Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment

How to Improve the Teamwork of Retail and Hospitality Teams

Published

class=

Retail and hospitality teams are very customer-focussed, and because of that, teamwork is essential. You need your team to work together and support each other. A team that works well is one that is immediately more professional and generally nicer to be around, which is a boon for your business. 

The retail and hospitality sectors get a very bad rap. With low pay and high demands, employees usually bear the brunt of scorn from unhappy customers. With this guide, you ll learn how to boost morale and create a winning company culture that helps you keep the best employees and offer a higher quality of service to your customers. 

Audit and Get Feedback 

If you want to see big changes, you are first going to need to understand what exactly is holding your team back from working seamlessly. Audit your team for performance, and get feedback on how your team thinks that their work and working environment can be better. 

Improve the Uniform 

A great uniform helps people feel connected. It should be stylish, functional, and ideally give a sense of pride to those who wear them. This applies to every team that needs to wear a uniform, like your waiters and waitresses. If you find a great supplier for waiter aprons, you can find the perfect design that helps your team stand out to your customers while immediately making your team feel like a more cohesive unit. 

Upgrade the Systems You Use 

Automate several systems that you use in your business, starting with your booking system. Your customers and clients should be able to book online, manage their booking, and even send over requests. This should then automatically update the schedule so that everyone is on the same page with fewer manual steps along the way. 

Train Your Team 

Regular training and team building can do wonders for any retail or hospitality business. One of the skills that you will want to train and retrain? How to handle disgruntled customers. Giving your team a script to use and a chain of command that they can rely on can make handling customer complaints or angry customers easier and safer for everyone. 

Offer a Better Work/Life Balance 

When you work part-time or full-time in a hospitality setting, it can be difficult to coordinate things like holidays and vacations or even everyday responsibilities. Do not be the employer that constantly refuses to grant a vacation leave or consistently books the same people over unsociable hours. Balance and understanding go a long way towards having a happy, dedicated team. 

Offer Great Break Benefits 

Small breaks can do wonders for workers, especially those who work in the hospitality industry. Upgrade the break room with tea and coffee choices, healthy snacks, and the ability to sit and relax. Give your employees a small oasis and short ten-minute breaks after every hour or hour thirty, and you will see a huge difference in your employees mood, energy, and motivation. 

The post How to Improve the Teamwork of Retail and Hospitality Teams appeared first on Jobacle.com.

You may also like

How Do You Continually Improve Efficient Use Of Your Technology? Training!
Published

How Do You Continually Improve Efficient Use Of Your Technology? Training!

Technology is one of the largest budget items for an organization, but does it seem like employees aren’t using the systems as efficiently as they could be? I’ve found that the first step is to make sure you’re offering training to all of the employees—more than just handing them a user manual.

Your organization just purchased a brand-new system and wants to make sure they maximize the use of it. One key is to make sure everyone is trained so they understand how to use the system. Training is typically focused on when the new system is first implemented. Many organizations will have the vendor come onsite to train. Employees sign up to attend scheduled training sessions, or it may be a train-the-trainer scenario wherein designated trainers (department super users) train the rest of the organization. This gets your system implementation off on the right foot.

It would be considerably better if the organization offers continual training. This means providing formal training activities for new employees joining the organization months later, major system upgrades released annually, and when individuals simply want “refresher” training. Did you know that individuals typically only remember a fraction of the information from a training session?

Training Options

The second step is to have a variety of training options. It’s important to understand that individuals learn differently (different methods and different speeds) as well as there may be various logistics to consider. For example:

  • Some individuals will prefer instructor-led classes (either in-person or virtual) while others are audiovisual and like videos.
    • Some individuals like to read materials on their own. There are even third-party vendors who provide specific training materials such as quick reference cards and videos for products such as Microsoft Office 365 as well as Acrobat and Windows.
    • You can create custom self-paced courses using tools like Articulate leveraging PowerPoint slides.
    • Post training materials on the intranet so all employees can access the information.
  • If there is a large number of individuals to be trained and/or everyone can’t be gone at the same time, you may need to offer multiple sessions for a specific training course.
  • If the organization has multiple locations, it may not be economical if individuals have to travel to attend in-person training sessions, so it may be more cost effective if the trainers travel or offer virtual training sessions.
  • Not all individuals work Monday-Friday 9-5 pm, and may instead work four 10-hour days or “off-hours” (e.g. second/third shift, weekends) so it’s important to offer training to accommodate these schedules.

