Why we train
Why does the industry spend so much time on training? The turnover in the customer service department is very high. Some owners have questioned the process. It is very expensive to provide good training to employees. Would it not be better to provide the minimum of training, since the employees will probably jump ship anyway? Have you not heard all of these comments before?
I was at a training session recently; it was addressing the benefits and amenities that customers have grown to expect. The question was, what is the difference between an amenity as opposed to a benefit? What constitutes an amenity? What is a benefit? How does it relate to the customer? The session then moved on to how to greet the customer and what is required to ensure that it is done well and with sincerity. These training sessions can go on for hours several times during the year. Let’s propose that the owners commit to 4 sessions during the year, each session to last at least one week at the given property.
Is it necessary?
Depending on who you ask you will get a different answer every time. It becomes clear that when one enters a hotel and is greeted warmly and with a “glad to see you” attitude, someone has done some training. I am sure that all of us have noticed when we walk into a hotel and we are not exactly greeted as one would expect. Maybe the attendant had a bad day, or just was not glad to see you. Ever had one of those days? I am sure we all can relate to that. For those reasons alone, training should be at the top of the list for most properties. In some cases this is not a priority for owners.
The Cost
Training is costly and elusive for most attendees lose the idea after the first 20 minutes. They have a lot of material to cover, and you have to ask yourself is it worth it? Training is done on a piece meal basis sometimes, either before a shift, or after one. You provide a room or place for the trainer, materials, such as power point or white board or whatever is being used. Classes of at least 3 hours, plus breakout sessions. Using an imaginary figure of let’s say 300.00 per person for training. The class has 15 people per session. At that rate the owner is already pulling his hair out. Adding the cost of material and room for the trainer, well, you get the picture.
The Outcome
If the industry did not bother to train its people, could you imagine the service that would be provided? It would be chaos galore, a frenzy of arguments and discouraging words all around. I was wondering why we have to train people to be nice? You would think that it would be a natural characteristic, well sad to say it is not. Some training manuals tell you to be legendary, to provide legendary service. Others tell you to provide great service, to be the greatest of all. Polish proverb “It is very difficult to become a legend when you work with a bunch of nomads” Every property has at least one legend, you just have to find him/her and cultivate their skills. It would be nice if all of the customer service agents were legends, but then again, that’s wishful thinking on my part. So we train and train till we get it right…
About the Author
Alan Campbell has been in Las Vegas for over 30 years and has worked for the major strip hotels. He has spent some time in California, Los Angeles where he worked for the Radisson and Sheraton hotels. Alan considers the hospitality industry the best job in the world – it is the only place that both king's and Paupers will visit you.
The Hotel Guy
