What do you think about the z generation? As a member of Generation Z, I can’t represent all of the Generation Z ideas or opinions, but as for me that I think we are independent, confident, idealistic, creative and uninhibited Generation. We love challenges. Come with me to discover the pulse of a new generation.
When I was a child, my idea was to make a contribution to the country or society, no matter what the future dreams were. You don't need to be great and successful in life, but you should never be someone you hate. So in high school, I chose three directions for myself, and the hotel industry is one of them. It is everywhere in life. Every journey I made as a child made me curious about this industry. Until a social practice three years ago, I realised my interest in this industry. I think, among Generation Z, there is no one who doesn't love to travel, there is no one who is not curious about the outside world. Travel is a way for people to discover their different selves, explore new cultures and communicate with the world. It's the only thing that makes me feel good and unconstrained.
Therefore, I choose this industry which has both interests and love. Hotel management in
Switzerland has always had a good reputation in the world, Hotel Institute Montreux is a hospitality school with a business twist. It belongs to Swiss Education Group. When I stepped into this rich and Swiss beautiful natural land, I gained a lot during this period. During my study, I went to different countries in Europe and experienced different cultural customs, religions, and food. Stayed in five star hotels and experienced local home stays.Thanks to my passion in travel, I have discovered different type of lodging within the hospitality industry.
Isn't the hospitality industry a template for a small society?
I am a person who likes to live in a familiar place, but I also love challenges and adventures, so I choose to return to China-Hong Kong to start my internship life. It is completely different from the place where I grew up, and it is a city in line with world culture. Although I was in my own country, I had never been to speak Cantonese, so I encountered a lot of situations during my internship because of language. Many people have asked me to come to a strange place alone. Are you not afraid of facing all strange things? As Generation Z, we have the ability to adapt quickly and keep running the creative brain. We dare to dream and confidence but do not boast. We don't like to be defined, others unpredictable, because I am me and always unique.
My internship position was in the executive lounge. My work not only included reception or front desk, but also Food & Beverage, extra consultation and communication with other internal departments. For loyal VIP customers of the hotel, I needed to remember their preferences, chat with them as friends, and listen to their complaints and suggestions. Of course, there were some picky troublemakers. Be flexible and patient with them was my job. I also welcomed guests like old friends, who offered me gifts. I had long conversations with them, hug them when they left, and I was looking forward to the next meeting.
When working with colleagues, we encountered frictions and quarrels, but we became friends who could talk about everything. We discussed daily work, ate and played together. I also met some Managers with warm hearts, who counterbalance disrespectful and unreasonable superiors. Isn't that what a small society looks like? Life has its
roses and thorns.
Attitude towards Gen-Z
Once I met a Singaporean couple who was going to stay on the executive floor for a month, but they were always dissatisfied with our service and kept finding fault with the food. My colleagues (Generation Y) didn't want to serve them, so I had to go with them. I often observed them and tried to chat with them when I was not busy with work. At the beginning, communication was not pleasant. They often criticized me, denied my ideas, and even forced their opinion views on me. They were guests: I couldn't argue with them head-on. So I learned euphemistic expressions, more listening and recognition, less talk. After getting along with each other for a period of time, they started to like me.
They shared with me the delicious food what they ate, what troubles they encountered at
work, and they could complain about my other colleagues with me. They said the reason why they like me is that no matter how much trouble they made to me, I was serving them with a smile and patience. One month later, they said a word to me before they left. One's attitude towards work can be seen from her attitude towards life:"Although you are still young, you demonstrated flexible ideas and mature thinking: you are the pulse of a new generation." Therefore as generation Z, we have the ability to adapt quickly and keep running. We dare to dream and we are confident but we do not boast. We don't like to be defined, others unpredictable, because I am me and always unique.
What are Generation Z's expectations in the hospitality industry?
Generation-Z, most of us are still in school, although most have not yet fully into society, we have our own ideas about hospitality industry, through I learned in school, in daily life, in internship. Let me tell you some of the defects, we see in the hospitality industry:
Overtime work: Overtime work but without getting extra pay.
High working pressure: Sometimes, staff doesn't not manage to reach the company's standards
These problems are not new and they haven't been solved in a short time, but we have new
ideas to make some changes in this industry. Speak to us when hiring us and you will see.
We are more interested in authenticity than grandiose presentation and flattery. I have seen some promotional videos of hotel brands. However in these advertising, hotels did not make me feel the real culture of the brand, so authenticity is very important. Now we are in an era of network information. When we heard something from our network and the reality is very different, we lose interest.
On the other hand, the professional level of staff service is not based on uniform, which
will lead to the misunderstanding of customers. Wearing a uniform cannot guarantee a good service. Training the staff is more important than wearing a uniform.
We love teamwork, we pay attention to interpersonal relationships, we love and respect equality, but also we like different thinking and different sparks. When we are served as guests, we do not want cold professional service, nor ancient procedural service, we want to feel like family, friends, and lovers as caring feeling. We are looking for an experience in a hotel with a strong local culture and brand culture.Whether we are hotel industry staff or customers, we are full of expectations for this industry, Because we are the pulse of a new generation.
To sum up, as a member of Generation Z, I love this industry, not only because it enables me to realise my dream of traveling in the world but because it makes my ideas more creative, flexible and challenging. It connects with many industries and enables me to develop in various aspects. It enables me to experience the diversified world culture. Just like Hotel Institute Montreux makes me find a new face of myself.
Before I wrote this blog, I never thought about the definition and label of generation z, from this blog I share with you the generation z in my eyes as one of them, maybe your idea is different from mine, I hope you can share different ideas with me from the new generation by following us on www.zlab-byhim.com/blog
Author: Ms Selina Huilin Pan, Hospitality Bachelor Student at Hotel Institute Montreux, from China.