Generic skills
“It was nothing I was interested in; I just saw it as a foot in the door,” she says on accepting the position. “But I found that it enabled me to get a very solid number of good generic skills.” Satisfyingly, Vivien’s route into management was much faster than her male counterpart’s. By the age of 23, she was a head housekeeper and by her early 30’s rooms division manager.
“I overtook the guy who took the traditional F&B route. [Housekeeping] is a fast-track and you can’t hide behind technical skills. I developed planning and organisation skills, people management and motivation, which have helped in all my roles since. It also gives you an eye for detail and makes you a perfectionist,” she explains. No surprise then that Vivien thinks all hospitality graduates should do six months training in housekeeping and accommodation management.
“Being a woman and not taking the conventional route did not stop me getting where I wanted. I used my housekeeping positions to push into other areas,” she adds.
Yet, despite compelling evidence of its benefits and the shining example of Vivien’s own career, less than 1% of hospitality students choose to take the housekeeping route into management, according to research by Maritz and People 1st.