Bridging the skill gap

Lexicon Institute of Hotel Management hosts event in association with the Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council on the subject

In light of the recent concerns of skilled workforce shortage in the hospitality industry, Lexicon Institute of Hotel Management collaborated with the Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council to host the Bridge the Skill Gap Event- Strengthening The Hospitality Skills Ecosystem Through Empowerment.

The speakers at the event included Jatin Khanna, CEO, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts; Gladvin Rego, Principal, Lexicon Institute of Hotel Management; representatives from THSC; Amol Bajaj, Head - Apprenticeship Division; Feba Abraham, Apprenticeship Division and Visham Thapa, Assistant Vice President- Client Acquisition Apprenticeship and Traineeship, 2COMS Consulting Pvt. Ltd. 

Nasir Shaikh, Group Chief Executive Officer, The Lexicon Group of Institutes, MultiFit & EduCrack, said, “Recruiting and retaining talent has been a big challenge for the hospitality and tourism industry. A lack of skilled talent directly affects the customer experience. It can have a long lasting impact on the brand image and eventually, revenues. I believe that the Recruit-Train-Deploy model, if implemented appropriately, can serve as an effective solution. It improves the employability scope of aspirants and can attract talent through short-term skilling programs to meet immediate industry requirements. It is a win-win scenario for both employee and employer. This was an important session as it highlighted, the need of the hour, by emphasizing on various tools that can help in developing an ecosystem that will be beneficial for individuals who aspire to establish careers in the hospitality segment. We are thankful to the Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council for collaborating with us on this initiative that gave us an insight into effective measures to tackle talent deficit issues in the industry.” 

The event focussed on various aspects of the Hospitality Skills Ecosystem, starting with the future of hospitality traits that highlighted the trends shaping the hospitality industry and the skills required to adapt to these trends. In his address, Amol Bajaj introduced the concept of apprenticeship programmes that allows young individuals to Learn, Earn and Qualify for industry-specific jobs, which also helps improve skilling and recruitment in the industry. He illustrated the design of an efficient Recruit-Train-Deploy model that can successfully help bridge the skill gap and become a vital tool for hiring. Bajaj also emphasised the importance of quality/ skilled team members’ contribution towards generating valuable revenue. 

“With the ‘Bridge the Skill Gap’ event, we sought to emphasise the need to develop sustainable skill ecosystems using various tools such as apprenticeship programmes, efficient hiring strategies and building talent pipelines. One way in which hospitality education institutes can contribute to improving employability is by designing short-term foundation courses offering department specific training to help aspiring individuals enhance their skillsets. It was a pleasure to host and collaborate with the THSC and explore creative solutions to assist hotel groups and the industry to tackle talent deficit issues,” said Bajaj while speaking about how RTD can be a sustainable solution for the hospitality industry.

To assist hoteliers in implementing apprenticeship programmes, Feba Abraham shed light on the new reforms and legalities of the programme by the Government of India. Towards the end of the event, Visham Thapa spoke about the advantages of expansion of the apprenticeship programmes through collaboration with Sector Skill Council and Third Party Aggregators, which will also result in further strengthening the skilling ecosystem and help the hospitality and tourism industry reap maximum benefits from apprenticeship programmes. 


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