Learning & Development – Time Management

 Pre course assessment – Time Management Quiz

Quiz:

Take the quiz (Time Management Quiz)  and find out how good your time management really is. This test takes no longer than 5 minutes to complete. Ironically, not finding the time the take on the test and complete the course proves the point: you need it!

Scores:

0-9: Well done.

People who score between 0 and 9 finish work on Friday, go home and enjoy their weekend, because they know there is nothing they have overlooked or left outstanding.

10-25: Not too bad.

People who score in this range know there is room for improvement. The finish work on Friday and go home to enjoy their weekend but all of a sudden, sometime during Saturday remember there’s still a couple of outstanding jobs that need to be done.

26-50: Congratulations!

Congratulations on taking this course today! This kind of person finishes work on Friday and goes home, but they don’t enjoy themselves at all. They spend their whole weekend worrying about the 27 projects still sitting on their desk because they know that there will be other things coming in next week that will bury those projects already sitting there.

Theory 1 – Stephen R.Covey – Time Management Matrix

Often presented as a time management tool, the matrix presented by Stephen R.Covey in his brilliant book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is essentially a priority sorter that will indeed allow you to have a much more efficient use of your time.

Make a comprehensive list of your daily tasks, on post-its, and sort them on the below matrix, according to their importance and urgency.

Covey rightfully argues that our time is constantly hijacked and wasted with either disrupted last minutes requests, putting us in a fire fighting mode, or with less significant tasks that frankly we could avoid doing altogether. Sorting out our priorities and focus our time in important yet non-urgent tasks is the key to efficiency. To achieve this, one must learn to say no (quadrant IV), delegate tasks appropriately (Quadrant III), anticipate and plan (Quadrant II) and finally create systems and train people so to reduce the time spent fire fighting (Quadrant 1).

Theory 2 – Rory Vaden – Multiple your time

In his fantastic Ted Talk, Self Development Strategist Rory Vaden proposes that we should procrastinate on purpose. Although counter intuitive, this system is incredibly effective as it does genuinely multiple time.

The Time Management Matrix (Stephen R.Covey) suggests we avoid wasting our time in non-important/non-urgent tasks. The Focus Funnel below is the tool that allows us eliminate, automate and delegate tasks purposely.

Using the previously created post-its listing your daily tasks, pass them through the funnel to see what you will allow yourself to eliminate, what you could work toward automating and what can be delegated. This process is truly multiplying time.

In conclusion: You MULTIPLY your time by giving yourself the EMOTIONAL PERMISSION to spend time on things TODAY that will give you more time TOMORROW – R. Vaden

Practical example

When I took the quiz for the first time, I scored poorly. Having applied to myself what I later taught my team and shared with you in this short course, I have improved my time management to the point that I did no longer miss deadlines.

The below are just a few of my post-its:

I was stuck on fire fighting mode because I did not plan properly. After stopping to do Quadrant IV tasks, I invested the time saved to train my people so they could take on Quadrant III tasks. This newly time saved was invested in Quadrant II tasks, which in time reduced greatly the occurrence and severity of disruptions of Quadrant I.

The Focus Funnel is the tool I have use to decide what I would allow myself to do and what I would consciously decide not to do, at least straight away.

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Learning & Development – Team Work

Introduction:

Shapes profiling, also known as Psycho-Geometrics, is a profiling tool based on similar theories to Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Insights. The key thing to note is that it should not be viewed as a way of saying “this is who you are” or “this is how you always act” – it should instead be used as a way of identifying and understanding the behaviours you demonstrate, or your preference for understanding information and making decisions. Evidence shows that if you are left to your own devices, or during times of high pressure and stress, you are likely to revert to your shape, and your preferred style and behaviour.

What shape are you? TEST SHEET

First things first: take the test (Shapes – TEST SHEET).

Study the rows of words. Choose one word from each row that applies to you most often. Place a tick next to this word. Do not skip any rows.

What shape are you? – ANSWER SHEET

Now transfer your answers from the previous two pages to this page (Shapes – ANSWER SHEET). Note that the word are in a different order here, so transfer your answers carefully.

