INTERVIEW - VIRGINIE SAINT-LAURENT, SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, OETKER: "WE MAINTAIN A CONTINUOUS DIALOGUE"
In our series "People First", human resources leaders share insights on their recruitment and retention strategy. |
|
INTERVIEW - VIRGINIE SAINT-LAURENT, SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, OETKER: "WE MAINTAIN A CONTINUOUS DIALOGUE"
In our series "People First", human resources leaders share insights on their recruitment and retention strategy. |
Category: Worldwide - Careers
- Interviews and portraits
- Career - Interviews - Industry leaders
Interview made by Sonia Taourghi on 2024-08-09
 Virginie Saint-Laurent, Senior Vice-President of Human Resources, Oetker
Photo credit © Oetker Collection
Virginie Saint-Laurent, Senior Vice-President of Human Resources at Oetker, answers our questions about recruitment, the onboarding process, and career development and gives key advice for a successful career in luxury hospitality.Can you tell us more about your recruitment process?Our recruitment process is designed to be both personalised and efficient, ensuring that team members have a positive experience from start to finish.
To enhance this experience, we have implemented a personalised human potential assessment tool. This tool allows us to gain deeper insights into each team member's strengths and motivations, creating a more dynamic and engaging recruitment process. By sharing this assessment with team members, we encourage a more interactive and transparent experience that aligns well with the expectations of the new generation.
Moreover, we are actively developing partnerships with schools and universities around the world, expanding our network continuously. Our goal is to highlight our Collection and share our values and vision with our future talented team members. These partnerships enable us to connect with students who are aligned with our culture and provide them with opportunities to join our Masterpiece Hotels.
Through these initiatives, we aim to attract and retain top talent, ensuring a successful match for both the candidate and our Collection.How do you integrate new talent?We have established a comprehensive onboarding process to be more experiential and engaging, ensuring that new team members feel a strong sense of belonging from the very beginning, even before their first day with us. Additionally, we have developed assignments for teams in other hotels within our Collection, which our team members greatly appreciate. Our commitment extends beyond the initial onboarding days; we maintain a continuous dialogue (through experiences or training) throughout the team member’s professional journey via exchanges between hotels or learning and development opportunities at our Masterpiece Academy.
Our goal is not merely to throw team members into their roles but to equip them with all the tools they need to feel comfortable and confident in their new positions.Which kind of career development program do you offer to your collaborators?We retain and develop our team members through our learning & development programs. Over the past years, we have prioritised and built a strong learning culture. Our Masterpiece Academy by Oetker Collection provides all team members with access to a variety of courses whenever they wish. Everyone can learn at their own pace on as many topics of their choice.
The goal is to truly promote career development within our Collection through bespoke learning and development programs.What internal mobility opportunities do you offer to your collaborators?At our Collection, we place a strong emphasis on internal mobility and career development. These opportunities are highly valued due to our diverse destinations and often serve as excellent stepping stones for their professional growth. All team members receive exclusive access to these internal job offers before they are made available to external candidates, further supporting their career advancement within our organisation.What would be your best advice to have a successful career in luxury hospitality?Our best advice for having a successful career in the luxury hospitality industry is to be authentic. Hospitality is a profession of passion, where genuine kindness and empathy are crucial. The spirit of service, thoughtfulness, generosity, and curiosity are essential in our industry.
In luxury hospitality, being authentic allows you to connect more deeply with guests and team members. Genuine kindness and emotional connection are at the heart of exceptional service.What human qualities are you looking for in talents?We look for three key human qualities that help build meaningful relationships: Family Spirit, European Sensibility, and Genuine Kindness.
Family Spirit: it is essential to treat our guests as we would welcome family and friends into our home. We prioritise genuine care and emotional connection with both our guests and our colleagues. This approach ensures that our service feels personal and heartfelt rather than conventional or corporate.
European Sensibility: wherever they are in the world, Oetker Collection’s Masterpiece Hotels are imbued with the finest European ethos and traditions of service, providing elevated hospitality that is cultured, considered and discreet.
Genuine Kindness: our smiles and interactions come from the heart. Courtesy and friendliness should be natural and sincere. We aim to delight our guests with authentic enthusiasm and warmth, ensuring they feel genuinely valued and appreciated.Which labels did you earn as a quality workplace?As we are a young company we have not sought any employer awards however this is a key objective for our company in the future.
Having said this, it is also important to know our team members rate us highly on Glassdoor and Indeed where we have some of the highest ratings compare to our competitors and our CEO Timo Gruenert has a 100% score rating.
Our team members' engagement survey results are also above the global benchmark in our industry.
While awards are important, our team members' voice is paramount in assessing our culture and team members' experience.What are the key CSR measures you have in place?At Oetker Collection, we do understand that anything which is not sustainable cannot be sustained. We therefore strive for sustainability in everything we do. We are committed to preserving the local environments and communities where we are present around the globe.
We also have instituted a comprehensive strategy and created sustainability teams at each of our Masterpiece Hotels to carry out our objectives. Oetker Collection is proud to adhere to the UN Global Compact framework for ensuring a safe and guaranteed future for all and support its ten principles.
As Patrons for a safe and guaranteed future on this planet, we build meaningful connections with our local communities and strive to protect the environment where our Masterpiece Hotels are located.
We are committed to Human Rights, Responsible Consumption, Environmental Awareness and Sustainable Communities.
|
|
