Satisfied with decision on continued operation

Hotel manager at Slobrua Gjestegård, Tina Nguyen Barkbu, like many other players, has had to lay off parts of the staff due to the corona crisis. The good news is that the guest house has been able to adapt to the situation and now offers customers take away in addition to keeping the restaurant open. The hope is that increased activity will lead to more of those laid off being welcomed back to work.

Name: Tina Nguyen Barkbu
Workplace: Slobrua Gjestegård AS
Job title: Hotel manager

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Questions for you who keep the wheels going

What kind of skills / education is required in your job?

EXPERIENCE: I struggled on the school bench for many years, so I focused on working life and therefore have 20 years of experience from hotel and restaurant life, both in operation and administration. This comes in very handy now that I am a co-owner and run my own guest house.
PERSONALITY: Courage, patience, service in the spinal cord and the ability to cope with stress are important qualities.
GOOD NETWORK: support from family, friends and former colleagues, as well as building good relationships with new business associates

What are your core tasks?

I am responsible for booking, sales and follow-up of meetings, companies and accommodation, marketing, staffing and operation of restaurants and hotels, administrative tasks such as invoicing, staff follow-up and salaries.

How has your workday been in recent weeks compared to normal conditions. Give a brief explanation of what a "normal" day looks like in these corona times?

As a newly started company in 2018, we as entrepreneurs have worked very hard. It quickly becomes 100 working hours a week. In 2019, my everyday work went mostly to administrative tasks. In addition, I helped in operation when there were larger concerts, parties, meetings and full operation in the restaurant. When Korona broke out, we had to change operations as we unfortunately had to lay off large parts of our staff. Now I go into operation during the day, and then I take away the office work in the evening.

Why is your job important and how do you / your company contribute to keeping society going?

We try to give the same offer to people as before, only with extra focus on not spreading infection. I think this means that people maintain a normal view of everyday life, and give hope that we will get through this. We deliver everyday to the community, so we can deliver a party when we are through this. We are very pleased with the decision we made to continue operations. We have always said "welcome home to us at Slobrua". A home is never closed. We have had to show that now. In social media, we have used the time so that even more people can get to know the work we do. Every day we have presented food and given an offer of take away that many have used, and now that more people go out to eat, many guests continue to order take away. This now gives us the opportunity to wish more from the staff back to work, a happy feeling.

Do you have any professional tips or advice that people should follow in these times?

In addition to "show consideration, wash your hands, keep your distance and sneeze in the armpit", I would say "keep your spirits up, it always works out for kind boys and girls".

What would you say to others who are considering your career?

No two days are alike, you must always have a smile available, and most importantly, you must want to work WITH and FOR other people.

What is the best thing about working / living in the Kongsvinger region?

Considering that I switched from working at Oslo Plaza Hotell to Slobrua Gjestegård, I would say that the best thing about it all is that I now have my own mini Plaza to Odalen and spend only 10 minutes to work.

Watch the film where Tina tells about her everyday work in a state of emergency Insta og Facebook.

Read more similar cases in the series "We keep the wheels turning" where the goal is to highlight exciting and relevant jobs in the Kongsvinger region that have a particularly important task in a demanding time.