Teaching and learning through mentoring : absent in the hotel sector

Hotel management is characterised by a fast pace, diversity of tasks and people, with a specific focus on service quality delivery. (Eddystone & Nebel 1991). Major contributors in the effort to provide quality service to hotel customers are the managers and supervisors of hotels. These middle managers are closest to the workplace and have the strongest input with respect to the productivity and quality of services offered to customers (Eddystone & Nebel 1991;). Therefore the nurturing and growth of middle management, through formal or informal mentoring is of vital importance to hotels that seek to excel and remain competitive in the current climate. The specific focus of this paper is to report on the lack of mentoring available to young managers and supervisors, within the hotel sector. This lack is due to a number of factors, including: 1) a continued trend in flattening of the organizational structure of hotels, which increases the level of accountability and responsibility of inexperienced young supervisors and managers; 2) experienced leaders are not necessarily located at the property; 3) an ongoing loss of experienced leaders to other sectors of the service industry; 4) an increasing level of very young and inexperienced managers. These factors hinder the delivery of service quality in an increasingly competitive hotel sector of Sydney, Australia.