Friday, May 29, 2009

The Gen Y vs Gen X

I cannot deny that I was groomed from the Gen X and has live through the evolvement of generation change and its metamorphosis, gradually I am also adapting the style and learned the many traits of a Gen Y. Well, you must be wondering what I am talking about?

I was brought up in Hotel business that puts these traits as a dominant criteria to success, contribute more time to the Hotel and more time by the days, months and years, obviously the more the better policy. The more higher you have climbed the hierarchy of the organizational chart, well the more time you need to dedicate to the Hotel. The initiatives to acquire new knowledge and experience were so profound that we have perpetually acquire many multi task skills over accumulated time frame. We were so adamant to success and ensuring that every moves are being observed and acknowledged by the superiors so that the crowning of the next available promotions are secured deservingly. In short, we will do anything to improves ourselves and making the experiences and new skills work to its optimum when the opportunity strikes.

However, these strategies and philosophy has wilted for some and died-off with the new evolution and the emergence of the Gen Y. The new generations are well educated in papers and some are saltishly savoured with overseas degrees and PHD etc. Upon their graduation and accomplishment in tertiary minimums, the Gen Y would have high self esteemed and confidence that resulted them looking forward for an attractively remunerated jobs or at least executive-Manager positions for their first entry in their resume. Well, the Hotels being still very much unchanged and offering the newbies the rank& file positions or for some lucky ones will be enrolled in Management Development Programs as Management trainees . Newbies in Hotel industry is too anxious to achieve their goals and forgotten the relevancy of the acquired experience that are so indispensable to the viability of oneself in this hospitality industry. Everyday is a new explore of the most complicated creature's demands, needs, wants etc. named homo sapiens, the man, the Guest and the employees. The learning experience and acquired experience are always a different subject to me, it just gives you the basis to handle the adversities and the celebrations as well. Well, for sure the educations system of any Hotel School, do not offer this chapter neither any syllables in the academic history.

Gen Y has so much tendencies to hop for any greener pastures as long as they see that there are changes in their employment's perks and remuneration value and forsaking the loyalty and a stable escalation in their career pathment. Gone are the days that the Hotelier slowly waiting for their succession plannings and staying back for the sake of job security and experience acquisition. They have new sets of priorities , that so much linked with a more meaningful word "Lifestyle". They want to work less but work smart and balancing the act of Quality and Quantity . They want to settle down earlier with assets ie. house, nice cars and club memberships etc. They do not believe is hogging in the long hours of work and a tandem monotonous lifestyle that can so much be predicted. They do not let new opportunities to slipped away from their hands but to take every initiatives to grab one as long as it crossed their path.

I noticed and experiencing now, agreeing and accepted the fact that the Gen Y are different, it is no longer an existence of the Gen X that does everything under one roof and not complaining a single word and terming those as an endowment to pay for travelling to the road of success. We are now living in a different era of mindset and lifestyle that we need to acknowledge by constantly adapting and adopting to the new approach of leadership and to produce results with a brandnew strategies. The Gen Y comes with an outburst of energies and we just need to alay these energies to the right chamber and most importantly to the right directions so that the Hotel can have better yield and a tinge of creativity above the rest of the competitors and foremost the improvements that is the by-product of this exercise.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Just More Hotels or Just Too Many Hoteliers

If you are a Hotelier, you may just noticed the downsizing of Human Resources in the many Departments of the Hotel. Commonly practising, is the natural attrition of resignations that never gets a replacement ...and more so to an enriched job descriptions or a multi- tasking roles. So is that a good news or bad news? yes and no.....

The economy is still gloomy and filled with uncertainties despite the many indicators showing a recovery and the rally in the equities really instilled some confidence back to investors and many of us. So is the Hotel business badly affected, if you asked a Hotelier, they probably will tell you, it is indeed badly affected. Most Hotels would have done a serious brainstorming sessions that churned and juiced out the last intelligence droplets for cost containment effort. It is indeed a wise strategies to adopt if the revenue is not taking the strides that it should. Everyone and every sections are buckling their belts a few notches up and hoping that the profit margin would looks better as a return to the owners. True enough that this exercise will put back a few percentages back to the bottom line and creates awareness that the Hotel is indeed in dire straits of getting the balancing act to juggle the revenue - overheads = profit or loss. We are amazed how the suppliers co-operates for an adamant-requested dip in their pricing and how the service contracts worked out with a reduced numbers and reaching compromises that helps one another to pass through the difficult times. That brilliant move has saves the Profit & loss statement a couple of percent less in overheads and a marginal increase in the bottom line.

Despite the economic recessions, I am really scratching my head now puzzling why there are still many Hoteliers tendering their resignations and some at worst without a job. Is that what we called a generation Y syndrome ? looking out for a "Lifestyle" ? Isn't that a clear indication of employment instability and a fearful "Last In First Out" system if the Hotel or company fails to perform at its optimum and ideal ? Well, we still have resignations rolling in and I assumed as part of the life cycle that one has to face and here comes the rat race action, recruitment process and the training & coaching cycles.... This probably resulted the birth of a department named Human Resources.... that supposedly function as such, I assumed....

We will explore what an employee would want in this era and what are their priorities in life and in career.