Expert’s Voice: Hospitality schools can train for multiple professions

Hospitality teaches soft skills almost better than any other course. (Photo: Swiss Education Group)

The most wanted skills by all businesses might be at hospitality schools, that according to Chris Sheppardson, founder at EP Business in Hospitality, have a lot more to offer.

It is an interesting question – whether hospitality schools have a responsibility to develop a skill set amongst their students for industry rather than a broader market? It is a skill set often well desired by banks, City business and beyond. Is it really a bad thing that so many enter other industries other than hospitality? Not if the schools are creating a skill set and excellence that is desired.

It is often argued that too high a percentage leave the schools not to enter the industry – which needs the talent – but a range of industries – but this just shows that skills and talent are desired by many industries. It illustrates not just that talent is lost but that the leading schools are designed to develop talent that is ready for a broad range of disciplines. The skills travel across industries.

Hospitality teaches soft skills almost better than any other course – how to deal with customers? How to have empathy for others? Plus leadership, finance and business management. Add in service skills, culinary knowledge and practical skill sets and it is not hard to understand why hospitality skills are so desired by many businesses.

These leads to a number of thoughts:

• Does industry compete hard enough for the talent training with hospitality courses?
• Do hotel schools have genuine greater opportunity and potential in the development of talent? If so, why then are we hearing that many universities are placing pressure on hospitality budgets and closing facilities? Surely, they should be marketing them even more strongly?
• Is there a need for a change in the thinking in supporting hospitality schools?
• As hospitality schools are developing skills that are so deserved by business, is there room/potential for Industry to play a closer role in working with hospitality schools – create a new way forward that is a true partnership between business and education?
• In a world that is becoming increasingly personal and where business is seeking greater personal connections again with customers – then hospitality skill sets could have greater value than ever before.

It is often noted that the great Swiss schools were originally founded to train staff to serve the great aristocrat families during their grand European tours. The world has moved on no little bit since those days but the desire for great hospitality skills are just as relevant today.
They desire better promotion, understanding and investment from industry.