DNA Money
Oct 14, 2005
|
BANGALORE: Want to hire somebody with a smiling face who can speak well? Go to a star hotel. That's what many companies across India are increasingly doing when they need smooth-talking staff with savvy.
The hotel industry, already hit by the poaching of their well-groomed staff by BPOs and call centres, is now facing tougher times with employees at all levels being wooed by headhunters even in the banking, insurance, personal finance and retail sectors.
With bigger players entering the fray, the hotel industry is facing an uphill task. And with the service sector growing at an average 8% and demand for jobs rising, hotels have become the targets of headhunters, says Mohan Kumar, general manager, Taj West End, Bangalore.
Adds Mohit Nirula, general manager of Oberoi in Mumbai: "Poaching began at the executive level earlier and now has reached the grass-root level." The attrition rate in the industry, he says, has stabilised, though at a much higher level.
The attrition level in the hotel industry could be anywhere between 30 and 50%, with banks, airlines and BPOs being the major sectors poaching the hospitality employees, according to Tejpal Uberoi of The Park in New Delhi.
The high levels of attrition are attributed to low pay scales and long working hours in hotels. "For these reasons, the industry is unable to retain talent," says E. Balaji, executive director (staffing solutions) of Ma Foi in Chennai.
Huvida Marshall, general manager of Oberoi, Bangalore, said, "Front office staff at most hotels come under the scanner of recruiters and most employees join BPOs because they are promised vertical growth." But there have been cases of employees leaving the BPO jobs and going back to hotels as well, largely because of fatigue and irregular working hours associated with the BPO jobs.
|
