The hospitality industry – an industry for smooth talkers only?

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Recruitment, AI and HR in the hospitality industry · Post #6 of 90

#HospitalityOutOfTheBox #CareerChangers #WomenInManagement #CostOfVacancy #HotelIndustry 

The hospitality industry – an industry for smooth talkers only? 

Career changers bring a breath of fresh air. But why do management roles so often remain off-limits – and why especially for women? 

In April 2017, on what was then my blog, 'Hospitality quergedacht', I published an article that generated more response than any other post on that blog: 'Why show-offs get every job'. The article was about charlatans, or should we perhaps call them 'smooth talkers' instead, about masters of self-presentation, and about why HR professionals, recruiters, department heads, management teams and board members fall for precisely these types of people. What kept surprising me as I was writing was that I wasn't actually thinking so much about job applicants or assessment centres. I was thinking about people who were already established in the hospitality industry. Over the past few weeks, while preparing my latest blog post, I have spoken to many former students, who have told me: 'What you wrote in 2017/18, referring to situations from much further back in time, namely the late 1990s, has not changed at all or has changed very little to this day, or is currently more prevalent than ever.' On the one hand, this did not surprise me, but on the other hand, it shocked me.  At the time, I wrote: If, in the morning, over a nice cup of latte, you casually – or perhaps more hopefully – take a look at Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and the like, not a day goes by without you thinking, 'Ah, there he is again!' Yes, it is predominantly men who make extremely intensive use of the tool of loud self-promotion. You see the busy-looking, professionally posed profile picture of the high-achiever – dark suit, white shirt, red tie. Alternatively, there is the super-casual, sporty type in jeans and a slightly esoteric T-shirt, wearing a wooden bead or amber necklace and a leather wristband. And right below that? The success story. 'Restaurant XY awarded an award for whatever. Congratulations to my client.” Or: 'It's official! Today, the contract for the largest consultancy project in our company's history was signed.” Or again: 'Training for the next half-marathon and getting fit for the next successful project.' Hallelujah. 

You achieve success in collaboration with your client and their team members. But very rarely on your own. 

Does every advertisement promoting oneself, a cause or an industry have to degenerate into total self-aggrandisement? I don't think so. 

And it is precisely this imbalance between self-promotion and genuine substance that also manifests itself in application processes, shining a glaring light on three groups that are systematically undervalued in our industry: career changers, returners and female candidates.

Career changers (m/f/x): Welcome – but please only at the lower levels of the hierarchy 

The hospitality industry is known for welcoming people from other sectors with open arms. Service staff from the retail sector? Welcome. Receptionist with a background in business administration? No problem. However, the higher you climb in the hierarchy, the tighter the doors become. Leadership roles are often reserved for those who have followed the traditional path: hotel management school, apprenticeship, promotion from within.  

At  the same time, you hear it over and over again: the main thing is that someone has the hospitality gene; the technical skills can be taught. But this is rarely done. 

Particularly interesting in this context is a situation I encounter time and again: people whose professional roots lie in the hospitality industry, who left the sector at some point – perhaps to study, to take up a management position in another sector, to join a start-up, or for family reasons – and who would like to return at some stage. With accumulated experience, with a fresh perspective, with a background in other industries. What do they hear? 'You've been away too long.' Or: 'You lack the specific experience of the 5-star hotel industry.' Or: 'We are looking for someone with a strong background in high-end hospitality in this segment.' The industry once trained, shaped and moulded these people. Now that they want to return, with more experience, with (leadership) skills, with an outside perspective, with additional qualifications, they are being turned away at the very doors they once opened themselves. 

What is being lost here is difficult to quantify, but easy to identify: experience in change management, digital strategy, resilience, focus, sales management or human resources development – the list could go on indefinitely – skills that are urgently needed in the hotel industry but are often not available internally. Someone who has been responsible for customer experience at a retail group for five years brings to the table precisely the skills that no hotel management school qualification teaches. Anyone who has been involved in international projects on tourism-related or technical topics around the world, regardless of their hierarchical position, brings more intercultural competence to the table than anyone who has attended a target-group-specific Chamber of Industry and Commerce seminar. Anyone who bursts onto the hotel or hospitality scene with a clear focus and a clear goal wants to bring about change – perhaps in a different way from what they are used to, but with an eye to the future and with an awareness of developments in other industries that do, however, have an impact on the hospitality sector. 

