Bruno Croiset, Directeur Emploi pour Accor en France: Dans l'hôtellerie-restauration depuis plus de 30 ans, en France comme à l'international, Bruno Croiset a occupé plusieurs postes de directeur et est actuellement directeur de l'Emploi et des Conditions de travail pour Accor en France. A ce titre, il est en charge du recrutement, de la formation initiale, des relations institutionnelles et de la mise en oeuvre des accords de groupe (Handicap, RPS, Pénibilité, VAE). En parallèle de ces fonctions au sein du groupe Accor, Bruno Croiset est également vice-président du FAFIH (OPCA de l'hôtellerie, de la restauration et des activités de loisirs). Fabrice Tessier, Directeur des Relations et Partenariats Ecoles: Diplômé de l'Ecole Hôtelière de Paris, Fabrice Tessier a été nommé vice-président des Ressources Humaines chez Accor Asie en 2000 et a ensuite occupé différents postes de DRH dans le groupe. Depuis trois ans au poste de directeur des Relations et Partenariats Ecoles, Fabrice Tessier a pour objectif de renforcer l'attractivité d'Accor sur le marché de l'emploi et d'augmenter le nombre de stagiaires et d'embauches post diplôme dans tous les pays où le groupe est présent. Il présente le groupe dans les écoles de management hôtelier, les écoles de commerce et les universités.
We have two approaches to our relation with schools: a local organization in each country where we are located for post-Bac education, and on the international level for Bachelor and Master programs. We operate in the recruitment system at the same time, being the Accor group's ambassadors to the schools. But we also work to enrich content, via initiating courses, conferences, new career presentations, and programs. We visit about 30 schools globally each year.Bruno Croiset: In France, we choose schools to work with by our demand for positions. We then implement partnerships that address the careers in concern per the need for employees, the goal being to recruit students right out of school. The higher the level of training, the more we can intervene in their content.Are the programs reasonably adapted to the needs of business and responsive to change their programs?FT: Programs are adapting more and more quickly to the needs of companies and schools are truly listening in order to assure employability to their students upon gaining their diplomas. Their capacity to adapt can particularly be seen in the Revenue Management subject and also in the digital domain. Aside from hotel management and business schools, which already have good working relations with professionals, we note that universities are also opening up more to companies. The realization is there and an impetus has been launched, but real work is still needed to improve the fluidity of relations between education and the professional world.Do you observe a difference between Asian, European, Swiss, and French brand models, or is the trend rather uniform?BC: While they are today tending to shrink due to the internationalization of programs, differences between ways of teaching persist. Schools are adapting their methods to the culture of the country in which they are located and to the skills in their market. But the similarities between international teams are more numerous and reflect the need for geographical mobility of the hotel business. Today, a recruiter knows what to expect when hiring a young man from a hotel program, regardless of the country where he pursued his studies. Standardization of skills is a real export passport for young graduates.FT: Higher education is becoming more and more international. About 3 million students are travelling today and schools are developing their international partnerships and increasingly opening campuses abroad. While there is local adaptation in programs, graduates standardize and the different courses complement each other.It is an undeniable asset for the young graduates who are then able to work in any country.What are today's weaknesses in hospitality education?FT: Programs tend to diversify by adding new specializations, and now there are a very large amount of labels under each course title. While this variety constitutes richness in hotel education, it can also create confusion on the part of recruiters and students in differentiating between programs and the employment opportunities they offer. The companies must therefore make a real effort to identify the levels of training and then offer courses adapted to the competencies of each candidate.BC: Learning foreign languages is a real weakness of studying in France and does not only concern post-Bac education. High education institutions are beginning to make up for their linguistic shortcomings by developing partnerships abroad and thanks to program internationalization. To overcome this deficiency, the Accor group for example set up a pre-apprenticeship program. It involves sending students for thirteen weeks with a host family in the United Kingdom to do an intensive internship in English, supplemented by internships in hotels. While it is imperative to improve the language skills of French students, other efforts are needed today, especially with regard to learning about the customer relationship. Training is on too much of a technical vision of the profession by teaching the gestures, and is not quite attentive to the emotional aspect that the profession requires. It should, for example, teach our students to make additional efforts to simply please the customer and have fun at the same time.How do you see Generation Y today? Is it very different from past generations?BC: I don't think that the intergenerational differences are new and all generations have their own particularities. Today, Generation Y has different expectations that are making management difficult for companies: before, a manager worked with a team and a common goal, today, it must advance with a few people with different goals. There is enormous diversity within teams. Generation Y also acts like buyers of a position. They have criteria and are not willing to sacrifice their personal lives. They do not reason in terms of salary but work schedules. But young people are also resourceful and able to get information for themselves before asking. Generation Y is on a short-term vision that reflects a breakdown in trust in the company, due to the questioning of long careers as insurance and job security. This generation is a little more pressing than others, but the following will be even more so.FT: Young people today are much more prepared for the professional world. They are mobile, open, and adaptable. But they are also versatile, demanding, and ever-changing. The development of these characteristics is logical as they cannot be asked to stay with one company for 10 or 20 years if it is not reciprocal. In this way, they have an advantage and manage their professional lives differently.You speak of a break in the principle of long careers. Are companies then interested in training their employees, at the risk of soon seeing them leave to work elsewhere?BC: I do not think that a company is taking a risk by training its employees because now people revolve around their professional lives. They leave a company today but will return tomorrow. Employee training is important because it helps to ensure their employability in the market and act as ambassadors of the company, share their skills and expertise. It is obviously preferable to a company that people are competent after passing within their offices, especially to convey a good image of the company to its other employees.Is Human Resource Marketing a unique linkage?FT: We cannot transform our businesses, but companies should consider the expectations of these young graduates to be among the most attractive in a highly competitive market. Hospitality programs offer many training opportunities in the service sector and many students leave the hospitality industry upon graduation. We make significant efforts to welcome young graduates. We must for example be present on all platforms, be modern and most of all show the reality of the business with evidence. It is very important when we are faced with Gen Y to tell the truth and do not tell stories about the reality of our business and the promises made by the company. This is another characteristic of this generation that will not be fooled.BC: At Accor, I was the interface between the recruiters and candidates. I could thus note that the recruiter's vision of the candidate needed to be changed, and to the inverse as well. For example, recruiters don't always choose the right criteria in their search for collaborators: he or she will thus prefer the mastery of a software program, which a young person can rapidly learn today, as to that of foreign languages or the willingness of the candidate, indispensable to hospitality and restaurant careers. There is thus work to be done to best present the needs and expectations of everyone.What are the different challenges today in hotel employment?BC: There is a gap between position supply and the number of candidates on the market. This is due, in France, to a real lack of knowledge about hotel-restaurant careers and training. We have thus made many partnerships to improve the attractiveness of our professions. This company cannot change things alone, but the whole sector together is needed. There is a shortcoming on the international level. A partnership agreement was signed last year with the Minister of National Education, securing a dynamic affair, but this must be done every year. There is nevertheless a real awareness of the need of enhancing our business, where employment prospects are good.
