week 12

Training and Development

• Core Principle: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" guides the importance of training.

Seminar Objectives

• Highlighting the critical role of training in achieving service excellence.

• Examining the process of identifying specific training needs.

• Describing a systematic approach to training implementation.

• Analyzing the role of training as a tool for employee motivation.

Background: The Importance of Training in Hospitality

• The hospitality industry is highly labor-intensive, relying on human interaction.

• Employee attitude and competence during service delivery significantly impact success.

• Training and development are essential for promoting a customer service philosophy.

Customer Service Perspective

• Effective training develops employee skills for superior service delivery.

• Training focuses on both technical and social skills.

• The goal is to improve employee ability and willingness to meet customer and organizational needs.

Social vs. Technical Skills

• Traditional training often emphasizes technical skills.

• Customer interaction is primarily a social experience, affecting satisfaction.

• Social skills training is a critical differentiator.

• Effective training requires a balance of both technical ("what") and social ("how") skills.

• The function of training is often overlooked.

Profitability of Training

• Good training is often the exception.

• Training is traditionally viewed as a resource drain rather than a profit generator.

• A short-term organizational perspective prevails.

• The benefits of training contradict this view.

Importance of Training

• Enhances employee knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

• Supports individual development and management succession.

• Equips staff to perform their jobs effectively.

• Optimizes staff performance and reduces errors.

• Prepares staff to diagnose issues and solve problems.

• Maintains future staffing levels and competitiveness.

Key Elements of Effective Training

• A clear definition of training objectives.

• Analysis of affected jobs (performance analysis).

• Determination of necessary knowledge, attitudes, and skills.

• Motivating employees to learn.

Motivation

• Motivation is the key to effective training.

• The trainer's role is to motivate employees to learn.

• Learning is a voluntary process.

• Strategies to enhance motivation include:

  • Providing a need by illustrating how skills help achieve goals.

  • Obtaining interest by emphasizing the benefits of improved skills.

  • Arousing curiosity.

  • Providing incentives based on performance objectives.

  • Ensuring realism through real-life scenarios.

  • Using positive reinforcement and a personal touch.

  • Actively involving the learner.

The Training Process: The Training Cycle

• Prepare: Get ready for the training.

• Present: Deliver the training content.

• Practice: Allow trainees to practice skills.

• Put to work: Apply learned skills on the job.

Detailed Training Cycle

• Listen to customer feedback.

• Set training objectives.

• Decide on training methods.

• Conduct training sessions.

• Validate the effectiveness of training.

• Review performance.

• Coach and develop employees.

1. Prepare

• Conduct a needs analysis to determine training requirements.

• Establish training objectives, foundational learning outcomes, performance standards, and conditions.

• Consider the direction of training to clarify its purpose and maintain flexibility.

• Define measurable and realistic performance standards and conditions.

• Perform job breakdown and description.

• Understand the trainee's background.

• Assess prior knowledge and address potential barriers.

2. Training Needs Analysis

• Describe the performance required.

• Review the job specification and description.

• Evaluate employee skills and experience.

• Conduct a task analysis to describe procedures.

• Evaluate the gap between current and required skill levels. This can be expressed as:

  $\text{Gap} = \text{Required Skill Level} - \text{Person's Current Skill Level}$$$ \text{Gap} = \text{Required Skill Level} - \text{Person's Current Skill Level} $$

3. Job Breakdown

• Create a simple, step-by-step listing of task elements.

• Ensure logical and systematic task completion.

• Clarify roles for both trainer and trainee.

• Detail what to do and how to do it.

• Identify clear stages in task completion.

4. Present

• Contextualize the task by explaining the "what, why, how, and when".

• Consider optimal presentation methods.

• People remember:

  • 10-20% of what they hear.

  • 30-50% of what they see.

  • 70-90% of what they do.

• Consider presentation skills - including voice, language, body language and attitude.

5. Practice

• Provide opportunities to apply knowledge and skills.

• Implement on-the-job and off-the-job training.

• Measure progress against standards.

• Provide feedback.

• Acknowledge individuality and learning rates.

6. Going Live

• Ensure competence before full deployment.

• Define limits of responsibility.

• Assign a service excellence buddy (mentor).

• Continue measuring performance.

• Reward excellence.

Training Responsibilities

• Top Management: Commitment to training.

• Human Resources Department: Staff support and assistance.

• Immediate Supervisor: Identifies needs and ensures training.

• Employee: Demonstrates interest in development.

Summary

• Training and development are key change agents.

• Effective training is based on customer feedback and continuous improvement.

• It focuses on developing both procedural and personal dimensions of service.