features: opinion & comments: Know your personal USPs
Know your personal USPs
We often talk about industry experiencing a “sea change” but now more than ever this seems befitting of so many sectors and companies in the Middle East, not just within the hospitality and travel sectors. For many years the region has been growing and the physical landscape itself is tantamount to this. After all the development the region has seen, and the difficulties employers have encountered in keeping up with demand to hire the right individuals for the multiple jobs in travel and hotels in this fast paced market, the last two years have provided the biggest, and most critical, challenge to date.
We all watched and listened with disbelief and dismay as multiple redundancies were announced nearly 18 months ago. From the top down, employees had experienced the boom times and enjoyed positive work environments and work-life balance. Looking back, many had been hired without direct experience and were left to their own devices as the phones just kept ringing. They developed organically, but with little training or direction in many companies, as client servicing took up most of their time. When things got tough, many people, through no fault of their own, struggled to adjust to the need for proactivity, and the need to work harder and smarter.
The requirements of today’s business leaders are different. As a result, the recruitment landscape has also changed, with an alternative set of criteria for managers brought in to ensure they could overcome the slump and turn business fortunes around. To succeed in these tough times, many of the leaders of the past, some of them “fair-weather” managers who could captain a ship through calm waters, are no longer qualified to overcome today’s business issues. People who had never before seen such economic crises, and significant numbers who thought the Middle East was immune to recession, were suddenly out of their depth. Boom had turned to impending bust seemingly.
Out of diversity, however, has come a necessary and radical change. While some companies down-sized, there was also a great deal of right-sizing, where over employment had been a symptom of the wealth of so many companies that did not need to look at their budgets and had no time to assess the efficiency of their workforce, their operational costs and return on investment.
The shift in working practices and market appraisal is noticeable, thinking out of the box is essential and the emphasis on CRM research, analysis and lateral development in order to keep afloat and compete in trying economic times is essential. The Middle East has now experienced the reality of trading in a global economy and is now competing on firmer foundations and will continue to become more credible. While the effects of the recession are still being felt, the worst is over, and we are seeing real strategic planning for the future, the strengthening of workforces, but tighter budgets and far greater commercialism across the board. Recruitment processes have been honed and selection procedures fine-tuned.
As a job-seeker, with competition for roles at an all-time high, this means that it is imperative to really identify your personal USPs (unique selling points) and distinguish yourself from your fellow applicants, both in terms of your CV and how you come across in the interview. Combining a clear and concise resume, with a well prepared interview and positive and professional self-image, will greatly improve your chances of securing the dream job.
And fortunately the sector is still advancing, albeit at a slower pace, but still offers huge opportunity to work in an increasingly exciting region for hospitality. There is a greater pool of talent, but still shortages in some areas, and thus the need to carry out recruitment drives in selected countries worldwide. This takes time and expends great financial resource for the more sizeable employers, but only adds to the multicultural environment in which we work, and fosters relations in a way that is truly characteristic of and synonymous of the travel sector.
Emiratisation remains a hot topic here in the UAE, with larger organisations who need to adhere to government targets and employ a set number of local people working hard to achieve these goals. There is also a greater emphasis on Arabic language skills as a pre-requisite for many employers as they look to local companies, government departments and neighbouring GCC countries as a source of new business and increased client numbers.
Salaries have dropped significantly in middle to senior management, but fortunately less so for junior and customer service staff, where pay has been seen as low for many years. With the heightened need to ensure repeat business and encourage loyalty, salaries have again come under scrutiny as frontline staff are often considered undervalued, yet are so totally indispensible to large organisations. Senior management still command a good salary in line with the new demands and increased pressure that such executives hold. Remuneration strategies are being revised to evaluate the basic salary, packages and incentive schemes, with both attraction and retention of staff very much the key focus.
Despite set-backs, there is plenty to motivate us while working in our exciting industry, as well as a great future ahead. With a new-found awareness of our positioning in the world markets and understanding of what needs to be done by organisations and individuals to succeed in the global arena, we can all benefit from learning and personal development, and must feel empowered by the significant contribution we make on a daily basis. Moving forward, employers and employees alike must strive to offer a consistently positive attitude, strong work ethic and commitment to quality, and if this is filtered through to the client, then our brands and profit figures should continue to grow, and in turn create long-term job security and widespread opportunity for progression.
