Continuing Education Main Headline

IFT hosts executive course on people management

中文摘要 / Summary in Chinese

IFT and Switzerland’s Lausanne Hospitality Consulting, an Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne subsidiary, co-organised in August an executive development programme on “People Management”. The aim of the programme – which took place in Macao – was to provide hospitality industry professionals with tools to identify key success factors and critical obstacles to effective management of staff.

“The hospitality business – and the service sector – revolves around the so-called ‘3 Ps’: product, place and people,” says Mr. Olivier Verschelde, who led the programme. He is a Senior Consultant at Lausanne Hospitality Consulting.

“At the end of the day, people are the most important element [in a hospitality business]. Managing them is not easy because they all have individual needs, they all have their own goals; and managers and leaders also have their own goals,” Mr. Verschelde says.

In his opinion, managers must have a high degree of self-knowledge, including awareness of their own personality traits, and also know their team members, in order better to adapt leadership skills when dealing with a team of staff.

The 2-day executive development programme attracted 32 professionals from local hotels and resorts. “I was extremely happy with the level of the students,” says Mr. Verschelde.

He adds: “This is an interactive course. I was not here just to bring theory. My aim was also to bring new tools, new methodologies for participants – namely in the shape of exercises asking of their experience; they were very participative.”

Ms. Teresa Mou, Director of Residences at The Residences and Apartments at Mandarin Oriental, Macau, was one of the professionals attending the programme. It was “very beneficial for managers,” she says. “Occasionally, you need to refresh your knowledge on what are the latest trends [in this field].”

Ms. Mou has attended several executive development programmes hosted by IFT. These short courses for industry executives are offered in partnership with some of the world’s leading tourism schools and cover the latest trends in hospitality management.

“I appreciate IFT giving us such good opportunities,” Ms. Mou says.