In the ever-evolving landscape of the hospitality industry, one thing remains constant: the importance of effective hotel staff training. As the first point of contact for guests and the embodiment of a hotel's hospitality, well-trained staff are indispensable to a hotel's success. We're now in a fascinating era, with Generation Z entering the workforce. These digital natives bring a fresh perspective, challenging traditional training approaches. Moreover, technology is advancing at a breathtaking pace, reshaping the way we educate our teams. To attract, engage, and retain this dynamic new workforce while ensuring peak performance, it's imperative to stay ahead of the curve in terms of training methods. In this blog post, we'll explore six key trends that are set to reshape the future of hotel staff training.
Traditionally, employees have perceived training as a boring chore, something they HAVE TO do. Imagine turning the mundane task of training into a thrilling adventure. That's the essence of gamification in hotel staff training. Gamification is all about incorporating game-like elements, such as points, rewards, and challenges, into training modules.
Gamified training has several advantages. Gamification makes learning more engaging, fun, and, most importantly, motivating. It taps into our innate desire for achievement and recognition, making training feel like a game where staff can win. This transforms training from something employees “have to do” to something they “want to do.” Moreover, it fosters healthy competition, encourages critical thinking, and provides instant feedback, which is crucial for effective learning.
Gamification not only makes learning fun, but also improves knowledge retention with interactive exercises.
A company that is successfully incorporating gamification in training is spoon.tech, where employees can play games such as multiple-choice quizzes, identify the missing elements, and put the process in the right order. These exercises reinforce the learning and help employees remember the knowledge in the long run.
In today's fast-paced world, attention spans are shrinking, and schedules are busier than ever. This is where microlearning comes into play. Microlearning involves delivering content in bite-sized, easily digestible portions. It's ideal for busy hotel staff who cannot dedicate hours to traditional training sessions.
One notable benefit of microlearning is that it's highly adaptable. Staff can access training modules via their smartphones or tablets during their breaks or downtime, ensuring minimal disruption to their workday. spoon.tech, for instance, adopts this approach by breaking down complex subjects into short, focused lessons called “scoops”, which can be revisited as needed. Each scoop can be learned within minutes, and they include short 1–2-minute tutorials that resemble TikTok videos.
Mobile devices have become an integral part of our lives, and employees in the hotel industry are no exception. and it's rapidly moving toward mobile-first learning solutions. These platforms allow staff to access training materials conveniently from their smartphones or tablets, making learning more accessible and flexible.
One of the primary advantages of mobile-first learning is its on-the-go accessibility. Staff can access training materials from anywhere, whether they're at the front desk, in the restaurant, or even at home. This accessibility is a game-changer in an industry where time is of the essence.
Leading hotel chains have recognized the potential of mobile-first learning and have started integrating it into their training programs. They provide apps and platforms that allow staff to complete modules on their own time, empowering them to learn at their own pace.
AI is all the craze now, with numerous use cases across domains. Hospitality training is not an exception. A trend to look for in the not-so-distant future will be innovative ways to apply AI in hotels. But how can it be applicable in training?
This is largely dependent on organizational needs, which areas a particular organization faces bottlenecks, or which areas an organization wants to automate. Many manual and repetitive tasks that take up significant time, effort and resources can be optimized using AI. One pain point is the process of creating training contents. Operators and managers must spend a lot of time behind this. Even in the case of larger hotels and chains which already have comprehensive training manuals, engagement becomes an issue. No one finishes reading these lengthy manuals, and they remain stored in shared drives, resulting in dormant knowledge.
spoon.tech addresses this pain-point by introducing an AI functionality that enables operators to turn text-based knowledge into interactive exercises such as quizzes and true-false questions, making the creation of engaging training contents much easy and intuitive.
Hospitality is an ever-evolving industry. With changing guest expectations, emerging technologies, and evolving best practices, there's a constant need for hotel staff to embrace continuous learning and upskilling.
One of the most prominent trends in the future of hotel staff training is the move towards a culture of continuous learning. This shift also reflects the need of the workforce of this generation. According to LinkedIn Learning’s Workplace Learning Report, the youngest workers (aged 18-34) consider “opportunities of career growth within the company” and “opportunities to learn and develop new skills” as their top priorities in a workplace. Continuous learning and upskilling involve encouraging and supporting staff in their pursuit of ongoing education and skill development. This can take various forms, such as cross-training in different departments, pursuing certifications, or attending workshops and conferences.
Well-established hotel chains are leading the way in this regard, investing in programs that support staff in gaining new skills and certifications. By fostering a culture of continuous learning, these hotels ensure that their employees stay ahead in their roles and are better equipped to adapt to industry changes.
In the digital age, data is king. This holds true for hotel staff training as well. However, 2023 LinkedIn Learning’s Workplace Learning Report uncovers a shocking statistic:
All the top 5 ways traditionally used to measure training success are “vanity metrics”: statistics that look great on the surface but don't necessarily translate to any meaningful business results.
This is about to change, as digital tools enable hotels to directly monitor the effectiveness of training programs with key performance indicators (KPIs) and advanced analytics.
Hotels can track various metrics, such as training completion rates, test scores, and post-training performance, to gain insights into the impact of their training efforts. This data allows them to make informed decisions about improving or tailoring their training programs for better results.
In the ever-evolving hospitality industry, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. The five trends we've explored - gamification, microlearning, mobile-first learning, artificial intelligence, and data-driven monitoring - are expected to transform the way hotels train their staff. Embracing these trends will not only ensure that employees are well-prepared to provide exceptional guest experiences but also position hotels for success in the future.
If you are a hotelier and want to embrace the above trends to take your service level to the next level with a well-trained staff, spoon.tech can help you. You can reach out to us by filling out this contact form. You can also call us at +43 670 655 56 82 or e-mail us at hello@spoon.tech.
Hi, I'm Audri, a Master's student in Digital Economy at Vienna University of Economics and Business, and an enthusiast of the food and hospitality sector. Digital transformation in the hospitality sector is an intersection of my practice and passion, and I love to write on that topic. Let's connect on LinkedIn to chat more!
Hi, I'm Audri, a Master's student in Digital Economy at Vienna University of Economics and Business, and an enthusiast of the food and hospitality sector. Digital transformation in the hospitality sector is an intersection of my practice and passion, and I love to write on that topic. Let's connect on LinkedIn to chat more!
