I recently had the opportunity to watch my friend Lynn have a horse riding lesson. She is very fortunate to train with one of Australia’s Olympic Horse Riding squad members.
The training style was quite unique and really inspiring because Emma, the trainer, actually hopped on Lynne’s horse first and spent 20 to 30 minutes warming it up, getting used to the horse’s nuances, and then running it through its paces. They were working on dressage, and training it so that when Lynn, who’s a less experienced horse rider got on, the horse already knew what it was doing. Based on muscle memory, it was already versed in what needed to happen.
Now you may wonder what does this have to do with tourism and training your staff?
Well here’s the thing, training, or ‘NOT-TRAINING’ as I call it, happens in a lot of different ways in tourism businesses.
Some businesses provide no training and people are left to sink or swim.
Some businesses offer an element of training – on the job – kind of watch and do it.
Some businesses only hire trained staff.
Other businesses encourage site inspections, familiarisations and staff get to experience the tour, product, or service.
What does your business do?
And more specifically when you’re training a staff member, how do you do it?
Do you yell at your staff from afar and tell them what to do?
Do you coach and mentor from the sidelines, or do you get into the action and show, explain, involve as you go?
Do you not even tell them what to do and expect and assume they’ll know?
I’m a fan of actually getting in there and showing them the way, leading by example, teaching them as you go, doing it and sharing why; doing it and teaching what’s important and required, doing it and enabling them to learn the how and letting them do the how.
I also love staff doing famils, site inspections, eating at a restaurant, and experiencing the product or service, we want them to then be providing.
There are lots of different ways to teach.
And often we might have our own preferred way of learning and teaching it. However when we’re training other people, it can’t be about us, we have to make sure that we make our training about how our “students”, our new staff or existing staff want and need to learn best.
And to know that, it’s really important to ask them.
Some of the questions to ask are:
- How do you best learn?
- How do you prefer to learn new information or have instruction?
- What’s the best way you’d like to have instructions so that you can feel and be really confident in doing your job?
- How many times do you need to see, do or experience something to feel confident in doing it yourself?
- What were your big takeaways for customer service from ‘doing’ or ‘experiencing’ our hotel, our tour, and our breakfast yourself? What would you do more of, be better at or do differently if or when you’re in the role?
Some of us are visual learners. We watch to learn.
Some of us are auditory, which means we listen.
Some of us are kinesthetic, meaning we’ve got to actually do it. Get our hands straight onto the wheel. Pour the wine etc. We’ve got to pick up the phone and just have a crack and a go at it.
So what tools and resources do you provide to support the learning experience be they videos to watch? A manual to read? A checklist on a wall to learn from, or maybe a whiteboard?
Think about the tools that you give your team and staff members so that they can best, most successfully LEARN their job.
Be the guiding light, shine the way. Showcase the ‘process, system, procedure, step by step’ – never assume others will read it like you, do it exactly the same way. Allow for some flexibility, be adaptable, and always remember to share the WHY and the WHAT, not just expect the HOW.
P.S Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you develop and work on your business leadership capabilities:
- Grab a free copy of Smash Indecision and Overwhelm, 4 Steps for Better Business Leadership E-book
It’s the road map to overcoming doubt and indecision, how to deal with “overwhelm” to improve your business leadership capabilities. —Click Here
- Join the Tourism Business Leader’s Facebook group and connect with like-minded leaders focused on building highly effective teams
It’s our Facebook community where smart leaders get to learn more about creativity, leadership and performance for tourism business success. —Click Here
- Join our Tourism Pro-Team Program
Helping tourism business leaders develop their skills to improve engagement, accountability and performance of the team. If you’d like to work with me so you can stop being reactive, have the difficult conversations and drive performance to get the results you want and know the business need then…message PRO to me here and I’ll get you all the details.
- Let’s get the Whole Team Together
Would you like a different perspective and someone else at the front of the room or on zoom/teams to lead regular and consistent team building, accountability, and engaging learning experiences, that drive results and outcomes for individuals, teams, and the business? If you feel a little challenged with everything going on, maybe sounding like a cracked recorded saying things repeatedly, or actually not 100% how to motivate and inspire the team, given the current nature of business, it may be useful for us to chat. Message TEAM to me here… and tell me a little about the business, your team, and what you’d like to work on together.
