Staybridge Suites
Preparing the future workforce in Hospitality

Helen Boven (left) and Hana Park (right), with thier Natalia Serniak at Staybridge Suites

Natalia Serniak, Assistant General Manager at Staybridge Suites, is strategically preparing for her future workforce today by taking on co-op students. She believes that career mentoring young people is a cost-effective way of preparing future employees.

Having been inspired to pursue hotel management during her own high school co-op placement, mentoring young people is her way of giving back what she was given when she was seventeen and needed career guidance.

Hana Park, who was Natalia’s co-op student two and half years ago, is a good example how Natalia benefited as an employer from the mentor-mentee relationship. Hana wasn’t sure what aspect of hotel operations she wanted to pursue, so Natalia provided her with career-mentoring opportunities in various departments within the hotel.  It didn’t take long for Hana to discover that she loved to interact with people which led her to focus on the front desk.   Upon completion of her co-op placement, Natalia offered her a full-time position at the hotel. Natalia asserts that hiring Hana helped her avoid extended and expensive process of recruiting and training a new employee. Moreover, she knows what to expect from Hana because she already evaluated her performance.
 
Natalia believes that including co-op education as part of the human resource strategy is advantageous for Staybridge Suites and the hospitality industry at large.  She underlined that in the hospitality industry, what is learned in school is important but in order for students to understand the ‘ins and outs’ of the operations, they have to have firsthand experience. She further added that co-op placements bridge this gap between the academic and the practical, hands-on aspects in the sector, which makes it more valuable for employers like her to build up a sound recruitment and retention strategy.

Currently, Natalia is working with both high school and college co-op students, among whom Helen Boven is one. Helen, whose previous high school co-op experience allowed her to discover that Early Childhood Education was not for her, said that her college co-op placement at Staybridge has confirmed her desire to pursue a career in the hospitality sector. Both Natalia and Helen asserted that this career exploration process doesn’t only benefit Helen, but also her future employer, who will have a chance to hire a trained individual who is passionate about the industry.

Staybridge Suites has been operating in downtown Hamilton for five years and has been involved in co-operative education by partnering with both public and Catholic school boards, colleges and universities. According to Natalia, these partnerships have positively contributed to their human resource strategies.  Based on her experiences of working with co-op students, Natalia advices employers: ‘If you train and invest in them, it pays off later on’. Natalia further noted that this kind of partnership among educators and businesses contributes to the development and enhancement of professionalism in the hospitality industry.

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