"I'm too busy to train my team"
Many, many times I have heard Hospitality business owners or managers complaining about how busy they are and that they just don't have time to train their staff.
Does this sound familiar?
Maybe you yourself have been "guilty" of feeling it.
In actuality, you are never to busy to train in Hospitality, no matter how busy you are.
Right now, and always, training is critical in Hospitality. Here's why.
Success In Hospitality Is Hard Fought
Success in the hospitality industry is hard fought and certainly not guaranteed. There is no end of competition and even if your venue, restaurant, bar, hotel or attraction has the very latest technology and is located in a prime spot there is still no guarantee of success.
Training will be obvious and make you stand out from most of your competitors. If you have ever eaten out anywhere, you'll know this to be true.
In a time where businesses are vying for easily distracted customer attention, and customers are looking for value for their buck standing out and being remembered for the right reasons is vital.
The Importance Of Customer Experience
In our experience one of the key ingredients to success is providing an exceptional level of guest experience. It is rare that guests will remember how much you spent on a venue refurbishment but they will always remember how the service made them feel.
Implementing a comprehensive training and development programme for your staff will increase the chances of your organisation providing customer service that surpasses guests' expectations.
A survey in 2023 revealed that 93% of users say online reviews had an impact on their buying decisions. In the day and age of Tripadvisor and Google reviews this is not something that should be ignored.
Let’s explore how you can develop a training programme that is right for your organisation.
Essential Skills Training
Firstly, you need to make sure all the essentials are covered.
Organisations in hospitality have to comply with lots of legal and regulatory requirements.
It is often the essential skills (behind the scenes) training that is so important.
Health and safety training courses, customer service, Food Safety Levels and so on.
To make things easy, I have developed an entry level starter bundle that covers the key things people need to know when they start their job.
Essential skills training is often non-negotiable. In many cases the organisation will need to evidence that staff have been trained sufficiently. After all the regulator could come knocking asking to see records of staff training and development.
However, essential skills is not the end of the matter when it comes to Hospitality training.
Relevant Skills
Your organisation will have all sorts of staff that need training. Just think of training as more development for the leadership team, chefs, receptionists, food and beverage managers, restaurant managers, event staff and operational personnel. It’s a long list.
The good news is that training can be delivered in a variety of ways. You can choose from classroom training, on the job training, e-learning programmes and blended courses (a mixture of the above - usually face to face class and online learning).
Whichever delivery method is chosen it must be appropriate to provide the training outcomes needed.
It should also work for the staff member as people learn in different ways.
Any training activity has to be relevant to develop your organisation.
If not then money, time and resources are just wasted.
Learning and development activity has to be aligned to the business objectives of your organisation.
The Ongoing Nature Of Learning And Development
Hospitality is an industry sector that never stands still. It responds to ever increasing guest expectations, it implements new regulatory requirements and it creates opportunities for business.
Plus it does a lot more besides.
Due to the changing nature of the hospitality business there are always going to be requirements for training, learning and development of staff.
Your training needs will never stand still.
Conclusion & Why You DO Have Time To Train
Training helps reduce staff turnover and it is linked to increased productivity.
It’s pretty much an open secret that well trained staff positively impact on your guest experience.
Upskilling your team needn't be expensive, or time consuming, either.
With the various types of training available now there really is no excuse not to develop your team that suits you, suits your team and suits your customer and their reviews.
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Knowing what courses or training to give people can be a minefield, especially if you're new to it, so I have developed an on-line, e-learning, value for money "Entry into Hospitality" bundle that covers customer service, food safety level 2, manual handling, health & safety in the Workplace and allergen awareness.
Click here for your value for money and essential knowledge Entry Into Hospitality Package Now
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I'm also offering a Time Management Course for those people who are struggling with finding the time, and am offering a no-risk free trial for the 1st module.
Invest in yourself.
Discover you DO have the time after all.
