Senior Business Journalist, Edgar Brandt (EB), recently sat down with the General Manager of the Hilton Hotel in Windhoek, John Mcaree (JM). The owners of the Hilton Windhoek, the United Africa Group are about to construct a Hilton Garden Inn right next door to the Windhoek Hilton. The new facility is to consist of approximately 180 rooms. The Hilton Garden Inn will target mid-market guests looking for a leisure experience, while the Windhoek Hilton targets mostly business and corporate guests.
Mcaree has been with the Hilton Group for more than 30 years. He started off in the Food and Beverage Department and has since worked in 12 hotels in nine different countries. He describes himself as a perfect example of what opportunities are available in the hospitality industry and specifically within the Hilton Group.
EB: How is the Hilton Windhoek doing in general?
JM: It is going very well. Financially the hotel is doing very well. It has strong occupancy and strong support from the local market who utilise the outlet. This is what we want because as far as we are concerned this hotel belongs to the people of Windhoek.
EB: The Hilton Hotel recently won its third World Travel Award. What does this mean for the Hilton in terms of service delivery and what does it say about the quality of the establishment?
JM: This is the third year we won this award so we are very honoured and proud that we received the accolade. I think it proves that the team is delivering to guests’ expectations and is exceeding in some places as well. This is what is needed. This has come through from all the training programmes that the Hilton offers. I also want to emphasise that we are not just here for the international market but for the local market as well.
EB: Tell me about the hospitality training that you provide to your staff members?
JM: We currently have a programme called Passport to Success, which is training to equip team members with basic life skills. We also have the Hilton World Wide University, which is an online programme with more than 2 500 different courses in 18 different languages. The courses, of which 90 per cent are free, assist team members to develop and acquire the necessary skills for the different departments. These courses cover all the different ranges within the hotel industry, from sales to accounting, to on-the-job skills. This training varies from 10-minute courses to 12-hour and 20-hour courses and covers from the lower ranks all the way to the senior level as well. The remaining 10 per cent of courses that are not free are paid for by the Hilton, but these are geared more for the higher management. These courses can last anywhere between six months and one year.
EB: As the only five-star hotel in Namibia, is there pressure to provide consistently excellent service?
JM: I wouldn’t say it’s pressure on the Hilton to provide a five-star service. It is what we should be doing. It is our responsibility to develop the talent in the hotel and in the country. With all the tools that we have, we are renowned for our training programmes internationally. We have been around for more than 96 years and we are growing our hotels across the world and developing our different brands.
EB: In the past there were some labour related issues at the hotel. Have these issues been resolved and how would you describe the current relationship with workers and labour unions?
JM: Our team members are one of our main assets. We do look after them and we follow all labour laws. I would say that all the issues emanating from the strike have been resolved. We are here to ensure we are fair and we work with the people we need to work with. There needs to be a win-win situation. We make every effort to ensure we adhere to the appropriate labour laws and processes.
EB: What other challenges do you experience in providing quality service and accommodation that the Hilton is renowned for.
JM: As a company we have just arrived and have been active in Windhoek for the last three and a half years. We have brand service promise that many of the international travellers have experienced. It’s all about delivering the Hilton service.
Our main aim for the Hilton Windhoek is to attract talented young people who are fresh out of school. We invite students from the Polytechnic and provide them with skills training. We expose them to every department and share the different career opportunities available to them. Many people don’t realize the number of opportunities available in a hotel. People forget about the back-of-house areas such as finance and purchasing. That is why we expose the students to behind the scenes as this is where they get an idea of the different career opportunities available.
We also send some of our staff to Hilton establishments elsewhere in the world. An example is Cecil Barnes, who was promoted this year to chief engineer. He was our maintenance manager and last year we sent him to the Seychelles for three months. There were a lot of projects going on in the Seychelles and because of his performance there he was able to gain experience and has now taken over as chief engineer.