Shapes profile axis

A brief overview:

• Triangle – Forceful character, persistent, leader, competitive, persuasive
• Circle – Service orientated, personal relationships, friendly, empathetic, accommodating
• Square – Use of facts, detail orientated, logical, consistent, specific plans, gives examples
• Squiggle – Sociable, confident, enthusiastic, inspired, excitable, full of ideas

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Learning & Development – Motivation

Theory 1 – Hierarchy of Needs – Maslow

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in Psychological Review.

The idea is that while people aim to meet basic needs, they seek to meet successively higher needs in the form of a hierarchy.

The first four levels (lower-order needs) are considered physiological needs, while the top level is considered growth needs. The lower level needs need to be satisfied before higher-order needs can influence behaviour.

– Physiological needs: One needs to sleep, eat and drink in order to be able to work. So no break, no food, no water, no sleep = no happiness

– Security needs: One needs to feel safe at work, so they feel happy. Safe with contract, environment, conditions, etc…

– Belonging needs: One needs to have a good working relationship with peers to feel happy to come to work. Everybody at work ate you = you are not happy

– Self Esteem: One needs to feel appreciated and trusted in order to feel good about themselves. Praised + recognition = self esteem = happy

– Self actualisation: When your work and career are making a sense to you. It’s not just the money that pays the bill. It is the passion that drive your life. The job that satisfy you because it gives you what you emotionally and psychologically need/want

Self actualisation is key to happiness, according to Maslow, as it the only stage at which people are motivating themselves, set their own goals, and do not need anyone to make them happy anymore

Theory 2 – Golden Circles – Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek is a British/American author, motivational speaker and marketing consultant. He is the author of four books including the 2009 best seller Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (2009). Simon Sinek argues that, to reach the Self-Actualization level, one needs to know:

1. What he is doing?
2. How to do it?
3. Why he is doing it?

For example: Apple products are not the best, they are more expense and not always better designed than competition but hundreds would sleep over night in front of their stores and queue for hours to pay more when new iPhones comes out… and never for any other computer/phone company! Why? Because their approach to marketing is reversed to everyone else. They start telling WHY you should believe in them, as a company. “We disrupt the status quo, we think differently (WHY). Here is how: by designing beautiful computer. Here is what we do: make iPhones. make Macs….”

In essence, team members are expected to do what they are told, without challenging anyone… which is actually a mistake. Staff should challenge management decision, processes/procedures by asking us WHY things need to be done a particular way. They are the one doing it. They need to understand why. They need to agree with why, otherwise they will only going to do it NOT BE PUNISHED… and then start finding ways of not getting caught when taking shortcuts… or find excuses. And there always is an excuse and there always is a shortcut. They only way to ensure people will not take shortcuts, is to make sure they know WHY they should not.

Activities

Briefing – pick a topic that you would communicate with your team during a briefing and work out how you could start with why rather than just telling them what to do (For example: corridors in LG must be cleared at all times or allergens matrix must be filled accurate and available at all times or shirts must be clean and ironed at all times…)

Training – pick a topic that you would communicate with your team during a training and work out how you could start with why rather than just teaching people what to do

(For example: this is how we open a bottle of champagne OR this is how we make Hollandaise Sauce OR this is how we greet customers…)

Feedback – pick a topic that you would give feedback on and work out how you could start with why rather than just telling people off.

(For example: they have not recorded temperatures this morning OR they have not smiled during the service OR they have not place the order properly on the system…)

Conversation – pick a topic that you would like to talk about and work out how you could start with why rather than just expressing your opinions.

(For example: you don’t believe we should sell fur in the store OR you believe you go further with recycling at Selfridges OR you don’t think we should play rock music during lunch service…)

Coaching – pick a topic to coach a team member with and work out how you could start with why rather than just giving them advises.

(For example: a team member needs to improve his communication skills and learn how to interact with colleagues in a more positive way)

Meeting – pick a topic that you would discuss during a meeting and work out how you could start with why rather than just expressing your opinions.

