Effective employee training: learn to be better

The hotel industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world and shows little signs of slowing down, even during economic recessions. Technological advances are enabling new competitors to appear on the scene, and, as a direct result of the industry’s overall growth, it is assumed that by 2022 almost one tenth of people will work in hospitality and tourism.

Front-line employees interacting with customers every day face a particular set of challenges; a range of incidents may arise, from highly successful encounters to service failures. To achieve the former, employees must feel in control, satisfied and motivated, as well as being given appropriate assistance, information and training.

In today’s highly competitive business environment, therefore, hotels require skilful and committed workforces to remain successful. However, a frequent workplace problem is a lack of leadership,training and development, which can leave employees having to take on responsibilities for which they lack the proper guidance, knowledge and skills. Organisations rely on their staff to improve productivity and business performance, so investing in training is crucial for improving competitiveness, enhancing quality and innovation, increasing performance and productivity, and improving profitability. Training is an essential process that must be taken seriously, and cautiously planned and implemented; it provides staff with the knowledge, skills and the commitment to perform in line with the processes and standards set by the management.

Human resources

Successful hotels always include employee training as an important development strategy, as it increases productivity while motivating and inspiring employees. Proper instruction provides staff with the information to work and helps them recognise how important their jobs are.

It is crucial, therefore, for managers to ensure that HR departments accept, and are aware, that proper training and development is part of their key responsibilities, along with other human resources activities such as recruitment, selection and compensation.

In that sense, the role of HR is to improve employees’ current and future job performances, while remaining aware of the pros and cons of any training method. A typical training cycle consists of five stages:

• Identification of training needs: to find out why training is required, who the target audience is, and what will be its expected outcome and impact in regard to intended change in behaviour, performance and so on.
• Design of training solutions: to plan, design and develop proper training programmes, to ensure a systematic and consistent approach for all training solutions, including face-to-face training and open flexible learning, including elearning.
• Delivery of training solutions: choose the most appropriate format to meet earlier defined training needs and solutions, taking advantage of different training methods; ensure that the delivery of the training is effective and provides opportunities for the learners to learn.
• Application of training: ensure that all learning outcomes are applied and reinforced in practice; monitor the development of individual learners and review their progress.
• Evaluation of training solutions: collect, analyse and present all relevant information to establish the results of improvement in performance; evaluate learning programmes and their response to developments, and introduce improvements in learning interventions.

Overall success

The overall benefits of good training include increased knowledge, skills, and commitment, leading to better performance and increased productivity, as well as improved quality and quantity of output. Good training creates more self-confidence and an environment of empowerment for individual employees, and subsequently reduces the need for direct supervision.

Individual employees benefit from increased job satisfaction and recognition. They get properly introduced to their jobs, and are taught how to best execute their work, and what kind of a role their job plays in the whole system. It also helps them to understand their work better, to love what they do and better plan their own career development.

Finally, management has a vehicle to effectively implement company policies and procedures and to achieve a more successful operational performance. It also enables managers to evaluate individual employee performance and career development effectively, including the identification of potential management personnel when it comes to succession planning.