The peak season is fast approaching and you’re wondering how to fill upcoming front desk and housekeeping positions in your hotel. The General Manager of the Buchan Hotel, a small, independent hotel in Vancouver’s West End, solved this problem by recruiting his staff from a variety of sources including new immigrants, ESL students and the developmentally disabled.
The general manager of the Buchan Hotel since 1998, Hoi-Sin Wee knows firsthand the challenges of immigrating to a new country, finding work and figuring out one's place in a culture and language far removed from one's origins. Acquainted with agencies that help new immigrants adjust to Canada, he felt a personal commitment to assist them in getting their first Canadian jobs. It was a natural next step for him to look at other organizations in the community that provided assistance to specific populations, including students and the developmentally disabled.
He makes regular contact with the following agencies to fill part-time and full-time positions, both temporary and permanent:
- SUCCESS, a non-profit charity that offers a range of services for new immigrants;
- Joblink, the University of British Columbia's campus employment centre;
- Developmental Disabilities Association, a non-profit charity that provides services to adults with developmental disabilities.
Workers in Tourism
Hoi-Sin asserts that some potential employees brought to his attention have training in hospitality. Agencies may prescreen people "based on job experience or similar job experience, education and most importantly customer service."
New Immigrants
Many immigrants hired by Hoi-Sin have little direct experience working in a hotel. Most use the Buchan as a stepping-stone. Why focus on hiring new immigrants when it's a challenge to convince them to stay? "Dedication," declares Hoi-Sin. "They truly [try] really hard to please and do the job well." Besides, he says, what’s "most important is a positive outlook." It has a major impact on the work environment. As a hotel that at its summer peak has 22 staff, everyone is affected by their enthusiasm and energy. Even the guests notice.
Language too has become something that Hoi-Sin is flexible about. Fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, he frequently conducts bilingual interviews in one of these languages and in English. Once hired, the non-native-English speaker is assured of linguistic assistance: other staff members help with translation. This cooperative spirit helps build teamwork.
University and English as a second language (ESL) Students
Hoi-Sin often hires university students part-time to start with, and promotes them to full-time in the summer season. Some of the students study English as a second language and are well placed to assist the many Japanese guests who stay at the hotel.
One of the incentives he offers is time: Hoi-Sin encourages students to do their homework and read on paid time, once their work is done. He also accommodates irregular schedules, particularly during exams when students need time to study. This support is one reason why students tend to work at the hotel throughout their university careers, and why turnover rates have improved.
The Developmentally Disabled
Hoi-Sin speaks in glowing terms of his experience with finding and retaining staff through the Development Disabilities Association (DDA). He cites one young man, Jerome, who's worked as a room attendant for six years. With specific, focused training, Jerome has become a devoted permanent member of the staff whose eagerness has infused vitality into the rest of the workplace.
"They are incredibly dedicated to their work," Hoi-Sin says of the developmentally disabled who have worked at the Buchan. They obviously "look forward to coming in to work. They're sincere about it." Often they don't read or write, so colleagues at the Buchan lend a hand. All this promotes a supportive work environment.
As was the case with Jerome, the DDA supplies their own staff and specialists to train the developmentally disabled on-site until they've mastered their work. This relieves the cost of training for the hotel. The program has worked so well for the Buchan that Hoi-Sin now offers the hotel as a training ground for the DDA in the summer season.
Hoi-Sin admits that integrating this diversity of employees — people with tourism experience, new immigrants, students, and the developmentally disabled — into one cohesive workplace requires significant effort. "But the payback is worth it." Using these community resources goes a long way to secure dedicated staff, create high staff morale and foster a harmonious work environment.