(For example: you don’t believe our Press and Marketing campaigns are efficient at selling our restaurants OR you believe we should run event externally OR you don’t think our processes in terms of wastage recording are up to scratch…)

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Learning & Development – Resolutions

The Theory – based on Caroline L. Arnold’s book Small Move Big Change

Why New Year’s resolutions fail?

• They aim at ‘being that’ rather ‘doing’ anything about it.
• They costs us too much conscious effort = we depend on will power to achieve them
• They go against our autopilot (who likes routine, hates change)
• We are impatient about results

 What is the Key to success, MicroResolution?

• Designed to reform a precise autopilot activity, and requires little willpower to succeed (transformation is a process, not an event)
• Should be easy to keep 

 How to make a MicroResolution?

• Deconstruct the big idea and break it down into discrete behavioural change that will move the big idea into the right direction (less is more)
• ‘Doing it’ is ‘becoming it’! MicroResolution is an action: NOT something you commit to be, but you commit to do
• MicroResolutions should be small, easy to achieve, bespoke, clear with what and when, and pay off immediately
• Specifying a cue is part of making your MicroResolution explicit. Searching for a contextual cue, use an existing habit to trigger the new behaviour. 
• Only two MicroResolution at the time, until each becomes completely automatic (creating new habits take 6 to 8 weeks). Stick to one for 4 weeks before revisiting size of commitment

 MicroResolution and Preferences

• First we identify the need for a change
• Then we take a MicroResolution to start tackling it, linking the new habit to an existing cue
• Then, do it until it becomes a habit
• Finally, it becomes a Preference (after a while) and part of our Identity
• Then nostalgia for old routines will fade away

 The theory in a nutshell:

• Focus on ‘I will do _____’ over ‘I will be _____’.
• Keep it small and achievable, not big and tough to keep to.
• Willpower depletes, use autopilot to make any new habit.
• Stick to no more than two micro-resolutions at a time.

 The Practice

TRADITIONAL OBJECTIVES:

1. Sell more, make more money
2. Improve customer survey’s scores
3. Decrease level of sickness
4. Improve staff retention and staff morale
5. Manage time better
6. Improve work/life balance

MICRO-RESOLUTIONS:

• Train team to never ask ‘if guests want to see the dessert list’ + always bring menu and make a recommendation
• Train team to systematically suggest another drink when clearing empty glasses from table
• Let people try food/drinks

POTENTIAL REVIEW:

• At the end of the month, compare individual sales and reward best sellers
• Observe and feedback on spot to fix behaviour and/or praise
• Seat down and feedback team members for their performance every month

EXAMPLES OF TRADITIONAL OBJECTIVES:

1. Sell more, make more money
2. Improve Mystery Dinner scores
3. Decrease level of sickness
4. Improve staff retention and staff morale
5. Manage time better
6. Improve work/life balance
7. …

MICRO-RESOLUTIONS:

> 

> 

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Learning & Development – Giving Feedback

Introduction

We have all already come across the terms ‘feedback’ and ‘coaching’ in books, blogs, magazine articles, forums… as these are hot topics in the land of management training. And there is a good reason for that: giving feedback and coaching appropriately and effectively are two of the most important skills a manager can have!

Given feedback and being coached, your team members become aware of what they are doing and the effect, both positive and negative, it is having on others or on a process/procedure. In turn they then have a better understanding of how they are performing and become more self aware of their strength and weaknesses. Ultimately, feedback and coaching help people to start to find solutions and improved ways of working for themselves rather than relying on the manager to find it for them.

This course (in combination with Part 2 – Coaching) will help you achieve this, but it will take practice to see results. Are you ready?

Difference between Feedback and Coaching

In a nutshell: Feedback is when I TELL YOU information that will help you develop, whereas Coaching is when I ASK YOU AND YOU TELL ME about it.

Although giving feedback appropriately is effective, it is often the first step in terms of your relationship with a team member. Coaching is a powerful tool that, if carried out correctly can engage and create ownership in the person being coached in order for improvement to take place.

