Who did you really hire? Rethinking job descriptions in hospitality

As a CEO, leader, and businessperson, I face questions about my employees every day.

When I started my business path, I mistakenly thought that hiring people and leading them would be the least complicated part of my job. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Recruitment and leadership are the most complex parts of running a business. All other challenges feel like “sweet problems” compared to working with people. I find myself asking daily: What do I actually expect from my team? Is their job position still the same as it was a year ago? Two years ago? Three? Or has it changed?

What is it that you, as a hotel leader, hire people for?

Hospitality is all about people — and we all know this industry is running short on well-qualified staff. They’re poorly trained, underpaid, and unmotivated to go an extra mile. But what if the problem isn’t just that people aren’t qualified enough or interested in doing the work? What if you, as a leader, are also stuck in a “past-tense” mindset — not fully seeing what your people are actually meant to do today?

So… what are you really hiring them for?

Do you need another receptionist to make the queue for the check-in shorter?

>> Or do you want someone who can step out from behind the desk, greet a tired guest by name, offer them water before they ask, and make them feel welcomed and appreciated from the very first second?

Do you need more concierges to Google local restaurants faster?

>> Or do you want someone who can sense a couple’s nervous energy, ask if they’re celebrating something special, and quietly book the one table in town with a view of the sunset — champagne waiting?

Do you hire your restaurant team to take orders and print bills faster?

>> Or do you want people who notice when a solo traveler brings the same book to dinner two nights in a row — and brighten their evening by offering a personal recommendation, a little treat from the kitchen, or a warm conversation that makes them smile?

Do you ask your guest experience manager to manually scroll through 300 reviews a week?

>> Or do you need someone who picks up on a common theme — that guests feel rushed in the mornings, and turns it into a slower, more thoughtful breakfast experience before anyone even complains?

Do you hire your night manager to build shift reports by hand at 2 a.m.?

>> Or do you want someone who can walk the lobby at midnight, notice the anxious father pacing with his toddler, and offer him warm milk, a quiet blanket, and peace of mind — without needing to be asked?

What if the way we describe job positions in hospitality is wrong?

How do you know if your employees are doing their jobs well?

Is it based on how much workload they can carry without breaking?

The number of tasks they manage to tick off in a day?

The speed at which they process guests — or the length of the line at reception?

Is it about how many upsells they push at check-in, even if the guest didn’t really need it?

Whether they’re always visibly “busy,” even if that busyness is just putting out fires that could have been prevented?

Do you count the hours they’re on-site — even if they leave emotionally drained and disconnected from their purpose?

What if hospitality jobs were never meant to be about operational tasks first?

Because hospitality is — well, about hospitality.

Not performance. Not a process. But presence.

In the Slovenian language, we have a beautiful word that describes hospitality not as a function but as a feeling. It’s a distinctive word from hospitality as an industry. It’s speaking about hospitality as a vibe, an atmosphere, an experience.

Our word for the experience of hospitality is “gostoljubje,” which could be translated as “to greet your guest with an open heart.” “Gostoljubje” means crafting a wholesome experience that creates a seamless and convenient stay, enriched with memorable moments.

And guess what — your employees are the first in line to create that experience. But when they’re drowning in operative tasks, they don’t have the time or the patience for guests.

Now, more than ever, we need to remember how to be truly human again. To achieve this, we need new KPIs. New job descriptions. And a new understanding of what hotel work is really about.

>> In the next article I write about: Why so many hotel leaders resist the very tools that would allow their people to reconnect with guests — and how AI can quietly change everything.