It has been a little while (almost two years) since I updated this blog. A lot has happened in that time, suffice to say the adage that “life is what happens when you are making plans” has been particularly apt. I cannot say everything has been easy, but I have learnt a lot about myself, other people and the importance of human connection.
This week I had the opportunity to catch up with Dr. Birgit Trauer, whom I originally met when she was a guest at the hotel I ran in Dubai (note to aspiring GMs: it pays to go and talk to your guests – more on that later). Birgit is a respected social psychologist, academic and author, with a specialisation in travel, tourism and hospitality. She is originally from Germany but has made Australia her home, over the years we have realised we share many of the same values and approaches to work and life, and our conversation this week turned towards human connection. Why, we asked each other, does it appear that people, in general, appear to be lonelier and constantly in search of both inner peace and more meaning in their lives? To quote Birgit; “the rise in technology and artificial intelligence, our demand and desire for mobility, and the norms inherent in individualism and consumerism are affecting the health of our relationships, with estrangements, isolation and disconnect on the increase.” I would add that the Covid pandemic only exasperated these factors and, quite apart from the personal impact, created significant changes in the workplace.
I have seen this for myself in several different countries and the challenges of recruitment and, more importantly, retention will only get harder if organisations do not take steps to address these factors and help their employees build better relationships and develop leadership capability. From personal experience, I can say that there is far less of a focus on people than there was even ten years ago in the hospitality business. This is not only short sighted but bad business practice in this very human industry. I am sure hospitality is not alone in this regard (how many of us have recently screamed in quiet frustration when trying to establish a human connection with a bank, airline or insurance company) but it is well placed to address the issue and develop strategies to build more healthy, engaged and resilient workforces – especially in emerging markets where there is so much focus on business growth.
There is so much to cover on this topic – we could also look at the role of AI, the increasing incidence of poor customer behaviour (this week the Financial Times reported that Tokyo is introducing legislation to ban the harassment of customer service workers), changing demographics and cross-cultural differences. Birgit and I will share more thoughts and ideas over the coming months, and we would be interested in your views – what has happened to the human connection, especially in the workplace?