The expert in people management and work environment in the hotel sector, Sonia Martínez, gave the presentation "Reinventing oneself to survive" during the Ekonomus Tourism and Employment Conference, held in Puerto del Carmen on the occasion of the tourist enclave's 60th anniversary.
"We have been talking about absenteeism, commitment, attracting and retaining talent," said the Human Resources Director at the beginning of her speech, emphasizing that, although in tourism one usually talks about occupancy rates, connectivity, and profitability, "the focus should be on people".
What makes a person want to stay in our company?
"Talking about employment in tourism is not simply talking about jobs, but about the capacity we have to make very different people decide to build their professional project within the sector".
The expert reflected on the current paradox of the labor market in hospitality: "There is no shortage of hotels, no shortage of restaurants, no shortage of public or private investment; it turns out that what is missing are precisely people willing to train and build their future with us".
Faced with this situation, she posed a key question for business reflection: "What makes a person want to stay in our company? I'm not talking about accepting an offer or signing a contract; I'm talking about staying, about deciding every day to return or recommend the company to other people".
Against the usual belief about the lack of commitment from new generations, Martínez Alcalá rejected stigmas and argued that young people observe and evaluate whether the effort invested in their training (degrees, languages, stays abroad) truly translates into professional development.
"Leadership doesn't come standard, it's a profession in itself that is learned"
She denounced that sometimes graduates are hired as assistants at the same starting point as profiles without prior training: "It doesn't matter if you train or not, that's the message that is sent. We need to build organizations where learning is worthwhile. People decide to stay because of the environment they experience".
“It's not something that the 'nerds' of human resources have invented. The employee experience has a name and surname: people don't relate to the general manager, they relate to their direct supervisor and that's where commitment is built or destroyed”.
In this regard, he warned of the recurring mistake of promoting technically impeccable profiles without training them in team management: “We think that leadership is implicit in promotion and it is not. Leadership does not come as standard, it is a profession in itself that is learned, but knowledge is not enough, it requires a lot of practice and training”.
“Asking is not listening. Listening is acting”
He also advocated for active listening that transcends labor climate surveys: “Asking is not listening. Listening is acting. When I ask and do nothing, I generate frustration; when I ask and act, I generate trust”.
On professional recognition, he defined it as one of the tools with the greatest impact and lowest cost: “Recognition does not mean giving an award or dedicating a speech to someone; recognizing means saying 'I see you, I see your effort, I see your commitment and the difference you make'”.
Martínez appealed to managerial responsibility to attend to active staff, recalling that the vast majority of employees comply daily: “85% of people are there, they go to work every day, they accompany their colleagues, they attend to our clients and they sustain the business”.
“Talent chooses”
“The most important and intelligent decision we can make in our companies is to dedicate the same time to the people who are there as we dedicate to the problems that concern us”.
The human resources director highlighted corporate culture as the definitive differentiating factor: “The true luxury of the future is not solely in our facilities, location, or the service we provide, but in being able to build organizations where people want to be, grow, and build their future with us”.
“Talent chooses, and the future will belong to those organizations that every day earn the right to be chosen,” she concluded.
The Tourism and Employment Conference "Reinventing oneself to survive" was co-organized by the Tías City Council and Lanzarote Media and was sponsored by the Lanzarote Centers of Art, Culture, and Tourism and with the collaboration of GEHOCAN.
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