President's Blog - September 2016 - Security in times of Uncertainty

Creating security in times of uncertainty

The hospitality industry is, like many others, facing a wave of new challenges and one of the most daunting is the lack of job stability and security. Research reveals some sobering statistics:

1. General Managers will work for 5/6 different hotel companies throughout their careers
2. One General Manager per day loses their job globally (that’s 365 a year)
3. GMs are likely to be made redundant an average of twice during their career

I started this association because of my own personal experiences gathered over 40 years, and I use an expression learnt from my years working in China to sum them up– ‘’my experiences were sweet and sour’’.

Of course, mainly sweet. You know how rewarding being a General Manger can be but, unfortunately we occasionally see the other side.

I lived in 10 countries and worked for five different hotel companies; I was removed and placed elsewhere within the company twice, removed a further time and not placed and then I had retirement forced upon me because of age.

Thankfully, I also had some highly successful assignments where I made many friends and gained great respect. Of course then, the enjoyment far outweighed the disappointments, but when you have financial, family and personal commitments, suddenly finding yourself out of a job is overwhelming because of the huge uncertainty it creates.

In talking with General Managers who have had similar experiences, we all agreed that one of the interesting things about being asked to move on from a company, is that suddenly very few people there want to know you or offer help.

With IAHGM I wanted to establish a place of refuge, understanding and real support, where members aren’t only there for their own benefit, but for others as well – a real General Managers community.

I will let you find out more about everything we offer on our website and in the meantime, I am so looking forward to your involvement. A strong founding membership is the basis of any effective organistion and we need leaders to come together and ensure the successful future that all General Managers deserve.

 “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself,”  Henry Ford