Pere Torrens: “For RIU the most important thing is attitude. The company will provide the expertise.”

19 October, 2023 Share

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One of the ongoing challenges for hospitality since the pandemic has been finding qualified staff who want to make a career in the sector. For this reason, RIU has looked for alternative new ways to solve this problem.

One of these initiatives is being carried out in Playa de Palma, specifically in the Hotel Riu Playa Park. Taking advantage of its closure following the end of the summer season, the hotel chain, in conjunction with the public body, SOIB, (Balearic Occupation Service), offers Dual Vocational Training courses to candidates with no experience in the hospitality industry so that, once they finish the course, they can join the staff of RIU Hotels & Resorts .

Do you want to find out more about these training courses?

From left to right: Juanjo Henares is in charge of the training course; Daniel Souza, commis waiter at the Riu San Francisco and Pere Torrens, Training Director at RIU. B. Ramon/ Diario de Mallorca.

Pere Torrens: “Our plan is to increase training which is linked to the work, so that it becomes the gateway to the company”

At RIU, training has always been seen as a fundamental tool to prepare for the future and connect employees to the company. What differentiates these programmes that are being delivered at the training centre is that the participants are from outside the company, and once they finish the course, they will be part of the RIU staff, obtaining an official certificate and alternating training with work hours.

Since 2019, training with Professional Certificates has been provided in the specialty of computing and communications and this will be the second year of training for commis bartenders and waiting staff and the first year for commis kitchen staff. In total there are 60-75 students who attend these courses in search of a job opportunity in the hotel world.

Pere Torrens, Training Director of the hotel chain, explains in detail the type of training that students receive in these courses: “ We provide practical professional training, so that what you learn in the classroom can be immediately applied in the workplace. In hospitality the training is interspersed, each specialty marks a path for you. We provide training in order to get professional staff and it is based on the specific needs of the company and we modify the training accordingly so that the staff are as well-suited as possible.”

Hotel Riu Playa Park, training centre during the low season.

This initiative would not be possible without Juanjo Henares who is in charge of the RIU training course, contributing his extensive experience in training centre accreditations: “ My first objective as part of RIU was to accredit the training centre for IT certificates, but right from the start I remember telling Pere Torrens about the great opportunity we had to carry out this type of project in one of our hotels aimed at positions in the operations department. ”

Daniel De Souza: “A month after finishing the course they called me to work”

One of the participants in the first training courses held last year is Daniel Antonio De Souza. When Daniel signed up for the commis bartender and commis waiter training course, he had worked as a hairdresser until then. With no experience in the sector, he signed up after seeing the training course advertised in the newspaper and today he is a commis waiter at the Hotel Riu San Francisco, the first hotel in the chain and one of the three in Playa de Palma that stays open all year.

For Daniel this has been an opportunity to gain experience in the hospitality industry, and even more so in a place like Mallorca where tourism is a very important part of the economy: “ The training course really helped me to feel well prepared for the work and having a more in-depth knowledge about topics such as service protocol is a great advantage. But I have also learned how to give the customer the RIU service, how to carry a tray and how to serve a table.”

In his new role, Daniel is learning not only the job of a waiter, but he also carries out other tasks that help him acquire an in depth knowledge of various hotel departments.

B. Ramon/ Diario de Mallorca.

The Hotel Riu Playa Park in its second year as a training centre

Of the group of fifteen students who started the course with Daniel, nine of them now work for RIU. This low season will be the second year in which the Riu Playa Park hotel will function as a training centre. Although the principal aim is that the expertise imparted is directly linked to the work that the students will subsequently carry out in the company, Pere Torrens perceives a much deeper relationship: “Training is a fundamental part of the development of professional staff. It is a path we take together that goes hand in hand with the company. That’s why for us the most important thing is attitude. The company will provide the expertise, but if you are keen to learn you can achieve great things. Above all, we are looking for a certain attitude.”

Juanjo Henares also emphasises the importance of these training courses: “Subsidised occupational training programmes are a very powerful tool for attracting talent and providing people with skills. Other projects like this have been carried out for many years, using our own facilities as a training centre. Today more than ever, the sector demands professionalisation and qualifications from us. So what better way to attract and employ talent than through training.”

Hotel Riu Playa Park, training centre during the low season.

If you’re reading this and want to give it a try, but you haven’t worked in the hotel world before, don’t worry. As you can see, what differentiates these training courses is the importance not so much of the student’s work experience but rather their attitude and desire to work in this sector and develop professionally.