How we treat tomorrow’s industry leaders’ today matters

A recent encounter between one of our students and an industry executive at a trade show recently had me thinking about the dismissive and sometimes rude manner in which we industry professionals can behave towards students, as well as the negative impact this can have on the student going forward.

By Kagiso Mosue

In this situation, the student, a bright third-year food and beverage major, was engaging an industry executive representing a global hotel chain about their organisation and asked about internship opportunities. Granted, this may not have been the best platform for such an enquiry and that the executive may not necessarily have had relevant information, the dismissive manner of the response on the part of the executive, referring her to their company website, really left the student deeply distressed.

Following my individual conversations with each of them after the incident, I could see that it was not necessarily what was said that was bothersome to the student, but rather the way it was said that left her feeling insignificant, like she had no business being there in the first place. The executive did try to “explain himself”, and offered a sort of an apology – not to the student – but even so, it left me feeling bothered, realising how easy it is to try and move on from this type of situation and just “forget about it”.

Sharing information about this incident with a number of colleagues, I realised that this is not necessarily an isolated incident. It would be wrong to generalise as there are exceptions to every situation – however the general view was that situations of this nature seem to be common that students or interns are often not recognised and treated as ‘professionals in the making’ who can add value and bring in fresh perspectives and creativity to the workspaces.

Looking at the above scenario, one might say that she was being “overly sensitive”, and that “must toughen up”. One could even say that this incident was her “taste of the real world” that awaits her once she completes her studies. Indeed it could be so. Perhaps the lesson for her is that in the workspace is full of different types of people. She will meet people who will treat her well and people who will not treat her well. That she needs to develop the emotional intelligence to handle different situations.

Yet, I reckon there is also lesson for us too as industry professionals. That we too must be mindful of how we treat emerging industry talent. In my view, that’s what tourism and hospitality students are – talent to be nurtured. They should be embraced, encouraged and respected. After all, they are being developed to become tomorrow’s executives, critical thinkers, and business leaders.

How we treat them today in our various spaces; the impression we make on them can either have a lasting positive or negative imprint on them and their careers. To a degree this also impacts your organisation’s brand reputation. In the words of the late, Maya Angelou “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Kagiso Mosue is the marketing manager of the School of Tourism and Hospitality at the University of Johannesburg.