How the right training can drive operational consistency and standout experiences in hospitality

When it comes time to book a trip, do you have a go-to hotel chain? According to Deloitte, only 8% of people do—so the race is on for hoteliers to win over guests and turn them into repeat customers!

Although all guests are valuable in the hospitality industry, happy travelers who become repeat business are the ultimate goal. Especially in a highly competitive market and a tougher economy, making a good impression and keeping associates on track to create memorable experiences that leave guests wanting to come back next time is critical to driving customer loyalty and laying a foundation for future success.

So, how can you drive experiences that leave a mark? Effective training teaches associates how to do their jobs and ensures they’re confident in their skills so they can tap into your guest’s expectations and understand exactly what they need to do to deliver a consistently great experience—every visit. 

The secret to memorable guest experiences? Consistency

Consistency is a big challenge, especially for multi-brand hospitality organizations where company-wide expectations and responsibilities sit alongside operational expectations more specific to individual brands or regions. 

To get everyone on the same page and ready to deliver your standard of service—no matter who’s serving guests—associates need to know what their responsibilities are, where there’s flexibility to achieve individual and collective goals and what guests are looking for from their experience that would make their stay go above and beyond what they expected. Effective task management is one way to drive operational alignment. However, proper training can take you significantly closer to where your teams need to be.

A quick look at effective hospitality training

Our research found that 36% of hospitality workers and managers want adequate training and upskilling opportunities to help them thrive and cited it as a top contributor to their happiness and success at work. Unfortunately, nearly one-third of workers still don’t have access.

If right-fit training that improves associate productivity has slipped through the cracks at your organization, it’s time to make a change. Prioritizing effective training promotes workforce consistency by ensuring every interaction a guest has with your team leaves them feeling seen, heard and appreciated. 

What does effective training in hospitality look like? Every organization will have unique needs, but typically, associates need the same things to start:

• It needs to be fast and fit in the flow of work so their attention can stay where it’s needed most—supporting guests
• It should make it easier to access information in real time so associates can answer customer queries or stay on track with task completion
• It should be personalized to fill the user’s knowledge gaps and adaptable to roles and departments, so training sessions are always relevant and impactful

5 reasons why effective training drives and maintains operational consistency

1. Your people will know (and remember) what to do in any situation

Or when they run into questions they don’t have an answer for, they’ll know exactly where to find the information that will get them back on track. This is foundational to a consistent operational approach.

2. Your new hires will onboard more efficiently

Well-built onboarding programs ensure your new hires are up to speed faster and know how to execute tasks properly. This is especially true for seasonal hires with a very limited window of time, if any, to develop their core skills because they need to be on the floor as soon as possible. This avoids broken telephone or shadow learning, which can lead to inconsistencies.

3. Your people will be more confident…

Effective training and confidence-based reinforcement translate to a more efficient and knowledgeable workforce that feels supported and ready to deliver next-level guest experiences.

4. …And more engaged and motivated

Associate engagement is key to reducing turnover and disruptions to consistency caused by understaffing. According to a Gallup study, engaged employees in the hospitality industry are also 17% more productive, 21% more profitable and 10% higher customer ratings than their disengaged coworkers.

5. Operational consistency will (finally!) be measurable

Modern learning within a frontline enablement platform provides a method to measure your team’s consistency—and identify red flags sooner rather than later. Compliance regulations can be complex in hospitality, so it’s critical to catch any mistakes and bad habits before they become larger legal issues.

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In hospitality, achieving operational consistency to drive memorable guest experiences and build a loyal customer base is no easy feat. Effective training is one way for organizations to reinforce key behaviors and make important information available to their employees at the touch of a button. Making training more effective and impactful for your associates ensures your standards of service are consistently being enforced and that your people will be able to go above and beyond to deliver next-level service.

Maliyah Bernard

Maliyah Bernard is an academic writer turned copywriter. As a former frontline worker, she loves writing about all the ways organizations can support these essential workers smarter.

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