A reward for practical skills

CONGRATULATIONS to the Hotel, Catering & Institutional Management Association (HCIMA) for taking the initiative on a European diploma to recognise management and supervisory skills (see page 13).

It is welcome for two reasons: it's right to recognise such skills, which have been acquired through practice at work rather than through study at college. Academic excellence is valuable, and is recognised as such; practical experience surely merits similar recognition.

And it's also right that this recognition should cross national and linguistic boundaries, reflecting the international nature of the hospitality industry itself.

One thing will already be apparent to those who took part in the HCIMA conference in Amsterdam at the weekend: by putting up a good idea they have created a big job for themselves and many others in the industry. Laying down the principles of how management skills can best be recognised is only the start. Much of the real work is yet to be done.

Employers will be closely involved and, as so often, the heaviest burden will fall on the biggest and best employers. They have done much of the work which has gone into the vocational qualifications for hospitality, and a management diploma rooted in practical achievement is surely an extension of that.

This diploma will need to focus on aspects of management which can be acknowledged as important in all participating countries. This will probably be a mix of the "pure" management skills - team leadership, communication, and so on - combined with a high level of technical competence.

Rather like Mastermind contestants, candidates for the diploma may be expected to achieve high scores both in their "chosen specialist subject" and in general knowledge. The specialist subject could be kitchen or restaurant management, rooms management, or housekeeping. General knowledge should include customer care, team leadership and knowledge of the industry as a whole.

Another point apparent to those at the conference is that certifying management skills is a complex business which tends to draw out from the experts a plethora of technical detail. Selling the diploma to the industry will depend on keeping the boffins on a tight rein, and promoting it as part of what makes working in the hospitality industry fun.

If the diploma confirms to people and their colleagues that they are effective operators, it will go down well. o