MY PRESENTATION. YOU CAN PRINT IT OUT AND GIVE IT TO THE EMPLOYEES AS A HAND OUT. OR JUST GIVE IT TO THE SUPERVISORS. ALSO DURING MY VISIT I SHALL INTERVIEW ALL THE DEPARTMENT HEADS AND 5 RANKING FILE EMPLOYEES. THE DATES AND TIMES WILL BE GIVEN TO THE HOTELS SHORTLY. GENERAL MANAGERS HAVE ALREADY BEEN INFORMED ABOUT MY VISIT. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO DISCUSS ALL MATTERS STATED BELOW WITH YOU.
KARL WAELTI



The difference of EXTRA CARE SERVICE..
What is making the difference between a three start hotel, a four star hotel, a five star hotel and a seven star hotel. Is it the standards of service or are there other factors that will play a role? It is defiantly not just the standard but it’s the people who are working in these hotels who are making the difference. The way they have been trained. The way they talk to the guests and very special it is their attitude that makes the difference.
Guests are paying for our service and they have a right to find a clean room and good food in our restaurant. To serve fast and that we are doing a good job is the expectation. We charge good money for it. The extra is above these expectations. That we have Internet access in the guest rooms is an expectation. That we have the best and latest TV channels in new models of TV set is also an expectation and not an extra. The extra lays above all these basic expectations.
Why do we need to provide extra? It is very simple if we want to shine out we have to provide a better service than all the other competitors.

Here arises the question why we are in business?
Some people think we are here to make the difference, or we want to be best. These assumptions are wrong. There is only one reason why we are in business and that is to make money. So our idea of Extra Care does not come from a wrong perspective. Extra care does not cost more money but it will take more imagination, more concentration, and more awareness of delivery good service. We need to be friendlier, more outgoing to please our guests. We want to amaze our guests of what we can come up in our service. This makes our service non comparable. We want to get the guests to say: “WOW these people are really friendly. It is so pleasant to stay in this hotel because all the employees are so eager to please.” Bigger smiles and friendly conversations are changing the guest environment. So to say that we do not have budgeted is the wrong excuse since the EXTRA CARE does not cost more. It will even help to reduce the cost but the Extra has a lot of rewards. We always have the guest on our mind. We do not just want to cut the cost. We do not make the service more efficient by cutting our services. Our mission is to serve the guests. How can you deliver the extra is very simple just follow the Golden Rules.
Ever heard of the golden rules?
It is a universal law and you can find it in all the religion of the world. It simply says “Do to others what you would like them to do to you.” It is that simple. So what can you do to a guest who checks into your hotel? Just think how you would like to be checked in? This way you will find the answer very easily.
So I guess you are realizing that attitude is a key component in service. Our associates have to work and behave in such a way that the hotel can be proud of having them as an employee. We cannot just follow procedures we have to provide a service. We have to show kindness to our guests. We have to express our love for our job and our love for people. So it is not very difficult to analyze what is our business. Are we in the hotel business or in the food and beverage business, or are we in the accommodation business and in the restaurant business? These questions are not totally wrong but they are also not right. They do not really express what our business is. Therefore quite simply we are in the make people happy business. So we have just one purpose and that is to make people happy. The attitude of “its good enough” is just not good enough. We have to go all out to make our guests happy. So just follow the golden rules. “How would I like to be received by the hostess when I enter the restaurant?” We are in a great business where you can express yourself at all times. You can do it “Your Way”. Employees who understand our common mission and vision are policing themselves they do not need to be supervised. They will be empowered to do the best job for the guests and for the hotel. Therefore it is so important that we make sure that every employee understands our mission well. They should be able to tell the mission without reading it. So what is our mission? We should be obsessed to know our mission by hard.

Here our Mission.

“It is the extra care that counts.”

To provide our guest, owners and employees with the services they seek by being constantly sensitive to their needs and striving to deliver EXTRA CARE Services and values in all areas of hotel services and management. Extra care and effort brings extra rewards for all of us Customer, Owners, Employees and Management.

You can see our mission of extra is a statement of our attitude.

It is a way of thinking a way of working a way of life.
It comes from within the people who make up the hotels and the company.
Every day in all we do each of us must always look for the EXTRA CARE element we can add to improve everything we do for our customers and owners.

We want to train you for brilliant service or call it a legendary service. We believe that a standard service any hotel can provide. People learn procedures. For them no complaints means good service. People will not tell you whether they have been satisfied or delighted. If they are not satisfied they just do not come anymore. So we have to go for brilliant service to achieve customers delight. We have to amaze our guest with our attitude and friendliness. So back to the golden rules just ask yourselves if I would be a guests what would truly amaze me when checking in? Or when I am checking out? Or when I call room service? Once you have identified the how and the what, then we just implement it. We must get a WOW from the guests.

