Introduction
In the contemporary world of global economics, the issue of competitive advantage is based on performance excellence, which is one of many other crucial factors of organizational success. When dealing with performance, companies must continuously evaluate the quality of work of their departments to ensure competitiveness and efficacy. From this perspective, training and development are essential elements of the lifecycle of an entity. In this brief, a Hilton hotel in London, England, is chosen to provide a training and development program based on the training needs of the front-of-the-house department.
Hilton Hotels is a company specializing in the hospitality industry that has occupied a solid place in the global market. Originated as an American company of hotel chains, the London Hilton entered the UK in 1963 (Czyzewska and Roper, 2017). The company spread all over the United States before expanding internationally. Therefore, the corporate culture, values, and mission of the organization have been defined long before opening in London. The organization continuously initiates innovation and progressive decision-making within its operations, such as the development of a varied system of discounts, providing creative ad campaigns, or introducing innovative cyber-security measures (‘The hotel distribution report 2016’, 2016). Thus, it is a leading company that operates hotel chains internationally.
The hotels located in London are of great importance to the hospitality and economy of the country. Moreover, by representing a chain of hotels located in different parts of the world, Hilton accounts for a significant share of the hospitality business and the global economy (Salvioni, 2016). Consequently, the improvement of employee performance in particular entities of the corporation might potentially contribute to the growth of the organization as a whole. As of today, globally, Hilton has its hotels in 94 countries with an occupancy rate of 77.2%; it continuously works on improvements to ensure the best travel experience for its customers (‘Hilton hotels & resorts, no date). The company strives for competitiveness and quality of service based on its core principles.
The mission, vision, and values of the organization align with the priorities of customer satisfaction and quality of services. According to the corporate website of the company, its values are encoded in the abbreviation HILTON, which stands for hospitality, integrity, leadership, teamwork, ownership, and now (‘Welcome to Hilton’, 2019). These are the core principles around which Hilton builds its vision and mission. The organization’s vision is “to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality” (‘FAQs’, 2018, para. 19). To ensure the applicability of these corporate elements in every entity within the chain of hotels, it is necessary to initiate a training and development program aimed at the elimination of skill gaps in the employees.
Design
The gap between the desired level of performance and the current situation is a training need that must be addressed in the training program. A training consultant should analyze what causes the gap and what might be the best interventions to improve the performance of a department (Williams van Rooij, 2017). Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the needs for training within the staff employed at the front-of-the-house department of the Hilton hotel in London before the introduction of the actual program.
Training Needs of the Department
The global tendency in the hospitality business is related to the growing challenge of the hotels to obtain qualified, well-skilled employees. The issue of insufficient hospitality skills in employees is conditioned by such global trends as labor shortage and increased staff turnover (McGinley, Hanks, and Line, 2017). The decline in the skills of hotels’ personnel adversely impacts the quality of services, as well as restrains the rapid economic development of the hospitality sector. Hilton in London potentially contributes to the economic growth of the United Kingdom and requires continuous improvements to compete with other entities (‘Hilton and Edwardian Hotels London join call for more training opportunities, no date).
Currently, Hilton is awarded the title of #2 world’s best workplace, being an organization where the professional and personal growth of the employees is cherished (‘World’s best hospitality company’, no date). Having recognized the issue of skills shortage in the industry, Hilton joined the campaign aimed at enforcing the training and development within its hotels. More specifically, the deficit of soft skills in employees is the gap that needs to be filled using training.
The so-called front-of-the-house department of one of the Hilton hotels in London is identified as the employees who have particular training needs. To sustain talent, ensure high quality of hospitality services, as well as professional development of the personnel, Hilton must develop an effective soft skills training program for the employees working directly with the customers. Since talent competition is the leading issue for employers within hospitality organizations, it is vital to develop and foster relevant skills to improve the performance of the currently employed individuals (McGinley, Hanks, and Line, 2017). Thus, the training and development program must prioritize the training needs of the personnel of Hilton in London.
Soft skills are considered the most crucial element of hospitality employee’s expertise. Indeed, the modern employment process is marked by the requirements of not only “technical and cognitive conceptualizations” but also soft skills that underpin social and interpersonal issues (Hurrell, 2016, p. 607).
These skills include “communication, critical thinking, decision making, problem-solving,” teamwork, and others, which predetermine the effectiveness of customer-centered services and guests’ satisfaction with their stay at a hotel (Proctor, 2016, p. 20). Such intellectual and social skills help people to “adapt and behave positively so that they can deal effectively with the challenges of their professional and everyday life” (Cinque, 2016, p. 395). They are regarded to be essential characteristics when an individual is hired for a customer-related and service delivery job (Hurrell, 2016). Therefore, it is crucial to maintain soft skills development within a hotel department that deals with people and their traveling needs on an everyday basis.
