A Quick Guide for Hoteliers.
“The hotel industry has survived recessions and crisis in the past but nothing has prepared us for something like this,” says Adrian Praveen, Chief Executive Officer at Arrowood International. In this article, Adrian will be diving into a subject where many are facing during this crisis globally. What to do if you recently lost your job? Here’s a quick guide on how we think might help you to get through this difficult time.
Within weeks of the announcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO), many hotels in Malaysia had to close temporarily but as the MCO gets extended, many were forced to close permanently as there were no longer any income to sustain and to prolong even after the crisis. The recovery phase will take longer than expected and businesses will need to be prepared to manage through their business recovery phase even after MCO. That being said, many businesses had no choice but to shut down.
“According to an article published by The Star on 29 April 2020, the hotel industry has laid off 6% of the workforce out of 41, 000 employees. This translates to 2,460 people who became jobless which is enough to run at least 24 hotels with an average of 100 employees per hotel,” says Adrian. That is a lot of people without a job,” he stressed.
The pressure catches up even more to secure new positions in other hotels as the industry is no longer hiring new employees during this time. For those who are still able to secure a job may have or soon be experiencing a pay cut as MCO prolongs. As if it isn’t bad enough, this is something not only Malaysia is experiencing, but globally. Before this crisis, people were able to search for jobs in another region, state, and country but not in this current pandemic situation.
We understand that this difficult time can cause anxiety and stress when you don’t have a job to support yourself and your loved ones financially. If you have recently lost your job, here’s what you need to get through this crisis.
Step #1: Secure short-term cash flow
Obviously, you will need a bit of cash to get through your daily expenses especially if you have a family of your own. As you may already be aware, banks have extended moratoriums on loans. Take a short-term loan that will help you to cover to cover your expenses for the next 3 to 5 months. Next, reduce your expenses to as minimal as possible. This means zero entertainment and only pay for necessities. This will relieve you from a bit of pressure on how to make ends meet when you wake up every morning.
Step #2: Understanding your strengths and weaknesses
Once you’ve got your financials sorted for the next few months, its time to dive deep into your personal growth to see how you can improve and map out your career plan based on your strengths. To make this work, you will need to be honest with yourself and accept critical opinions that may have come your way. Get an ex-colleague to evaluate on you as they know you better at the workplace. “I couldn’t agree more with the saying if you want to get to know someone, work with them,” says Adrian.
Remember, avoid being defensive or attempt to justify your weakness as the idea is to know where you stand. Once you can identify your strength and weakness, ask yourself, “is my strength commonly instilled by a lot of people or only a small number of people?”
If numerous people can do what you do, ask yourself next if your strengths are still relevant in the hotel industry. We now live in the era of technology that can ease things up but at the same time are slowly taking over jobs. Jobs such as telephone operators are now irrelevant since computer systems can do the same job. So, if your skills are obsolete and can no longer be applied in today’s world, then it’s time to look into sharpening and learning new skills.
If only a small number of people can do what you then congratulations! You have a very high opportunity in getting a job soon. Look for temporary jobs regardless of the industry just to get you by until the hotel industry recovers. Avoid being selective at the moment. If it pays the bill, go for it! When the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) gets lifted and the hotel industry recovers progressively, start sending out your resumes.
Step #3: Invest your time in reading
And we don’t mean newspapers or whatever is on social media about the pandemic. Finding time has always been a challenge for a lot of people in any industry. Now that you have all the time in the world, it’s time to sweep off those dust that had been collecting on your books and catch up on some reading. If you don’t have any, go ahead and purchase them online or sign up for an audio book! For a start, look for books on self-improvement, building leadership skills, and how to be an effective communicator. Reading is the only method that can improve one’s knowledge. “I’ve come across many hoteliers with to 20 to 30 years of experience using the same strategy over and over again,” says Adrian. “We call this ‘recycling of ideas’ where people are just comfortable repeating the same method over the years as they climb the ladder whilst moving from one hotel to another,” he adds. When ideas get obsolete, they move on to another hotel and that is why we see a trend of hotelier shifting hotel jobs every 1-2 years.
For some whom we call ‘contributors’ are those who learn during employment, improvise ideas, and apply them at the next hotel they work in. most often, contributors tend to have a good habit of reading as that is where the ideas come from and where they draw inspiration.
Take note that these steps need to be done in sequence as you will not be able to focus on completing step #2 and #3 if you continue to worry about your financials.
We hope you’ll find this article helpful to guide you through this current crisis. If it does, please share it with us even if it means in a few months time.
Last but not least, stay strong and we wish you the best of luck!
