Villach/Austria – 06 March 2017 –
Employer branding is a comprehensive concept that starts at a very early stage and requires considerable groundwork, until it becomes visible in the form of brochures or videos. It requires a unique identity of the company and its operators, says Stefan Nungesser, Professor for hotel management at the University of Applied Sciences in Kärnten.
„Who are we? What defines us? What makes us authentic? What’s our philosophy? How do we live our values? These are very important questions that constitute the starting point for a comprehensive employer branding concept. This also includes being aware of one’s own actions and being. Unfortunately, this aspect is often neglected in my opinion“, says Nungesser.
Many family businesses especially in the hotel and catering industry find that there’s less and less suitable personnel. “You can always blame it on someone but it is often a homemade problem. People are able to move up quickly in the hotel business – that’s one of the industry’s advantages, but it also bears the risk that young people quickly find themselves in leading positions or positions with staff responsibility without much preparation”, says the hotel expert. “What happens is that previous management styles are being taken over which are outdated and not accepted by generation Y and Z. We therefore have to better prepare employees for management tasks and many family businesses must challenge their own management style in a self-critical way as they are often leaders in personal union. That’s very difficult and takes a lot of time”, says the trained management assistant in hotel and hospitality.
The Austrian hotel owners‘ association provided significant impetus in Austria. A cooperation with the platform whatchado.com or the Open hotel days are good examples for this. Hotel cooperations like the Best Alpine Wellness Hotels make an exemplary effort with the development of an elaborate and holistic HR concept that applies for all member businesses.
His advice for the trade press and multipliers: You should always look out for good practice examples from other companies that have gone through a change process. “Companies which understand that the way they handled their personnel so far isn’t the right way. This creates a certain credibility which can in turn influence a founded employer branding concept. Just think of Bodo Janssen’s example that has gained so much attention far beyond our industry…“, concludes Nungesser.