In challenging times, is training often the first thing to be cut? P@SSPORT talks to a few Singapore hoteliers on what they will be doing about staff training and customer service.

Bracing themselves for the more difficult days ahead, Singapore hotels are each taking different approaches to ensure they are well-positioned to ride out the coming months.

In light of the tight labour market, which on one hand may be easing, but on the other is still competitive given the new developments coming on stream, hoteliers are focusing on staff training and retention to ensure that service quality remains at high and consistent levels.

General Manager of Shangri-La Hotel, Mr Thierry Douin, said that training was "absolutely not" the first thing to be cut during difficult times, and that the hotel was committed to the well-being of three major stakeholders regardless of economic conditions: employees, guests and owners.

"Our employees are the most important assets. When employees are adequately trained and have acquired the relevant "heart ware", they are able to take ownership and pride in their work. Delighting our customers become second nature to them."

"Once our guests are delighted, our owners will benefit consequently. Investing in employee training, especially during weak market conditions, is the most profitable way of ensuring business success."

He revealed that Shangri-La's plan was to increase training expenditure or at least maintain the current level. "Reducing training resources is not an option."

"As we grapple with unstable economic situations and the impending arrival of the two Integrated Resorts, it is imperative that we intensify our training efforts to ensure that employees remain competitive and motivated."

Training gets more focused

At Royal Plaza on Scotts, General Manager Mr Patrick Fiat said that advertising was often the first thing to be cut when the going got tough. Then comes training, he said.

And while his hotel will reduce its training budget by 20%, he said its training programmes would be more focused to ensure the most effective results in the most critical areas. "We will be using the bulk of the training funds next year on the development and growth of our high performers and high potential staff," he said.

Mr Fiat said that in the hotel's 35-year history, it has never retrenched any staff. "Being an independent hotel, we have very strong family values and the owners are very supportive. It is important to reassure our staff during this period," he said.

Mr Bastian Germer, General Manager of Hotel 1929 and New Majestic, reasoned that while a lot of companies minimised the outsourcing of training during difficult times, there was no reason for in-house training to be reduced.

"We have invested quite substantially in training during 2007 and 2008. We will keep the budget and intensity at a similar level next year."

Traders Hotel, part of the Shangri-La group, will also not be cutting its training budget. Instead, General Manager Mr Juergen Doerr said it may be further enhanced due to the numerous training schemes provided by the government during such periods.

He added, "Our training budget is related to our fixed labour cost and there will be no cuts in this area. We will continue to send our staff to the Shangri-La Academy in China and encourage them to enrol for programmes such as E-Cornell, Workforce Skills Qualification, and other self-paced learning programmes under the Professional Development Program with the Nanyang Technological University and the Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management in Singapore. The ongoing programmes include Mobile Learning, department training and the organisation's generic programmes."  

"Training is essential and we will maintain or may even enhance the mandatory four hours of training per employee per month for our hotel. "

Strategy to improve service quality

All general managers interviewed for this article also identified three things that would improve service quality in their hotels.

Mr Douin said his strategy was to follow the three Es:

. EQUIP: Provide employees with relevant training modules
. ENSURE: Consistency in standards by constant audits on service quality through methods such as Mystery Shoppers and quality checks
. ENCOURAGE. "The importance of recognising and celebrating employee success can never be stressed often enough," he said.

Mr Fiat added that Royal Plaza would be reinforcing its seven brand values - seamless, empowered, refreshing, versatile, individualized, charming, extraordinary) - "which encompass the essence of service excellence".

"We implemented a five-day work week to provide a better work-life balance for our staff. As a result, staff are more motivated and relaxed, and our turnover rate has decreased from 28% in the previous year to about 22% currently."

Any form of cost-cutting would be done in areas that do not have a negative impact on guests' satisfaction, he said.

"To improve or maintain our service quality, we will be implementing the FISH programme, which is essentially a training programme that promotes a happy work environment, healthy attitude and encourages participation and involvement from all levels of staff."

For Mr Germer , his to-do list includes creating "service excellence" incentives, collecting guest feedback, improving product and service delivery, and ensuring that team members are equipped with the "tools, knowledge and empowerment to meet and exceed guests expectations".

Mr Doerr said Traders Hotel would continue to focus on training and staff development, in order to maintain the product and service quality of the hotel, and continue to reward staff with its Customer Delight programme, with no cuts in the reward system.

How to keep staff motivation high

Keeping staff motivated in a challenging business environment may be more difficult but all four general managers were adamant about ensuring that staff motivation remains high.

Mr Germer said the key was to "continue an honest relationship with all staff and eliminate as many uncertainties as possible".

He said the group would continue to promote staff based on individual performance and promote from within the company as much as possible. The management would also continue to engage with all levels of team members and do frequent "reality checks" in order to maintain a good understanding of employees' needs."

Mr Doerr added, "Our success is completely dependent on our staff. Many things can be substituted but not staff with the right attitude. We have no retrenchment plans and new recruitment may be reviewed based on the business volume.   This is where training or multi-skilling plays a vital role in ensuring our staff learn new tasks and be more efficient and productive. "

In addition to financial incentives, Mr Douin said the promise of job security and career advancement are the two most powerful tools for employee motivation.

The company, he stressed, was committed to nurturing talents from within the organisation.

"In order to ensure that employees are given maximum opportunities for personal and professional growth, practices such as internal transfers, promotions and cross-training exposures are frequently deployed.

"We have many long serving employees, some of whom have worked with us since 1971. In collaboration with the Workforce Development Agency, we have aligned our training programmes towards the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) framework so that these older workers can acquire new skills and increase their mobility across industries."