Back to basics with hospitality training

I recently visited a high-street restaurant with a colleague. On arriving, we were made to stand in the middle of the restaurant until being shown to a table. Nobody acknowledged us while we were waiting.

We were given a menu and left for a generous amount of time to make our choices. When the waiter finally approached us, there was no attempt to be friendly or polite. The food was passable but the lack of communication continued, and when we were given the bill we felt well and truly cheated.

We know the dangers of such a shambolic performance. I, for one, will not go back to that restaurant and I will advise my colleagues not to do so. But let's face it, the problem doesn't just stop with me, does it? So that establishment immediately loses business. Bad customer service will have an adverse effect on our industry's future in the international tourism market.

Recently, the Government published its White Paper entitled Modern Markets, Confident Consumers, which officially recognises the importance of customer care.

As a people business, we are failing to meet our customers' basic expectations of courtesy and other values that a previous generation would have simply taken for granted.

When I was trained in the art of hotel management, it was considered normal behaviour to exercise common civilities, not only to customers but to colleagues. And that was only 10 years ago. But perhaps this is where the problem lies.

Now, as director of the Hospitality Training Foundation (HTF), I sympathise with the employers I meet, from small business proprietors to chief executives of major national chains, when they lament the fact that young people today just don't seem to be prepared for the world of work. They don't have the basic skills of literacy and numeracy, or even of courtesy and basic communication. I can sympathise completely with this, but the question is, what can we, as an industry, do about it?

As an industry, we must call upon schools to continue their attempts to ensure that courtesy, respect for others and similar values are taught from the earliest days. I would also urge colleges, universities, training providers and other deliverers to carry the theme through in their programmes and emphasise the importance of these skills - and I should add that many do.

As director of the HTF, the hospitality industry's National Training Organisation (NTO), I will continue to urge Government to ensure the training and education system in this country meets our industry's needs. I would also go a step further, and urge us all, as an industry, to play a part in solving the problem.

Our card has been marked. We can no longer make assumptions as to people's behaviour. Nor can we presume that they learn the basics either at home or in school, or in any other institution, for that matter.

So, before we put our staff on stage in front of the customer, we must make sure they are equipped with not only the right technical skills but the basics of a winning attitude.

However, the problem goes further than this, for it's not just customer-service skills and common courtesy that are lacking in some staff. There is a skills gap between what our industry needs and what our existing staff offer.

This is not a skills shortage, in which there are not enough skilled people in the labour force: it is a skills gap, in which people in employment don't have the skills their businesses need. These needs could include any from a long list of basic skills, including literacy, teamwork, craft skills, management skills and essential, underpinning knowledge crucial to the job. What can we do about it?

There is only one solution, and that is to invest in the staff we have currently working in the industry. This is the only way to solve the problem of skills gaps. Let's be clear here: we're not talking about training someone for the sake of being nice; we are talking about a calculated business investment in developing an employee to make sure he or she can play a greater role in the business. Link training to achievement of business objectives - it's the only way forward.

We are employer-led at the HTF. We represent hospitality employers on all aspects of education and training. We are working with employers to help fight through the training and education maze, taking a critical look at the many qualifications relating to hospitality.

One-stop shop

We are building a database of key initiatives on offer from organisations nationwide to supplement our hospitality training helpline, so that all our industry's employers have a one-stop shop for information on the right training for their business needs.

And of course, as an NTO, we are continuing to maintain an open dialogue with Government on all issues affecting education and training in hospitality. If the Government gets it right, great. If it doesn't, we are there to make sure the industry's voice is heard.

Having spent my entire career in hospitality, listening to the passionate words of many employers, I know we can do it. We can overcome skills shortages and skills gaps and develop the staff our industry needs for future success. Yes, we still need input from Government, parents, schools, and others, but we, too, have a role to play in developing the employees we need for our industry's future success. We must play it well. n

Declan Swann is NTO director at the Hospitality Training Foundation