Furthermore, such skills are necessary not only for effective service delivery but also for productive cooperation within a group of co-workers. The basic elements of soft skills are determined as life skills by the World Health Organisation and include such behavioral patterns as decision-making, critical thinking, empathy, coping with stress, and others (Cinque, 2016). However, these life skills become more important in the professional field. More often, employers pay more attention to the applicants’ demonstration of soft skills than to technical ones. Moreover, since the responsibilities of hotel front-of-the-house personnel require direct interaction with the customers, it is a must-have piece of expertise that needs to be developed, trained, and thoroughly evaluated.
Training Program
The training program is designed, delivered, and evaluated by two theories applicable to occupational psychology, which include social learning theory and motivational theory. According to social learning theory introduced by Albert Bandura, the process of training and development occurs through the combination of both cognitive and environmental factors.
As it is stated in the article by Farnsworth, Kleanthous, and Wenger-Trayner (2016), social learning theory is a conceptual framework that allows for creating a specific type of narrative aimed at using cognitive and behavioral factors. Since the front-of-the-house department of a hotel is expected to socialize much in their daily duties, it is relevant to design and deliver the soft skills development and training program through the perspective of social learning. Training in a group allows an instructor to initiate activities entailing competition through which the trainees may learn faster and more effectively.
The motivational theory allows for implementing a variety of activities and learning exercises that foster the development of new skills. As Morgenroth, Ryan, and Peters (2015) emphasize, this theory enables the introduction of new behavioral patterns or skills through exemplification. From this perspective, the motivational theory provides an opportunity to apply role modeling which is regarded as “a way of motivating individuals to perform novel behaviors and inspire them to set ambitious goals” (Morgenroth, Ryan, and Peters, 2015, p. 1).
The contemporary staff training in the hotel industry entails the improvement of employees’ personality qualities which predetermine the mastering of soft skills (Al Zein and Noureddine, 2019). Without motivation and inspiration, the development of such characteristics is difficult to obtain. Therefore, the application of the motivational theory in combination with the social learning approach will contribute to the training process and ensure its effectiveness.
A five-week training and development program will be aimed at achieving five main goals, with one week devoted to each goal. They include communication skills, emotional intelligence, time management, problem-solving, and teamwork. As it is illustrated in Figure 1, each week’s training session will contain four one-hour sessions. Since each week is devoted to the development of one particular skill, the activities are aimed at implementing various group work exercises, instructor-guided examples, video demonstrations, and tasks for individual work at home using e-learning. More information on the delivery of the program will be provided in the next section of the paper.
Figure 1. Soft Skills Training and Development Plan.
The first week’s activities are devoted to the training of communication skills. During the sessions of communicative techniques training, the front-of-the-house employees of the Hilton hotel will acquire new knowledge about the importance of proper communication with the guests to ensure their best travel experience. According to Hargie (2018), communication is the core of effective cooperation in the workplace setting. Similarly, valid information exchange implemented in a polite and respectful form where the needs and values of a customer are prioritized is crucial for the hotel industry. Therefore, during the first week, the trainees will engage in multiple theoretical and practical activities, as well as after-course e-learning based exercises to acquire useful communication skills.
The second goal that will be achieved during the second week of training is emotional intelligence. This skill is associated with the ability of an individual to empathize, control his or her emotions and analyze and appropriately respond to the emotional state of others (Lee and Chelladura, 2017). The training of emotional intelligence is closely connected with communication and problem-solving skills since it enables an individual to improve self-awareness, “stress reduction, emotional self-efficacy … and quality of interpersonal relationships” (Hodzic et al., 2018, p. 142).
This week, the learners will acquire both theoretical and practical knowledge about the essence of primary and underlying emotions and the ways of expressing emotions in the course of communication (Reddington, 2018). The activities will be aimed at training the recognition and control of one’s emotions, the skills of positive criticism acceptance and response to it, as well as the ability to listen actively and react empathically. These skills will be trained with the help of the active inclusion of all the members of the training group to facilitate the application of the social learning theory aspects.
Week three will be concentrated on learning the techniques of time management as a way of timely service delivery. According to Oettingen et al. (2015), the most effective way to manage one’s time is precise scheduling of one’s activities and duties. Therefore, within the program’s goal concentrating on time management skills improvement, the trainees will acquire practical knowledge about effective scheduling and ways of using working time effectively.
Problem-solving methods will be learned during the penultimate week of the program implementation. At this stage, the group will engage in role-playing to apply the newly acquired skills of coping with the customers who are dissatisfied with the services. Since the daily job at a hotel presents a variety of occasions when front-of-the-house personnel must solve problematic situations, it is necessary to introduce a vastly practical approach to training. The introduction of real problems fosters skills acquisition and provides a realistic learning setting (Yumatov et al., 2017). At the end of this week, the employees will improve their skills in coping with service dissatisfaction.
