Hiring on attitude

Inna Khostikyan is the General Manager of the Republica Hotel, a 56-room hotel in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. Armenia, one of the oldest nations in the world, has been at the historic crossroads between Turkey and Iran for thousands of years.

Since I met Inna, she has shared with me many interesting opinions about talent management and has always left me thinking differently about some of the challenges that the hospitality industry is facing. I called her to learn more about where those opinions come from and what she thinks great looks like in hiring and leadership.

Inna hires on three types of attitude: service, ambition, and learning. On leadership, she believes it requires a "mindset shift from taking to giving". She also shared her view on the "right" ambition and how important it is for leaders to "learn how to relearn" to keep developing themselves and their teams.

Despite the 12-hour difference, she took my call late at night, and the first thing I told her was that I would be happy to change the time of our call and call again during her morning time…

"...No worries! I'm a late bird, I am definitely not an early bird. I just got my second wind a couple of hours ago, so I'm ready. I took some time to reflect on the questions you sent me, and I'm very much into this topic. I'll quickly give you an answer to the first one: what do I look for in hiring?

It Starts With Attitude

I would say attitude. I think attitude is becoming more important than anything else for hiring success, both for entry-level roles and for leadership positions. You can teach almost anything with entry and mid-level roles, but attitude? You cannot really teach someone to have the right attitude.

Over the years as a leader I've become flexible and democratic in so many things, but my absolute deal breaker is a wrong attitude, especially disrespect or pessimism which brings the team down. And when I say attitude I'm not just referring to a positive attitude, which is important, but I'm referring more to the attitude of service, the attitude of wanting to make things happen for others.

You feel it when you enter the hotel and you are greeted. The guests feel it and like it. I like it, everyone does! Hospitality is a profession based on giving others the opportunity to experience service, and under that promise you need to deliver and it's not always easy… It's actually very challenging to do it consistently, so attitude is key. That's a red line for me. This is my absolute non-flexible point, and I look for the right attitude when interviewing candidates..."

Hospitality is a profession based on giving others the opportunity to experience service, and under that promise you need to deliver and it's not always easy… It's actually very challenging to do it consistently, so attitude is key.

"...And I'll tell you why I'm like this. I'm like this thanks to my first General Manager at Marriott. She was probably my most significant influence in terms of showing me what was important in leadership and talent.

She was a German lady who started her career as a steward, a dishwasher, and became the general manager of the hotel. She had this special way to engage the team, finding the perfect balance between being strict and very humorous at the same time. She would just walk through the hallways of the hotel, saying 'fix that', 'call this person', 'do this', 'pay attention to that'. She would notice all the details of the building, the staff, the guests, the service. She was on top of everything. Always, always with a positive attitude. She really served others in her position. She showed by example what was needed to be a general manager, and really shaped my belief and confidence that I could one day reach that level of responsibility.

She was the right person to be on my way, especially early in my career. And we are still in touch! Her example and the one from a few other leaders have shaped the three pillars I have as a foundation of my views on talent and leadership. In a way, all three pillars are related to attitude…here they are: service, ambition, learning."

Service as a Way of Being

"I already touched on the first one a little bit, but service is about having a "giving" attitude. I believe that only the people who really have the right passion to serve others stay in our industry, enjoy it, and become really valuable assets for hotels.

This is simply because the quality of service, the quality of experience, and the quality of execution depend on those passionate people who are ready to give. I really look for people who enjoy giving, who enjoy going above and beyond for others. And in leadership positions, service attitude is very important as well.

Hospitality leadership is mostly about giving. When you are in entry-level roles you are more of an observer, you absorb, you analyze, you self-reflect, but as you become a leader you start giving more, or at least I think you should! In leadership roles, giving to others is essential. If you are not ready to give and serve others, maybe leadership is not your type of role, not your cup of tea."

I believe that only the people who really have the right passion to serve others stay in our industry, enjoy it, and become really valuable assets for hotels.

Ambition for the Work, Not the Title

"The second pillar is about ambition. I should say the "right" ambition. Often I see candidates wanting a role for external validation, seeking a thumbs up in the way of promotions and status.

Maybe that's how they show their career ambition, which is okay because I think it's positive to have career goals, but I'm far more interested in your ambition to do stuff right now, your ambition to make things happen today. I'm not interested in talking about your next role, or about where you want to go from here, which a lot of hiring managers do and create the wrong dynamics from the start.

My interviews are focused almost entirely on their ambition to perform in the role. I usually try to distinguish what type of ambition they have by asking about their why. Why this role? Why here? What are their goals? I never did anything for the sake of somebody who would come and say good job.

When it comes to mysef, I'm the first mark giver. That's why I called it the "right" ambition. The ambition to become great at what you are doing now. The ambition that makes you set personal goals, to take intentional steps to achieve your best."

My interviews are focused almost entirely on their ambition to perform in the role.

Leaders Who Keep Learning

"The third and final pillar is about learning. Learning attitude.

When I think about ways to evaluate learning attitudes in candidates during interviews, I don't think I can point to any personality assessment, or a test, in which you can say yeah, I trust it 100%. But we should seek out curiosity.

I see curiosity in people when they actually listen, when they come with the right questions. This shows me that they are really captivated by something, that they are willing to go the extra mile to find better ways, better answers.

I think a learning attitude can make people unstoppable in this industry. The issue is that these signals don't show up in a single interview; it's easier to see them in actual behavior at the workplace. As a leader, when I see it in people, I try to find the right training for them to keep the "learning" momentum.

From the leadership perspective, I can say leadership today really requires curiosity.

Leaders need to learn how to re-learn to keep developing and growing themselves and their teams. Great leadership requires the willingness to continuously reset your thinking. I think this is very important! They need this mindset, and kind of accept this "invisible" responsibility to continue developing themselves to then continue contributing to their teams' growth.

Personally, my catalyst for my own re-learning came from my daughter three years ago when she started her high school years. The school and the teachers really involved my daughter in the process of learning. And I saw how she really enjoyed learning and being part of that learning. She really motivated me to self-reflect, and I understood that I needed to find some learning institutions where I could push my boundaries. And this is how I ended up at Les Roches, and I can confidently say that it was one of the best decisions I've made in this decade..."

I think a learning attitude can make people unstoppable in this industry.

"Anyways, I hope this helps! Those are my three pillars for hiring and leadership: service attitude, ambition attitude, learning attitude. Hiring is an art and a science, but I think attitude makes the difference!

And if you don't see it in a candidate, lean back, relax, and look for a better candidate. I always tell my team not to be in a rush and not to fill headcount for the sake of doing it. It's better to wait. We need high-quality talent because success in hospitality is built on high-quality talent.”

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