“At present, we have four expatriates in management: the General Manager, who is French, a Mexican Chief Cook, a French Food&Beverage Manager, and myself, Operations Manager, from Belgium. We want to “Romanianize” the management team,” said Deman. The position of Food&Beverage Manager, which involves the coordination of the activities in conference rooms, restaurants and coffee shops, is a strategic one, because some half of the hotel’s business in the capital comes from this segment. The replacement of an expatriate at Novotel comes after one year of training, during which the person to occupy the position works closely with the former to fully understand the job description. Deman explained that the next expatriate to be replaced will be the Chief Cook, whose job will be taken over by the Assistant Cook, although he did not specify when this will take place.
As concerns the human resource policy in 2009, expected to be one of the most difficult years in the hotel industry, Deman said that the hotel is planning to maintain all its employees and its current salary structure.
Novotel is part of the French Accor hotel chain, which is also present locally with the Pullman and Ibis brands.