Learning Retention

Even with the above differences, there are specific concepts that will help individuals retain what they’ve learned during training. This includes:

  1. Make sure the content is relevant (preferably with real-world examples), so individuals know how to apply what they’ve learned.
    • If the topic is creating a new customer in the ERP, walk through the actual steps including required and valid values, and have an exercise wherein they actually practice setting up a new customer.
    • When teaching individuals about Excel and features such as Pivot Tables, provide examples showing when/why/how to use a Pivot Table to analyze and categorize large amounts of data.
    • If doing “train-the-trainer,” consider having the students do some role-playing.
  2. Provide some type of handout (student training guide) for individuals to take notes on.
  3. If it’s a “live” training session (either in-person or virtual), encourage individuals to participate in discussions. Engagement promotes retention.
  4. Provide students with the opportunity to practice what they’ve learned with exercises, quiz questions, etc.
  5. Create “cheat sheets” for common things like application-specific keyboard shortcuts/hotkeys, when there is a long list of valid value codes, etc.

A comprehensive and up-to-date training curriculum is an investment. Organizations that make this investment are demonstrating that employee development is important! Employees will appreciate the efforts to grow and make them more knowledgeable.

For more information on offering training to maximize the use of your technology, follow me on LinkedIn!

Summary Sunday: Issue #514
Published

Summary Sunday: Issue #514

During times of uncertainty, we all need to take steps to prepare for what comes next – even if we don’t know exactly what that is. In this week’s summary, you’ll find articles that will help you get ready for a possible job search or improve what you are currently doing in your job search. […]

The post Summary Sunday: Issue #514 appeared first on Career Sherpa.

7 Things To Keep In Mind While You Pursue Your Dreams
Published

7 Things To Keep In Mind While You Pursue Your Dreams

You want to pursue your dreams. You have lots of dreams and things you want to do. But for some reason, you’re hesitating—even though no one is holding you back.

You are the only one that is responsible for what you can and cannot do. So, how do you pursue your dreams? Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Create Impact.

via GIPHY

You are a gift to the world. There are things the world would like to see, hear, and feel from you. You are an artist regardless of what you do because the world wants your craft. Do not deny the world this craft.

In this day and age, you do not have the excuse of no money, no time, and barriers. Everything you dream of, you can start with the device in your pocket. Start now.

2. Don’t Just Think, Do.

via GIPHY

To create impact, the union of thinking and doing is a necessity. To pursue your dreams, don’t just think. You need to DO. That means to act upon what you have been thinking.

Doing is easy. Thinking makes it hard. The more you think, the more resistance rears its head.

3. Realize There Are No Formulas.

via GIPHY

People think those who achieve their dreams are special people who have a certain formula. The truth is, when you pursue your dreams, sometimes formulas work. Sometimes they don’t. That’s how new formulas are created. That’s how you improve.

Create your own formula to achieve your dreams.

4. Know That Execution Is Priceless.

via GIPHY

People tell you that ideas are important. But you already have an idea of what your dreams are. You want to pursue your dreams. Your dreams are your ideas. Ideas are worthless. An idea brought to life is priceless.

If that is so, execute those ideas. Go and really pursue your dreams—to breathe life into an idea, act, execute, and, as Seth Godin says, “ship.”

5. Stop Asking Questions.

via GIPHY

There are no whys or maybes. There is a time to ask questions. There is a time to stop. Now is the time to feel the fear and do it anyway. The more you do, the better you get.

This website is an example of how I am pursuing one of my dreams. Sure, it isn’t something big—a lot of people own websites and successful blogs. However, it’s a step in the right direction. I did not sit, think, and dream. I pursued my dream. It’s a step in the right direction—sharing my experience. I did not ask if I will make a fool of myself. If I did, then so be it.

6. Practice Your Way To Perfection.

via GIPHY

Execution breeds excellence. Practice is the growth to perfection. The more you do, the better you become. Everything takes practice including pursuing your dreams.

If you want to achieve your dreams, start. Then learn from the experience and adjust.

7. Understand That Anxiety Is Not Risk.

via GIPHY

People often tell you your dreams are too risky. But having a dream and not pursuing it is even riskier. What you feel is not risk. What you feel is anxiety. Anxiety is not risk. Risk can be calculated. Anxiety cannot.

You delay because you fear. You are afraid to pursue your dreams because you don’t know. You fear the unknown. You will only know when you do. It’s time, don’t you think? Do. Don’t talk. Go!

Want to pursue your dreams with confidence?

Become a member today to learn how to UNLEASH your true potential!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.