Training is EVERYTHING!! No matter what role you are taking on, you have to be trained!

Everyone learns different. If any of you are like me- I learn better with hands on training. I am not one to sit at a computer and watch videos (boooorrring). I want to be in the action!

When you’re learning a new system like Host it is helpful to take advantage of your product tools:

Online Springboard Training. I highly recommend this! I feel like anyone working in front desk or reservations should start with this. In our company when we’re training our team-we like to split it up. Do a lesson, take a break and go over what you learned with a little hands on action, then on to the next… and repeat.

We also really like using the SMS Demo. It’s great- because you can’t mess anything up : )

F1 in Host is another great tool that sometimes is under-utilized. As SMS always says… Fun with F1! Get staff really familiar with F1 and all of its capabilities.

Some other non-system training we like to do is:

The obvious- Job Shadowing. Assign a new hire to one of the senior agents and let them follow around like a little puppy. A great way of learning is just watching and listening.

Manuals: We have created and named ours “Front Desk Survival Guide”. Every person gets one and it is considered part of their uniform. We put all of our SOP’s, step-by-step transaction guides, and any other helpful system tips and tricks to ensure all information is available. This also empowers our team.

Create scenarios & role play. Dig deep down to when you were a kid and use your imagination.. Except this time you get to be an angry guest! “Listen, I never complain but this is unacceptable and I demand compensation” Or be the super needy guest that has 1,000 questions. This is one of my favorite ways to train. It really gets the team members thinking and how they would respond to situations. It also helps them learn the property & company policies.

Most importantly, Have fun with training! Send your employees on scavenger hunts, make up quizzes, and reward your team with goodies & prizes!

We can’t wait for HUG 2019 in Wisconsin and will have many training courses this year! Make sure to check them out and don’t forget to have FUN!