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How soon after joining do your hotel staff have to face guests? The first few weeks in any job will determine whether a person will want to stay with you.

People like (and need) to know what’s expected of them. So when people start with you a thorough induction is absolutely key, and a good induction will help make effective & loyal staff.

So within that induction, what are the types of things they need to know?

They certainly do need to know all of the standards around their job. But there are other things as well. Yes, they need to know what their job is, yes, they need to know about their holiday entitlement, about their pay, where they can leave their belongings, health, safety and hygiene procedures; all of those things are very important. But look a little bit beyond that.

Think about your own values and philosophy. What is the type of experience you want your guest to have when they stay with you? And communicate that to your staff.

A part of the induction might be “This is the way we do things around here….”. And sometimes that might come better from a fellow employee, a sort of buddy, rather than necessarily always coming from you. However if you are going to do that, make sure that the person they are buddied up with knows the standards, knows the expectations, and knows what you want from them.

Where does their job fit into the bigger picture? Where does their role fit in with everybody else’s? What does everybody else do? What are all the other services and facilities that you provide? Staff can’t upsell if they don’t know what you offer.

So if, for example, they are on reception they need to know what a bedroom looks like, what is the distinction between a superior room and a standard room. They need to know about the menu offer. Equally if they are in the kitchen let them know what goes on front of house as well. Give them an opportunity to go into the restaurant, to see a room, and if you have other leisure facilities, let all your staff get a feel for them and just experience them. Okay, they are not all going to be selling these things all of the time, but they need to have an idea of the bigger picture and what your guests will be experiencing.

Good induction will help make effective & loyal staff.

So for the next person you take on, don’t waste your recruitment effort & costs by poor induction.  Increase the likelihood that they will want to stay, and become an effective and loyal employee, by giving them a thorough induction.

All this and more will be covered in depth on my new on line Leadership Coaching Programme for Hoteliers being launched in September. Register here to attend the free tele seminar, receive more information, and be eligible for the early bird bonuses. Caroline Cooper

What most people think about is what the job is and what are the skills that are needed.

I’m not saying that the skills are not important. Of course if you are recruiting a chef, you need someone with the right skills and experience.

And you’ll be looking for someone to complement your existing skills set.

You’ll also want people who will fit in with your values and your philosophy and your beliefs. If you have a particular value that you stress as part of your hotel offering, then it’s important to people who will tie in with and reflect those values.

But hospitality is about people. You can teach how to work to your systems, but having the right attitude, is absolutely essential. So rather than always thinking about the skills that you want to recruit for is to think about the attitude you need to recruit for.

And to my mind there are three things to consider here:

Having a passion for the business. That can be difficult to assess, particularly if you are recruiting someone who so far has very little experience within the industry. But do they how an interest in food, or any inclination towards wanting to work in hospitality, rather than it being ‘just a job’.

They need to like people. Hospitality is all about being welcoming, making people feel at home, and if they don’t have that aptitude, and that interest in wanting to make people happy, and liking people, they are not going to be a particularly good match.

And we all know this is an industry that requires hard work, and graft, so having that willingness to work hard is something that is going to be important to you.

There is a challenge here, and that is, how do you measure these things? So, when you are going out to recruit somebody do think about what are the ways you are going to measure these less specific or less tangible aspects; those attitudinal things. You may ask about their past experience, where they’ve worked before, how they’ve handled specific situations, or ask them to describe their own examples of when they have gone that extra mile for someone, or handled a particularly challenge.

Even with a school leaver look for examples of things they have done outside school to demonstrate taking on responsibility, working as a team, and so on.

Know what you want beforehand, think about what might demonstrate those attributes, and then don’t take their word for it, test it, challenge them and look for real examples. Better to find out in the interview if they haven’t got what it takes than after you’ve hired them.

All this and more will be covered in depth on my new on line Leadership Coaching Programme for Hoteliers being launched in September. Register here to attend the free tele seminar, receive more information, and be eligible for the early bird bonuses.

Caroline Cooper

It’s not news that we have a skills shortage in hotels and hospitality as a whole. And with the industry growing the likelihood is the situation will get worse.

And on the other hand we hear of unemployment rising.

