EDI-Staffbuilders Invades Vietnam
by Paul Catiang

From left to right: Ms. Irene Blanco of EDI Staffbuilders,
Un Hong Thuy of Hanoi Tourism, Mr. Gilles Longuet of the Mercure Doha Hotel,
and Ms. Daphne Roldan of EDI Staffbuilders

In Qatar, the local laws stipulate that no more than 25% of any hotel’s staff has to come from a single nationality. It was this legal restriction that gave Cesar A. Averia, President and CEO of EDI Staffbuilders International, Inc, an idea of selling a blend of Asian talents—not just Filipino—to work in the Middle East, and Qatar, where the demand for hotel staff is particularly high. With the idea firmly in place, all that was needed was a client who would be willing to make it materialize.

Mr. Gilles Longuet, General Manager of the Mercure Doha chain of hotels, had opened a Sofitel Hotel in Vietnam several years ago, and had extensive dealings with the Vietnamese. He liked the idea, and since the roster of the Mercure Doha Hotel in Qatar already had its fair share of Filipino staff, a few Vietnamese talents mixed in with the rest would make a good pioneering effort in sending them abroad. Accompanied by Ms. Daphne Roldan and Ms. Irene Blanco, consultants from EDI Staffbuilders, he went to Hanoi, and from July 17-21, 2005, they sifted through the available talents and hired qualified talents to work in his company’s hotel in Qatar.

The EDI Staffbuilders consultants worked in close partnership with Hanoi Tourism, the Vietnamese partner and source of Vietnamese talents, and trained them in EDI’s recruitment processes, as Mr. Longuet plans on developing the country’s labor pool in the long term. The employees needed to staff the hotel in Qatar are a mix of Filipinos and Vietnamese individuals, all chosen with the assistance of EDI Staffbuilders.

“I think that in 3 to 5 years Vietnam will be able to send more talents abroad, if they fast-track their English and cultural training programs,” advises Ms. Roldan, who gave the same advice to their partner, Hanoi Tourism. She also believes that the Vietnamese focus on work and social conscience will go a long way towards increasing the viability of their talent pools.

EDI Staffbuilders, on the other hand, plans on going beyond Vietnam. “We will be providing talents from China and Thailand to staff hotels in the Middle East soon,” says Mr. Averia. “Through our partners in the region, we will be the major supplier of talents wherever they are needed.”

In the future, more Vietnamese workers will find themselves in the Middle East working side-by-side with other employees from Southeast Asia and China, thanks to the untiring efforts of EDI Staffbuilders.

http://www.mercuredoha.com
http://www.accor.com/gb/groupe/partenariats/strategiques.asp
http://hanoitourism.com.vn