Training From Real-World Experience

Good morning. The way you train your teams to serve your guests plays a big role in their satisfaction and the success of your hospitality business. Today we're learning from Stephanie Leger, Chief Excellence Officer at First Rate Hospitality, about common mistakes she's seen, what makes for effective training, and how training and development can play a role in attracting and retaining more people to our businesses.

Training From Real-World Experience

with Stephanie Leger, Chief Excellence Officer at First-Rate Hospitality

Stephanie Leger has extensive experience both in-house at luxury brands such as Ritz-Carlton as well as working as a service evaluator for Forbes Travel Guide, and has trained more than 20,000 people worldwide to date on providing remarkable hospitality. A few excerpts from our conversation today:

Common service mistakes

One of the most common mistakes that Stephanie has observed recently is the lack of proper training provided to new employees.

Another common mistake is a lack of personalization. We should be able to provide personalized service to our guests, but too often Stephanie is seeing a robotic approach to service that doesn't allow personalities to show.

Effective training comes from experience

Often, HR directors are responsible for organizing training, but they may not have the necessary hands-on experience to provide effective training, Stephanie observed. She believes that training should be based on front-line experience and anyone training should be able to provide guidance based on their own experience.

Training can play a role in your talent retention strategy

To attract and retain more people in the industry, it is important to make hospitality fun again and focus on the positive aspects of the industry, Stephanie says. This is true for all, but especially those new to the business, like a group of interns she trained recently:

If you want to learn how to provide training that levels up your guest experience and helps you retain and develop talented people, I encourage you to listen to Stephanie today:

Listen to our conversation now

From our community

Hospitality Daily is a community of creators and doers. Some cool things for today:

• "Food connects us, and brings us together across cultures," says Hulya Erdal on Naureen Ahmed’s podcast, Inspiring Women in Hospitality.

• Christopher B. Randall shares an inspiring TED talk by Michael Woods on the topic of ownership.

• Anton Safonov shares his thoughts on leadership in the hospitality industry in the wake of the pandemic.

• Don Barnett wants to give you the ability to see things from other people's point of view.

• Adam Wallace reminds us that we can’t forget about the human side of business.

Stories I’m reading

• Guest Experience: Arts Scene Central to Heathman Hotel’s GM’s Game Plan (by Sander Gusinow for Oregon Business)

• Guest Experience: San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel Concierge Spills on Lifestyles of the Rich and Demanding (by Julie Zigoris for The San Francisco Standard)

• Guest Experience: 5 Hotels Reinvent Executive Retreats to Offer More Meaningful Experiences (by Aoife O’Riordan for Global Traveler USA)

• Design: The AD100 Firm Ash Studio Strikes Again With a Glamorous Automotive-Inspired Bar in Detroit (by Sam Cochran for Architectural Digest)

• Wellness: What’s next in wellness hospitality? (by Laura Powell for Hospitality Investor)