Giving Feedback, the method:

1. Give your staff the factual EXAMPLE of what you want them to improve (just describe what they did in a neutral way)
2. Demonstrate what EFFECT or impact it had on others, customers, colleagues, business

• Agree what they will CHANGE so it does not happen again (asking them and letting them say it is key)

EXAMPLE:

1. “I noticed earlier that you were clearing glasses from a table with no tray (Example).
2. First of all it is potentially dangerous, for yourself and others, as you may cut your fingers if someone bumps into you. Then it does not look great and professional from a customer point of view (Effect).

• What can you do to ensure the level of safety as well as customer service is maintained at all time? (Change)”

TIPS:

Remember that you will get your staff more engaged and willing to change their behaviour if THEY say it, rather than YOU. They will take their responsibility if you adopt a participative approach and ask questions rather than tell them what to do.

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Learning & Development – Coaching

Reminder

We have all already come across the terms ‘feedback’ and ‘coaching’ in books, blogs, magazine articles, forums… as these are hot topics in the land of management training. And there is a good reason for that: giving feedback and coaching appropriately and effectively are two of the most important skills a manager can have!

Given feedback and being coached, your team members become aware of what they are doing and the effect, both positive and negative, it is having on others or on a process/procedure. In turn they then have a better understanding of how they are performing and become more self aware of their strength and weaknesses. Ultimately, feedback and coaching help people to start to find solutions and improved ways of working for themselves rather than relying on the manager to find it for them.

As we saw in Part 1 – Feedback is when I TELL YOU information that will help you develop, whereas Coaching is when I ASK YOU AND YOU TELL ME about it.

Although giving feedback appropriately is effective, it is often the first step in terms of your relationship with a team member. Coaching is a powerful tool that, if carried out correctly can engage and create ownership in the person being coached in order for improvement to take place.

Asking the right questions

WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHEN, WHERE, HOW are the right questions, they require more than just a yes/no answer and will open up a dialogue with the person being coached.

It does take some practice to use these questions – this might sound stupid but managers sometimes fall into the trap of assuming that they understand why someone has acted in a particular way? Or maybe they haven’t even thought about asking why they did something – rather they just tell them to do it in a different way (or not to do it!) in future!

Examples of questions one might ask to start a coaching session:

• Tell me how you thought that went?
• What makes you think/say that?
• How do you think the customer felt (when)…?
• What might have happened if you had said…?
• What’s your point of view on that?
• What are some of the reasons why it might not have worked as well as you’d hoped?
• What were you hoping would happen?
• Would you do anything differently now we have discussed it?
• What would have to happen to help you achieve that?
• What help would you like from me to develop in this area?

Creating the right opportunity: Instant Vs Formal

Instant is when you see something happen for example ‘Jenny I just saw you…’

Formal might at a subsequent meeting (not a disciplinary) but when you want to have a more in-depth conversation

Pro and Cons

Instant:

• It can be done “instantly” so that the opportunity does not go unnoticed or is not forgotten.
• It does not have to be in an office, but does need to be carried out with care and not in earshot of others
• It can “nip things in the bud” or on the positive side provide encouragement

Formal:

• It provides more time for the person giving the feedback/coaching to think about what to say and how to say it
• If carried out in a meeting room/office it can lend some weight to the importance of the situation
• If all feedback/coaching is formal it loses its importance and becomes an everyday occurrence

Activity

Refer to the activity sheet  (L&D – COACHING – ACTIVITY)

This activity will allow you to consider whether you should coach or just give feedback? Should that be instant or formal? What will you say in each scenario?

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Learning & Development – Leadership

Management Vs Leadership

There are so many sources of information that would help defining that Leadership is that we decided to define it by opposition to management:

Management is essential to organise the workplace, but it focuses on tasks, while the people who are completing the tasks need leadership in order for the business to perform – and themselves to feel happy.

This list is non-exhaustive:

Problem Solving: Step by step, leadership in action

In a nutshell, a Leader is a guide whose main task is to provide a safe environment for teams to develop and find solutions to rising challenges. It is therefore essential that the leader know what characteristics, strength and weaknesses his teams have.