In my interview with Bob Cotton last week, as part of my current interview series “How to Give Your Hotel a Competitive Edge” Bob highlighted the importance of recruiting and retaining the best we can.

It’s a challenging environment for managers – ever changing legislation, cultural awareness, a challenging work life balance.

But what are we doing to attract people to the industry?

Last week I attended the Institute of Hospitality Hotel Managers’ Briefing. One of the presenters was from Springboard, the organisation that promotes careers in the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sectors in the UK. Here are some of the points I picked up on what we could be doing:

• Mentor your local school and build relationships with schools and parents who are often reluctant to send their children on work experience or placements in hospitality. Get to know your local catering college and build relationships with staff and students, an opportunities for placements (and part time work)
• Set up taster placements that have a structure and ensure a good all round experience for placements. In the UK Springboard can support this through Inspire http://inspire.springboarduk.net/ who publish a pack and online format for anything from a one day taster through to university placements (and award the Inspire Kite mark to employers who demonstrate good practice on placements).
• Think beyond the kitchen – housekeeping has a severe shortage, and less of an appeal to those who have never experienced it; give youngsters a taster of what housekeeping has to offer.
  

Work placements are an ideal way to build a relationship with schools, colleges and universities, and an opportunity for you to demonstrate what the industry has to offer and what better way to recruit long term and loyal hotel staff. OK, it won’t change things over night, but it’s a start.

I will be holding a tele seminar on Friday 16th when I will be talking about my top five ways to having an engaged and motivated team. Details and to register go here.

Caroline Cooper

This morning my husband was complaining that his boss had emailed him to ask to look up some information that was readily available to him. It was just easier to ask someone else, rather than go and look it up for himself.

Are you ever guilty of this?

• You pay your head chef a head chef’s salary, and then have them making you tea
• You pay your head housekeeper a head housekeeper’s salary, then have them moving furniture
• You employ a maintenance man and then ask your duty manager to check the boiler when it starts playing up
• You’ve paid good money to have a computer system installed but then ask someone to run the numbers manually

Quite apart from being frustrating to those you ask to do the task, how do those people feel who are responsible for maintenance or moving furniture. Do they want others interfering with their job? And why waste money on computer software and then not use it?

So why does this happen?

• In the case of my husband’s boss, it was lack of confidence on his part to use the IT system
• Sometimes it’s a question of the person being in the wrong place and the right time (or vice versa), so you ask whoever is nearest
• Or maybe you don’t trust your junior staff to carry out the tasks. And if this is the case, why not? Wrong person in the job, lack of training, lack of confidence?

But are your managers and supervisors also guilty of doing tasks themselves that should be done by someone paid less, or someone or something (e.g. computer) who can do the job more efficiently?

• Is it because your supervisors, managers and heads of department don’t have enough to do? I doubt it; more likely they don’t know what else they should be doing, so get involved in others jobs
• Is it because nobody’s role is clearly defined with job descriptions so there are no clear boundaries of who is responsible for what?
• Is it due to an inability to delegate, believing it’s quicker to do tasks themselves?
• Is it because they’ve never been trained in the IT systems, or don’t understand what the information tells them
• Is it that they simply don’t have the right people in place to delegate to?

Yes, I’m all for multi skilling and helping out when fellow team members need it, but just think what they are not doing when they are doing other people’s jobs. And when you take them off these other tasks who picks these up? They either: end up being covered by someone less skilled, don’t get done at all, or you end up doing them yourself…..

 I’ll be talking more about getting the best from your team to Give Your Hotel a Competitive Edge in my tele seminar series starting on Monday 5th July. You can register here.

Caroline Cooper

Here is the 4th and final post on How to Give Contructive Feedback, summarising the key principles.

Download the full article and other related free articles from my downloads page. 

Timing and planning

• Feed back as soon after the event as you can, but ensuring privacy if appropriate (praise in public, reprimand in private).
• When giving feedback based on a longer period e.g. in an appraisal situation, the more recent the example, the more impact it will have.
• Ensure the timing is appropriate for the individual to take on it board (e.g. avoid times when they are under tight time pressures, or about to start something for which they need total focus).
• What condition are you in to give feedback right now – do any of the above apply to you, or are you angry about the way they have handled something and need time to cool off.
• Consider your motives before giving feedback i.e. what do you want the end result to be?
• Be prepared for their reaction, and how you will respond.

