New management training programme launched to improve hospitality's customer service standards
The WorldHost Principles of Supervising Customer Service Performance programme has been developed in line with national Customer Service Week (1-7 October), which highlights the importance of a visitor welcome and aims to continue the successes of the London 2012 Olympics.
“The widespread enthusiasm and success of the Olympic volunteers shows the impact a co-ordinated and well-trained group of people can have on the reputation of an event, a business and even a whole country,” said Sharon Glancy, managing director of The People 1st Training Company.
“Though front-line staff are at the coalface of customer relations, managers and supervisors are vital to providing and reinforcing a framework for a service that runs smoothly. If they understand the value of excellent customer service, and how to coach their team members to deliver it, not only will they maintain and improve service standards in their business – they’ll attract new customers too.”
WorldHost Recognised Business
The programme will teach managers and supervisors why their role is essential to delivering a great customer experience and give them techniques to motivate and coach team members. It will also explore actions to take when customer service goes wrong and how to monitor and measure a team’s customer service performance.
The training was awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark as recognition of the programme’s objective in supporting the skills legacy of the Olympics.
Any business that trains over 50 per cent of its front-line staff using WorldHost programmes can also apply to become a WorldHost Recognised Business – a badge of customer service excellence that can be used to promote its commitment to delivering a great experience.
Last week, BigHospitality took a tour of Hotel GBand spoke to one of the TV show’s stars, Mary Portas, who said that she wants the hotel to be a beacon for good customer service in the UK, which she says has still got plenty of room for improvement.
Work experience
Meanwhile, with the premise of Hotel GB aiming to get young, unemployed people into work in the hospitality industry, People 1st’s career website UKSP is calling for job-seekers to enter a work experience competition which gives young job seekers the opportunity to win placements in top industry organisations.
Those interested in getting some experience at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Raymond Blanc’s two Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel in Oxfordshire and part of Orient-Express, can enter UKSP’s latest ‘money can’t buy’ work experience competition at www.uksp.co.uk.
UKSP offers a range of other tools and helpful advice for anyone interested in entering the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industry.
This follows research from People 1st which found that over 100,000 new hospitality roles needing to be filled in the next five years and a quarter of the industry’s managers are now under the age of 30.
