Careers in Lodging, Food and Beverage Industries - Essay Example

? Careers in Lodging, Food and Beverage Industries Careers in Lodging, Food and Beverage Industries Lodging, food and beverage industries belong to a wider field referred to as the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry is one of the largest sectors of the global economy providing employment to millions of people across the world. The industry relies mostly on availability of disposable income and leisure time. Other fields in hospitality include theme parks, event planning, tourism, cruise lines, restaurants and transportation (Altinay & Paraskevas 2008). This essay focuses on the employment opportunities provided by the lodging, food and beverages fields in hospitality. Lodging includes resorts and hotels while food and beverages includes restaurants and catering services. There are numerous career opportunities that one can pursue in these two fields. The industry continues to grow and expand with time while opening up newer job opportunities. Many people with a passion and desire to offer exemplary services to customers often find very rewarding job opportunities in the hospitality industry. The Various Types of Management Careers The lodging industry for instance is one of the biggest employers in hospitality. There are several career paths that one can take including general hotel management, housekeeping, human resource management, sales and marketing positions, customer service supervision, finance and accounting and information technology among others (Altinay & Paraskevas, 2008). The general manager overseas the overall functions of the lodging and all other managers are answerable to him. The human resource manager is responsible for hiring, maintain and managing the employees of a lodging facility to ensure they have good working conditions and that they are motivated to service their customers and clients. The housekeeping manager maintains the records of visitors coming to the lodging facility. The sales and marketing manager on the other hand is changed with the responsibility of promoting the lodging facility and its services to target customers (Altinay & Paraskevas, 2008). Finance managers help in maintain the financial records while information technology managers help to maintain the information, technology and communication equipment. The size and type of a particular lodging facility determines the level of education, skills and experience needed for one to be hired in a management position. A big lodging facility in the US with a good reputation and a chain of rooms across the country may require one to have at least five years’ experience and a bachelor’s degree in order to get in to management. A smaller facility may require a year’s experience and at least a higher diploma for one to be able to join the management team. Salaries for managers in the lodging industry are generally very attractive. Mangers can earn between $28,000 and $150,500 per annum while the general manager of the lodging facility may earn up to $200,000(Altinay & Paraskevas, 2008). The food and beverage industry is another field of hospitality, which provides employment opportunities to a majority of individuals across the globe. One can be employed in restaurants, hotels, or catering operations which provide many career paths that can led to managerial positions (Altinay & Paraskevas, 2008). Some of common managerial positions in the food and beverage industry include food and beverage directors, restaurant managers, bar managers, kitchen managers, catering supervisors, and mangers of hotel properties. Mangers of large casinos and hotels as well as directors of food and beverage have the highest salaries, which may be up to $150, 000 per year while other managers earn between $30,000 and $100,000 per year. Comparison between the General Manager Positions A general manager’s position in both lodging, food and beverage industries is an executive position with the occupant overseeing the day-to-day activities as well as the sales and marketing operations of the lodging or restaurant (Montana and Charnov, 2008). Other managers are responsible for their specific units or sections in the lodging or hotel while a general manager is responsible for the facility as a whole. All other managers report to him. The general manager is therefore responsible for staffing, coordinating, delegating, organizing, planning and decision making of the facility. A general manager holds the ultimate authority on all operations of the hotel and may report to the investors and hotel ownership directly or to a regional vice president if the hotel has more than one outlet in different parts of the country (Montana and Charnov, 2008). The general manager in both industries is responsible for financial management, budgeting, hiring and managing the executive management team consisting of various departmental heads, ensuring the business objectives are met, dealing with emergencies and any emerging issues involving employees, guests, and customers, project management, as well as ensuring good relationships with local authorities, partners and other stakeholders in the business. The extent of the duties and responsibilities of a general manager vary in relation to the size and type of hotel or company in question. General Managers for smaller hotels may have more responsibilities since there are fewer employees to delegate some of the responsibilities to. The position of a general manager in the two industries also has a lot of differences in terms of their responsibilities and remuneration. General Managers in the lodging industry have a lot more responsibilities as compared to those in the food and beverage industry. Lodging facilities require a lot of skills and experience in the general management position because a lot of efforts have to go in ensuring the facility attracts more people and that their security is ensured during their time of stay. The general managers in the food and beverage industry on other hand put more attention in ensuring their customers are well served. The position of a general manager in a lodging facility requires one to have vast experience in housekeeping, customer relationships, and human resource management skills (Montana and Charnov, 2008). In food and beverage industry, the manager simple skills and experience in catering, and customer service can propel one to the position of general manager. The General Manager’s position in the lodging industry therefore attracts better salaries as compared to those in food and beverage. General Managers in the lodging industry can earn up to 200,000 dollars while their counterparts in the food and beverage industry can earn up to $150000 per year. Analysis of Growth in Employment in the Two Industries The hospitality industry is the fastest growing industry in the world with a new job being created in every three seconds on average. The lodging, food and beverage industries are the biggest employers in hospitality and are the biggest employers in the US after the government. The figures provided by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimate that the food and beverage industry is growing at a rate of 23% of the global economy employing about 215 million people annually. WTTC projects that the demand of restaurants and lodgings will go up in the next ten years by 23-35%, as well as the positions for hotel managers and assistants. In the next five years, employment in the hotel and restaurant industry is expected to have surpassed the 500,000 hallmark. Te lodging industry is also going to increase exponentially across the world as efforts to booster tourism are taken a notch higher. The demand for lodging facilities will lead for new jobs to be created in the next ten years as more new lodgings are set up. Human Resource Practices to Improve and Retain Management The management positions in the two industries can be enhanced through adopting new human resource strategies. The businesses in the two industries need to improve their job recruitment policies, undertake employee training and motivate the employees to perform (Paauwe & Boselie, 2003). These three strategies can be very useful in ensuring the best people are selected for the jobs, motivated to perform their tasks and gain more skills through employee training. The businesses should change their recruitment policies to embrace more diversity within management in terms of age, gender, race among other dynamics. The applicants for the positions have to be taken through rigorous interview procedures to determine their level of skills, education, experience and mental ability to perform the expected roles (Paauwe & Boselie, 2003). After selection, the individuals have to be given further training through seminars and workshops in order to keep them up to date with current needs in the industry. Finally the managers have to be motivated tom perform their responsibilities. Motivation could he in form of better salaries, benefits, allowances and other rewards based on performance. References Altinay L & Paraskevas, A. (2008). Planning research in hospitality and tourism. Oxford : Butterworth-Heinemann Montana Patrick J and Charnov Bruce H. (2008). Managerment: Leadership and Theory (4th English edition) Barron's Educational Series, Inc., Hauppauge, New York. Paauwe & Boselie, (2003). Challenging (strategic) human resource management and the relevance of institutional setting, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 56-70. Read More