Roles Hotel Management Institutions play in career of students

Hotel Management is a professional course which moulds students to become thorough Hospitality professionals at the end of the course. A professional course helps develop students in their practical and theoretical knowledge. The technical education in Hospitality helps in creating trained and experienced manpower for the Industry. The students are also exposed to Industrial training during their three years of education to get a know how of the practicalities of the Hotel Industry and help students develop a liking for a department they would choose to work for after completing the course.

Hospitality management involves controlling and directing of human and material resources in hotels, lodging facilities, cruise liners, tourism locations and recreational centres.

The number of opportunity in hotels and food service businesses all over the world is enormous. Given these innumerable job opportunities, the demand for hospitality management graduates has been in demand in the recent years.

Hotel Management course – Industry Ready Skills

The hospitality management program has been specifically designed to equip students with necessary Industry-ready skills. Students are trained in  both technical and management skills in the area of Hospitality

Soft skills and Etiquette training help students glide smoothly through the personality required in the Hospitality Industry.

Rapidly Growing Industry

The hospitality industry is among the fastest growing industries today and most graduates are able to find jobs as soon as they graduate.

Most Hospitality graduates find jobs before they complete the course in the sixth semester, Students are placed successfully through Hotel Management colleges in  leading hotels, airlines, resorts, hospitals, cruise ships, convention centres and at conference facilities.

Despite the enormous number of job opportunities, there is a dearth of skilled staff in the Industry. Hospitality students find it easy to work in India and abroad, International brands setting up Hotels or merging with hotel companies makes the industry complex, leaves an impact on the local economy and increase in demand for hospitality professionals.

Self-Employment Opportunities

Todays young generation is more inclined to start up business of their own Food Trucks are operated as in and around the city, providing fresh and hygienic menu. Students good at culinary skills are choosing this option as it benefits in terms of time management, space and capital investments.

Home Stay are becoming popular in tourist destinations, providing tourist with comfortable stay with an experience, the latest interesting homestay is slum stay where a lot of foreign tourist are attracted to the concept.

Service apartments have become popular for corporate clients, where employees are expected to travel often, an home style apartment with all basic amenities are provided.

Travel Opportunities

The knowledge and skills acquired from the hospitality management course can be used worldwide, which gives students the opportunity to apply for hospitality jobs in any country they choose. Hospitality students are equipped to work on cruise liners, Travel and tour companies.

Customer Service

In todays corporates customer service is the key, our students are well trained to take up any customer service related jobs, in any corporate houses, Automobile Industry, Airline, Hospitals, Banking and Retail.

Hotel Management Faculty mentor and guide students in all core areas of Hotel Operations which would help one find a Job in Five star Hotels, Resorts, Budget Hotels, Service apartments, Luxury and comfort stays. The main four pillars of the hotel being Food Production where culinary professionals display their art and skill in cooking various delectable dishes, Culinary professionals also hone their skills in Food plating, Food styling, Food photography and the latest being cooking with a twist where every chef would like to add uniqueness to his or her preparation. A chefs career can start from a junior chef, Chef de partie, Sous chef, executive chef, Director Food and beverage and many more.

The demand for Hospitality will continuously be on the rise with increase demand of diet plans, Veganism, new trends in Food and Beverage and increase in Travel and awareness of the common man.

 

CAREER IN THE HOTEL MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY

Career in the Hotel management industry popularly known as Hospitality industry encompasses many job opportunities under one umbrella. Growth in Travel and Tourism have increased Jobs world wide, while sectors in the industry have increased. When one thinks of Travel a line of questions hit us, How do we book tickets to a destination, means of travel, Accommodation, Local travel arrangements, Food and Beverage, Places of interest during the stay, things to do, and above all how economical would all this be?? And the people involved in this journey are Hospitality professionals, experts in their own field.

A Career in Hotel Management would help one find a Job in Five star Hotels, Resorts, Budget Hotels, Service apartments, Luxury and comfort stays. The main four pillars of the hotel being Food Production where culinary professionals display their art and skill in cooking various delectable dishes, Culinary professionals also hone their skills in Food plating, Food styling, Food photography and the latest being cooking with a twist where every chef would like to add uniqueness to his or her preparation. A chefs career can start from a junior chef, Chef de partie, Sous chef, executive chef, Director Food and beverage, the promotions are many. ITM IHM offers a three year degree program in Culinary Arts, with a sizable number of alumni working in prestigious companies in India and abroad.