Below is a proposed problem-solving tool, based on personality types (refer to the ‘Team’ course to find out what ‘shapes’ you are):

Step 1 – ‘Triangle’ hat: clarify the end result we are looking for

Step 2 – ‘Square’ hat: list all the facts

Step 3 – ‘Squiggle’ hat: brainstorm as many ideas as possible

Step 4 – ‘Circle’ hat: review all ideas, listen to everyone and share positive feedback

Step 5 – ‘Square’ hat again to critically assess the feedback and consider what makes the most sense

Step 6 – ‘Triangle to make a decision and identify actions

As a reminder:

• ‘Triangles’ tend to be direct – do not waffle with them
• ‘Squares’ tend to be well prepared and through – do not be flippant on important issues
• ‘Circles’ tend to be patient and supportive – do not push them to make quick decisions
• ‘Squiggles’ tend to be friendly and sociable – do not tie them down with routine

If you have a large team, including people of all ‘shapes’, the above is pretty straightforward. If the team is smaller, or some ‘shapes’ are missing, team members will need to wear the relevant hats in order to make that work.

Leadership according to… Simon Sinek

In this brilliant interview, Inspirational Speaker Simon Sinek provides us with interesting insight to what true leadership is, at least according to him.

SIMON SINEK – WHAT GREAT LEADERS ACTUALLY DO

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Learning & Development – Difficult Situations

A bit of math: the real cost of customers complaints

According to research*, it is estimated that approximately 4% of unhappy customers, having a bad experience in a restaurant or shop, actually complaint formally about it, while the remaining 96% simply say nothing and just stop doing business with them. Furthermore, 13% of unhappy customers will share their complaint with up to 15 people, whereas 72% will tell up to 6 people when getting great service.

Let’s do the math:

Take the number of (written) complaints you received over the last 12 months (including Social Media platform, calls and face to face feedback). Let’s say that was 25 complaints. And let’s say that on average you compensated these customers with £20.

25 complaints = 4% of the total of unhappy customers you served during that period

100% is therefore 625. This is the estimated total amount of unhappy customers you served over the last 12 months (25 of which you know of, and 600 you do not)

The 25 customers you dealt with are now happy and could tell up to 6 people each how great you were dealing with them. 150 people would then be hearing something positive about your business.

The 600 customers you did not deal with could tell up to 15 people each about their poor experience, influencing negatively a whooping 9000 potential customers.

Dealing with 25 complaints would have cost £500 (average compensation £20)

The potential loss in revenue of 9000 customers is your ASPH** x 9000

If your ASPH is currently £15, the potential loss of revenue is at least £135k, not counting returning customers…

Replace the numbers in bold above to find out the situation for your business.

The point we’re trying to make here is that we often look at the cost that compensating customers represents, overlooking how much the business is truly losing not dealing with all unhappy customers. Identifying unhappy customers and having a strategy to successfully deal with their complaint is paramount should you want your business to flourish.

Interestingly, customers who have complained to you are more likely to become loyal to your business (since they now know they can trust you when things aren’t as they should) and end up spending more too. Although team members (especially new and inexperienced ones) are sometimes reluctant to immediately confess that one of their guest is not having a great experience and fail to report it timely, it is crucial they do. The opportunity for a manager to deal with a complaint on the spot is considerably increasing their chances to turn the situation around.

 *Research by Esteban Kolsky

**Average Spend Per Head.

Technique to deal with difficult situations

What are difficult situations? Here are some examples, so that we are on the same page:

• One of your team member has bumped into a customer while carrying a tray and split the drinks on her brand new designer coat
• One of your customers who booked a table has been waiting 20 minutes to get it because their table was mistakenly given to a regular. The unhappy guests claims this is because they are foreigners and accuse the host to be racist
• One of your customer asked to speak with a manager once the bill was given to them, now complaining their whole experience was horrendous, food uneatable and service catastrophic. They now refuse to pay the bill.

Counter-intuitively, apologising is not the first thing one should do when dealing with a difficult situation. It is nevertheless an important part of what needs to be done. But more importantly, customers who had a bad experience want to tell you about it. So just listen!

