Hotel & Motel Management: Companies refocus on training

National Report--Training at hotels is more important than ever as occupancy rates continue to climb and revenue begins to return to the lofty levels of the late 1990s.

According to a survey by the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers, hotel companies are putting more money into training programs than they have during the past three or four years.

"In the past three years, budgets have been essentially flat, and that's not all that surprising because of the business conditions," said Josh Davies, a CHART member who is director of training and development for Sage Hospitality. "Anecdotally, it seems that there is more emphasis being placed on training as the industry begins its recovery. We've almost doubled our training budget this year at Sage."

"As we look at the past couple of years, there was a mentality of, 'Let's just get through it,'" said Steve Schuller, a CHART member and v.p. of organization development & education for Wyndham International. "Now there is a renewed commitment to training."

Non-CHART members said they also are seeing more interest in training from hotel companies.

"It is of paramount importance," said Scott Tarwater, v.p. of sales and marketing for John Q. Hammons Hotels. "Training keeps turnover to a minimum, and that means big dollars.

"The HR department will tell you that you can't spend enough," he added. "We budget for it, and we spend it." Steve Whiteside, v.p. of hotel operations for Caesars Atlantic City (N.J.) Hotel and Casino, said there has to be a buy-in from the top for a program to be successful.

"One of the reasons it's tough for hoteliers to convince owners to spend more on training is that you can't see the results on a [profit-and-loss] statement," Whiteside said. "But what happens if you don't have proper training programs? If a guest has a bad experience, you can't always quantify that in dollars right away, but eventually you will face it.

"If we train well, we can increase productivity and increase profit."

Another reason that some trainers have difficulty obtaining more funds for programs is that some executives can't differentiate training from everyday duties.

"There are so many costs at a property level that it's sometimes difficult to define training opportunities," said Davies, who oversees training at about 80 hotels for Sage. "So much training happens in the course of a normal work day that it can be hard to quantify exactly how much is being spent on a training program."

Schuller said trainers who have difficulty convincing their company leaders to invest more in training programs should appeal to the executives' business sense.

"Training is what differentiates us and gives us the ability to move rates," Schuller said.

Customer service and guest satisfaction are the primary measuring sticks for a successful training program, he said.

"It's a fact that properties that don't do as much training don't have as high guest satisfaction scores as properties that focus on training do," Schuller said.

Wyndham has about 250 certified trainers in its company. Those trainers have been put through an intensive three-day course that teaches them how to train in any one of the company's seven training programs.

With more than 10,000 employees, JQH Hotels' biggest challenge in training comes with communication gaps among employees, Tarwater said.

The company is working with the University of Missouri's Training Institute to help it understand the makeup and complexity of its employees, Tarwater said.

Understanding the age groups of employees is the first step of training because it allows the company to hone in on helping the employees understand each other, Tarwater said.

"Because all groups work together, you have to find out how they relate to each other," Tarwater said.

He said the most interesting thing about JQH Hotels' training program that addressed generational differences was seeing how the employees reacted when they figured out the differences.

"It was fun watching the lights go on as they sat around the room," Tarwater said. "Through this training, they can communicate and identify with each other. They can appreciate the generational differences."

Whiteside said it's important that employees understand why they are receiving training and what the benefits will be.

"You have to make the training relevant and important to the people who receive it," Whiteside said. "Follow-up is a huge element. You have to make sure you are practicing what you preach. You can't have a flavor of the month training program."

Training is important to keep guests coming back, Whiteside said.

"If you want a guest to have a positive experience, you have to have someone who knows what they're doing," Whiteside said. "It's about having technical and people training--you have to have training programs for both to ensure guest satisfaction."

A training program not only benefits a hotel, but it could have a long-term impact on the overall industry.

"The labor force is getting thinner, and human capital is very important to the industry," Whiteside said. "As an industry we have to take a different attitude toward training. It's important that we have an industry that's respected as a career choice, and giving the proper training from an employee's first day of work goes a long way in achieving that."

Everything considered, the state of training in the hotel industry is gaining momentum, Davies said.

"Training is much like the state of the rest of the industry," he said. "It is precariously improving."

jhigley@advanstar.comBy Jeff Higley