Managing Staff Development at Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company - Assignment Example

Managing Staff Development at Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company Name Institution Managing Staff Development at Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company Assessing Development Needs of Ritz-Carlton Company The aim of training needs assessment is to identify performance requirements or needs within an organization in order to help direct resources to the areas where their usage will be optimized (AbdulAziz & Ahmad 2011). The assessment would enable the management to identify areas of flaws as well as ways of improving workers to better fulfill company goals and objectives and enhance quality of services. Establishing a training and development program must always be preceded by a needs assessment process to ensure that the training matches staff requirements. It is the foundation for determining the instructional objectives that need to be fulfilled, how the program will be designed and implemented and how to undertake an evaluation of the training provided. Training and development interventions form a continuous cycle which always begins with a needs assessment. There are a number of strategies that can advise the management on the specific development needs of staff members. One area to focus on is staffing inventory. This involves looking at the combination of skills that the work force possesses (Bonache & Zárraga-Oberty 2008). Out of this analysis it is possible to identify skills and competencies that are required within the company and take necessary measures by training the employees. Sometimes those skills could be present but only with few employees. The management takes initiative of training more workers through a system of nurturing or on the job training. In some circumstances the existing workers with sought for skills could be trained to become teachers to their colleagues in a train the trainer program. The management also seeks to establish need s for succession planning. An evaluation is done to determine if the workers who are leaving the organization are carrying with them the skills and expertise that is not passed over to those who take over from them (Al Ariss & Özbilgin 2010). The same case should apply when employees get promoted. They should occupy positions for which they have the necessary capability to handle their new roles. Those who take up their positions should also be appropriately trained to ensure that service delivery retains its standards despite movements. Assessing development needs would also look into inventory skills, both that are currently available as well as short and long term needs. Take observations for employee behavior and note areas that they need to improve on. This can also be done by doing attitude surveys. Customer complaints provide wealth of information on the performance standards of workforce in a service company. When turnover rates are high, this is a suggestion that some thing is wrong within the organization. In such a case it would be important to document reasons given by employees who quit their jobs. Development needs can also be ascertained through individual analysis. Every worker is analyzed in terms of how well he/she is doing the job and then determine which employees need training and what kind (The & Sun 2012). A number of sources can provide information on the performance of an individual. One means is undertaking performance evaluation to identify weaknesses and areas of improvement. Another area of interest is performance problems where the productivity of an employee is assessed against aspects such as absenteeism, customer complaints, service quality and equipment utilization. Performance Analysis Flow Diagram enables management to identify performance discrepancies at both individual and small group level. Learning strategies for Specific Needs (a) Induction of new staff Induction process should provide the new staff members with relevant information about the company, way of doing things at Ritz-Carlton Hotel, incorporate them into their section or department and enable them settle down quickly. This process should start with central induction sessions organized by the learning department of the human resource department. This should start by issuing the new employees with checklists enlisting the procedure and areas that they will cover over the induction process. Initial sessions should equip them with overview picture of the company – history, mission, vision, goals and objectives, past achievements among others (Fry 2010). It is good at this point to make formal introduction with departmental heads and other relevant officers as well as colleagues they will be working closely with. Then inductees are enlightened about human resource policy, where they are introduced to the values and ethics of work within the company. After these sessions, the learners can now be introduced to their new functions – initially verbally, then practically. Staff members who function in those areas should be capable of that. The management should monitor this process to ensure that the new workers do not suffer fear or intimidation. Finally the new members should go through a mentoring process (Fry 2010). They should learn the practice of working in teams. They should be taught how to be competitive in the work place while at the same time not maximizing the overall objectives of the company. At this point they are advised against complacency. as well as unhealthy intra-competition that would lead to goal displacement or sub-optimization. (b) Customer Service Customer service representatives should be taught how to create a good impression. They should learn how to create a good rapport with the customer, maintain just the necessary conversation and answer questions using friendly language (Spector & McCarthy 2012). Ritz-Carlton should organize a class for staff members to refresh them of best ways to handle different customers. Staff members should be able to hide emotions from the customer even when they may have done or said something offensive. They should always strive to build trust and thereby encourage repeat business. Language training classes would enable staff members to be fluent with language. Workers should be commonly reminded of the importance of using the phrases that have become the norm of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. One word answers should be avoided. Customer service officers should be trained how to adopt friendly and professional perspective throughout conversations. Customer service officers should be trained how to handle dissatisfied customers. They should understand the fact that customers will always be different in terms of personality and expectations. Some customers will be appreciative while others may seem troublesome. However, it is the duty of the service officer to adjust so as to do the best for both sets of customers (Spector & McCarthy 2012). At all times employee should try to meet the needs of each