Two and a half years after the opening of its award-winning Hotel LKF in Central, Rhombus International Hotels Group launched two more hotels in Hong Kong last month - in Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai. There are also plans to open hotels in Shenzhen and Chengdu next year and in 2010 respectively. With so many new hotels to staff, founder and chief executive of the company Calvin Mak is constantly on the look out for new employees. The group is hoping to recruit between 20 to 30 staff within the next year, and is looking for sales and marketing personnel, chefs, waiters, room attendants, guest relations officers and bell attendants.
Rhombus is offering job seekers, with a good attitude and willingness to learn, the chance to join a relatively small company, where they will play an integral part in the daily running of a hotel. 'In small hotels you learn more [than in large hotel chains], because you have to do everything,' Mr Mak said.
Mr Mak, who earned his stripes during more than 20 years in the hotel management business in Canada, said his greatest difficulty in recruitment was finding management staff.
There was a lack of hotel managers in the region caused by the after-effects of the 2003 Sars epidemic, he said, as a tightening of belts during the period had led to a reduction in people being promoted to middle management. Fortunately for Mr Mak, as the owner of the company, he was able to take a chance on younger staff with the potential to shine, to train them and promote them quickly, rather than having to recruit experienced managers, he said.
Mr Mak said he was able to assess potential employees successfully by taking into account the 'whole package'. During an interview, he would notice how a person looked, whether they had a ready smile and good body language. He said that you could tell a great deal about a person from the way they answered a few simple questions, such as: 'How much do you know about Rhombus?' or 'Why did you choose us?' or 'How far do you want to go?'
'I also look at punctuality,' Mr Mak said. 'A lot of people use the excuse of traffic, but to me if you know you have an appointment, then you get up early, especially if you are looking for a job.'
If Mr Mak and his team of department heads like what they see during an interview they make a point of offering the candidate a job on the same day. 'Applicants are potential customers too. So we never let them wait,' said Teresa Hong Eun-yeung, general manager of the new Hotel Bonaparte in Wan Chai. She said new recruits would begin on-the-job training on day one when they started their week's orientation programme. They learn about all aspects of the hotel in the first week.