Recipe of successfully deal with a difficult situation:

Step 1 – Listen = this is 90% of the success. Active listening required

Step 2 – Empathise = if you’re not truly sorry, they’ll be able to tell

Step 3 – Apologise = the more of the above you’ve done, the easier this is

Step 4 – React = solve the issue right there and then                 

Step 5 – Notify = keep record of incidents, for training purposes/follow ups

Your body language is everything in these situations:

 BODY POSITION

• When speaking to customers get down to their level (crouch down or sit on a stool beside them)
• If standing up, avoid standing right in front of them. Standing on their side is much better as it sends the messages ‘I am on your side’ to the customer

ARMS

• Do not stand with your arms folded or your hands in a fist, this can be seen as aggressive, open palms are best if using your hands to emphasise a point

PERSONAL SPACE

• Do not crowd the customer but be close enough to listen

SMILE AND NOD

• Give a genuine smile – The customer can tell if you are being false
• Nod your head to show you are listening

EYE CONTACT

• Always make eye contact but never stare the customer down. If you do not make eye contact the customer will think you are not listening

TONE OF VOICE

• Remember, it is not what you say, but how you say it that counts. If your tone of voice does not match your words the customer will know you are not being sincere

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Learning & Development – Presenting

Tone of voice: why you should get it right

As far back as 1967, Albert Mehrabian came up with the concept determining that successful communication is made up of three parts: the words you use, your tone of voice and your body language.

As customers are unable to see your body language when speaking to you on the phone, your tone of voice is the major contributor when communicating successfully on the phone. If you remove body language from the equation, then words make up 16% of the ‘message’ you are giving to customers on the phone, and your tone of voice makes up a whopping 84%! It is equally as important when attending or presenting in a skype meeting, as most your body is not visible, and movement far less perceptible.

Your tone of voice has the biggest influence on whether customers think you are on their side or not – a crucial pre requisite to good customer service. Your tone of voice is also an expression of a company’s values and way of thinking, so it’s not to be considered lightly. Just as the tone of a colleague’s voice when speaking can hurt your feelings, the wrong tone of voice can also upset customers.

It tells people who you are, what to expect from you and your business

Your tone of voice gives you the opportunity to advertise your best self and to be an ambassador for your brand. If customers hear a consistently warm and friendly tone over the phone, it helps to build a positive image of the brand.

So what exactly do we mean by tone of voice?

Tone of voice is the way words or a statement are presented, and it can affect how people respond to those words. Tone is affected by the timbre, (high or low pitched), rhythm, speed of speaking and loudness. Tone of voice conveys a number of things, including mood and emotions. It can also convey social information, such as sarcasm, superiority or submissiveness.

Generally, softer tones are associated with friendliness and are seen as non-aggressive and helpful. Lower tones have become associated with authority and truth, for both men and women. Interestingly, men and women often use higher pitches in first meetings. Subconsciously they are aware this helps establish rapport, as it signals a more upbeat and happy personality!

It is what makes you different

Communicating with interest and enthusiasm can completely impact on how people think about you and your business. If your voice and tone are dull and boring, customers easily slip into thinking your brand might be dull and boring too. Tone of voice can demonstrate your warmth, expertise, sense of humour, or any other attribute that you want to display to customers and which set us apart from other similar businesses.

Customers imagine what the person speaking might be like by listening to their voice. If they like the voice and how it sounds, they tend to believe the person is confident, knowledgeable and credible.

Judith Filek, president of Impact Communications in America, has developed simple tactics to help improve top executives’ tone of voice, so they are able to sound more upbeat, controlled, warm and clear. Some of these tactics include breathing from the diaphragm, sitting up straight, drinking more water and using gestures and facial expressions to make the voice sound more energetic and engaging. Good tips for people who spend their working life on the phone!

It helps to build trust

When customers identify with a particular tone of voice, they’re also identifying a personality. They start to form an image of a person or company based on the tone of voice you present. Customers feel like they’re getting to know the brand or company, bringing with it a sense of trust and familiarity.

