RMG Staffing Sponsors GMBHA at Nobu – Eden Rock Hotel
The event staff agency RMG Staffing Sponsors GMBHA at Nobu – Eden Rock Hotel. Greater Miami and The Beaches Hotel Association (GMBHA) held its 2nd Annual Celebrating our Hotels Presentation & Reception this past November 6. The event featured a gifted set of attendees that included key stakeholders within the Miami and Miami Beach hotel industry. Geared as an opportunity to network and discuss important issues facing the industry, those who attended the event got the opportunity to meet and greet the who’s who, see amazing presentations and dine in a wonderful reception. RMG Staffing is a proud member of GMBHA and we helped sponsor this year’s event. “We advocate for our members’ interests through active involvement in local, state and national issues,” GMBHA states admits. “Our calendar of events includes our monthly hotelier’s breakfast series, monthly networkers and industry luncheons featuring the top leaders in our industry to share with you the business trends that we need to be aware of to increase and enhance our business.” Greater Miami and The Beaches Hotel Association believes that when a one is part of a collective, they as a whole becomes most effective. The GMBHA’s goal is to improve the overall quality of the “Miami experience” for all. The association provides its 160 hotels and 300 allied Miami-Dade County business members with educational programs and platforms that focus on sustainability and industry trends. Members of GMBHA use their experiences with the association to help them improve their businesses. Notable attendees included GMBHA President & CEO Wendy Kallergis, Chair of the Board and GMBHA Board of Directors David Healy, and Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau President & CEO William D. Talbert III. Additional guests and attendees included staffing industry professionals and clients. “Miami is a great place to live, work and visit and I am committed to doing whatever I can to keep our industry strong and our destination attractive to both domestic and international visitors,” David Healy stated about the association’s initiative through his Chairman’s message board. “We have many exciting developments and opportunities taking place [at] our destination. Visitors continue to increase and new hotels are opening and in the pipeline.” In addition to educational and networking opportunities, membership of GMBHA includes discounts on some of the best hotels in Miami and Miami Beach. Co-sponsors of this year’s event included Greater Miami Convention & Victors Bureau, AL-FLEX Exterminators, IPFone and Link Hospitality. “Through a concerted approach,” GMBHA President and CEO Wendy Kallergis admitted, “we enhance our members’ abilities to optimize their customers’ experience, and as a result, we improve the overall quality of our destination, Miami.” As a member of GMBHA, we at RMG Staffing can take what we learn from the organization to help spur our industry’s growth. During the presentation and reception, we could reconnect with old friends and colleagues and plan for what lies ahead. We had such a fantastic time that we can’t even wait for next year’s event. You don’t even have to be a member to attend, so we also hope to see you there in 2018. Photo credit: Al Ricketts Photo
The Best Jobs in Hospitality Industry and How to Find Them
We at RMG Staffing know that finding a job is always a difficult undertaking. Not only is difficult, it also comes with tremendous stress and headaches. And if you’re unemployed and short on cash, the ordeal in applying for a job, going through the interview process and waiting for a reply from a prospective employer could leave you distraught. Also, hotels and restaurants have had their own battle in building their staff. It’s a never ending battle for both employers and prospective employees to line up in the perfect match. To help improve this alignment one of the things that needs to be done is to increase the awareness. Prospective employees need to know where are the best jobs in the hospitality industry, how much they pay and what are the required duties and responsibilities. And employers need the proper screening in place before opening their doors to applicants. As an agency that specializes in the hospitality industry, if you’re looking for jobs in a hotel or a restaurant or if you’re a hotel or restaurant looking to upgrade your staff we have you covered. Top Jobs in the Hospitality Industry Hotel Manager The current median salary for a hotel manager is around $90,000 and could reach up to $125,000. Duties and responsibilities of hotel managers include supervising staff, property management and the allocation of funds to various departments. Entry level hotel manager position requires a bachelor’s degree with a minimum of seven years of experience within the industry. Restaurant Cook Manager A restaurant manager is the conductor of the insanity that goes in and around the kitchen. The entry level salary starts at the mid-40s. A lot of restaurants reply more on experience than education but if you want to work your way up to a higher position, some require a bachelor’s degree through culinary school. Bartender A bartender is one of those jobs that doesn’t need a higher education to make the big bucks. Though bartender school has been very popular, as long as you know how to mix drinks and have the experience to back it up, the salary for bartenders could start as the minimum of 30K to the hundreds of thousands. Waitress/ Waiter A waitress plays a vital role in the success of a restaurant. Like a bartender, you don’t need an education to be a waitress. It all comes down to experience and your skills in customer service. Most waitresses gets the majority of their income from tips and depending upon where you work at, a waitress salary range between the mid-30s to 60K. Executive Chef In addition an extensive amount of experience working in the kitchen, the top restaurants require culinary school for their chefs. The earning potential for executive chefs, especially those at the best restaurants is astronomical. Entry level starts around the mid-60K and could go as high as the millions. Head of Housekeeping If you’re lucky enough to work at a five-star hotel or a world renown resort, as a head of housekeeping, you could be making as much as $75,000 a year. The minimum education level for this position is a high school diploma but requires extensive experience in the best hotels and resorts. Where to Find Them? So now that you know the income level for some of the best employment position in the hospitality industry the obvious question you might be asking is, “Where do I find these job?” or as a prospective employee you might be asking is, “Where are the top-quality employees?” To answer both questions in one shot, just call RMG Staffing. For prospective employees, let us do the searching for you, and for employers, we do all screening and training. Through our years of experience in the staffing industry, we have accumulated a large amount of industry IQ to help you succeed.
