What technical skills and personality traits are best for Hospitality and Management?

Hello again,

Just a few practical things for you to consider:

A good work ethic: you have to show up! There's a commercial that plays here that says," arriving early is on-time, on-time is late and late is unacceptable". It really is like that in an industry in which all the players are needed to deliver the service. It doesn't matter if you are the brightest person on staff if you don't show up. When you are at work, dedicate your time to your job....social media will have to wait. You are there to provide service to others - do that sincerely and people will notice. Never leave a problem with a customer unless it is solved or handed off to someone else who will solve the problem.

Be flexible. New ideas, services, companies and the associated changes are a fact of life and need to be embraced by participants to give each an opportunity to be fairly evaluated. And, expect that no new program will go off without some problem, unanticipated consequence or success, each of which may require adjustments. finding the problems is the easy part - developing and implementing solutions are the real work.

Be inquisitive....ask a lot of questions. This industry is very heavily invested in what to do and in many cases the how to do it is left up to the individual. Further, it is important to know why things are done and how they fit in to the overall business. I don't know is not a wrong answer.....

Make mistakes...just don't make the same one's twice. Know that you will and be prepared to discuss them rationally when they do occur. In many cases, asking for forgiveness will be better than asking for permission. This is a good conversation to have with your supervisor early in your career.

When asked to do something that is technically "not your job", use it as an opportunity to learn another aspect of the business you are in. The more overall knowledge you have, the better are the opportunities that will be presented to you as you progress in your career.

In a general sense to begin with and continuing development in your knowledge of business finance. In a restaurant,knowing how to cook great food is as essential as knowing how much it costs to put a plate on your guests table and what that contributes to the bottom line (profit/loss).

Everyone has good ideas and the people who are doing the actual work are the one's closest to most of the problems. Listen to them and acknowledge their efforts and ideas. To do this you must be approachable, credible and open to be seen as a person who is part of the solution. Make sure you get back to people on what you did with their ideas and give them the recognition when they help solve the problems. By helping others succeed, you also build your own success.

Aside from all the technical skills...which if anyone can learn, so can you.....it's all about people.....they are your greatest assets and challenges. It is a lifetime process to develop high levels of skill in this area and is only limited by the limits you place upon yourself.

Be safe and provide a safe environment for yourself, employees and customers. It is everyone's job. Walking by an unsafe act, condition or other situation is condoning and accepting it. Failing in this area can do irreparable harm to people, business and reputations. You can't just look at things...you have to learn how to observe.

I also would note that one of the reasons I am responding to this question is because you wrote a "Thank you" comment to both people who responded to you. To me, this shows you're off to a good start.

Regards,

Don Knapik

Well first off let me say you at a young age being in the hospitality industry is a great industry and field to be in. This industry is forever changing and evolving, but these traits and skills are going to always be and stay the same though Some skills you need to have to be successful in this industry are communication, public speaking, leadership, multi-tasking and creative skills just to name a few. The personality I would suggest you should have is very creative, honest, loyal, trustworthy and open to change. Like I just said this industry is always changing and evolving so you have to be open-minded and open to change whether it's good or bad. Also, one of the biggest skills and personality trait that you should have that not a lot of people have is customer service skill. whether you are working at the front desk or working as a server in a restaurant, you have to have the ability to connect with guests & customers. I hope my advice was somewhat of a help for you.

Bailey,

I have been in the hospitality industry for many years and I feel strongly that those who love to be of service and smile are the most genuine in our industry. Loving what you do and multi-tasking well are key attributes to success in hospitality. I found a helpful article that may help you as well.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/characteristics-restaurant-employees-16720.html

Good Luck!

Chef R

Hi Bailey,

I have worked at two different hotels as a front desk manager on duty. I think the only technical skills you need to have are the ability to learn new systems/software and multitasking . All hotels have a property management system (PMS) which are used to manage reservations. I didn't have any prior experience working with a PMS but was able to learn quickly on the job. I think as long as you can pick up and open your mind to learning, then that is really the only technical skill you need to have. For personality traits, I find the following critical if you want to be successful in the hospitality industry: charisma, empathy, attentive, and most important is to naturally be a people-person. In order to work and survive in the hospitality, your motivation and passion needs to come from somewhere within. You need to absolutely love and care for people. Customer service is transactional, you get or do something for somebody. Whereas hospitality is about creating a relationship with people.