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City Centre Bahrain’s five-star hotels have welcomed its latest batch of recruits into the hospitality industry, a sector which looks set to attract some of the brightest young career-minded individuals in the kingdom.
The Grooming Bahraini Hospitality Talent Programme recently unveiled its second group of graduates ready to work full-time as bellboys, front desk clerks and kitchen staff.
They hope to follow in the footsteps of Anna-Marie Dowling, complex general manager of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s Westin Bahrain City Centre and Le Méridien Bahrain City Centre, who worked her way up from waitressing to some of the industry’s most sought-after management positions.
She said: “I am incredibly proud. I think businesses like ours have a responsibility to give back to the community and this is a really exceptional programme that enables us to do that.
“We’ve got some really fine graduates from this batch and I’m really excited about what is going to happen to them next.
“You don’t have to have an MBA or a degree to get on in this business. You can become exceptionally successful working from the ground floor up and I really think programmes like this enable that to happen.”
The programme launched in association with Tamkeen, the kingdom’s labour fund, was set up to offer individuals with the fundamental hospitality skills required to succeed in the profession, such as learning about situation responsiveness, customer care, teamwork, safety, manning the reception, catering, operations and more.
Anna-Maria added: “We can teach them the skills, how to set and clear a table and how to do this and that, but it’s really about being the best person they can be and having that drive and hunger to want to take those steps up the ladder.
“As long as they have the fundamentals to be able to work with people, have a ‘can-do’ attitude and come in with an approach to be the best every day, then that’s all we can ask for.”
Out of 800 applicants, 19 young adults were selected to join the hands-on course. The graduates, including 17 men and two women, were also given further certification and guidance by management consultancy and corporate training services Third Wave International (TWI) alongside the Australian William Angliss Institute that provides training and vocational education in hospitality, tourism and culinary arts.
The new employees were trained in both a classroom setting as well as practical on-the-job training with dedicated Starwood mentors for each student. They are currently working in departments that include front office, food & beverage and housekeeping.
Amal Al Kooheji, Tamkeen’s chief operating officer, said: “We received 800 applications out of which we only needed 20 so I think that is proof enough of people wanting to enter the sector and there is no resistance and barrier anymore.
“However, this is only the first step. We are looking forward to supporting the candidates further with opportunities of training and development to allow career progression.”
Over the past four years 80 recruits has joined the hospitality sector in the kingdom. Graduate Adnan Ebrahim, 22, from Hamad Town, was awarded the ‘best trainee’ in the programme and is thrilled to be staying on full-time with the hotel.
Adnan, who works as a waiter with the in-room dining service, said: “If this is your first time in the hospitality industry, like me, then it is an excellent course to take. It really explains everything from A-to-Z of hospitality.
“It’s great because the mentors gave us so much information on how to do things properly. I love the job because I get to meet new and interesting people every day. Also, working in this hotel has changed my life completely in the way I see and do things.
“You have to treat people with respect and in a professional manner and the course helps trainees like us develop a great work ethic. I am always after improving myself and the hotel has helped me do just that.”
