Background
Hilton are one of the best known and well-respected brands in the hospitality industry. In early 2006 Hilton, with headquarters in Watford near London, and the US based Hilton US group merged to form the Hilton Hotels Corporation.
In the hotel business there is an ongoing challenge to recruit, retain and train staff while delivering a service of consistent standard in a number of dispersed locations – the CIPD’s 2007 Recruitment, Retention and Turnover survey shows the hospitality industry experiences highest labour turnover rate standing at 33%, compared to an average of 18% across all organisations. Hilton also faces retention challenges although turnover at management levels is lower than the national average.
This case study concerns the design and implementation of the Back2Basics training programme. This was developed by the UK Learning and Development team and rolled out to the 75 properties and 13000 team-members in the UK and Ireland. There is considerable interest in the programme throughout Hilton Hotels in the US and the rest of the world.
In essence Back2Basics takes the elements of the key Hilton brand values (consistency, personalised service, inspiration and hassle free), which, along with the brand standards, translates into elements of behaviour for each key role and department in the hotel. This list of key skills and behaviours have been developed throughout the ten steps of the ‘customer journey' from arrival to departure. Thus identified the skills are and brand standards in each function trained at local level and the effectiveness of skills improvements assessed.
What is particularly interesting is the arrangements that have been made to deliver this training in the hotels and also to assess the arrangements to report on the impact and value of learning.
The delivery mechanism
Garcia Williamson is the Director of Talent for Hilton in the UK and is responsible for the Back2Basics programme. Her starting point was a conviction that training must be fully integrated with business objectives. If this is achieved and it is delivered efficiently it will contribute to profitability.
One of the first challenges in achieving an enhanced contribution to the business was to redefine the roles of the participants in the delivery of the key processes to support learning.
What has remained unchanged is the emphasis on delivery at local level “at the right place, at the right time in short-modules”. The crucial element has been the identification, training, reinforcement and support of the departmental trainers. These are team members who also work in the operational departments; they have a full-time job in the hotel and may or may not be supervisors. The aim is to have a ratio of one departmental trainer for 10 members of staff and nearly 1000 departmental trainers are already in position. The largest hotel, the Hilton Metropolitan on Edgware Road, London has almost 90 departmental trainers.
Previously the model for local delivery was based on a list of key competencies for each role – known as the Technical Behavioural Skills (TBS). A new entrant needed to have their TBS record completed during an induction-period, which could last up to three months. Thereafter the joiner could have access to the e-learning modules at Hilton University [LINK TO SEPARATE CASE] and then would participate in events organised by local training managers based in the Hotel. This approach had been in place for some time (the TBS is six years old) and evidence from the important Guest Service Tracking Survey (GSTS) suggested that some improvements in service were needed. In particular it was felt that the TBS had become a compliance (tick-the-box) exercise rather than a training or development activity; that Hilton University had not been sufficiently well-linked with the business; and that the soft-skills post TBS training delivered in the hotels were not always most appropriate to the team members’ needs at the time or to customers expectations.
Back2Basics was designed in autumn 2006 and rolled-out in the first half of 2007 where the major customer-facing departments were included (food and beverage, conference and banqueting, front office and housekeeping). The other operational areas will come on stream in the second half of 2007.
The new programme was described in internal Hilton communications as follows
“Back2Basics is part of a national focus on service standards aimed at improving our Guest Service Tracking Survey (GSTS) over the next few months. This will involve a complete review of Technical Behavioural Skills (TBS), aligning departmental training with our Brand Standards and providing a range of training and support materials to help us Be Hospitable”
Key elements of the programme delivery involve:
- all new entrants receive a “Passport to Hilton” on arrival. This records all training received and must be stamped every six months following a review and assessment of competency
- after an initial 3 stage off-the-job induction, called ‘Spirit of Hilton’, the team member is required to complete a number of e-learning modules available through Hilton University. These compulsory modules are designed in-house and raise awareness and understanding of the brand service standards. A generic model and a test are undertaken by all staff. The other modules are specific to the particular job role – for example ‘guest arrival’ for front office, ‘breakfast’ for food and beverage and ‘room set up’ for housekeeping
- the department trainers have been issued with a set of loose-leaf folders for their particular function. These consist of a set of short pop-up A4 PowerPoint modules each covering a specific topic such as “Taking an Order”. These presentations are called Bite Size modules and are designed to be delivered in 10-15 minute sessions in the department.
- the folder also contains trainer briefs which are scripts to be used by the departmental trainers when running skills training sessions. These contain activities, tests and guidance on how to deliver the sessions.
- following the delivery of each training session, the training passport is updated for the team member.
The structure of training
Hilton clearly recognise that the quality of their 1000 departmental trainers is critical – trainers need the skills to deliver the programme effectively if it is going to be successful and meet business objectives. One of the most important aspects in the programme is a train the trainer course for all those individuals; it is intended that all will attend by mid-summer 2007. In addition awareness training has been put in place for the HR managers, HR coordinators and the majority of the heads of department.
There is no shortage of employees volunteering to become departmental trainers as the role is seen as a development opportunity for the individual concerned. They are also eligible for rewards: if they deliver against targets (see the section below for monitoring arrangements). A bonus pool is allocated to a hotel or group of hotels and a good departmental trainer could receive an additional £250 in a very successful quarter.
A consequential major reorganisation of central and local training responsibilities was also implemented in the first half of 2007. The main emphasis of the training manager on the hotel has moved away from local delivery. Their job title has become ‘operational skills training managers’ (OSTMs). In future they will be responsible for train the trainer, for ensuring that ‘Passport to Hilton’ and associated programmes are in place and supporting the departmental trainers. Higher level skills training will be delivered centrally by Garcia Williamson’s team on a co-ordinated basis.
Monitoring and reporting
It can be seen that under the new system the focus has moved to the delivery of the basic essential skills training close to the workplace by those who have regular and ongoing contact with the learner. The philosophy has been to move away from training for training’s sake and to shift the emphasis to operational requirements all firmly focussed on the customer.
Consistent with this philosophy the monitoring is designed to reflect business priorities. The two important reports are:
It can be seen that the first report is about activity (is Back2Basics being implemented effectively?); the second report is about impact on the business. Garcia Williamson and her central team find that these are the measures that allow them and operational management to determine the effectiveness of the initiative. These are business measures, not training measures. In Garcia Williamson’s words:
“What matters is the effect on performance and hence profitability. It is this that should be our focus and this is part of the overall business change initiative.”