The “Jobs for Hotels” lecture was held at the University College Aspira on 28 April 2016 by guest lecturer Mrs Anke Mass who presented the Leonardo Hotels group to the students. Our student Dora Alfirević reports:
Mrs Mass started this interesting lecture by briefly describing the characteristic of the Leonardo Hotels group, stating how since becoming a brand in 2007 the group today includes over 60 hotels in 30 destinations within the European market and employs over 2500 people. This is a remarkable achievement considering the fact that in 2006 the Leonardo group included only two hotels with 394 rooms. The strategy was to expand outside of Germany and their current goal is to reach the figure of 100 hotels. They are interested in Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik as possible destinations for Leonardo Hotels in Croatia. Leonardo is a brand on its own and each hotel is owned by the Leonardo group. To meet the requirements of the Leonardo Hotels group, a hotel has to have at least three to four stars. It also important to mention the Leonardo academy for employees. The Leonardo group strives to improve the performance of their employees and to additionally educate them, rather than to look for new people from outside the group. This is the way in which they educate their employees, create room for improvement and establish a degree of loyalty to the group. The end-result of such an approach is a satisfied worker. However, the primary goal of every hotel is to have satisfied guests. Therefore, each Leonardo hotel implements the “Feeling good” principle of welcoming guests with fresh fruit and bottled water in their rooms.
For the rest of the lecture, Mrs Moss talked about internships available in the hotels of the Leonardo group and the conditions applicants must meet in order to apply. The Leonardo group provides free accommodation and meals, as well as an initial minimum wage for all interns (with internships lasting 1 year). In order to apply, candidates have to submit their CVs, including a “professional” photo and a cover letter. The basic requirements for candidates are knowing German, having a pleasant personality and good work ethics.
The lecture was very informative and I always find it interesting to learn how the employment process functions and what are the criteria and conditions for working outside of Croatia.
by Dora Alfirević