WE ❤️ HOSPITALITY - Paul Hunter

The last year has been terrible for the hospitality sector. Most businesses have seen extreme financial challenges and its reputation as an employer has been severely affected. We are now hearing from many, many of our clients about their fears for the future from staff shortages to skills gaps and top mid-senior talent moving to other sectors.

Krishnan Doyle is sharing his conversations with service industry leaders and operators on all that is good about hospitality & catering with the purpose to improve the sector's reputation as one of the largest employer worldwide but also as a great place to develop your career. 

How did you get into hotels & resorts?

Accidentally - I was doing restaurants and worked for Pizza Express (great company and great people) in Yorkshire, my brother told me I should consider hotels; so he organised for me to meet with a really experienced hotelier who put me through my paces and to see if they had a role for me, 10 years on and I haven’t looked back.

Do you think it is important to have studied a related topic to be a success in the sector? 

Nope - drive, commitment, patience, and motivation supersede qualifications for me. That’s not to say qualifications aren’t valuable. They certainly are beneficial and sometimes required depending on the business function you are responsible for.

Which leader / figure inspired you and why? 

Personally, my grandad, just everything he did for his family, the stories he told of WW2 and then building a successful family business thereafter. More recently Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool manager), he’s such an emotive leader, he’s the manager but he kicks every ball with his team and the way he celebrates with the fans - shows what winning means to him.

What keeps you in the sector and why do you enjoy working in it? 

The people and the diversity of the day, simply put, we learn every day. We can always be better and to be better you have to adapt, learn and be adventurous. Hospitality evolves constantly so therefore we have to evolve too.

Tell us about the development / training that you give to your teams and management?

Personally, I utilise the great courses and development programmes available within the IHG group. But also feel that in the moment coaching and structured personal development plans are invaluable. I have been fortunate enough to work with some great leaders throughout my career who ensured I had a consistent and relevant PDP, this helped me progress enormously.

What advice would you give to those starting out in the sector? 

Be patient, get stuck in, be a sponge (learn as much as you can), don’t pass opportunities to do something different (which is not your day job), stick with it because the sky is the limit!

If you could go back and tell yourself one piece of advice as you started your career, what would it be?

Learn to take feedback more effectively!

If you would like to take part as a leader in this thriving sector, get in touch with Krishnan (krishnan@corecruitment.com)