So let’s make some short lists of what we could do to amaze the guests? Once we know and we have identified the amazing service, we should make it a point and do it every time a guest is coming into our outlet. Consistently do it every time without stopping. It makes no point to do it for a few weeks and then let the great idea just die on a natural dead.

I think by now you can see that the WOW is not a matter of budget but a matter of your attitude. It’s low cost but high impact. Then we should look of how we can change our service to a very brilliant style. This way we will not just have guests with a high satisfaction but who are delighted with our service. What ever situation you are in you can always refer to the golden rules. Important is that we are writing down some of these famous stories of EXTRA CARE. By now we should have already a lot of collected stories about our employees on how they have demonstrated our EXTRA CARE.
Riz Carlton one of the best hotel chains in the world they have a slogan that says.
“Ladies and Gentleman we are serving Ladies and Gentlemen.” Usually ladies and gentlemen are well educated and know how to behave. What a great way to do it. “I guess you are a Gentleman?” We have to show our guests at all times that our only reason for being is to make our guests happy. We have great chefs in our company and we should be able to produce a high class kitchen. (Haute Cuisine)
The dancing waitress at the bottles in Makassar is spelling it out. She shows her enthusiasm for her job. Beside that we are very enthusiastic about our business we need to be very knowledgeable. We must show our commitment to brilliant guest service every day. We should speak every day about the service and keep on inventing to amaze them even more. Every department should have at the beginning of the shift a briefing or call it a “line up”.
As a basic thought we have to remember that we at all time must show the following to our guests and colleagues in all our actions:
Dignity,
Respect
Courtesy
Kindness

Dignity is not only for the guests but also for all our employees. We have to respect all and there is no reason why we should not show to our colleges the same courtesy and kindness as we give to our guests. We cannot have double standards. We cannot have two faces one for the guests and one for the back of house. Here we can realize that our employees will treat the guests in the same manner as we are treating them.

We should make it a point and every day we start with a briefing and we influence our employees with these four basic key points of relationship.

Good service cannot just be standard and procedures based. We cannot afford to become complacent or even arrogant. Often in places where they become very successful the biggest danger was complacency and indifference. Some manager’s say: “It’s the financial statement that counts. We make money and we do not have complains. They do not realize that it does not mean if the guests do not complain that people were happy with our services.
Let’s become creative and amaze our guests in the way we behave and how we are talking, and how we are walking, how we are looking at our guests. Why can’t we not make thing different. For example to answer the hotels phone by saying: ” It is a great day at the Quality Hotel, good morning my name is Dora how can I be of service to you? Say it loud and clear. It should sound fresh. That would make the difference. Sometimes to be different requires courage, since people might think that we are not normal. Telephone operators should have a telephone voice test before they are getting hired. They should have special training of how to talk on the phone. Just think of a radio talk host with a voice that sounds like a “drum” painful to the ear.

So it is simply the difference between us and other hotels: WE ARE NICER.
We also have to realize that not all the guests want to be treated the same way.

The way we walk shows our attitude. Whether we are busy or not we should show that what ever we do for us it’s urgent. Strolling is not appreciated. Guests might get the wrong message.

By now I hope you have realized that we have to stand out of the crowed to be recognized as the best service provider. Not just system or standard service but warm, friendly, loving service. Service from the heart.

We want to achieve: ”Satisfaction 100 % guaranteed”.

So it is very simple, we want that employees feel working in our hotels is fun. This will at the same time improve their conviviality. It is much nicer to be around happy people.
I strongly feel work can be fun. We just have to believe it and do it.

We like to give to everybody a virtual compass. This compass will always show the true north. The compass is build up on our Vision and Mission and on our joint values. It is important that you analyze what are your common values. Values like honesty, integrity, hope, believing in our goals and purpose as well as our mission.
The virtual compass will show us that everything is interrelated. In the north you have Choice as Franchisor and Management Company. On the right side the guests. We all must know our bosses are not the management team but the guests are our CEO. Guests are also stakeholders and they want instead return on their investment. On the right side we have the owners. They are also very important for us. Without owners we also have no hotel. They must get profits in order to pay back their loans. In the middle you see the employee. They are our most important assets. They are our ambassadors to the guests. The employees are the one who will make our guests happy. They are stake holder too and have hopes and expectations. It is the management job to see that all the three parties are getting what they want. Guests, Owners and Employees.
We must understand we all need each other. Therefore team work is a must.

We expect our associates to act and work in an ethical manner. “You do not need to cheat to win,” We are very much concerned of how we become successful. We want to do it right. We all appreciate our clean conscious mind. We are very proud of the fact to be honest and of high integrity, people can trust us. We do not cheat or support any criminal activities. We trust each other and appreciate the joint opportunities. On these bases we are planning our future.
Our weapons are smiles, enthusiasm. We are providing the best dining experience to our guests and we are fully aware that the dining experience does not just end after the dessert. We have to make sure that our guests are not getting sick from our meals we served. So we are checking any raw food and the cooked food items whether they are still consumable or not. Quality starts with hygiene.
We must realize if people get food poisoning it will spoil the fun and our reputation. All our efforts in culinary art will be wasted. So beware of food poisoning. Especially if the food is for several hours on a buffet.