A warm tone of voice makes you seem more genuine and your customers feel at ease. That familiarity is comforting, as they then know what to expect from you and trust your advice.

It can be used to influence and persuade

Once you’ve gained the trust of customers, you can help to influence their decisions in a positive way, to help them make informed choices about how they can experience your brand in a way that will suit them best.

It is also incredibly helpful when dealing with someone who has a problem or a complaint. The tone you use helps build rapport, and breaks down barriers between you and the customer you are trying to help. Being efficient is important, but remember, efficiency without warmth looks a lot like arrogance!

Being aware of your tone of voice is great for your personal brand, (we all love someone with a gorgeous voice.) It also makes good business sense to remember who we are as a company and reflect that in the way we communicate to customers.

External resource – Body language

Amy Cuddy, Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard, and internationally acclaimed for her amazing Ted Talk on Power Poses, is giving tips for successful public speaking in the following video:

AMY CUDDY – TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC SPEAKING

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Learning & Development – On Boarding

Why is on boarding so crucially important?

First things first, here is a check-list of essentials you must have clear answers for prior to on boarding people:

• What are your business’ values?
• What’s your business motto?
• Do you have an interview form with pre written questions assessing candidates based on your values?
• Do you run an induction? Alternatively, do you provide on boarding documents to your newly hired people, introducing your business, its values, house rules and other training?
• Are you clear with the probation period length, purpose and structure?
• How do you support newly hired people to learn and perform during the probation period? How do you assess their progress and needs?
• How thorough and fair is the end of probation meeting? You run this meeting, don’t you?
• What’s the process of selection, application and assessment for candidates to promotion within your organisation?

(Please contact us directly should you need support with any of the above)

Ok. This sounds like a lot of work… and your business might be too small for you to have an HR and/or L&D person managing the above for you. But it is essentially what makes the difference between great businesses (where people really want to work for) and basic businesses (where people who aren’t hired in great business end up). The greatness of your business, from a people point of view, as nothing to do with its size and success. People will want to join your business if you put them first, consider them as the most valuable assets in your organisation.

Basically, deal with your people the way you’re dealing with your customers.

Hiring the right people Vs Hiring right your people

• Hiring people for their CV or their potential?

In hospitality, like in many other industries, our CVs are a collection of achievements. But a majority of the time, we were hired to do one job, and over the course of our employment, have been given opportunities to learn, develop, take on new challenges and achieve more than what we were hired to do in the first place.

The reason we were given these opportunities is that we had the potential to take them on and be successful. The good news is that it is quite easy to assess whether a candidate has this potential or not: it is all up to them and how motivated they are to do it!

So rather than expecting a candidate to know everything about the job you’re hiring for, assess whether they have the will, the curiosity and the humility it takes to learn. If you only need to hire one person to do one very specific job and nothing else, you might consider whether a consultant or freelance not be more appropriate and relevant.

• Nailing interviews: attitude Vs skills

Interviewing well and being the perfect candidate are totally different things. Talking the talk is one thing… walking the walk is another.

There are 4 types of candidate:

1. Nails the interview but loses interest once on the job
2. Nails the interview and perform on the job
3. Fails the interview but perform once on the job
4. Fails the interview and performs poorly on the job

Please note that none of the 4 candidates describe above are good or bad people. We can fail at an interview despite being an awesome candidate for the job and we can perform poorly at a job for any sort of reasons, outside the remit of our control.

Candidate 1 and 4 are obviously the ones you do not wish to hire. The question is then, how do you assess someone’s potential to perform on the job, regardless to their ease during the interview.

> Whenever possible, arrange for a trial shift to take place and observe their attitude towards customers and team members

> Ask for an experienced team member (at the level of the role you’re hiring for) to buddy with them, and trust your team member’s judgement when he/she gives you their feedback. Who knows best what a great candidate for a role is than someone you trust and already doing that exact job!

> Focus as many questions as possible during the interview on HOW they got on with the people they previously worked with, rather than on WHAT they were doing there.

