Training Articles (formerly Member Blog)

Social anxiety is real and is a growing issue; especially with the younger generation. It is not something that goes away; but one can learn to control it. Although during my CHART Talks session, my palms were sweating and my heart was racing, I have taken steps to overcome my fears of public speaking. .

If you were to ask me if I enjoy exercising, my answer would be a definite “no.” I don’t hate it as much as the taste of broccoli or when I’m forced to listen to someone chew gum with their mouth open, but I’m really not much of a fan of the gym.

Although it doesn’t get as much attention as the rapidly growing field of e-learning these days, classroom instruction is still a very popular method of training in the hotel and restaurant industries. According to the results from CHART’s 2015 Trends in Hospitality Training and Development Study, over 40% of the respondents said they use some form of in-person class when teaching topics such as guest service, financial management, new employee orientation, supervisory skills, HR compliance programs, and train-the-trainer skills.

Recently, I sat down with Cordell Riley, President of Tortel Training, to discuss some ideas in training.

During my CHART Talks at NOLA, I took some creative liberties and related the new minimum wage law for the State of Washington to the five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression,and Acceptance. Watch the video as I illustrate how we adapted to this new law and share some lessons learned.

As a former science teacher, Becky Rice, Training and Development Manager at White Castle, is a believer in incorporating discrepant events to engage and motivate people during training presentations. During her CHART Talks session in New Orleans, Becky shares how you can incorporate these out-of-the-box experiments to illustrate key training messages that attendees will remember. Watch the video from her session as she shares two experiments.

For over half of my 60 years, I have had CHART in my life. In New Orleans, I shared how this organization has been the stepping stone in my career and in my personal life. The people of CHART got me to my 50th state and a lot of other places. Because of the relationships built, the CHART family has helped me get over stumbling blocks that have been in my path. Watch my short video and discover how you can also give to and get back from CHART.

Dana Roazzi, Retail Business Unit Director at Mimeo, shares the many lessons she learned at her first CHART conference. Recently, I made my way down to New Orleans for CHART’s 90th Hospitality Conference. CHART is a non-profit professional association of hospitality and restaurant training professionals. Incredibly enough, the 450+ members of CHART represent and train a workforce of almost 3 million people!

It's OK to admit it. Property managers can't relate to our corporate training videos and often are skeptical of them. "That will not work in my property with my employees," they'll say. And for associates, that skepticism is likely even higher. Training videos tend to not be realistic or particularly effective because they use scripted talking head actors and show only the latest, greatest properties.

During an employee orientation at a large resort/conference hotel where I once worked, the general manager raved about his experience at a local, very casual restaurant with doors for tabletops, chicken-fried steak on the menu and a BYOB policy. His expectations of the place were very low when he walked in, but then he proceeded to tell our new employees how this humble restaurant blew him away with its customer service.

While it was only a few weeks ago that our 90th conference came to a close in New Orleans; it feels like a distant fond memory. Like the CHART presidents before me, I have looked forward to this time more than once over the past year, yet, with extremely mixed emotions. While I’m excited for what this year holds for our organization, the little time I have left to serve you on the board slapped me in the face like none other when Patrick stepped down. Now in my fifth year on the board, the time has raced by like a NASCAR competitor zooming towards the finish line.

After the recent CHART conference in New Orleans, Patrick Yearout, Jason Lyon, and I went on a tour of the Garden District. In preparation for the two-hour walk in the blazing heat, we stopped off at a coffee shop for bottled water.