Standard

• These should be communicated in advance and only referred to as a reminder if necessary.
• If you are not certain the person is aware of the standard, check their understanding of the expected standard before diving in with your feedback. This might highlight a need for clarification, reinforcement or training.
• If people are unaware of the standard, draw a line in the sand, but establish this as the standard moving forward.

Action

• Ask questions at each stage rather than telling.  Most people will be able to identify for themselves how things have gone, especially if they know the standards in advance.
• Give feedback on successes as well as where things can be improved.
• Be prepared to build the confidence of the shrinking violet, who finds it hard to accept any praise.  They may find it hard to see good in anything they do, and only see their mistakes or what went badly.  Ask ‘What were you pleased with, or what went well, or better than last time’?
• Focus on behaviour, not personality.
• How likely is it that the person can do anything about it?
• Could you be the source of the problem, not them?
• Take ownership – don’t rely on hearsay.  People will be far more receptive to what you have observed directly rather than subjective opinions from others.
• If necessary draw comparisons between what people say and what they actually do.
• Use pre determined standards or goals as a yardstick. 

Impact

• Reinforce how positive actions have helped performance.
• Acknowledge people for what they are not just their accomplishments.
• Explain or ask them which actions are less effective than they might be and why.
• Link the outcomes to something they care about (e.g. the amount of effort required on their part, or how others perceive them), rather than simply what is important to you.
• Check they understand the implications – if they don’t know how their actions affect the business or the task they are unlikely to take on board any changes needed. 

Development

• When things have gone well you may not be looking for improvements from the individual, but how can their good performance be emulated e.g. can they show others how they do it?
• Ask them to suggest a better, or alternative solution or methods.
• Focus on what is missing, rather than what is wrong – this helps performance next time.
• Ensure the outcome you want is clear.
• Check their understanding of what to do in future – if they have come up with the solution check the method, time scales, etc. 

Your approach

• Be direct, don’t sugar coat the message.
• Be sincere.
• Give praise where it is due.
• When it’s not, make it clear that you need to see improvements or changes.
• Avoid being side tracked by any of the feedback blockers.
• Preserve the other person’s self esteem.
• Deliver bad news in a non-critical way.
• Concentrate on your pitch and tone so that valuable information is not seen as a complaint, criticism, whinge or nag. 

Given in a constructive way feedback can not only improve performance but can raise morale, build rapport and promote initiative.  It also opens the door for your team to provide you with some feedback too.

Caroline Cooper

Here is the third in my series on giving constructive feedback

Feedback Blockers

If people perceive themselves to be under attack they will make attempts to protect themselves. Here are some of the reactions you may need to be prepared for: 

Defensiveness 
 “I’m not the only one who does that”

Resistance   
 “There’s no way I can change – why should I?”

Denial   
 “I’m not to blame for that”

Justification   
 “I can explain”

Attack   
“What about them, they’re not perfect”

Inward Focus  
“Is this what people have been thinking about me?  And all the time I thought they liked me”

Refusing to Listen   
“Here we go again”

Excuses  
“That wasn’t my fault – I was told the wrong things”

Distrust of the Person/Process  
“It’s obvious – someone’s got an axe to grind”

Masking True Feelings    
“I’ll rise above this – I don’t care”

Pre-prepared Arguments   
“I knew they were going to bring that up.  Well, let me tell you my side …”

Concentrating on the person behind the feedback   
 “I bet I know who said that”

Own the feedback – and be firm about why they need to be aware (i.e. the impact it has) and that you expect change.

 ‘If they can argue with it – it’s poor feedback’

To read the full article now, plus gain access to other free related articles go to my downloads page.

Caroline Cooper

One way to overcome some of the barriers of giving feedback is to apply the S A I D model 

Standard

When giving feedback, particularly on poor performance, it’s useful to know what you are benchmarking this against. If people don’t know what is expected of them, it is very easy to get defensive.  So establish the standards you expect and communicate these.  You may not always need to refer to these during the feedback process, but be mindful of these as you give the feedback. 