The final stage of training and development of soft skills will be devoted to the learning of the basics of teamwork. According to Hinojosa (no date), when employees work in a team, they produce better results and ultimately contribute to the overall company’s growth. Within the program plan, the trainees will practice conflict reduction with their colleagues, acquire new skills of effective cooperation, and learn self-awareness tips that will be useful in approaching teamwork in real-life professional situations (Hinojosa, no date). Teamwork is crucial for the hotel industry because it ensures aligned and coordinated performance aimed at timely and high-quality service delivery.
At the end of the final training session, the participants will be asked to create their plans for professional improvement, in which they will enlist the areas in which they want to become more efficient and professional. Such activity will serve a twofold purpose since it will help the learners apply self-reflection and seek self-improvement and it will be used as an evaluation element at the follow-up stage of the program implementation.
The designed program is relevant within both external and internal contexts of the organization’s performance. Firstly, the external context is defined by the high competitiveness in the field of talented employee recruitment by major entities in the UK hospitality industry. Indeed, the current deficit of skilled hospitality professionals imposes particular tasks for the organizations to retain their employees and improve the quality of their performance.
Therefore, Hilton is expected to facilitate its personnel’s skills with the help of the training program. In such a manner, the level of services provided by the organization will be competitive and will provide more profit and brand recognition in comparison with the main competitors (Haynes, 2016). The successful implementation of the program goals will ultimately improve the external context for the hotel’s further development.
Secondly, from the point of view of the internal context, the development of soft skills in the employees who directly communicate with the guests of the hotel will contribute to the overall key performance indicators of the hotel. More specifically, better employees’ soft skills will increase the occupancy percentage, the revenue per available room, and customer satisfaction, which are crucial for the growth of a business. According to Chung and Chung (2018), customer experience is the leading performance indicator of the contemporary hotel business because travelers, regardless of their status, are in search of quality facilities and services. Also, the introduced program aligns with the objectives of the company to use hospitality, integrity, and teamwork to ensure an excellent customer experience in Hilton.
Delivery
As the design of the program implies, the work with the designated topics and skills developments requires the active inclusion of an instructor. The trainer will facilitate the practical activities and provide all necessary theoretical material, thus guiding the trainees through the program. To ensure consistent learning and material availability, online activities will be provided for after-course and homework. Therefore, the chosen program delivery method is a combination of instructor-led training and e-learning. Face-to-face instructor-guided learning is crucial for the program on soft skills training for hotel personnel since the trainees are expected to interact directly with the customers in their daily job (Sriarunrasmee, Techataweewan, and Mebusaya, 2015).
When practicing in real-world modeled situations designed for group work, the acquired skills will be easier applied in the professional setting. However, a blended method of training where instructor-led learning is intertwined with e-learning provides better development outcomes, since e-learning fosters memory refreshment and repetitive practice outside the course setting (Sriarunrasmee, Techataweewan, and Mebusaya, 2015). Thus, the application of such a delivery approach is relevant and consistent with the goals and training needs of the chosen department.
As has been identified earlier, the program is aligned with social learning and motivational theories. The application of social learning theory in skills training must follow such stages as observation, retention, reproduction, and motivation (LaMarco, 2019). Thus, each session will be structured to include the instructor’s explanation and demonstration of the material, trainees’ practice, and activities that tie the learned skills to the professional setting. Four-hour week’s sessions will be followed by home e-learning based activities, such as online tests and simulators.
Gamification and visualization of the material will be vastly applied throughout all five stages of program implementation. According to Levant, Coulmont, and Sandu (2016, p. 371), through “games and simulations, learners are engaged in direct experience; they have to act and experience the consequences of their actions and decisions”. Therefore, such experiential learning enabled by e-learning opportunities will vastly enhance the learning potential of the participants and amplify the level of the improvement of their skills.
When delivering the training of communication skills, the instructor might apply face-to-face instructions and basic information delivery, which will be followed by role-playing. The participants will be given different roles and will play out various professional situations of communication between a hotel personnel representative and a guest (Dell’Aquilla et al., 2016). Role-playing as an exercise adheres to the motivational theory since the instructor becomes a facilitator of the process and exemplifies the correct behavior. Also, it is informed by social learning theory because the participants who spectate the role-playing learn from the experience of others.
At the stage of training emotional intelligence, the trainees will observe the exemplar behavior in several emotionally colored situations from a real-world professional setting. The discussion session will be guided by the instructor to ensure the application of social learning theory through the exchange of thoughts and experiences inside the group. Games aimed at practicing the acquired skills will be introduced, facilitated, and discussed by those observing.