customer and work towards positive outcome. (c) Interpersonal Skill When organizations are training their workers it is crucial to develop personal strengths such as social skills, esteem and self confidence. Employees may be allowed a few days out in a resort or a pack to enhance social skills and team building. The mentorship sessions could be held in an out of work setting to eliminate the formality of the program and enhance sharing of information (Dessler 2011). It would be crucial to hire the services of renowned personalities who have excelled in the field of management to nurture the employees. Where possible it would be necessary to pay for short training programs in learning institutions to enhance the totality of the person and specialization. It would also be crucial to ensure that employees have the certification for their professions from registered professional bodies. Just like, external customers, internal customers exhibit varying personality traits. It should be incumbent upon each worker to understand others. Every worker should treat others with respect and relate professionally. (d) Development of Team Skills Developing the entire human resource framework enables information to flow across systems in organization and this creates better understanding among people of different ranks. Organizations are run through teams of people with different types of training and expertise. This is what forms the human resource function. Employees must be viewed and treated as the most important resources of any organization and managers must create a corporate culture that respects that fact. People management is tricky enough since they are susceptible to emotions and perceptions. A company that seeks to succeed must have tactics of making them work in teams. Employees should be trained how to work competitively while at the same time striving to attain the overall goals of the company. They should be advised against effects of unhealthy intra-competition that would lead to goal displacement or sub-optimization. It should be made clear the true meaning of goal congruence (Williamson 2008). At all times each person should work for the other. Services of coworkers should be complementary rather than compete with one another. (e) Development of Leadership Skills The first step when developing leadership skills entails determining the needs of the various management positions within the organization (Karp & Helgo 2008). The specific roles that are performed by holders of those positions as assessed and the qualifications of the personnel needed to handle them ascertained. This step precedes the planning since an organization needs to know what to train first before getting into the details of how to go about it. The details of various positions of an organization are unique to its operations and it would be prudent to use the experience of their current holders to highlight the major technicalities and challenges that go with them. Once the requirements have been ascertained, the development of the program design is effected. This design is based on the specific interventions that are required to prepare workers to a certain way of behaviour and thinking. It involves devising skills that can help adopt behaviors that match job requirements (Karp & Helgo 2008). The next step involves undertaking the actual training and development interventions. This involves developing competencies that are crucial for specific positions. Employees are fed with the skills that maximize efficiency and productivity (Karp & Helgo 2008). Initiatives such as train the trainer programs are applied, where a junior worker is directly allowed to execute the duties of supervisor. For example, an employee may be given a chance to chair a committee meeting in where the incumbent position holder assumes the position of an ordinary member (Oswald & Crompton 2009). Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Learning Strategies The effectiveness of learning strategies can be traced to the performance of employees at individual level and the company as a whole. Individual workers can be evaluated by use of appraisal forms. The form should be designed such that it includes all the components of the employee like the major achievements, leadership abilities, self motivation among others as well as number of visitors served by an employee. A close track of performance versus set standards would also be vital in evaluating individual performance. In cases of deviation from standards for a team there documents that can assist to track down the team purpose and the plans. One of those is the corporate strategy framework (Oswald & Crompton 2009). This helps to ascertain what the organization should be doing at any one time and who should do what. It also clarifies the goals and objectives that the team should focus on. The other important source of such information is the job description for a particular team, and probably the specifics of each position. This would help to clarify roles and determine sources of flaws. The reports of management audit should also be vital in giving information on what is not working right. An evaluation is made for the whole program and organization research. The research and evaluation is aimed at justifying the current human resource development program and related package. Areas of flaws are identified and means of handling them devised (Yeo & Li 2011). In essence, a justification is required as to whether the program is on track of achieving what it is intended to achieve. A cost benefit analysis is done to establish whether it would be rational for the organization to continue supporting it. The program becomes a factory that produces the inputs that are desperately needed by the operations of organization. When organizations implement Human Resources learning and Development programs and are willing to effectively support them in terms of resources, then they are regarded as being professional. It is worth noting that implementing a learning program is a system rather than an activity (Howe-Walsh & Schyns 2010,). It starts with proper hiring of the right skilled personnel who have the capability to be developed and are willing to learn. For the program to be effective members of work force must be aggressive and willing to take up new challenges and confront change with the necessary vigor. They must have the courage and confidence to try new things and take risks in process of self driven innovation new things. Most importantly they must be ready and willing not only to accept responsibility but also to seek it or even initiate it. References AbdulAziz, S & Ahmad, S 2011, ‘Stimulating Training Motivation Using the Right Training Characteristic,’ Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 43, no. 1, pp.53-61. Al Ariss A. & Özbilgin, M 2010, ‘Understanding self-initiated expatriates: career experiences of Lebanese self-initiated expatriates,’ Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 52 no. 4, pp. 275-85. 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