What lateral entrants and returnees bring to the table 

• New perspectives that break through the 'We've always done it this way' reflex 
• (Management) Experience from other sectors – often more challenging than that gained within the industry 
• Experience from sectors such as technology, finance, retail or healthcare 
• Drivers of innovation that would be unlikely to emerge internally 
• For returners: the fundamentals of the industry plus an outside perspective 

When the algorithm decides and potential talent is filtered out 

In addition to this loss, there is a new, structural problem that I have covered in depth in my last five blog posts: the AI-powered recruitment process. An increasing number of businesses, including those in the hospitality sector, are relying on automated systems that scan CVs for keywords. Missing the buzzwords '5-star hotel industry' or 'fine dining'? Rejected. The fact that the candidate has classified and audited 5-star hotels, and therefore often has a better and more in-depth understanding of the hotel sector than a traditional GM, is of no importance here. No mention of 'high-end restaurant management'? Next application, please.  

What these systems cannot read: ten years of successful leadership in a complex service company. The ability to develop teams and to coordinate intercultural teams across multiple locations. A career path involving the training, further education and professional development of young people, but also the support of older employees in their development – with the corresponding network behind them, i.e., other potential employees who could be of interest to the company. A career that has deliberately crossed industry boundaries, and is therefore particularly valuable. The algorithm filters based on the past. What it filters out is often the future of the company.  

What the algorithm does not find does not exist for the company. However, the potential still exists – it just goes to the competition or moves to another industry. 

The challenge is not to recruit lateral entrants or returning employees. The challenge lies in providing them with the necessary industry-specific know-how. However, it is unfortunately also true that this is often not achieved even by team members who have followed the traditional path in their hospitality career. There are many reasons for this, which lie with both the company and the employees. Whatever the case. Whatever the reason. With effective onboarding and targeted further training, this can create a genuine competitive advantage. Those who understand and implement this will be years ahead of other businesses. Those who instead rely on the keyword filter will receive the same CV over and over again.  

And women? That's a separate – and uncomfortable – story. 

In my 2017 article, I wrote that it is predominantly men who make extremely intensive use of the tool of self-promotion. That's true. But the real point is a different one – and it's an uncomfortable one.  

I know a colleague. She has an excellent education, years of experience consulting for hospitality companies, and proven expertise. She applied for a consultancy assignment – and didn't get it.  

Not because her proposal was weaker. 

Not because her credentials were unconvincing. 

But because the board of directors would have preferred a man for the consultancy role. That wasn't stated explicitly. It was never said like that. But that was what they meant. Everyone in the room knew it. At some point, the board member's adviser finally said it out loud. This has often happened to me too – whether in the course of my self-employed work, during job interviews for a permanent position, or when putting together teams as part of project management. I have even been made redundant shortly after being hired because the person who brought me into the company left. It was felt that I was too loyal to this person and that it was not possible to continue working with me. The person I brought into the company or the association still works there today. In an assistant role, not a management role. 

Competence alone is not enough. As long as the client has the image of a man in a suit as the standard representation of leadership and assertiveness in their mind, competence becomes a secondary consideration.  

What does this colleague do after the experience described above?  

She doesn't post an angry status update on LinkedIn. She doesn't share her achievements on a daily basis. She doesn't write a book about injustice. She does her job, and she does it well.  

This is precisely the difference I wrote about in 2017: women in leadership roles tend to prioritise the success of their team over their own leadership skills. 'We achieved this together.' 'Our team was fantastic.' 'My colleagues made this possible.' That's not a weakness. That's an attitude. 

