Earlier this year, eHotelier reached out to its global membership to get an accurate survey of key issues in Executive Development in the hospitality industry.
The respondents to the survey were predominantly in the hotel industry and they represented senior executives and general managers from organisations of all sizes. Representative of the overall industry profile, a predominance came from small to medium-size businesses and just 19% worked in large corporations. Also representative of the hotel industry, 72% of the respondents worked for organisations that operated internationally.
There was a strong correlation of views on the importance of education and training as part of professional development. 98% of respondents considered it was essential for staff development and an important component in ensuring businesses were able to thrive and grow.
The general view was that organisations should take responsibility for development at the operational management and supervisory staff levels, but 85% of the respondents considered that as executives, they should take responsibility for their own development. The majority also reported that their organisations did not have a policy for executive development, but policies for training and development were in place for frontline, supervisory management and specialist staff.
Key findings
There were very clear messages in what executives require from any executive development programme:
- Programmes must be relevant to the business and widely accessible.
- They must provide for collaborative working across a wider range of participants than would be available with in-company programmes.
- Programmes should be based on integrative, holistic and realistic scenarios tailored to participant’s needs.
- Programmes should not necessarily be subject-based nor based on a qualification, but take a more integrative, realistic approach.
- Programmes should be available online, with face-to-face options. The should be delivered or accessible in small bite-size chunks and available anywhere.
- The focus of the programmes should be on leadership and decision-making, supported by finance, ethics and morality. Other areas that should be included in order of priority include service standards, technology, the environment and sustainability, marketing and PR.
The first in eHotelier’s annual series of global industry surveys, the Executive Development Survey Report is now available through the eHotelier Academy: Full Results $295.00 and Executive Summary $45.00.