The next Pillar is Food and Beverage Service where in nuances of food service and production are a must, Service sector is vast ranging from Hotels, Stand alone restaurants, Quick service Restaurants, Luxury Bars, Banquets, Event management, Airport Lounge, Parlour cafes, Winery e.t.c where food is served to guest with a systematic, appealing and appetising approach, ITM IHM offers a degree program and a Certificate course in Service operations leading to opportunities of work in sectors of Service. A service personal can join as service associate and grow to become Food and Beverage Manager leading to General Manger.

The Housekeeping subject equips the student in all aspects of good housekeeping, hygiene, interior décor, colour and design, upkeep and maintenance of all areas. The freshness and beautification of a Hotel/ work space/ facility using modern equipment’s, chemicals and methods is that one learns in this department, students after perusing a degree program in Hotel Management can choose to specialise in housekeeping department and begin their career as Housekeeping associate and move up the grades to become executive housekeeper leading a good chance eventually to also become a General manager.

Front office is a department focusing on Room revenues, sales and marketing skills, All service sectors be it a front office of a Hotel, Corporate office, Tour operators, travel agencies, Airlines or a Hospital, hotel management professionals have been the first choice.

Todays young generation is more inclined to startup business of their own Food Trucks are operated as in and around the city, providing fresh and hygienic menu. Students good at culinary skills are choosing this option as it benefits in terms of time management, space and capital investments.

Home Stay are becoming popular in tourist destinations, providing tourist with comfortable stay with an experience, the latest interesting homestay is slum stay where a lot of foreign tourist are attracted to the concept.

Service apartments have become popular for corporate clients, where employees are expected to travel often, an home style apartment with all basic amenities are provided.

Hospitality students find it easy to work in India and abroad, International brands setting up Hotels or merging with hotel companies makes the industry complex, leaves an impact on the local economy.

ITM Institute of Hotel Management provides a three year degree program in Hotel Management, Culinary Arts, Diploma in Culinary arts, Certificate course in Hospitality and Bakery and Patisserie. Eligibility for the degree course is 10 + 2 in any stream. Students aspiring to become hospitality professionals can contact ITM IHM.

Need of liberalization and globalization of the education sector.

Every industry is going through a phase of change in the way they operate, Today Industry is looking at hiring  qualifications and skill requirements of young graduates is seeing a change, Students today have apprehensions of  taking up an engineering or medical course as first choice in education. The young generation is aware of the change and requirement of skill development than just a degree in a certain course. Liberalization in the education sector highly depends on stiff and inflexible regulations and practices adapted by the government. Education Institutions should be given a free hand in the pattern of accessing students, written examinations with text books is passee, Today educationist are looking to access students with more practical and research based approach. A technical course as Hotel Management needs to focus on the latest developments in the Industry today, The Food and Beverage industry is witnessing new trends as:

Food available on Cell phone – Food is just a call away, Zomato, Swiggy, Fresh Menu are some preferred applications available on our cell phone, with no hassle food delivery at any location.

Breakfast – Buffet breakfast has become a popular meal and an attraction at any hotel, Hotels are providing a wide spread of breakfast buffet for their guest to start the day with, Travelers today look forward to this option which is mostly included in Room tariff ( CP Plan), Fresh food ingredients on the menu is in demand, fresh and nutritious food than processed or packed food.

Parlor Cafes – Latest trend catching up is Beauty parlors with an attached café, mini meals, healthy options in snacks, non alcoholic drinks are part of the menu. So while one is into beauty treatment which would last for an a couple of hours food and beverage is served to guest.

Latest restaurant trend today is where restaurants provide alcohol by the bottle at competitive prises as local wine shops, where guest are encouraged to buy a bottle of alcohol, if unfinished can be deposited at the restaurant bar store who will store the bottle for you until next visit.

 Single dish restaurants – popular 100 pancakes, Waffle house, House of kathi rolls, these restaurants provide one dish in several styles and flavors.

Franchising has become popular with trending and well established brands, a new entrepreneur gets to start off his business with an established name in the market, while doing so  he needs to keep up with the standards, quality, quantity – value for money. Support from parent company is offered in terms of training support and some financial support depending of company.

