Hotel staff training: Useful tips for managers

Whether you manage a luxury resort or own a series of boutique hotels, hotel staff training is crucial for achieving operational efficiency and enhancing guest experiences. Well-trained teams go above and beyond what is required to elevate each guest's stay into something truly memorable and enjoyable.

Start crafting proactive training that empowers your employees to excel in their roles. Explore this comprehensive guide, featuring 10 useful tips on how to train hotel staff as a manager.

Why is it important to train your hotel staff?

In the hospitality industry, well-formulated training sets high-performing hotels apart from those that struggle to meet guest expectations. Effective training does more than teach employees how to make a bed or check in guests. It should also equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver exceptional service that keeps guests coming back.

It’s a tight labor market for the hotel industry, experiencing an annual turnover rate of 73.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As the demand for hotel staff rises, it’s crucial to make hotel staff training engaging and effective to increase retention and commitment.

Some other benefits that you can reap from conducting training for hotel teams include a boost in productivity, improved service quality, better problem-solving, and adaptability trends. Ultimately, well-trained staff play a key role in enhancing customer satisfaction—the cornerstone and driving force behind revenue growth in the hospitality industry.

1. Pair new hires with experienced staff

Easily tick off every box in your new hire orientation checklist by pairing them with a more experienced employee. This hands-on guidance significantly accelerates the learning curve and offers valuable insights that aren’t usually covered in traditional training.

This is also a good way to promote stronger relationships among teams while offering immediate learning opportunities. You can learn more about how assigning new employees to work alongside seasoned staff members can benefit your hotel with this SC Training course on mentorship.

Create a culture of knowledge sharing with SC Training. Sign up today! 

2. Go back to the basics 

Regardless if you have an existing training program or you’re building a course from square one, it’s important to lay the groundwork with careful planning. This means assessing your organization’s goals and determining where hotel staff training fits in achieving them.

For existing training, it’s important to reassess and identify what’s working and what needs improvement. Your goals and objectives are the foundation of creating impactful training, so it’s crucial to revisit them at the beginning of planning and organizing the learning experience.

3. Communicate your brand story

In hospitality, management often encounters employees with low engagement levels and commitment to the brand. This is why it’s important to incorporate your brand story into training. Typically, this covers your organization’s mission, vision, and objectives, including examples of how these should be reflected in their day-to-day responsibilities.

You can also incorporate the business’s success story or let employees share their own experiences of working with the organization. Your teams, especially those at the front of house (FOH), are the face of your hotel, so this is a good way to make employees feel more in tune and connected with the team and the brand itself.

4. Make training engaging

Avoid burdening your teams with tedious training sessions that overwhelm them with information they can hardly retain. Instead, you can opt for interactive training through simulation, workshops, case studies, or videos.

You can also incorporate a workplace training platform like SC Training that houses gamified training courses paired with microlearning content. This lets your teams tap and swipe their way into absorbing bite-sized information that helps them get up to speed faster. Choose among their hospitality courses with topics ranging from front desk training to food safety standards.

5. Blend digital and hands-on training

Combining digital and in-person training is important in reinforcing crucial knowledge for hotel staff. Digital platforms host soft skills training for hotel staff that teams can access on their own schedule, like hotel amenities. Meanwhile, hands-on training focuses on practical skills such as setting up banquet spaces.

For a seamless transition from digital to in-person training, try using SC Training’s practical assessments feature. Say goodbye to paper checklists and dusty binders with this in-person assessment tool. Simply scan your team member’s QR code to access a digital checklist, evaluate them in real-time on your mobile device, and instantly track results via reporting and analytics.

6. Harness AI solutions

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming many industries today, and hospitality is no exception. For hotels, AI can be used as chatbots and virtual assessments. It’s seen in smart rooms that control lighting and temperature based on guest preferences. AI-powered hospitality training is also on the rise.

It can provide simulations and interactive learning experiences or boost course creation. For example, SC Training’s Create with AI lets you create courses with a click of a button so you can cut brainstorming time and head straight to training teams.

7. Deliver training in multiple languages

With hotels often having multiple locations in different countries and some staff members being non-native language speakers, it’s helpful to deliver hotel customer service training in multiple languages. This is a great way to promote inclusivity, improve comprehension, and enhance performance.

If you’re worried about translating your training materials one by one into different languages, there are platforms like SC Training that can easily do the work for you. Its AI translation feature lets you create courses in your employee’s preferred language in no time.

8. Measure impact

To get the full picture of training effectiveness, it’s important to measure its impact through employee performance metrics, customer satisfaction surveys, and financial indicators. This is an important step to find out what works and what needs to be changed in future sessions.

SC Training can help you get the feedback you need instantly. Its course review feature lets you invite a reviewer via email, collect real-time insights, and make the edits you need as you go.

9. Reward good work

Let your teams know that their training progress doesn’t go unnoticed. You can use financial incentives, extra time off, or give branded merchandise to motivate employees and reinforce learning.

You can also keep your teams engaged with SC Training’s achievements feature. It helps keep your teams engaged with banners and badges for every milestone. Or you can opt for custom certificates to match your brand and meet compliance requirements.

10. Regularly refresh training content

To keep up with industry trends and new technologies, it’s important to consistently update your hotel staff training content. You should also incorporate the feedback you’ve received into the changes you’ll make to the materials. 

Relevant and up-to-date training is key to fostering a culture of continuous improvement and delivering exceptional guest experiences in an increasingly competitive market.