However, in a world where the volume of self-promotion is equated with competence, it is precisely this attitude that puts people at a career disadvantage. The man who posts things like 'Coffee with an amazing view just before the start of a meeting at my new client's office' or 'Chilling out in my client's wellness area to celebrate the successful completion of a project' every day gets noticed. He exists in the minds of decision-makers. The woman who quietly does an excellent job often does not exist in their minds. At best, she only makes an appearance if she regularly posts something on social media that is applauded by men – for whatever reason, whether out of genuine support or self-promotion. Then, suddenly, she is noticed. But often only if she posts about a traditional role, a position that people expect her to hold as a woman. Then she becomes of interest to trade magazines or potential employers or clients.  

Female candidates, especially those with a career change or return-to-work background, face double invisibility: they present themselves more modestly than their male counterparts, and their CVs often fail the keyword check. If, on top of that, her age 'suggests' a potential absence due to a possible pregnancy, she might as well pack her bags right away. Ultimately, these are all filters that do the same thing: weed out potential.  

Yet it is precisely this combination – a lateral career move, an outside perspective, a career focus, and a female leadership culture with a clear focus on team performance rather than ego-driven performance – that would offer enormous potential for an industry that is desperately seeking talent. Organisations that recognise this and implement it structurally will develop a resilience and innovative strength that is hard to replicate.  

Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic has provided proof of this: many women have moved away from the hospitality sector and into industry and business, which offer better working conditions, higher salaries, more attractive bonuses and work–life balance models. Many of them do not return; they are lost to the hospitality industry. Others realise that their love and passion still lie in the hospitality industry, and they are willing to accept a lower salary and less favourable working hours, but re-entering the sector, whether as a front office agent, breakfast server, F&B manager or GM, becomes almost a struggle for survival. 

What needs to be done now. 

The first step is as simple as it is rarely taken: honesty. 

Honesty about who you are actually recruiting and why. Is the career changer being turned down because her CV doesn't include a '5-star' keyword? Is the returning candidate with ten years of industry experience being rejected because they were 'away for too long'? Is the competent female colleague overlooked during the consultancy assignment because the board has a different candidate in mind? 

I am anything but a fan of quotas. However, I am a staunch advocate of structured processes: job profiles that focus on skills rather than keyword-heavy CVs; recruiting processes that do not place blind trust in algorithms; onboarding programmes that provide targeted industry knowledge; and a leadership culture that understands team performance for what it is – a sign of strength, not of weakness.  

However, as an applicant today, you almost have to fall to your knees in gratitude if you even receive a response to the application you submitted.  

Job profiles in the hospitality industry have changed and continue to change. At every level of a traditional hierarchy, which, incidentally, is also changing.  

Working models are also changing. 

So are salary structures.  

The hospitality industry no longer needs show-offs. It needs people who are genuinely capable and who want to achieve something in this fantastic industry and for this industry. People who want to come back, who have crossed industry boundaries, who want to experience the passionate allure of the industry for the first time, who are quiet yet excellent. And it needs businesses to open the door for them.  

Success is about working together. That was true in 2017. That is true today. 

Final clarification 

This blog post was not written out of bitterness, and certainly not out of a need to settle scores with the male-dominated world. It is the result of years of observation, of the discussions with former students mentioned at the outset, of conversations with HR managers who are desperately searching for suitable candidates, and of a sober look at a reality that can be expressed in figures: a vacant position costs money. It costs money, it costs energy, it costs service quality, and in the end, it costs what defines this industry. The experience that makes guests come back. The cost of vacancy is not an abstract management accounting concept (see blog post #5). It is the empty slot on the rota, the overworked colleague, the lost revenue potential. Anyone who can afford these costs by systematically filtering out career changers with management experience, returners with industry roots and female candidates with quiet excellence is making a decision. However, they should be aware that they are making that decision. Because the hotel and hospitality industries are not ordinary sectors. They are places of connection, of hospitality, of special moments. Preserving this, and recruiting the best people to achieve it, regardless of CV keywords, volume or gender, is the true leadership challenge. To that end, it is worth asking uncomfortable questions and highlighting critical issues.