ENCOURAGING LEARNING IN THE HOTEL

Guidelines
• Because knowledge, skills and competencies are a company’s greatest assets, it is recommended that Department Heads take action to develop a learning environment in order to create an ever-deepening pool of skills, knowledge, competencies and positive behaviours, which can move the hotel forwards, and enable it to achieve its vision and goals, and compete better.
• By creating the technical framework to encourage learning and also the will amongst Department Heads and Team Leaders to encourage employees to increase their knowledge and skills, the hotel will be more successful than otherwise in preventing talented people from stagnating or leaving the company, increase the level of creativity and employee motivation, and develop the hotel’s high-involvement culture.
Recommendations
1. Knowledge Architecture
• This is the framework for generating and recording an ever-growing body of knowledge and skills, and also for matching knowledge and skills to the hotel’s requirements. The key aspects of this framework is the way the hotel records the training and development of each member of staff, and the hotel’s Training and Development Plan.
2. Knowledge Management Process
• This is the process for recording knowledge and skills, which have been learned by employees and knowledge, which is available in the hotel’s library resources, as well as how this learning is disseminated to other employees. The key elements are organised learning programmes; library resources; debriefing and training sessions conducted by employees for other employees; and reinforcement by the recognition and reward systems.

Recruitment
• We will aim to recruit employees, who are suited to a learning environment. One very desirable competency, which we will look for in all applicants, is intellectual curiosity.
• Questioning will look for evidence in the candidate of often having made an effort to develop him-/herself, and/or of a desire or willingness to learn and improve.
• Evidence of a desire to learn and improve will be sought in candidates for Senior Management and Team Leader positions.
• The Senior Management member, who is conducting the interview, should state clearly that the hotel expects its staff to make an effort to develop themselves.

Staff Orientation
• At the General Staff Orientation new employees will learn about the hotel’s vision statement with its reference to learning. At the Departmental Staff Orientation they will be told about their team’s learning goals.
• They will be told how the hotel has been set up as a learning organisation, why it is important to the hotel, and also how they can benefit from it and contribute to it.
• They will be told how the hotel will record their learning.
• They will also be informed about the Management and Staff Career Development System, and shown an example of a career development plan.
Personal Career Development Plan
• The aim of the plan is to develop in each employee the skills, competencies, knowledge and behaviour, which will help the hotel to achieve its goals, and the individual to achieve his/her potential.
• The plan is aligned with the dimensions and skills needed by the person in his/her present job and in the next stage(s) of his/her chosen career path. As much as possible, the plan will be aligned with the competencies needed by the hotel to achieve its goals.

Training Courses
• In order to develop the employees’ knowledge and skills, and also to help the hotel to achieve the hotel’s goals, each employee will be assigned to attend job skills training and English classes according to his/her needs, as well as other courses, which are arranged each month.
• Senior Management and Team Leaders will follow a long-term management skills training programme, which aims to develop their skills, knowledge and competencies, and also to help them to achieve the hotel and departmental goals.
• The monthly outlet-training plan is also intended to meet the career plan needs of each individual.
• Some employees will attend external seminars. When they return, they will be helped to make a presentation, so that they can disseminate what they have learned. This will also be done in the case of some internal training courses.

Projects
• Inter-departmental teams will be set up to conduct projects, aimed not only at
helping the hotel or department to develop a new capability or solve a problem, but also to help the members of the teams to develop new performance skills, such as problem-analysis, teamwork and proactivity.
• The Department Head will choose high-calibre people to carry out projects. The teams may be inter-departmental in order to cross-fertilise knowledge and skills, or departmental.

Library / Resource Centre
• This will provide the learning resources so that Middle Management and staff can do self-study or assigned learning. The self-study could be assigned by a Department Head or one’s direct supervisor.
• Any assigned self-study work would be in working time, and might be part of obtaining a job-related diploma, such as an AH&MA diploma.
• Self-study English materials will be made available, in addition to management skills development books, tapes and videos.

Review of the Personal Career Development Plan
• To show that Senior Management is serious about helping each individual to achieve the goals of his/her career development plan, Department Heads and Team Leaders will conduct progress reviews of their employees about every 2 months.
• Performance Appraisals will include a discussion of the individual’s progress in his/her personal career development plan.

Recognition System
• The performance management system will aim to reinforce learning activities, so that they are seen as an essential part of working at the Palmerston Suites Tianjin.
• Notice boards will report the learning successes of employees.
• Part of the performance evaluation form will reward learning efforts and progress, especially when they are voluntary in nature.
• The GM and Department Heads will recognise staff, who have carried out a training presentation of what they have learned on a recent training course.

Recording Learning
• The Training computer software in each outlet will keep a record of what knowledge, skills and competencies have been learned by each person.
• The purpose is to reinforce learning activities, not only so that they are seen as an essential part of working at the Princess D’Annam, but also to create a bank of learning, which can be drawn on.
• By computerising the learning records, we have a bank of learning, which can be drawn on when needed. By drawing on staff to disseminate knowledge, we will be developing them further.

Department Teams
• By developing teams throughout the hotel, employees can be helped to develop new team competencies and skills, which few of the employees might develop otherwise, such as consultation, meeting skills, and problem-solving skills.
• All employees, who work in a team, will attend courses, which will develop team skills and behaviours.
• A team culture will make it possible for competencies, knowledge and skills to be cross-fertilised from team to team