Train your employees to be multi skilled

A poorly skilled employee can become an asset with some simple training.

Here is one of the most important hospitality training tips there is: Train your staff to be multi-skilled.

What does multi-skilled mean? It means your employees can do a bit of everything. A staff member who is an all-rounder can be relied upon to think for themselves. Being supported by genuinely competent staff takes some of the strain off you and puts your business in a position of strength when the pressure is on. A staff member who feels they have skills will naturally look for ways to use them. This keeps them interested in their job which is the best way to avoid one of the biggest drains on businesses in the hospitality industry: employee turnover.

What? You want me to train everyone to be multi-skilled?

You will know that not every staff member is a candidate for this kind of investment. There may always be a certain percentage of your employees who can’t or won’t make the commitment. But those employees who are interested in becoming multi skilled are definitely an advantage to you and will most likely become some of your most valued employees.

You may not be able to teach these people how to be chefs but they can be taught just about everything else from Floor (wait person) Bar (barista) Cold larder or Salad hand and the best one of all; Kitchen hand (the job that keeps the whole place ticking over).

I have no hesitation in saying that some restaurants do not spend enough time or money on training their staff. This is a real pity as it is one of the main keys to unlocking the secrets of having a less stressful business life and can also release you from doing work in your business that you should not have to do. This in turn allows you to spend more time building your business up or to get some time away from it.

A Multi-skilled staff gives you control of you business.

Having a core team of multi skilled staff means you are less likely to be held to ransom by employees who know they are the only ones who can do their job. This gives you or your managers flexibility and more control of the team.

When staff members take holidays or sick days it can mean extra work for you or your managers but with a multi-skilled team you will be more able to accommodate these events with minimum disruption to the business.

These hospitality training tips are all about finding ways to make your life easier. It may seem like a big effort to train up your staff but think of this … the jobs that need absolute expertise in a café or restaurant represent maybe 25% of the work. And in fact there are many times when even your most experienced and skilled workers are doing jobs that anybody could be trained up to do in a matter of weeks. New trainees who are given skills that support the business on various levels will very quickly reward you with increased efficiency and less pressure on you.

So if you are not satisfied with how your employees are performing, then it is time for a change. Start to put more time and effort into training and I guarantee you will be happy with the results. If you don’t know where to start, Hospitality Coaching can quickly help you devise a program for staff training that will be easy to implement and give you results.

If you would like more information and hospitality training tips please send me an email. I would love to hear from you.