To provide effective training of time management skills, the employees will be provided with basic theoretical information and watch video materials. As the main practical task within this week, the learners will be asked to create their schedules with the priorities set to time-efficient task completion without damage to the quality of service. Self-reflection and presentations to the group will be required to critically assess the effectiveness of the participants’ time management skills. The instructor-led discussion will be initiated to provide feedback and correct the mistakes of the learners.
To train problem-solving skills, practical exercises will be based on the employees’ experience with problematic customers, as well as other situations introduced by the trainer. Face-to-face instructions will be combined with a visual demonstration of the material, such as acting out scenes showing a problematic situation and an introduced way of its resolution using an accurate application of problem-solving skills (McArdle, 2015). In such a manner, the learners will have an opportunity to connect the learning material with their immediate experience, which will enhance skills acquisition.
Finally, at the stage of teamwork training delivery, acute attention of the training specialist should be paid to the psychological characteristics of the group and the individuals in it. The relevant application of gamification and role-playing will enable building a favorable working atmosphere (Proctor, 2016). The personnel will learn some new techniques of coping with workplace conflict, learn about the importance of coordinated decisions in a stressful situation and ultimately improve the productivity of the department.
Evaluation
To evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented program, it is important to retrieve information showing what the trainees learned and how they use the newly acquired skills in their daily work. The method that will help thoroughly evaluate the program’s effectiveness is the Kirkpatricks four-level training evaluation model (Andriotis, 2019). This model was “designed to appraise workplace training” and is vastly recognized and appreciated in corporate and academic circles as an effective tool of program evaluation (Paull, Whitsed, and Girardi, 2016, p. 493). According to this approach, the effectiveness of any program implementation should be measured according to such four levels as a reaction, learning, behavior, and results (Paull, Whitsed, and Girardi, 2016). The outcomes might then be included as a part of the correction of consecutive program versions.
To test the level of reaction, the learners will provide feedback concerning their expectations and the obtained knowledge during the program. This information, although subjective, will inform the trainer about the immediate outcomes of the learning process. As for the learning level of effectiveness measurement, before the program beginning, the participants will be asked to fill out questionnaire forms informing the trainer about the current self-reported level of soft skills in the front-of-the-house personnel of the hotel.
Tests during the program, immediately after the program, and during a follow-up period (in a month and in three months after the program is finished) will control and assess the quality and quantity of the acquired knowledge.
The behavior level of Kirkpatrick’s model suggests the evaluation of the changes in the professional behavior of the personnel upon the acquisition of soft skills during the program. It is expected that the skills the participants acquired are applied daily and help them cope with difficulties in their job, as well as improve their productivity.
The tests will be designed to check how the skills are learned and used in everyday professional activities. Also, questionnaires will be introduced in a month and then in three months after the program completion interrogating the participants about their feedback concerning the effectiveness of the interventions. Such an approach to the evaluation of the training program’s effectiveness will show the degree of its use on both a short-term and long-term basis. At this point, it might be useful to attribute customer’s feedback about the quality of service. Such information will provide an objective evaluation of the professional behavior of the front-of-the-house personnel and justify the advantages or drawbacks of the program.
The last stage of training and development program evaluation is the one measuring the result. Soft skills application is difficult to measure objectively, especially in such a setting as the hospitality industry. As Paull, Whitsed and Girardi, (2016) state, the fourth level of evaluation is the most complicated and important one because it demonstrates if the organization benefits from the implementation of the employee training program. The results might be measured by comparing the performance indicators before and after the program. Such factors as customer satisfaction, occupancy, and revenue per available room might demonstrate the changes in personnel’s performance upon the completion of the soft skills training course. Such an evaluation is possible to conduct by retrieving monthly reports and comparing the performance outcomes.
Conclusion
To summarise the brief, the Hilton Hotel in London is a leading organization in the hospitality industry that is recognized as the #2 world’s best workplace. However, under the circumstances of the current global hospitality skills deficit, the organization encounters challenges in retaining talented and skilled employees. It was identified that the skills gap the hotel industry faces is related to the lack of well-developed soft skills, such as communication, problem-solving, time-management, teamwork, and emotional intelligence. These skills are crucial for front-of-the-house personnel of hotels because they ensure a high quality of service delivery and efficient interaction with guests that enhances customer satisfaction. Since Hilton prioritizes its consumers’ travel experience, this organization needs to implement a soft skills training and development program.
The introduced course is a five-week session based on social learning and motivational theories that provide multiple opportunities for program design and delivery, such as face-to-face instructor-led learning, e-learning, gamification, simulation, role-playing, and video presentations. To evaluate the effectiveness of the program, pre-training and post-training questionnaires concerning the self-reporting level of soft skills development will be compared. Also, follow-up tests and guests’ feedback will be inquired to assess the quality of skills development in the personnel.
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