There is nothing more important than good service in a hotel, and while guests may appreciate the gourmet cuisine and a comfortable bed, it is the people they will remember when they leave.

To the experienced hoteliers, staff members they can develop and grow with are all part of the hotel's growth chart, and finding and keeping good employees has become a major part of management responsibility.

Recently, Starwood Hotels and Resorts launched a recruitment drive across the Asia-Pacific, with the specific purpose of identifying good local talent - all part of the Starwood Careers Program. It aims to fill more than 25,000 positions at all levels by the end of May 2014, across the parent company's many brands located in 120 destinations including Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Tokyo.

More than 2,000 candidates have applied for jobs in the five Tianjin Starwood hotels. Provided to China Daily

The Starwood Careers Program encapsulates the company's talent strategy, a plan that goes beyond talent attraction to building meaningful long-term careers.

"Starwood Careers is about how we attract the right people and grow up with them," says Paul Cunningham, general manager of The St. Regis, Tianjin. "This program helps people coming to the company steer a clear career path here from waiter to manager."

Since March, when the recruitment kicked off, more than 2,000 candidates have applied for jobs in the five Tianjin Starwood hotels, including St. Regis Tianjin, the Astor Hotel, Sheraton Tianjin Hotel, the Westin Tianjin and Sheraton Tianjin Binhai.

Prospective employees are hired through an extensive selection process, including behavior analysis, according to Cunningham, who is from Great Britain, and has already toted up more than more than 12 years working China's luxury hotel sector.

"For the St. Regis, I choose people who have good attitude, who understand service. And I want to see passion in their eyes when I talk with them."

All employees will undergo a long-term training and certification process to obtain skills and knowledge about service, and "most of our training is personalized", the general manager says.

"For instance, the St. Regis brand has a 24-hour butler service available to accommodate our guests' needs, including little things like unpacking or packing," he says. "No request is too small. That is the service motto for every employee of our hotel."

This year, the five Tianjin Starwood hotels are looking to fill positions in several departments, such as the Front Office, Concierge, Rooms, Kitchen, Engineering, Security, Human Resources, Sales and Marketing.

"We want to better practice localization of management here through the recruitment drive," says Cunningham. "An increasing number of managers in our hotels are Chinese."

That was also the rationale behind the hotel group's cooperation with four local vocational schools.

"We have set up Starwood Classes in these vocational schools and we supplied professional training programs for the 25 students in each class every week" says Ma Hongyan, talent development and culture manager of the St. Regis Tianjin.

Recently, Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced that it is on track to open more than 30 hotels in the Asia-Pacific in 2014 - an average of one hotel every 12 days. As the fastest growing division, Starwood Asia Pacific employs over 73,000 associates, nearly half of all Starwood service staff worldwide.

baowanxian@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 04/19/2014 page10)