You can see we have to change a lot of things and old habits specially the bad habits must go. We have to become better and we do not have just any amount of time available. It is now or never to fix it so please change your speed.
The future is rushing by at the speed of 60 Seconds a Minute.
To become number one in the race for excellence and then to stay no one is not easy achievable, we have to work hard. What it means for us that we have to keep on improving our skills and knowledge. As long we are in the race we have to improve from challenge to challenge. This is just to keep ourselves employable. Remember the one who stops improving will no longer be employable tomorrow.

We all must plan our future. But first visualize every day on your ultimate goal you want to achieve. Don’t be modest. If you can see it in your mind you can achieve it.

The hotel business is a glamour industry and we are in a very good location in the world. Our company is a rising star. We want to expand and this means we will have a lot of opportunities for you. It will be possible to work in foreign countries. You can become an instructor and work in one of our schools in Indonesia and in foreign land.

There are companies who believe that training is a waste of time and just a waste of money. But history has shown that Hotels will pay the price so or so. If you do not train you will need the money for paying for your employees mistakes. Therefore you will pay for training whether you train or you don’t train, but I believe to train is the cheaper solution. Why not become a specialist. Take some courses that are conducted by the CDI and the chance that you will get promoted is much better. If you are a kitchen help why not learn it properly at school. We run courses for food production, food and beverages and barman. We shall provide English courses on the internet. This will be good fun. Why not become a waitress and learn all the procedures. Learn the art of food and beverage service? It will open many new doors of opportunities. Doors will open only for qualified professionals. You could work one day on cruise ship. Or you can make a management career. Without any education it will be very difficult to move up the career leader. Also we have a Front office and Housekeeping course. You must know it is a difference whether you have learned your vocation in school or you just learned it by experience only. Have a good look at our short courses.
During this visit to the hotels this November and December in Java and East Indonesia I shall interview department heads and also some ranking file associates. I hope I can help to clarify a lot of questions you might have. Ask your HRD department for joining the interview.

Under construction we have an Internet Website where you all can become a member and you can see at all times all the courses we are going to conduct in the Career Development Centre. There will also be a Job provider site that will give to the members a chance to apply for jobs in Indonesia and in overseas. We shall extent these services all over the world. We have to become a never stopping learning organization.

The world has become a small place. Today at any minutes a day and by day and by night there are 300.000 people air born. Can you imagine of how many people are flying. What took you 6 month of travel just 100 years ago you can do now in just 13 hours. What this is telling us that people from many countries are traveling today and they all communicate in English.
English has become the global language. It is therefore imperative that you learn to speak and write English . Not just a little you have to learn it well. The guests cannot be served when we do not understand what they want. Remember what counts today it is 50% vocation and 50% language. So I suggest you learn English. We have now courses for English on the Internet. It cost US$ 75 for 7 month. We would provide the computers. For 10 students we shall provide one computer.
Also during this visit I shall check with you of how we can work together and set up this language laboratory in each hotel.
We need to have a passion for what we are doing. Do what you love to do and you will not work an other day in your life. It will become your hobby.
Our smiles are a mirror of our attitude. We shall teach you how to smile. Smiling is a key part of our job.
We have great plans in 2007. We are going to add more hotel brands to our existing brands. We shall change the name of the company to Core Hotels International. We want to have 200 Hotels through Asia. From New Zealand to Russia we shall have hotels. This means for all of you we have great opportunities to develop our business together.

TOGETHER WE WILL ACHIEVE OUR JOURNY TO GREATNESS.
To explain the difference in a nutshell is very simple. IT’S SERVICE FROM THE HEART. IT’S NOT JUST BY STANDARDS.

Graduation for 218 Students at the Clarion Makassar.

