For many hotel brands, hiring the right people is only one part of the equation. For Langham Hotels International, an emphasis on games and real-life applications in training is what keeps staff motivated.
'People are assets in the hotel industry. When people come to work for us, we don't offer them a job, but a career. That is the principle guiding our staff development, and that's why we offer people opportunities to grow, as well as equip them with the ability to grow,' says Debbie Leung, director of learning and staff development at Langham Hotels International.
Langham Hotels has a three-pronged approach to training programmes for staff based on their experiences, capacities and roles at the group. New joiners of the company, regardless of their roles and ranks, are required to take a foundation programme which allows them to learn how to work in a team environment and serve the guests. According to Leung, individual hotel brands also tailor training to meet their specific needs on top of this corporate-wide mandatory programme.
The group manages three hotel brands - including Langham Place, Langham Hotel and Eaton Hotel, and a corporate office - that employ 1,700 staff in Hong Kong, with a cluster of 10 other brands worldwide. In mid-April a new hotel brand known as Eaton Lux will open in Shanghai.
For staff taking supervisory jobs, such as team leaders, captains and head waiters, the focus of the training is on preparing them to step into a management role. 'Staff at this level are experienced in their own fields and good at what they do, and the kind of training they need is to prepare them to step into a management role which requires not only technical skills, but also people skills which they need to manage their team members and juniors.'
Each year in June or July, 80 to 100 staff are selected from the three hotels in Hong Kong to join the supervisory development programme, which involves three days of training in the classroom and two days at an outdoor camp where participants are physically and mentally challenged to put their problem-solving skills to the test.
