If hotel firms do not focus on the needs of new employees, they will be doomed to failure this side of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Hubert Viriot, CEO of Yotel.
Speaking with Hotel News Now as part of its “Pandemic Reflections” series, Viriot said “leadership is important, obviously, and leadership needs to remain focused.”
“I need to keep a steady hand on the future of the company and to stay the course of the business, but at the same time it is all about the team, and that is what we really discovered during the crisis.
“Maybe ‘discovered’ is too strong a word, but it really has emphasized that. You do not go through a crisis like that just with strong leadership,” he said.
New generations of workers do require new conditions, but civility, respect, flexibility, enjoyment and lifestyle are far from being impositions, he said.
Viriot said his generation is the bridge, as it understands the Old World but also the New World.
“When I was the age of many of these colleagues, that is not what we at all received. I was used to being under massive pressure, and we were never told ‘thank you,’” he said.
“We have to adjust to it,” he added.
“The best advice I would have given myself three or four years ago is … take more care of the people. They are not just associates. They are not just people part of the business with x, y, z tasks, objectives, KPIs. They are people,” he said.
“By unlocking not only their brains and business [sense], but their hearts, we will get the best out of them. … Look beyond their CVs and see who they really are,” he said.
Listen below for our full conversation with Hubert Viriot.