In tandem with the conducive investment policy Ethiopia opted to pursue and the urgency to address the solution-begging gap between the demand for hotel service and the country’s potential, the number of hotels, some of which are glistening with stars, have made an upward trajectory.
Attending this turn of events, the workforce that comes aboard the hotel industry is palpably snowballing. The role the trend is playing in contributing its share towards redressing the challenge of unemployment besetting the country could not be gainsaid.
Yet, a high turnover of employees in the hotel industry is not a brow-raising happening. Employers seem ever-alert to respond to the push and pull factors. A probe into the conundrum reveals that almost all hotels are deficient in the proper handling and training of their employees.
As most hotels lack a promising career structure, employees could not be encouraged to think of a sedentary life in their respective hotel with a sense of belonging. Also, there is a dearth of professionals in the industry, which is at its infantile stage here in Ethiopia. Hence hotels confronted by a cut-throat competition do not bat an eye to lure employees of other hotels into their folds offering handsome salaries.
Abreast with the international trend, our hotels must have own training schools where employees hone their skills and thereby stand a chance to climb the career ladder. This makes them nourish the dream of shaping fate avoiding one hotel-to-another migration.
This approach aside from curbing the skilled personnel related challenge confronting hotels, it uplifts their competitiveness gauged by international standards.
Grooming employees so that they know as the palm of their hand how to cater to the extent of winning the “Thank you I will come next gesture!” of clients plays an indispensible role in augmenting the income of their employers.
Mindful of the aforementioned reality owners of hotels instead of baiting employees from other hotels could better train and manage their employees.
Investors must be awakened to the realization that behind the concrete jungles they make a point to bring into play there are employees that breathe life into the jungles they establish. Thus, establishing their own training schools is a task big hotels ill-afford to put on the back burner.
The trainings that government-run hotel and tourism institutions render are divorced from on-the-job training. Nor do they have own training institutes that teaches the art of hospitality to employees. Sadly, they send apprentices to hotels that do not have inkling about hospitality.
Moreover attention should be given to the preparation of indigenous, spicy and mouthwatering dishes, which observably are being brushed aside. This helps in indirectly promoting Ethiopia’s culture and products. Here it is appropriate to allude to the saying variety is the spice of life. True to this trend nowadays it does not come as a surprise to see foreigners relishing Ethiopia’s dishes.
It sure is good the international body that sees to standards and which accolades hotels with stars must take the aforementioned variables into considerations.
Waiters and waitresses could bring the hospitality cultures Ethiopians show while hosting guests to the hotel industry. Swelling up the number of satisfied clients such an approach could multiply over the return of hotel owners and also that of the country.
When hotels are brought into being greeneries must be taken into account. In the present day Ethiopia, hotels have become ubiquitous. Tragically, most of them are deprived of green mantles. Here it has to be noted that trees and plants are carbon sinks. Redressing this gap is a must. It is worth to note that hotel-concrete jungles are eating trees out of space. Some towns marked for biting cold are turning hot places exacerbating climate change.
Also, the architecture of hotels must take into account people living with disabilities. To sum up, curbing its shortfalls and reinforcing it, optimizing benefits from the hotel industry must be made a point of.
The Ethiopian Herald June30, 2019
