Member Blog

After 40 years in training and development, it’s time to confess. It started at a simple interview in 1972 when I was asked to be a Food and Beverage Trainer. I just graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and was successfully managing a high-volume Swiss German Restaurant celebrated by locals as one of the best places to eat in Las Vegas. Why would I want to leave success to work for Holiday Inn hotels as a company trainer opening hotel restaurants? Why indeed would I want to take a 50% cut in pay and what exactly does a food and beverage trainer do?

Hotel buildings exist as living, breathing organisms; with complex engineering and structural systems that work in tandem. General Managers (GMs) are responsible for keeping the building well-maintained, however, most GMs are lay people who lack the technical knowledge and skills on specific asset protection and maintenance topics regarding their property’s roof, façade, landscaping, parking lots, HVAC, plumbing, electrical systems, and many more.

As the economy has gotten stronger during the past few years, it has become harder and harder for employers in almost every industry to find qualified workers. In fact, according to a 2016 report from SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, more than two-thirds of surveyed organizations said they were having difficulty filling certain positions, a statistic that increased from 50% in 2013.

Spring is such an exciting time! Gardeners are hard at work, not only preparing beds for planting, but also looking ahead and creating long-range plans to frame their decisions; considering, for example, what will happen in the sunniest spot when the sapling nearby grows to full height. Will that part of the yard become a shade garden in the next five years? Jim Knight reminded us in a recent keynote of a proverb that reminds us of the importance of both foresight and action: “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is today.”

It is safe to say that all of us take the time to train our new leaders on the technical aspects of their job so they can successfully submit their monthly inventory, easily maneuver through the company’s point-of-sale system and manage their budget. Is it as easy to say that we train the same leaders to lead in a way that is representative of the culture of our companies?

Restaurants are ecosystems: Every team member’s success is affected by the people, process and environment surrounding them. The best GM's know that the way to shape strong ecosystems that attract both talent and traffic is by becoming a Developmentally-Dedicated Organization (DDO). DDO's tend to have lower turnover, stronger talent, bigger profits and more loyal customers.

Many hospitality companies have struggled lately not only to keep their best employees in this tight job market, but also to get applicants to show up for job interviews. Unfortunately, it seems like it has become common for hiring managers to set up interviews with a bunch of prospective candidates only to have just 1 or 2 show up (even though everyone initially agreed to their interview times and places).

Hopefully, you had the time read Part 1 of this two-part blog. If you missed it, check out the March 13th issue of the Training Flash or visit the Member Blogs on the CHART website, chart.org, under Training Tools and Resources. In the meantime, let's move on to Part 2!

John shares his quick training wins for front-of-the-house, back-of-the-house and leadership teams. Hear about John’s “twitter style approach” to training, how to teach staff to communicate with customers, critical POS training up front and suggestive selling techniques. Learn additional training wins on how to use “your” equipment, importance of cooking techniques and proper safety. Can your managers read a P&L?

We’re just a few months into 2017, and if your training department is like mine, then you’re probably already watching every dollar spent between now and the end of the year to make sure you don’t go over budget. With rapidly rising wages and the increasing cost of materials (and just about everything else), it’s becoming more and more expensive to develop, implement, and evaluate training programs in the hospitality industry. The challenge for trainers, of course, is that we don’t want to cut any of our programs if possible, because less training isn’t going to help our people and our company continue growing. So how do we provide the same level of support and still keep our costs in check?

As employers, we are asset builders. And, people are our biggest assets. Are you applying your asset building skills by tapping into Generation Z? Connect with your state restaurant association and learn more about ProStart, a youth development program that is training and preparing over 140,000+ students annually to work in our industry. It is our duty to mentor them, open new doors for them and lead Generation Z to exciting and meaningful careers in the hospitality industry.

Inside each one of us, there are two of us, our True Self and our Natural Self. These two “selves” are opposites, and the characteristics each self has are opposites to each other as well. Our True Self is that “self” in each of us who wants to be successful and hard working. Our Natural Self is that “self” who could care less about making a positive impact in their life let alone in the community or world.