On boarding process, from start to finish

1. HIRING

• Hiring based on your values

This obviously implies that your business has a set of values that you’d hire people against, assess your people against for appraisals, performance reviews and when considering them for promotions

• Attitude Vs skills

Great attitudes are taught over the course of a lifetime, 99% of which is taught at home during our childhood, at school and during our first job experience. From eye contact, good manners, ability to listen, all the way to humility, assertiveness and self-confidence, the right attitude is unlikely to be something you will be able to teach to an employee, and certainly not something you’ll be able to change or correct if not appropriate.

Any skill can be taught to anyone, as long as they have the will to learn. (A bold statement indeed, based on an extensive experience of hiring, training and developing people)

2. ON BOARDING: the necessary tools

• Induction and on boarding documentation

Once hired, the most crucial part of anyone’s experience joining a company is by far their first day. The same way that first impressions are made in seconds and near impossible to overturn, successful first days set people for success and poor ones set businesses for failure.

For some reason, no one seem to remember their first day, how stressful they are. Good news, there is a recipe to make that day a success: make a plan for it

> Make sure someone in your organisation will be with your new starter during their first day. Pair them up with people you trust – a buddy

> Let the buddy know exactly what the plan for the day is: where they need to visit, who they need to meet, what tools must be provided and so on

> Let the new starter know BEFORE they start how the first day will go and what the program for them is. They will be far more relaxed on their day, and everyone’s experience of it will then be great

> Have training documentation, handouts and/or access to necessary information available for the new starter

> Talk to them at the end of their first day to make sure it is all on track

• Probation framework and on the job training

Past the first day, make sure you have a plan for the entire probation period, at the end of which your new starter must be performing at the level you and them have agreed. If 12 weeks, make sure you’re regularly assessing heir progress and provide all the support needed for them to perform at their best.

• Assessing progress

The buddy you have chosen has the responsibility to train the new starter. Your entire team must provide the new starter support. a manager need to sit down on a regular basis (every other week) to discuss progress at a technical level. Any behavioural issues should be discussed on the spot.

Referring to the interview questions to assess progress is fair. Is the new starter delivering on all that has been agreed?

• Buddy systems

It is essential that new starters, regardless to the industry and size of the business, have someone to go to when they have questions. Counter-intuitively, this is not the role of a manager. The role of the manager is to organise everyone’s workload so that buddies have time and resources to support new starters.

Buddies (or trainers) are experienced team members you trust. Which means that new starters will have a role model shadowing them right from the start, ensuring the right attitude is promoting. In time, your new starters will have more experienced and one day become buddies (even though no one tells them that, they know and hopefully want that to happen).

3. PROMOTIONS & LEAVERS

• Succession planning

Whether the structure of your business is flat or vertical, whether your business is small or not, many of your employees will work towards being promoted. It is crucial you have a plan for that ladder to be a motivational tool within your business (but this do not make the ones who are not interested in progressing their career any less important).

Often employees believe we will promote them, and then train them on how to do this new job they are given. A recipe for success consists in fact of training people who have the will and potential to learn on the tasks and skills required so that they are ready for when they are promoted.

• Advertising roles

Regardless to how sure you are you’ll give the job to Paul, you still have to advertise the role, at least internally. The idea is not to pretend you’ll let anyone to apply, but actually give everyone a fair chance to.

• Interview process

The main differences when interviewing internal candidates for promotions are:

> You already know the candidates, their attitude and potential 

> They already know you and what the job they are applying for is about

The paradox is: both yourself and the candidate, for the interview to be meaningful, must discard these two points. The job for which this employee you know is applying for is new. Neither you nor the candidate really know how they would perform in this new role.

Very often, people are applying for roles within their organisations because they are both bored and strong performers. A healthy question to ask is: is there a way to make their current role less boring for them? Rather than giving them a new challenge as a solution for it.

• The end of the road?

Rarely considered is how important your ex-employees are. People who left your business went on to work with so many other people and obviously promote (detract) your business. Whether they were good employees or not, all your former employees can be strong advocate, promoting your business and contributing to its reputation.

At the end of the day, a business is only great when its people are great.

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