PRESIDENTalks: The Clock is Ticking

I recently attended the Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Show in New York City as part of a panel discussion on Training Strategy, Technology, and the Bottom Line. The panel was moderated by CHART's very own Mike Nalley, Best Western, and included Robert O'Halloran, East Carolina University, Mark Boccia, Marriott, and Sylvia Douglin, Interstate Hotels and Resorts. About 60 attendees (70% being industry professionals and 30% aspiring hospitality students) attended this engaging session.

Though there were many nuggets to take back; there was one that stuck out and continued to come up in meetings following our panel discussion.

No longer do we have hours to train, we only have minutes.

This point came up as the panel discussed mobile learning. When you peel back the layers behind the why for mobile learning you find delivery is the answer. It's quick, easy, and instant. It's the ability of a maintenance employee to learn how to caulk a tub simply by pulling it up on his or her phone. Though very helpful, mobile learning also brings lots of questions. Who is supplying the devices? Do we have the infrastructure to support mobile learning? What about our no cell phone policy? How do we handle labor when someone is learning off the clock? This type of learning is one we all should be exploring to see if it’s right for our particular organization.

The point however remains the same, no longer do we have hours to train, we only have minutes. Each day most of our organizations conduct line up or pre-shift meetings which typically last 15 minutes and are great opportunities for training. Most of us know this, but have you ever quantified it? When organizations consistently hold preshift meetings and use them as training opportunities, a full time employee will receive 65 hours worth of training during the year.

Take full advantage and develop a plan for these 15 minutes. It may be as simple as focusing on a single service standard for a week or even a day. At The Broadmoor, each week we publish a pre-shift document titled, Quest for Excellence. This document contains many items including the training focus for the week and daily activities. Simply providing the tool is not enough. Inspect what you expect. Attend the pre-shift meetings, follow up with employees, and observe behavior on and off the floor to see if training happened.

Remember, you only have minutes, so make great use of what's available.