Serving the servers

By Xin Dingding (China Daily)

Updated: 2011-11-16

"It is a shortcoming because the employer cannot trust applicants. How do they know about hard work if they have not worked before? It will be a risk for the hotel to hire people without work experience," he says.

He personally interviews every job applicant and tries to put new recruits through yearlong training. Employees at other levels are also provided with tailored training courses to improve themselves.

As he expects more five-star hotels to open in Harbin in the next few years, Genberg knows that he faces the prospect of losing his employees to these new hotels.

The labor market in China is different from how it was 20 years ago. As people can now choose where to work freely, hotels face the risk of losing trained employees, he says.

What the Sofitel Wanda Hotel does to maintain its work force is to make itself the "employer of choice". The training courses are as important as paychecks and benefits to attract employees to continue working there happily, he says.

"Young people should not be too eager to just make money but (should) be eager to learn and gain experience. And a company that will allow you to do this is a good company to work for," he adds.