The other week I had a very interesting conversation with one of our receptionist, Natalie, who wanted to apply to be my new PA when Zuzana, my long term PA, leaves to pursue her dreams. Natalie had been employed in the hotel for over 2 years on the reception. She is finishing her degree this year and wanted a new challenge. She had also interviewed in other companies over the past 3 weeks and successfully been accepted. I asked her what her main reason for staying in the hotel and wanting to become my assistant; interestingly she told me safety, work colleagues and wanting to do something new. I told her that I needed a person next to me who felt passionate for the hotel, wanting to learn about all the connections between different departments and would want to work/learn from me:-). I also realized that one of Natalie's hesitations to choose the right job was related to her insecurity of taking a new job with people she did not know and a 3 month trial period. She was worried about not being good enough so that she would be without a job within 3 months. So I did the only thing that felt right - I offered her a month unpaid leave to try one of the other jobs, if she felt one of them to be the right job. If it would not be, she would always be welcome back here and if she made the right choice I supported her in her growth and ensure she dared to go for her dreams. In that moment I realized I had found the true meaning of what supporting your team members really stood for. Last note, last week Natalie came to me with a big smile and asked if I still wanted her as my PA. She had been offered 2 alternative jobs, but after much reflection she had decided that staying was the most exciting opportunity. We talked for a while and I could see the relief and happiness in her eyes that she had made the right decision for her for the right reasons. My happy, excited and motivated new PA starts with me shortly and I have gained a new prospect on how I can best support my team members: Allow them to try their wings with the support from me will result in either happier employees or a happier employee somewhere else and I have the chance to hire a new person that will truly enjoy working with us. Have a great day, Monika "Remember if you are happy, others will be too".
3 Comments
12/10/2017 09:32:08 am
In order to make the hotel employees happy, the employers as well as the visitors should pay respect and regard to them. In addition to that, the hotel employees should also be provided good quality of food and incentives.
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5/10/2018 03:56:08 pm
Hello, Monika! I want to thank you for all the kind words you mentioned above. But I believes that if an employee is never happy in something that he does on an everyday basis, there is nothing we could do, even we keep on pushing them to love what they do. Remember they importance of "passion" in this one. If you are not happy with what you do and you don't love it, it will be so easy for you to let go of it. But if you have the passion for that, no matter how hard it will be, you will always have the energy to keep on going.
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9/4/2019 06:53:53 am
Hello, Monika! Those are nice tips, and I want to thank you for your kids words. All kinds of employees deserve to be treated well. We are doing our job in the best possible way, so our employer should also do the same thing for us! I am happy to see that you were able to cite several tips that can be done by employers without them feeling bad about it. After all, we deserve to get what we want!
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Monika HilmMy passions are managing and improving the results of hotels through employee centered processes. My motto: "Put your employees first and the rest will follow. Don't just say it - show it through the actions that you take". Archives
November 2019
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