Dear Guests
Dear Parents
Friends
Dear students

Today is a great day it's your graduation, well I like to say to all of you congratulation for your achievement. Today you have arrived at your first milestone in your career and that is you have completed your basic hotel education plus you have learned a profession. You are now on your stepping stone into a Hotel Career. I said Career I did not day just Hotel job. You all must understand a hotel career stars with a job but it cannot just be a job because if you stay just in this job and you do not progress and grow in your vocation you eventually make yourself obsolete. There is a saying: Those who no longer improve themselves might no longer be employable. If you love your vocation and you just want to improve your self, you must realize you cannot be just stay a waiter for the next 20 years. You must see that you become a supervisor and that you go up the leader. The world has become very competitive and to stay employable you have to get up or get out. Yes it’s up or out.
You have received a Hotel Education and this will make it easier to develop your career vision. Where do you want to be in 3 years time? What to you want to do with yourselves?
So stay active. Get more experience and set your next career goal and set your time table at the same time. Remember life is short. Therefore do not plan for to long. It is to do, and do and not wait. So get experience and have a lot of fun with it. Hotel life is fun. We should have fun with what we do every day.
I like to make you a complement. We are very proud of you. During the in training in the various hotels. Some of you did it at the Quality but some of you were brave and went away from home to w Yogyakarta. Some to Bekanbaru to Jakarta. I am very pleased to tell you that I only got very good feed back from the hotel managements .You all shined out. You did a better job than many of the regular employees. Your attitude and enthusiasm shined out. You behaved responsible, you demonstrated competence, courtesy, team spirit and you smart service.
4 students went to Kuala Lumpur and they did very well. I live in Penang and I drove to KL to visit them and the Management of the Quality Hotel told me that they liked them very much in fact they wanted them to stay for 6 month. Malaysian students working in a hotel do not get paid but Indonesian students got paid. Got free meals and free accommodation in the hotel. Thanks to your good performance the Hotel is willing to take again students from the Quality Hotel and Tourism school Makassar. In the name of future students I like to thank to Rahmat, Ifah, Jimmy and Sri for their great performance. Why do say on behalf of future students? Well you see you also carry a big responsibility. When ever you go to work in a hotel, send by the school your performance and behavior will very much count whether the hotel will want students from this school again. If you do not do a great job then in future the hotel might not want to have any more students from our school. But you all shined out and in future it will be very easy for us to place our students in hotels because “Your kind is in high demand. You have chosen a rising Industry. Even 2000 years ago they already had a kind of hotels we are not considered an old Industry but we are young and rising. We are not a sunset Industry. More people travel more hotels are needed. So if you keep yourself employable you can look forward to a great and exciting future.

We are opening now in Batam our second school in Indonesia. In Batam we are in a joint venture with the Polytechnic. It is a beautiful brand new school that has all facilities inclusive a “trend-z suites “ as a training hotel. Also there we guarantee a job. Of course Choice Hotels can offer jobs to most but in future we will also supply other Hotel chains and individual hotels of adequate quality with "Quality" labor.
As you know we have the Career development Institute that provides short courses for all levels of employees to advance. The average course is about 3 days.
These courses are especially designed for people working in a hotel and who cannot just take a long study leave. Typical Career Development courses are:
Supervisor course
Train the Trainer
Planning for success
Kitchen management for Chefs
The F&B Entrepreneur

For future marketing executives we are developing the “Hotel Business School” That is also a three day program where groups are competing in a market place against each other. Rates, advertising, number of employees, amenities etc. With Quarterly financial statements and share price of the hotel.
We shall also for food and beverage managers. The Restaurant Business School” Also here up to 10 Restaurants are competing for 3 days in a very competitive environment. And of course there will be winners and losers. These two programs are very hard work. These are very tuff programs.
But worse the experience.
For Department Heads we have Cross Training Programs also 3 days.
Front office for non front office staff
Accounting for non accountants
Food and Beverage for non f&b staff
Sales for non sales staff
Marketing for non marketing executives.
Engineering for non engineers
And once you have completed all these courses and your English is good. Let’s say at the level of a lover Cambrige degree then you can go the Leadership Institute that is our GM school.
The Leadership Institute has provided courses for our existing General Managers, Financial Controllers. Almost all General Managers in our hotels are Indonesians. We are dedicated to that training and especially education is the key to a professional, ethical behavior.
The administration of the career development institute will be fully E based.
Attached to the Career development institute there will be a "Job placement Agency" also E based that will provide jobs for members in Indonesia, on cruise ships and off shore resorts,
So I feel this is an exciting development. Some of these short courses will be conducted here at this school or anywhere as long there are sufficient students participating.

Well I would like this opportunity to thank to Pak. Willianto and Pak. Anggiat for creating this school. They rightly realized that Training and Education is the foundation to any business. Also I like to thank to pak. Farid the Principle and directly responsible for the school for his guidance and good leadership.
I like to thank the teachers for their passion to teach and develop these young prople to become qualified professionals.
Also last and not least I like to say thank you to Mr. MeClean and his management team to makes this event happen.
I heard 60% of this hotel employees are coming from the Quality Hotel and Tourism school.
Finally I like to thank all the students, now graduates and emoloye of this Clarion hotel for your hard work and to help open this beautiful hotel. With your young and dynamic
Nature and enthusiasm your passion for your vocation this hotel can only prosper. Remember YOU are the Hotel. You are the Clarion Hotel.

Ladies and gent.
Thank you for lessening.

Life long learning starts here, please read it all and act.