EP #6 – Industry Training Consultant, Joleen Emery Shares Insights On Training New Hires

Industry Training Consultant, Joleen Emery Shares Insights On Training New Hires Because employee turnover and staff retention are such critical pieces in running a successful hotel we’re revisiting the topic of training. Last week we had Scott Sisk with us to talk about the onboarding process and Joleen Emery, online training, and hospitality industry expert is here to shed more light on the subject. We talk about how to provide a pleasant experience for your new hire (and why it matters so much), some of the most memorable onboarding we’ve seen, and why people are actually hungry for learning. You’ll hear all of that and more on episode 6 of Hospitality Academy!   Essential Learning Points From This Show: * Why doing things one way doesn’t work for all of your staff. * Why you need to show you care about your employees * How do adults learn best and how can you apply it to your trainings? * Why learning styles matter when training your staff. * What’s the most important thing to your guests? * And so much more! Joleen grew up in the hospitality world, one of her first experiences was working for her parents. In fact, that was also one of her most memorable onboarding processes. She remembers coming home late one night, missing curfew and being fired as a result! One of the most memorable onboardings I have ever seen – and we talk about both on the show – was a hotel that had many issues keeping housekeeping staff. They had an outgoing and happy executive housekeeper who just couldn’t seem to keep her new people for very long. I was hired by the hotel to consultant and as I sat in on one of her morning meetings I soon found out why. In the morning meeting, she introduced her two new hires and then asked them to introduce themselves to the group. Being an outgoing, extroverted type person she saw no issue with this but I immediately saw how uncomfortable it made the new hires. And to add fuel to the fire she then asked for volunteers to train the two new hires. When no one volunteered and people made excuses I could see the new hires feeling as though they were a burden and no one wanted them there. So on top of feeling uncomfortable, they also felt unwanted! As you can guess one of the new hires left after only a few hours and the other woman lasted the day but never came back! Those examples highlight why it’s so important to have a positive onboarding experience for your new staff. Making them feel welcome while also helping them learn the new processes as quickly as possible are both integral to keeping them happy, and in turn keeping them on your staff. Keeping them is so important because the process of hiring a new staff member is hard and puts a strain on other resources. There are typically multiple interviews, then background checks and paperwork to be reviewed. Plus new uniforms have to be made, new name tags, etc. A lot of time, effort and energy goes into just getting a new person in the door so keeping them there should be a priority. The trainers in charge of new hires should be the people in your organization who are students of people, they are the observers who can connect with people and also teach them in a way the new hire can learn quickly. While it’s important the actual procedures are understood it’s equally important the new hire feels welcome, cared for and embraced as part of the team. On this episode, Joleen explains how to do so and what skills a trainer should develop, as well as the emotional side of learning. We talk about how hungry people are to learn (Tedx Talks are a great example!) and how you can tap into that hunger to help your staff.