Clare Hind
Name: Clare Hind
Job: Personnel Manager, The Landmark Hotel, London<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
Date of birth: 10/09/70
Route to job: Born and bred in Surrey, Hind decided early on that her career was in hospitality. A-levels in Business Studies, Home Economics and French in 1989 led to an HND in Hotel Catering and Institutional Management from Westminster College. She had various jobs and work placements around the industry, such as a waitress at the Shepperton Moat House hotel in Shepperton, Middlesex, and a receptionist at the Forte Crest Bloomsbury hotel, London. However, her career was really kick-started when she joined the Landmark hotel in London in October 1993 as a personnel secretary.
The Landmark was only a year old then and Hind had a big part in the development of the personnel database and administrative procedures and policies for the new department.
In June 1996 she was promoted to personnel officer with full responsibility for all recruitment and selection. In this capacity she orchestrated open days, conducted screening interviews and carried out initial selection of all candidates up to head of department level. She also controlled the hotel's recruitment budget. During this time she completed a post-graduate diploma in personnel management at Kingston University.
By April 1999 she was promoted again to the hotel's personnel manager. Her principal role was to assist the director of personnel in the day-to-day running of the personnel department and deputise in his absence. Her responsibilities involved all staff training and supervision, project work, handling disciplinary matters, policy and procedure setting and the recruitment of senior staff.
In March 2000, Hind was again promoted to an executive post and now runs the personnel department. She oversees all matters relating to recruitment, employee development, employee relations, reward management and budgets.
She is responsible for a team of ten, including the staff restaurant.
What attributes do you need to be a personnel manager? "You have to be very patient and a good listener. You must have a good memory and know things about each and every member of staff. There also has to be a confidence in your own judgement because you could be deciding whether to dismiss somebody or what an employee's rate of pay is. The hardest part is striking a balance between working for the interests of the hotel and working for the interests of the employees.
Next move? "My next move could be in personnel for a big hotel group, maybe even abroad, but I couldn't move out of the industry, I love it too much."
