Troubleshooting as a career

Question

"My career has been within front of house for the past 12 years and within those years I have moved to four hotels, ranging from three-star to five-star. I am a pro-active person with good communicating and leadership skills. When I start at a hotel the main task is to implement standards and procedures, re-training and training and much more. My own description of this is "troubleshooting". Do you know of a company that employs persons to "troubleshoot" for hotels? It is a question that I need answering before I make the decision on which road to take at my crossroads."

Claire Carlyle

What the expert says

Lesley Reynolds, managing director, Portfolio International

!

"You have obviously gained a good amount of experience and, with four jobs in 12 years you have also, it would seem, provided loyal and continuous service to those properties in which you have worked. "This said, I have not come across a company specialising in front-of-house troubleshooting. I have come across sales and marketing consultancies that provide "audit and troubleshooting advice" to hotels and similar support in IT and HR. The second thing to highlight is that you suggest that you have good leadership skills. Years of interviewing and listening to candidates who have become consultants and advisors to industry tell me that "external" support services miss this ability to directly influence what happens. They can suggest and recommend but of course the actual implementation is then down to the in-house management. "From where I sit you have two options. Either you could consider trying to set yourself up as a consultant and advisor on front-of-house operations or you could talk to an external third party about your skills and attributes and see if they can recommend how you can broaden your base at this stage. Have you ever done a hotel opening for instance? This is a wonderful way to use the qualities you offer. Is it time to work in a larger property or to transfer your skills to a slightly different part of the industry? However, if you do set out on your own, one word of caution: it can be a lot more lonely and isolated than you might think."