A Day in the Life
A day in the life of a Malmaison graduate
Josie Simcox: Graduate Birmingham Malmaison and Megan Morrison: Graduate Birmingham Hotel du Vin
7.00am Meet and Greet. After grabbing a coffee to kick-start the day we make sure to spend some time talking to people in different departments of the hotel to see how they are (and find out a little gossip!...)
7.30am Graduate Work. As we move through the departments of the hotel, before our shift starts we take time to respond to emails. We also use this time to build upon the creative, challenging projects given to us by both our local management team and by the executive team that are utilised to improve our hotels’ performance. We often use the company’s online development support site, The Academy, to achieve our set targets. We might be working on our executive project which we present to the board at the end of the programme. Or looking at top ten tips on presenting a department meeting which Megan is doing next week.
9am Rolling up Our Sleeves. We spend the day working in each department of the hotel learning the daily operations and, as we progress, how each department works with each other.
10am Morning Meeting. Go along to the morning meeting with all the Heads of Departments to find out what is happening on the day. We discuss the hotels performance, daily business activities and the “who, what, why and when”!
12pm Coffee Chat. Every few weeks we get together with one of our mentors. Either with our People and Development Manager, the Head of Department or one of the graduates from the programme the year before us. We talk about what we have done, what we feel we have achieved, future plans and any part of the programme where we might need a little help. We all have a personal development plan and we talk through our progress regularly and the next stage of our programme. This is in addition to writing a report with our feedback after each department we experience.
1pm Lunch. Grab some lunch from the canteen – its baguette day which is always a favourite amongst the staff!
3pm Prepare for “Your Voice” “The Grapevine” meetings. Spend time organising the next staff consultative. and meeting which we are hosting on Friday. This is one of the responsibilities that we are given as graduate managers. It is an excellent opportunity to communicate with the staff about what’s happening in the company and to find out the staff points of view and what they really think about the company.
3.30pm Plan Management Development Courses. As part of the graduate manager programme we are encouraged to attend the Management Development courses that the company provide internally. This adds valuable theory and the chance to think outside the box when we are back in our hotels. Today we are planning the courses that we wish to attend and when.
7pm Buddies. Get a call from one of our “buddies” on the graduate programme. The team of graduates in our year get on really well and it's great that we all support each other and offer invaluable advice.
8pm Unwind over a glass of Champagne. Finish the shift and we both meet up after the day’s work at Hotel du Vin’s Champagne bubble lounge (using our 35% discount!) and we share tales of our day, our graduate experiences and of course have a bit of a giggle.
