Does Higher Education really matter - in the hotel and hospitality industry

Does education really matter. There are many senior managers in the hotel and hospitality industry who earn a sum of 50 lakhs or more per annum as CTC, specially in bigger companies. However many of them are hotel management graduates from not so fancied colleges without any major qualifications but still doing pretty well. So is the requirement for higher education industry specific?

It is not the qualification but the employability that is required for any candidate. It is a fact that the topers in tier 1 B Schools have failed miserably in their career without finding a space in the company they have joined. At the same time, persons without management degree have become successful to a certain level. In hospitality sector, the more the employee is customer centric and could win the hearts of the customers the faster will be his career progression. I know one Executive Chef in one of the reputed brands of hotels in the South India who is not qualified but gown to this level, probably starting his career as a Commis III or so. At the same time a Degree Holder from a good Hotel Management Institute may start his career as a Sous Chef or Chef De Partie but end up with Sous Chef only. The same thing extends to other functional areas also.

Dear Bhowal Kaushik,

I have a small background in the hospitality industry, however, on leaving the industry, I remained a keen observer of that industry.

I don't know which hotel you are referring to and whether your reference is from India or abroad. Nevertheless, most of the companies having a chain of 5-star hotels employ staff with a degree from the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM). For the benefit of the readers let me apprise them that students from IHM are considered the cream of the hospitality industry.

Yes, there are successful persons in other industry segments also. In the IT industry, ordinary BCAs could earn more than B Tech (Computer SC).

However, in the hotel industry, the examples of super-successful people you mentioned are few are far between. For every successful person, 99 others languish. At the lower level, it is easier to get a job but at a higher level, it is very difficult.

By the way, if the hospitality industry were to be so good, why is it not attracting talent and even if it attracts talent, why the talent is fleeing to other industries? My market observation says that those who are pursuing Bachelor in Hotel Management (BHM) course, are not so keen to work in the hospitality industry. Barely 5-10% wish to continue. Why students are turning themselves away from a lucrative career?

The requirement for higher education is not industry specific. It is required for all industries. Indians' tendency to give short shrift to education casts India in poor light. Today we don't have a single car manufacturer that manufactures a car that has aspiration value. We don't have a single IT company that has produced an IT product on its own. We don't have a single company that manufactures a mobile phone or even a TV set. Our tryst with mediocrity is never-ending.

We have a tendency to pooh-pooh higher education and in the bargain, we end up playing a second fiddle to the industry leaders of the world. Unfortunately, we don't bother to check whether the fiddle is made in domestic in the market or imported. Our obsession with earning by playing a fiddle overrides our critical thinking!

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Bhowalkaushik,

Yes Education really matters some times, but also skill and maturity matters the most.
I have seen an ITI guy is working as a Production Manager, in a Manufacturing Company in Bangalore, earning Rs. 3 lacs per month.

In my more than three decades of experience as HR I have seen many such cases. A reputed manufacturing Company in Chennai wanted a General Manager -Technical and the qualification fixed was M.Tech with experience, since no suitable found in M.Tech it was fixed to B.Tech. The HR Dept searched the candidates as per the Job Description, but fail to find the suitable in B.Tech category.

Luckily a Diploma guy matching the required as per JD and more experience than expected was found and the management appointed him as DGM with a lower salary than GM, finally was to convince the candidate to accept the position and probably during six month of his service and performance he can be elevated to GM.position.

Friends, many a times the organization has to compromise with experience & performance rather than qualification.As you are all aware the M.Tech & B.Tech graduates prefers to work for reputed corporate rather than manufacturing companies because the growth factor at MNC companies are very high and some of them go abroad in search of jobs and have settled in life.

In the present scenario earning more money in a short span of time and making investments in real estate & share trading is important which doubles the money in a faster manner.

With Regards