Action

What is the action they performed?  Emphasis is on their actions, not on your interpretation of it.  So you are feeding back what you observed or heard, not on their intentions, their personality or their character.  Limit the number of actions you comment on a level they can handle – far better to give feedback on one key action that they can digest and build on to make a difference, than ten things which leaves the message diluted (and invariably leaves them demotivated).  Because this is based on fact it is less likely to be challenged. Link back to the standard if necessary to highlight where people have exceeded or fallen short. 

Impact

What impact did their actions have on the result?  This can include positive or negative impact on the end result, or on the process itself e.g. the amount of effort needed on their part to achieve the result, or the impact on others, etc.  When giving praise it is so easy to say to someone ‘that was really good, well done’ without saying why it was good or what made the difference this time compared with previous occasions.

Development

How can they build on this for the future?  Remember, the purpose of feedback is to enhance performance and motivate.  So this last stage is important to determine what happens next e.g. develop to make it even better next time around, to correct a mistake or to perfect a process.  Put the emphasis on what is missing rather than what is wrong – building on strengths or positives is far more likely to engender enthusiasm. Using open questions, ask the individual how they think things can be developed or built upon.  This will help to gain buy in and you may be surprised by the options they suggest.  

Here are the three key situations for giving feedback within the workplace. 

1.     When all is going well – feedback and praise.
2.     Mixed performance – feedback mixed with positive and corrective action.
3.     When all is not well – feedback to address under-performance. 

This model works equally well in all three. 

Some of you may recall something referred to as ‘The Praise Sandwich.’  The problems with the praise sandwich are that, in fact, it is a bad news sandwich, and usually the ‘filling’  (i.e. the bad news) is so thin and the ‘bread’ or praise element so thick and fluffy, that the key message gets completely lost.  The result the person remembers the first and last part of the discussion – the praise – and not the part you want to change.  The result is that nothing changes.  Using the SAID model people know exactly what the issue is.  But by understanding the impact it has had, and having been given as opportunity to put forward their own ideas to avoid it in future, they will still come out of it with some dignity, and you are far more likely to see something change for the better.

To read the full article now, plus gain access to other free related articles go to my downloads page.

Caroline Cooper

The giving and receiving of feedback is probably one of the most vital skills in management.  According to Ken Blanchard

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions”

Why Give Feedback

People will not become great at their jobs unless they know where they are doing well, so they can keep on doing these things, and where they need to change to get a better result.  For many employees it is a case of ‘No new is good news’, as they only get to hear if things go wrong.  Have you ever worked in that type of environment?  Feedback is not only key for improving and perfecting performance, but – done in a constructive way – is highly motivational.

But how many of us put off giving feedback or get frustrated that when we do give it, it has little impact? 

Why is it that we shy away from both giving it and receiving it? 

There are a number of reasons why managers fear giving feedback.  ‘Who am I to judge?’ ‘It won’t be valued’, ‘It will give them a chance to have a go at me.’  ‘They must realise that they are doing it wrong / right’ ‘When I’ve given feedback before, it has made no difference; I feel like I am wasting my breath.’   

One of the key reasons we shy away from it is the fear that it won’t be accepted, that we will be challenged on it and put in an awkward situation.   Feedback can be badly received when it’s: 

• Too generalised – not specific enough for effective action to be taken
• Too personal – based on the person, not the issue(s)
• Based on something which is not within their power to do anything about
• Heavily critical – without suggestions for improvement
• Focused exclusively on the past – recent changes/improvements not taken into account
• Based on hearsay and gossip – not enough facts to support the arguments
• An excuse to seek blame – rather than seeking solutions

We’ve probably also all been on the other side of the feedback and know that many people are equally uneasy about receiving it.  So before thinking about how to give feedback it is also worth thinking about it from the recipient’s viewpoint.  Why are we so reluctant to ask for feedback?  Is this fear of the unknown, or that we don’t want to be told what we already know? Does it make us feel exposed, vulnerable or even feel a fool?  Or maybe it is lack of respect for the person giving the feedback – what do they know, who are they to judge?   If we get feedback it may imply that we need to change the way we do things.

More on feedback next week. To get the full article and other related articles now go to my downloads page.

Caroline Cooper