The Secrets to Great Staff Coordination
Every business fills a void in the marketplace, and here at RMG Staffing, we like to think the void we fill is helping some of the Magic City’s most beautiful events go off without a hitch. But it’s not just one or two people that get the job done – the real magic comes when we put together an incredible team of talented individuals who, when combined, have all the skills your company needs to bring an event together. Trying to coordinate a team of staff members? Follow our lead and consider the points below. We’ve used them ourselves, so trust us: with this advice, a winning staff is pretty much guaranteed. Let your employees guide you. Whatever staff you hire needs to have a certain set of basic skills, yes; but it’s also in the best interest of all involved to hire employees that are passionate. And when you hire them, apply their skills to an area of the job they’re actually passionate about. For example, if you know a team member loves to organize, put him or her in charge of inventory. If they love to interact with people, make them a bartender or a VIP server. By letting your team members do what they’re actually passionate about, you’ll have both a happy staff and a job well done. Really… it’s not all about skills. That said, hiring someone isn’t always about skill. To be frank, skills you can teach, but smarts you cannot. Instead of looking at what they’ve done, look at what potential employees can do – hire people who are intelligent, competitive and who will learn quickly on the job. Most importantly, as a general rule, try and find staff members who think outside the box. Why? Especially in the hospitality world, you never know what problems will arise, and your staff needs to be able to handle whatever is thrown their way. Hire employees capable of making their own decisions. Thanks to corporate hierarchy, many times, decisions are made at the top by people who have very little hands-on experience in the arena they are making a decision about. Despite the chain of command, decisions shouldn’t always be made by management. If you’ve done what you’re supposed to and you’ve hired a talented team, trust that team to make decisions that apply to their own groups and daily roles. This will not only give your staff a sense of ownership, but it will fast-track current employees into future managers. And if a problem arises, have faith in them. In the hospitality industry, problems will always come up – always. In fact, they’re inevitable, and there’s no telling what those problems will be. Regardless of what it is, however, don’t get involved unless you absolutely need to. If someone is unhappy with his or her meal, trust that your server will handle it appropriately. If a guest needs something, trust that your team members will get it to them quickly and easily. It’s important to remember that we’re all human, so sometimes, complaints will happen for no reason. When it comes to solving problems, especially menial problems, there’s nobody better (or at least there shouldn’t be anyone better) than your own team to come up with the best answer.
Why We’re Good at What We Do
As a South Florida hospitality-staffing agency, we pride ourselves on doing what we do best: providing high-level service to hotels, restaurants and other venues across dazzling South Florida. And because we love what we do, we make sure to do it well. Since first opening nearly a decade ago, we’ve earned a reputation as Miami’s most trusted staffing agency, and for good reason – we’re fast, we’re efficient and we have a friendly staff. And it’s because of traits like these that we have been able to develop long-term relationships with big names like the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, the Loews Hotel Miami Beach, the Miami Beach EDITION, Starr Catering Group and Turnberry Isle Miami. For these clients and more, we’ve staffed everything from corporate events and elegant soirées, to Justin Bieber’s NYE concert at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, and even Madonna’s Art Basel fundraiser at the Faena Hotel. And when the next big event comes around, trust us: we’ll be there, too. But it wasn’t luck that got us to where we are; it was nearly a decade of hard work, a commitment to our clients, and a few hard-and-fast rules for success. Here are just some of the reasons our staff continues to maintain its stellar reputation: • We only hire people with awesome attitudes; those guys and girls who love working events just as much as we love staffing them. • We find employees from all over the world, always ensuring we get individuals who are the best at what they do. • We believe in matching employees appropriately. We require every employee to take a skills test and background check so that we can match his or her abilities to a particular client’s needs. • Our employees are consistent and do quality work. If they aren’t, they aren’t our employees. • In an effort to act as an extension of our clients’ teams, we have a 3-tiered system designed to give them exactly what they need. Need someone permanent? Try our direct or temp-to-hire program. For a quick fix or one-time-only event, we can help you find on-call or temporary staff, as well. When it comes down to it, we here at RMG Staffing have one goal – filling your needs. • We make sure our staff is highly trained… and then trained again and again. At RMG, we believe in constantly retraining our employees so that they’re always up-to-date on the latest techniques in the industry. Looking for a team to staff your next event? Reach out to us here or call us at 305.890.1562. We love working with our clients, and we’ll love working with you, too.
