Luxury hotels set themselves apart by delivering unparalleled services and personalized experiences to the guests. They go beyond to meet the expectations of the guests to create lasting impressions and forge emotional connections with them. I’ve seen hotels with breathtaking views, but the service misses the mark! What’s the reason behind it? Low employee morale? Lack of motivation in employees? Or lack of proper training? 

We know the hospitality industry has fierce competition and suffers from challenges like labour shortages due to overtime work, burnout, and lack of growth and opportunities. However, proper training might solve these! Luxury hotels are built on promises of providing exceptional service, but most of them can’t make up for poorly trained staff. Some hotels see training as a part of cost trimming. But the truth is ~ that failing to provide proper training might be detrimental in the long run. 

With Foodism Connect let’s explore the 5-star hotel hiring process, we will know how these luxury hotels find and train the staff - 

Finding the best staff from the industry: 

• Positive attitude
• Strong communication
• Exceptional customer service
• Relevant experience 
• Proper certification 
• Attention to detail
• Enthusiasm & optimism 
• Teamwork 
• Ability to handle stressful situations
• Personality
• Sustainability and eco-tourism 

These are the parameters based on which 5-star luxury hotels find their staff, the underlying fact is taking care of the staff - retaining the staff. This can be done through proper training. 

Let’s know how these luxury hotels train the best staff - 

1. Marriott International 

With the hire orientation program, Marriott ensures to update the new employees about its culture, brand, and any specific hotel/region. 

• The hotel has International Hourly Training where the hourly employees are provided with 15 minutes of training to address knowledge areas and essential skills like ~ rooms, culinary, operations, and purchasing. 
• Gateways are for hourly non-management employees and are designed to train them in discipline-specific skills like finance, HR, PR, sales, etc. 
• InMotion! This is where the supervisors utilize their hands-on experience to learn about different departments and develop broader hotel expertise; this helps them to prepare for management responsibilities. 

1. The Oberoi

Management programs at The Oberoi are the best among others in Asia; they set a benchmark for excellence in hospitality and management education. 

• OCLD: The Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development invests time, monetary resources, and effort in candidates who are selected for the management programmes. This investment includes expenses for training faculty, travel to hotels, accommodation, duty meals, medical insurance, and uniforms. On successful completion of the training, candidates will receive a Post-Graduate Diploma from the OCLD. 
• RISE: This a transformative employment and skill development program; with an unwavering commitment for 90 years, The Oberoi has nurtured talent, focusing on technical and soft skills and continued education. RISE is for ‘Refine and Invest in Skill Enhancement Programme’ which aims to provide education, training, and guaranteed hospitality careers to young bloods from diverse backgrounds. 
• STEP Program: The ‘Systematic Training and Education Programme’ offers students the opportunity to acquire advanced skills and specialize in knowledge of different departments of the hotel. The Hotel Operations Programme offers training in 3 departments: Housekeeping, Food & Beverage and Front Office. The Kitchen Operations Programme provides training in the Western and Indian kitchens - and gives orientation on special sections like bakery, pastry and cold kitchen. 

1. The Leela Palace

LLDP - Leela Leadership Development Programme is a 15-month programme and is built around a world-class curriculum, it is in partnership with ISH (Indian School of Hospitality). The program aims to provide the candidates with real-world experience at The Leela Palace properties. Graduates with 1 year of work experience in a luxury hotel are eligible to apply for - General Management Trainee, Housekeeping Management Trainee, Sales Management Trainee, Kitchen Management Trainee, Revenue Management Trainee and Human Resources Management Trainee. 

1. Taj Hotels 

Taj Hotels has comprehensive training programs for hospitality candidates. 

• Taj Management Training Program (TMTP): It is an 18-24 months program where the candidates are provided with theoretical and practical training trainees with required skills for management positions. 
• TMTP-Food Production Program: This 18-month training program focuses on culinary skills and kitchen management with an emphasis on international cuisines. 
• Housekeeping Executive Development Program (HEDP): This is a 1-year program that provides on-the-job training and classroom instructions like interiors, fabrics, styling, and mentorship from executive housekeepers. 
• Golden Threshold Programme: It is a 3-year Bachelor of Vocational Degree in Hotel Management that combines on-the-job training with academic excellence. It is a collaboration between Tata Institute of Social Sciences - School of Vocational Education (TISS-SVE) and The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL).

1. Hyatt Hotels

Hyatt Hotels provides an array of the best training programs to hospitality professionals - 

• Hands On @Hyatt Program: This is a training program that provides an inclusive workplace for people with disabilities
• Rooms Corporate Management Training Program: It is a program that trains individuals in the room division and other departments like events, finance, food and beverage, sales, and human resources. 
• Corporate Leadership Training: It is designed to focus on leadership potential, providing them with development opportunities beneficial for the company. 

1. ITC Hotels 

Training programs are at their best in ITC Hotels - 

• Welcomlegionnaire: This is a 4-year program that develops future managers for ITC. 
• ITC KITES (Knowledge, Initiative & Talent Excellence Series): This program enables one to gain experience from the real world and apply the insights for business development
• VET by EHL (Vocational Education and Training by EHL): ITC Hotels have a partnership with CII and EHL, offering an 18-month Swiss Professional Diploma in Hospitality. 

All these programs are designed in such a way that these luxury hotels can train their staff in the best possible ways. This makes these properties different from the crowd. If you want to hire a hospitality professional, then update your profile on Foodism Connect today and get connected with your desired candidate.