As it is said the currency for the 21^st century will be education and innovation, the present generation needs education and guidance on hands on operations, practicing skills till they are masters of their area of work is way forward, Industry is starving for employees who are skill trained. To bridge this gap we need the Industry to come forward and work with educational institutes to develop workforce who will take up jobs offered. At ITM IHM we have designed a Diploma course in culinary operations, where students are trained in a specific area in the kitchen, while giving them overall kitchen experience with industry exposure, this course encourages students to become skilled chefs in tandoor, south Indian, breakfast chef, continental chef, Indian speciality etc.

ITM IHM also offers Diploma in Patisserie and confectionary to hone the skills of students interested in the Bakery and confectionary department.

The Certificate course in Food and Beverage Service aims at developing restaurant service skills, bar operations and banqueting skills.

ITH IHM has its presence in Mumbai and NaviMumbai.

Maintaining standards in the Hotel Management Industry

The hospitality industry has been under continuous change due to two factors: competition and guest demands.

• Today, an average traveller or guest is aware of the facilities provided at hotels at a competitive price. Budget hotels are in spring, whereas luxury hotels maintain their quotient

• With the increase in corporate travel, travel companies are looking at budget hotels, where one gets bed and breakfast at a competitive rate

• Hotel bookings are also not carried out through travel agents, sales and marketing personnel but rather, through online travel and tourism websites. Online facilities enable a traveller to find their choice of hotel easily, as hotel pricing is compared online, and reviews make it easy for guest to select hotels

• Today, guests have easy access to review hotel services and rate each hotel as per the services provided. Thus, self serviced hotels with no frills are the need of today
• The hotel industry in India is very competitive and guest demands are changing.
• Guests today want to try local cuisine, as compared to earlier days where International cuisine was in demand. The number of foreign tourists has decreased in metro cities, and is limited to travel destinations. Thus, international cuisine is slowly losing importance, while at the same time, there is a lack of professionals in hotels specializing in local cuisine
• Indian industry is people-based instead of process-based. We are moving towards that but it will take another decade until we have self-serviced hotels. A lack of technology is seen
• The question is -- Will the Indian market accept the change from fully serviced to self serviced hotels.
• Lack of technology and standardisation in hotels are interrelated.
• Technology is used mainly to promote, review and sell at competitive pricing. Indian hotels have a long way to go to creating hotels where everything from check-in to check-out is automated
• Records maintained in smaller hotels are still non-digitized, and the lack of technology in hotels increases the required manpower but reduces perfection
• Technology elevates a guest's experience. In today's tech-driven world, technology and people can work hand in hand to provide a memorable experience for guests
• Most top hotel chains are still trying different ways to achieve standardization, especially in the food production department. Trying to serve a standard taste of a particular dish throughout the entire hotel chain, all over the country or the world, is a challenge

• Employees in the Indian hotel industry are not as well-rewarded in terms of payment and perks as offered by other industries. Thus, we see a movement of young hospitality professionals with two to three years of experience moving to other countries offering better living conditions and rewards

• Hotel management institutes need to plan short-term skill based courses to enable students to master job oriented skills and move ahead with the required qualification

• Students normally undergo industrial training in the second year or during the tenure of the course. This is when they should be empowered with more, higher skills, rather than making them do basic work which they have already mastered in college

• Indian hotels must make an effort to work along with hotel management institutes to train students, right from level 1, in order to empower them with the skill sets required by a particular company, especially when it comes to the organisation culture and USP traits

• Hotels can do a semi campus recruitment drive in the second year of academics, make a choice of candidates, and further train them towards the end of third year for specific skills

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.

Hospitality is a very relative term in this century, the degree of skill, service delivery and quality, time management and worthiness of cost depends on individual potential, thought process or strategies of the Management of the organisation and ability to lead people by Leadership.

Today’s customer is well travelled and with offers pouring through all travel websites choice is enough and comparable, thus demand is more. The customer is well aware about writing a review on any hospitality related website like Trip advisor etc, and gain brownie points if the review is in minus scale, as everyone from the down line manager to top management would agree on giving some complementary on the guests next visit. By doing this is the Guest always right or are we the hospitality professionals right by offering freebees is the question, which will not have a satisfied answer until customers start rating restaurants and hotels differently.

                                                     

 Hotel chains are trying to survive with low average room rate but occupancy has to be 100% at the end of it the clientele does not matter and further guest expectations vary and service standards tend to vary and the cycle continues.

On the other hand are the hospitality professionals skilled enough to understand delivery standards, educational institutes do not empower them with the practical knowledge required by the industry, there’s always a need to bridge the gap which is mostly done through Hotel Learning and Development department.

