Training on Attitude and Personal Responsibility Can Change the World
October 30, 2024 | 741 Views
Anne Frank said “How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.” As leaders in hospitality, I believe that we are constantly seeking to improve the world of those around us and help our guests and teams make meaningful connections. In her CHART Talk at CHART’s summer conference in Chicago, Donna Herbel challenged us to bring hospitality to every moment in our day-to-day lives. She had me imagining a world of “hospitalarians,” opening doors, doing good deeds, and causing a chain reaction of smiles.
On the first day of the CHART conference, where we boldly decided to expand perspectives and lead change, we could make a choice between two community service events. Our volunteer co-directors Serah Morrissey (HOPES) and Corban Nichols (beach cleanup) did an extraordinary job, doing far more than asked in coordinating these two events. While the beach is my favorite place (where I am most grounded and centered) in the world, in keeping with the theme of the conference, I wanted to expand my perspective and chose to participate in the HOPES x CHART service event. This event focused on HR professionals helping formerly incarcerated individuals entering the hospitality workforce. We were there to give advice, guidance, and answer questions. You name it, we would do it. Isn’t it interesting how, when you plan to give, you somehow always get more in return?
HOPES stands for Hospitality Opportunities for People (Re)Entering Society. From their website, HOPES is a reentry program for adults 18 and over who are currently incarcerated and within 20-365 days of release. HOPES assists with transitioning into the workforce through the restaurant and foodservice industry. They provide industry-specific training to help these individuals secure employment, a key factor in reducing reoffending behavior and helping individuals have a positive impact on their families and society after incarceration. At least, that’s what the flyer said!
And while it is a good flyer, it does not capture the soul of HOPES. Her name is Lisa Thomas. Dressed in a shiny salmon outfit, what always beamed was her smile, which shined big for the world to see. Miss Lisa shared everything – her approach with her clients, her philosophy, her trials, and her triumphs. She always starts with a recipe to build connection. As she asks her clients about the recipe they are making, she very much judges and pushes them. She may ask about a ramen noodle pack and how to make it a different dish. When clients basically say “I add hot sauce,” she informs them they aren’t using their brain fully. “That is not enough, think bigger,” she says. Quickly, they start trying to impress her with their recipes, using scrapings from lunch to season and flavor. Some use that creativity she instills, along with their new education in food safety and operations, to build small businesses when they exit the program.
Miss Lisa teaches two things: personal responsibility and attitude. She knows that without these two things, nothing else can fall into place. When she mentioned these two things, the gong of connection and inspiration struck me. I imagine my face looked like that of our trainees when something clicks. We are striving to train the exact same things with our front line and early leaders. In fact, if we aren’t focused on these things in some way, then I believe we are wasting our money and efforts. Yes, we need to train our hosts to open the door and smile, but that is absolutely not where it starts. It starts with personal responsibility and attitude. Miss Lisa will not move on to anything else until her clients start to understand how to take personal responsibility and how one’s attitude changes everything. She teaches these things through asking about the recipe and direct conversations regarding behavior and routines.
Thinking about our staffing and retention woes, the turnover that places us on a never-ending spit, going round-and-round teaching the same thing over and over again, I reflected on how Miss Lisa’s two areas of focus make perfect sense. How wonderful that we do not need to wait a single moment to improve our world – we can do so with some simple changes in how we look at the training we create and implement. Start with teaching the personal responsibility that would make a new hire successful, especially for new young leaders. Teach that their attitude makes the difference in how they are perceived and can subsequently excel. If we teach attitude, perhaps we would not need to teach the mechanics of smiling. If we trained in personal responsibility, perhaps we would see less write-ups or silly terminations. I believe the possibilities are endless. I now imagine that we are creating a world that automatically hurries to open doors and smiles at each other because we trained them on attitude and personal responsibility.
We had a wonderful circle-time with Miss Lisa and the champions she works with. They asked excellent questions about interviewing and how to get in the job (and stay there). At the end of our time together, Miss Lisa asked all of us for recipes of our favorite foods.
Miss Lisa, here is my favorite recipe Abuela taught me. It is a classic Cuban dish which can be traced back to Spain, where it was common during the Moorish rule. The African enslaved people added flavors like cumin and raisins, sometimes adding potatoes or eggs to stretch it when needing to feed more. I share it with all of you. Call anytime if you want to make it together! (Click here for a PDF you can download/print.)
