Guest Column

Training for perfection

Zubin Ghiara oversees the training and development function at Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, covering over 30 properties under five different brands. He speaks to Neeti Mehra about training and its constant evolution in the industry.

'Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond, cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education,' wrote Mark Twain in a moment of epicurean delight. This applies fundamentally to the hospitality industry too, where service styles depend on hours of training, observation and practice. Sharing his experience on the subject, Zubin Ghiara, director (Training) at Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, speaks on how critical training is, especially to establish brand standards as brands expand their footprint across the country.

Meeting training needs

At Sarovar Hotel & Resorts, a regional head is responsible for approximately 18 hotels, and for each region there is an appointee (the northern region has two). Under these five regional heads, every hotel which satisfies certain qualitative criteria (over 70 rooms or a turnover of Rs 10 crore or over 150 employees) has a unit training manager, whereas the other properties draw from the regional resources.

This practice, Ghiara explains, ensures that training needs of each employee is assessed and met. "Structures in place such as this point towards a shift from a non-scientific approach that prevailed in the industry, except in brands like the Taj and Oberoi. Today, a training need analysis is conducted to assess what is required," he says. This addresses training needs qualitatively (determining training needs according to skill assessment) and quantitatively (compulsory and need-based training of individuals rather than who's work schedule is relatively lighter and thus available to attend)

Assessing training requirements

Breaking down hospitality training as an ongoing tool for employee development and career building, the organisation focuses on training covering the following aspects:

• Soft skills and customer service - common training for most customer touch points
• Technical training, which differs for each department taking into cognizance their needs
• Managerial training - to hone supervisory and managerial skills and team building, and is conducted at corporate levels

While the first two are conducted at the unit level, the latter is conducted by Ghiara, regularly throughout the year. "While the methodology doesn't differ, for operational training given the different categories of hotels and their different operating procedures, there is a slight difference," he explains.

The ideal batch size, Ghiara points out should be between two to 30, depending on the department and the type of training required. Emphasising on the importance of induction training, the group does it over a period of two days covering:

• Welcome, introduction to departmental heads and knowledge of the hotel
• Basics of customer service and standardisation.

Instilling tenets of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) is done through executive programmes by the departmental heads. "While technical knowledge is tested with exams, these are non-threatening in nature, that is, an employee's fate or appraisals are not linked to performance. This is more of a knowledge building exercise, conducted by the departmental head," Ghiara avers.

Training as a development tool

At Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, 250 man hours of mandatory training per month per hotel is a requisite. Out of this, each individual receives approximately four to six man days of training each year. About 800-1,000 man hours are atypical. Also, Ghiara adds, training should be a part of the repertoire, covering issues such as:

• First aid and fire fighting
• Team building
• Equipment usage, knowledge of chemicals
• General training

Training to build loyalty

"Learning is a big motivator. Individual goal-based learning prevents stagnation. This can be assessed during the time of appraisal, and some through training, identifying individual needs and talents," Ghiara added. Personalised and individualistic training, coupled with counseling is critical in retaining employees, given that the hospitality industry today is losing its stars to the retail and other service industries. He points out that counseling, where employees are rewarded without promising false commitments, helps in channelising their potential to meet organisational and personal goals. By using these techniques for two to three years, employees can rest assured of upward moves in the organisational hierarchy.

The future of training

Ghiara feels that the way the industry is moving, training techniques need to evolve and include techniques like Six Sigma, or maybe ISO certifications. But this shouldn't be at the cost of the core function. "At the end of the day, each brand has to focus on getting the basics right," Ghiara says.

He feels that sooner or later, given the attrition rates, channels within the organisation need to be carved where existing employees are groomed to occupy vacancies. Perhaps, recruiting people from outside the field can prove to be an effective strategy he feels. More importantly, hotels need to create positions of management trainees, which is not a norm except in the biggest brands. With this, starting salaries will see an upward thrust, and people will look at longer stays in the company from the current two year average, he says. "It is not only to create a pool of managers, but also qualified personnel at the staff level," he adds. Ultimately, it is the right attitude and the correct training which will help an employee to accomplish his personal and professional goals, he adds in conclusion.