The biggest challenge is to maintain high standards and hire the right Management and team, Defining Management Goals and to strive together to achieve the same would be team work, The guiding light towards the Goal is the management Team, a professionally strong management team would not really worry with guest reviews but concentrate on developing the team towards best practices which would dramatically effect employee performance and build a Brand.

Running a successful food business involves some crucial aspects beyond the obvious concerns of location, type of cuisine, rent and utilities. What matters most is your food, your staff and you, at the personal level. If done the right way, your restaurant will thrive and stay on top.

Here are three critical factors that will propel your restaurant to the next level above the competition:

1. A strong food identity.
Your food is your identity. You first must portray yourself in a very definable way to your customers so they can equate you as the "go to -- fill in the blank with your cuisine." Failure to define yourself is a huge mistake when trying to separate yourself from your competition. For example, there are a bunch of Italian restaurants out there, which means there has to be something about your food that makes it stand out if you're offering Italian cuisine.

How can you make your food kick-ass?

·         Uniqueness. Get people's attention with original dishes. If you can make traditional dishes just 10 percent better, you'll have an inspiring and stimulating palette your customers will get excited about.

·         Go local. Get some local farm fresh produce. Not only are you bringing in very fresh ingredients, you are supporting the local economy. Customers will take notice.

·         Don't be cheap. Spend the money on a chef. I don't care if you obtain the best ingredients in the world, without a seasoned, proven chef, you are doomed. Make the wise investment and hire someone great hands.

·          Stand-out staff.
You need to hire people who have a passion for the industry, a sense of urgency when handling customers and a willingness to be part of your team. The service experience is right up there with food when it comes to the top two elements to a magnificent dining experience. They need to be working in sync because if they are not, you could end up with Yelp reviews that minimally praise the food but ruthlessly criticize the service. Your customers want to not only eat good food. They want to be treated like royalty.

How can you be kick-ass with your staff? 

·         Create a process. Create employee manuals containing your processes and procedures, and ensure they are updated regularly. This gives your staff a way to succeed as a unified team moving in the same direction. There is nothing worse than attempting to manage a bunch of individuals trying to do the same thing, each in their own way.

·         Train them well. Your staff has to know their job. Ensure your staff gets thorough book training on procedures along with on-the-job training complete with food tasting and menu education. Basic training should also include job shadowing a veteran staff member. Don’t stop there. Expose the staff member to other job roles, which will allow for position flexibility in case someone can't show up for work and leaves you hanging.

·         Solicit their feedback. Stay communicating and more importantly, don't stop listening. Give real-time feedback and think of yourself as a coach to your team. You don't have to portray yourself as almighty. Look beyond your ego and start putting your people first.

Molecular Mixology

What is Molecular Mixology?????It is surprising to know a lot of Food service staff are unaware of the concept of Molecular Mixology....is it because the scientific method is not used in the organisation they work or lack of updating knowledge in their fields of work.


to the process of creating cocktails using the scientific equipment and techniques of molecular gastronomy.

These methods enable the creation of greater intensities and varieties of flavour and different ways of presenting drinks, for example using gels, powders, foams, atomized sprays etc., as well as affecting the appearance of the cocktail.

Managing people

People are an organisation’s most important assets. The tasks of a manager are essentially people-oriented. Unless there is some understanding of people, management will be unsuccessful. Poor people management is an important contributor to project failure.

People management factors:

Consistency: Team members should all be treated in a comparable way without favourites or discrimination.

Respect:Different team members have different skills and these differences should be respected.

Inclusion:Involve all team members and make sure that people’s views are considered.

Honesty:You should always be honest about what is going well and what is going badly in a project.

Managers in a company may not wish to lose people to a new project. Part-time involvement may be inevitable. Skills such as UI design and hardware interfacing are in short supply. Recent graduates may not have specific skills but may be a way of introducing new skills. Technical proficiency may be less important than social skills.

Motivating people:

An important role of a manager is to motivate the people working on a project. Motivation is a complex issue but it appears that there  are different types of motivation based on:

•         Basic needs (e.g. food, sleep, etc.);

•         Personal needs (e.g. respect, self-esteem);

•         Social needs (e.g. to be accepted as part of a group).

Need satisfaction:

Social

•         Provide communal facilities;

•         Allow informal communications.

Esteem

•         Recognition of achievements;

•         Appropriate rewards.

Self-realization

•         Training - people want to learn more;

•         Responsibility.