New World Symphony 29th-Anniversary Gala
Just last weekend, the New World Symphony hosted its 29th-Anniversary Gala – and just like you’d expect from an organization as prestigious as this, this white-glove event was a gala to the stars. To kick-off the celebration, Miami’s finest philanthropists donned their best black-tie attire as they mingled their way through a dazzling cocktail reception. After the glasses clinked, it was time for the New World Symphony to do what it does best: the music. Co-Founder and NWS Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas put on a special concert with the New World Symphony Orchestra featuring none other than six-time Tony Award-winning singer and actress Audra McDonald. After the performance, guests enjoyed a sparkling white-and-gold dinner in a clear tent under the stars, where they toasted to the arts and celebrated everything the New World Symphony has done for the community. And to make sure this elegant evening got the level of professionalism it deserved, the organizers of the gala reached out to us here at RMG Staffing to handle all the details. To make this event flow smoothly, Thierry Isambert Culinary + Event Design handled the design of the gala, while our talented team put together an experienced crew of staff members and coordinators. Dressed head-to-toe in white and black tuxes, our team did everything from setup long tables and chairs and put out the finest china, to build and break down beverage stations and clean up messy tables. Most importantly, however, it was our job to tend to the guests. Serving as both hosts and waiters and waitresses, we showed guests to their tables, served them their dinner, made sure their glasses were never empty, whipped up drinks behind the bar, acted as bar backs, and above all, managed and staffed the event as a whole. Whatever the guests wanted, we gave them; it’s what we here at RMG call “good customer service.” Having worked with the high-caliber events like these for nearly a decade now, we understood the high standard of professionalism and service this gala required. As a team, RMG has staffed some of South Florida’s most prestigious events, like concerts, DJ festivals, celebrity weddings, galas, and political, even Presidential, affairs –like those two evenings hosted by Former President Barack Obama at the JW Marriott Marquis. We’re proud of what we do and how well we do it, we believe that’s why we’re continually called to do it again and again.
How to Succeed in Hospitality Industry?
Some of the most rewarding careers aren’t easy, and in no industry is that more true than hospitality. While hospitality gives you the opportunity to work directly with people – and in most cases, make those people extremely happy – you’ll have to work long, often unpredictable shifts, stay on your feet for hours, and because people are always watching you, be on you’re A-game at all times. As fun as this career may be, it’s easy to let it get the best of you. So if you’re passionate about the field, learn more about the personal and professional skills you’ll need below to see if hospitality is the right path for you. Always focus on the customer. In hospitality, no one is more important than the customer. In fact, how well you treat them will make or break your success. The concept is simple – the goal of hospitality is to make customers, clients and guests feel welcomed, comfortable and like a true VIP, all to make them come back for more. Think of it this way: your service is the product, and if customers don’t like a product, they won’t buy it twice. Be flexible. As we mentioned earlier, when you work in hospitality, there’s no telling what your hours might be, and you need to be ready and willing to work when you’re needed. Whether you’re working at 3 p.m. or 3 a.m. – on either an average Monday or a holiday – you’ll need to be adaptable, versatile and resourceful, and always have an open mind. In hospitality, there’s no telling what responsibilities you might be tasked with. Be positive. Success in hospitality depends a lot on your ability to make positive connections with clients, guests, vendors and even other employees. Remember: hospitality is all about comfort and service, and having a smile on your face is an easy way to make guests feel comfortable and respected. Learn how to multitask. No matter what you do, when you work in hospitality, you’ll need to be able handle multiple responsibilities at once. In just one afternoon, you might be asked to clean up a spilled drink, handle an unhappy guest, setup a VIP table for 20 and work the bar, all while staying calm and keeping a smile on your face as you greet new guests. The industry is fast-paced, always changing, and at times, even a little hectic. But if you love the job, you won’t let it get to you. Pay attention to detail. As they say: “It’s the little things.” Details can make all the difference, and the more impactful they are, the more your guests will remember them. Make sure your uniform shirt is clean and tucked in – it will make you look professional and passionate about what you do. Clean up every last drop of rum that customer spilled on the floor, make sure your plates and glasses are evenly spaced, and wherever you can, go above and beyond for every guest. Guests, and employers, always notice the details, and in time, you’ll be rewarded for it. Interested in hospitality? Contact RMG Staffing here to see if we have a position for you.