When EHL Insights formulated their Top 10 hospitality industry trends for 2024 earlier this year, the first trend addressed the ongoing problem of staff recruitment and retention. EHL observed that in addition to offering perks, many hoteliers “also invest in training programs to motivate staff and allow mobility up the corporate ladder.”
EHL added, “Empowered employees not only have a positive impact on how guests feel and their decision to become repeat guests, but also help attract other employees to build a cohesive, high-quality workforce.”
While such an outcome is really more of a goal than a sure thing, there’s no question that training is vital to the smooth operation of any hotel. Melissa Di Blasio, vice president, training and development, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, points out that “Businesses change, guests needs change, and with that, it’s important companies and business owners change, which is why we’re committed to giving hotels the best tools and resources we can to help keep them educated and ahead.
That said, Jon Kiely, vice president, products and programs at Tourism HR Canada, reports that “We’re still running into labour issues in many areas, and the number of people between 15 and 24 whose first job is in the hospitality sector has shrunk considerably.”
Filling this gap are newcomers to Canada or people in career transition, among others; and given that they are just as likely to regard hospitality as a stepping-stone to other ventures, Kiely acknowledges that the impulse among many hoteliers is to not invest as heavily in training as organizations like EHL recommend.
“However, perhaps the situation should be regarded differently,” he says. “Perhaps we have to accept that the people we hire will only stay a few years before moving on – and train them so that they’ll be the best they can be for the time we have them. Operational efficiency will be ensured, plus the skills they obtain will be important to secure the careers they really want.
“In the long run, sending the message that the training they receive will benefit them in other industries will go a long way in attracting newcomers and filling the labour gap, in addition to motivating them to perform better. Put it this way: this is a better option than hiring people, not giving them adequate training, and them remaining in the industry.”
Emerit is one of Tourism HR Canada’s primary training brands:developed by industry for industry, Emerit provides National Occupational Standards, flexible online and paper-based training, and professional certification for tourism and hospitality employees in a wide range of occupations.
As with any successful training system, Tourism HR Canada is constantly tweaking and improving its product. “For example, the latest iteration of our e-learning is that we provide wrap-around support, which takes the form of training meted out in smaller chunks, printable curriculum, and content deployed on smart phones much more efficiently than was the case in the past,” Kiely says.
Kiely’s organization has also learned lessons from the Covid lockdowns. “For example, we’ve created classroom tools that can be used in group settings: if we have an e-learning course for front desk, it has been developed to suit different learning rates, and deployed in a group setting with group activities – because the rate and rapidity of learning is enhanced when people collaborate in groups.”
From the hotelier’s perspective, such initiatives are invaluable in helping create a solid and reliable staff team. “With more than 9,000 hotels around the world, it’s imperative we make it as easy as possible for owners and hotel staff to access educational materials,” Di Blasio says. “Through our owner engagement platform, Wyndham Community, owners can access everything from their hotel’s latest performance data to training programs and resources through Wyndham University. Wyndham University delivers in person, virtual and self-paced online training focused on everything from property operations, hospitality management, quality best practices, service culture and more.”
Di Blasio goes on to note that, “Wyndham University also provides curated and customized training that supports the unique needs of the hotels.”
Over at Ann Arbour Consultants Inc. (which has gained recognition as a one stop shop to locate, recruit, and seamlessly immigrate global the global talent that is required for Canadian companies), chief executive officer Sharmila Perera is coming to grips with Ottawa’s new restrictions governing the ability of people in the hospitality sector to hire and retain temporary foreign workers in the low wage category.
The restrictions consist of three key changes. First, low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) will no longer be processed in census metropolitan areas (CMAs) where the unemployment rate is six percent or higher (ironically, the agriculture, healthcare and construction sectors are exempt from this rule). Also, employers are limited to filling only 10 percent of their workforce with temporary foreign workers in low-wage positions, down from the previous allocation of 20 percent (exceptions apply to those in agriculture, healthcare and construction). Finally, the maximum employment duration for low-wage LMIAs has been reduced from two years to one year.
From the government’s perspective, these reforms aim to reduce the employer’s dependence on temporary foreign workers and encourage business to prioritize hiring Canadians and permanent residents. But as any hotelier will attest, temporary foreign workers are key to filling critical positions in venues across the country.
“It’s a tremendous blow, considering hoteliers rely on this labour pool for everything from housekeepers to cooks, especially in rural areas,” Perera says. “Resorts in places like Banff will especially be hard hit – and the new regulations also prevent employers from renewing existing temporary workers, at a time when a good 500,000-600,000 of them are up for renewal next year.”
Worse, further regulations are said to be in the works that will affect high-wage workers. “We can tap labour from Ottawa’s Francophone program, which was recently opened up for unskilled workers, and we can also leverage free trade agreements to bring in chefs from places like Chile and Peru – but this hardly makes up for the restrictions to temporary foreign workers,” Perera says. “Hotel associations are lobbying hard against these restrictions, but we can only wait and see what 2025 will bring.”
As such, the familiar two-fold challenge of recruitment and retention remains as acute as ever as we move into the New Year. Only the comprehensive training and education programs such as those provided by Wyndham Hotels, combined with constantly upgraded formal third party training plus the lobbying power of industry, will ensure that the sector is replete with dedicated and knowledgeable labour - whatever their volumes may be.
