L&D IN HOSPITALITY

managing partner of N4TC, along with from the learning and development field, tackle this vital subject

Learning and development (L&D). How familiar is that term to you? Ideally, extremely. Realistically, not very to most hospitality professionals. The fact that the hospitality industry plays a crucial role in tourism heightens the need to invest in people, since team members are an important part of the assets. This industry struggles to keep up with worldwide standards if it fails to develop a proper L&D culture.

Hospitality always requires a human touch to give it extra value, regardless of the establishment’s other attractions and beauty. In fact, one of the most customercentric hotel chains, Ritz Carlton, call their employees ‘Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen’ to reflect the fact that they are considered quality providers, not just personnel.

President of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company Herve Humler stated in an interview with ASQ TV: “I spent the night yesterday in Central Park New York. Don’t ask me about the color of the carpet; I will not remember. But I remember this morning when I woke up, when I went around the hotel, and lived that interaction with the Ladies and Gentlemen. And you, as a customer, that is what you are going to take back home.”

Case study

Sara, your esteemed restaurant’s assistant manager, is a designated high potential (HIPO). She constantly implements innovative ideas and always achieves high targets. You want to promote Sara to become the next restaurant manager, but you have some doubts. She appears to have displayed an aggressive attitude in multiple contexts when dealing with customers’ complaints.

At the end of a two-hour meeting with her, you feel that Sara has totally gotten it and you’re confident that from now on, she will improve her behavior with customers. Two months later, you realize you are still receiving complaints about her. Why so after you invested two hours of your time talking to her?

This is the point at which professionals should hand over the job to an L&D specialist. Their function is to take responsibility for bridging the gap between current and desired performance through various structured learning channels. In such a competitive industry that is so closely tied to degrees of customer satisfaction and relationships with people, training employees is no longer an option, but rather a necessity to stay in business. Training also has to be viewed not so much as another expense, but as an investment.

However, in today’s business world, you cannot simply expect employees to live by your values, represent your corporate identity, treat customers in the best way possible and excel on all levels if you don’t give them the opportunity to learn how to do so. Nowadays, while guests expect well-trained employees, millennial employees themselves expect professional development of life and technical skills within an entity.