What You Need To Do Now To Upgrade Your Hospitality Training For Next Year

Before the pandemic, hospitality and tourism provided 10.6% of all jobs and 10.4% of global GDP. However, these sectors took a major hit during the pandemic. Several businesses had to close their doors and dismiss their staff. During 2020, almost one-fifth of those jobs were lost and hospitality’s share of the global GDP halved. The good news is, with restrictions gradually easing, the industry is primed to make a comeback! This is cause for celebration for restaurant owners, hotel chains, and event organizers all over the world, as well as for the staff they’ll need to hire. However, the daunting task of providing training to the returning workforce is not one to take lightly. Even veterans of the hospitality industry are bound to be a bit rusty and have a few skills gaps that need filling after over a year of limited or no work. The mass return of labor to the no-longer-dormant industry needs to be approached from every possible angle to ensure a smooth transition back. Considering the wealth of technological resources at our disposal; it’s past time we stop relying on overworked managers to train new or returning staff. eLearning provides a convenient and accessible means for hospitality and tourism workers to brush up on their skills and build up their confidence, ensuring the triumphant and successful return of the industry at large. This article will outline some important elements and benefits of eLearning for hospitality and tourism.

Benefits of eLearning in the Hospitality Sector

Simulated Experiences

Training through simulation has a long history of success in almost every industry. Simulation may take place by using actors or cutting-edge software. There are several robust hospitality training simulators on the market, many of which are customizable. Your trainee will enter a fabricated, digital representation of a hotel, restaurant, bar, or almost any other hospitality environment. They will interact with simulated guests, patrons, and co-workers in a variety of common workplace situations. Depending on the role they are training for, there are several kinds of simulated tasks and settings to choose from. Simulations provide a low-pressure environment for managers and workers to test their mettle against the everyday stresses that come with their jobs. They can make mistakes and learn without triggering a cascade of one-star reviews, and they will return to work prepared. 

Visual Learning 

Many training programs make the mistake of depending entirely on verbal or written content. A combination of types of content is the most effective approach to getting your message across. The more areas of the brain engaged, the easier it is for the learner to consolidate and recall it. Hospitality workers encounter several situations where practical knowledge is essential. Serving food, mixing cocktails, making beds, and interacting with customers are all central elements of the hospitality industry, and that list is far from exhaustive. There are nuances to these tasks that are best demonstrated visually. How should I greet guests? How do I garnish the perfect Bloody Mary? How do I wrap cutlery the same way every time? The day of a hospitality worker consists of endless little tasks that must be performed perfectly every time. Seeing them performed in a replicable way is far more beneficial than reading the steps from an instruction manual.

Storytelling 

The science of knowledge retention shows us that effective training is all about keeping the learner engaged, anchoring the information into their minds from various angles. Teaching operations, procedures, and protocol to employees goes far more smoothly when they are able to relate the information to an engaging story. Using emotional and thematic devices in your training will help your trainees form a strong mental framework for the information they need to remember. This technique works well in tandem with visual learning when animation is involved.

How eLearning Alleviates Pressure in the Hospitality and Tourism Sectors

The pressures of the hospitality industry are well known. eLearning provides the ideal platform to reduce pressure, free up resources, and still train staff properly. It allows for the following: 

Outsourced Training 

Every hour of training facilitated by an existing, experienced staff member is an hour they can’t perform their duties. This comes out of company time, and those hours add up faster than you’d expect. Beyond this, most managers do not have the time or energy to properly train new employees, which leads to them juggling their responsibilities with training. As a result, their training is often subpar and their duties fall by the wayside, not to mention the toll of stress it takes on them. Providing new employees with a centralized, digital training platform takes the pressure off your loyal staff and keeps operations running smoothly, while employing experts in the training field, with the experience and knowledge to make your training the best that it can be. 

Tracking Progress 

Managers can log in to their training platforms at any time to review how far their trainees have progressed. This insight into the training process gives managers a better idea of potential problem areas, which are then easier to address before they leak into daily operations. Utilizing training data can be more valuable than you think! 

Easy Updates 

Putting together new training material is always tedious, time-consuming, and prone to errors. It’s extremely difficult to remember and integrate every minor change, and more often than not, an entirely new program or manual needs developing. With eLearning, managers can easily chop and change whatever information or material needs changing, without worrying about outdated rules, policies, or procedures confusing their employees. 

Cost and Time Saving 

eLearning enables trainees to engage with the material from anywhere on their own time. It is notoriously costly and difficult to arrange in-person training sessions due to space limitations, scheduling conflicts, and disruptions to the flow of business. By allowing your trainees to learn from home, money is saved across the board. Transport, time, and real-time supervision are no longer confounding factors in the training process, giving your business the breathing room it needs to get back on track. Read our free eBook to understand how investing in online training costs cost and increases ROI. With eLearning, your employees can effectively teach themselves and arrive prepared for their first day on the job. 

“Extended Stay America is proud to have partnered with Knowledge Anywhere to have created Extended Stay University, our training platform .... since creating the University, we’ve seen over 10,000 associates successfully trained in the system, coming out of the experience being able to excel in their positions and experience higher job satisfaction.” Mike Kuenne | VP - Operational Excellence | CareCredit 

Incorporate eLearning Into Your Hospitality Business

The hospitality sector is ever-evolving, especially in light of the pandemic. As a service-driven sector, staff need continuous training to deliver what’s required of them. A well-trained workforce is key to success. eLearning makes this simple. Knowledge Anywhere has the technology and experience to help your organization reach your goals! Our cloud-based LMS platform can help you to manage all your online training programs with ease. Harnessing the power of eLearning for the hospitality sector has never been so straightforward. Knowledge Anywhere has worked with Extended Stay America (ESA) for many years to help them improve their online training system. You can see how we’ve helped them in their own words on our customer testimonial page. Contact us today to see how we can help you!