Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

ROBERT MACLEAN: Training the future leaders of the hospitality industry

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The Show -


By lunchtime, the ‘Class Room’ Restaurant is starting to get filled with walk-in diners. Amidst this pouring of hungry people, we were seated in a corner with Robert Maclean, the Principal of National Hospitality Institute.


The name alone is a dead give away and summarise what makes the establishment different. It was in the 1990s when Robert’s journey officially began. With more and more Omani youth beginning to explore job possibilities in the hospitality sector, he thought what better way to help them than provide the knowledge and skills that they need.


Initially, it was a bit challenging culturally. But today, the career opportunities in the sector keeps on increasing and is expected to rise more as tourism projects are being developed in the country. Tourism is one of the key areas being looked at as the nation moves towards diversification of its economy.


Robert Maclean explained the concept of Classroom Restaurant, “The whole purpose has been to bring in young people who are in the industry and give them a chance to hone their skills by having the opportunity to handle real customers.”


He shared, “We provide real food and people pay real money. So we use the restaurant for regular lunches, we do theme evenings and a whole lot of activities here. The idea is to give students experience about dealing with people and understand the challenges when dealing with customers in addition to giving them the competency and skills.”


With the experience, “When they do walk into a workplace, they are little bit more ready and armed for the different scenarios that are in the industry. We make it as real as possible. No mock-up for us,” he said.


As the diners sit in the restaurant, they can watch the action in the kitchen through the glass panel.


Oman, today, boasts of many international brands and hotel chains and they also require international standards when it comes to service.


Over the years, more than 6000 trainees have graduated and entered the field of hospitality.


“If you look at some of the establishments, you see that they have reached 30 to 40 percent Omanisation. As per GCC, that is an incredible record. I am very proud of our graduates and they are the success stories that we show the new students to explain what can be done. There are some good chefs who are working day in and day not. They may not be seen as celebrity chefs but they are there, hardworking and they do it with joy,” explained Robert.


He is quick to point out that they are not always seen but are working in the background. These are the jobs the public do not often see.


“A lot of time when students go through hospitality skills, they become good in other jobs as well. They also develop life skills, communication skills, customer relations and the knack to deal with people. So a lot of our people are in the airlines although we did not train them directly for that field. Some have gone into telecommunications companies, others to banks who need people with customer interactive experience. We know the field is getting wider because students come back to visit us,” he shared.


The students, however, not only learn from the classroom restaurant. Upstairs, they have suites that have bed and breakfast service.


The students are colour coded and they take up hands-on experience very early in the training. The freshers have the colour green but they are already into the practical training. “This is where they are still allowed to commit mistakes like dropping things or mixing up orders. There are people to support them. But once they are in the industry they are on their own,” Robert said.


For the national day, they have several things prepared on the line. The “Big Cake” is one of them and they are also gearing for the Chef’s Table.


“For the Chef Table, we arrange the table right in the middle of the kitchen. And we will be having as many general managers to join us at our table. So it is part of our national day celebration but it also has a very practical purpose because the general managers get to see and experience the skills for themselves.”


Asked what’s the most important ingredient needed to be a success in the hospitality industry, he said, “Passion, good work ethics and understanding of the profession.”


He reasoned out, “When you reach that stage, you become part of a valuable workforce. Our job is to make them understand the field. It is a wonderful industry. We know it has its darker side – the long hours and the difficulties but on the other side is that it is a very social industry as you meet lots of people.”


“I have just seen one of our early students at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel and he came to me and said, ‘I come to work every day and I see new faces.’ And that is what you want to see. It is different thing for each person. But the passion for service and for food is necessary. Our job is to build that passion,” concluded Robert.


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