Get in training!

[L-R]Rinaldo Boscaro, Alexandre Maurisseau, Sandra van Reenen, Dominique Morin and Naji Esta

Last month, Caterer Middle East met up with top F&B industry professionals at Fairmont Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi, to discuss the challenges of staff training, the importance of correct recruitment and why specialised instruction is today more important than ever...

TAKING PART...
• Rinaldo Boscaro, director of F&B, Yas Island Rotana
• Alexandre Maurisseau, director of F&B, One to One Hotel — The Village
• Sandra van Reenen, F&B trainer, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr
• Dominique Morin, executive chef, Le Méridien Abu Dhabi
• Naji Esta, director of F&B, InterContinental Abu Dhabi


What in-house education do you offer F&B employees?

Naji Esta: All the in-house training we offer is really based on skills, so we have training programmes fitted to each department, focusing on specific F&B fields, in addition to the generic hotel training.

The key is definitely to keep it frequent, not only because you might have new people or turnover, but because by repeatedly training skills, they becomes second nature.

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Dominique Morin: We start with an assessment to determine what kind of training the member of staff needs; this is conducted through special software, so we can tailor-make the training programme for each individual. Then of course there’s on-the-job training, which is essential, particularly in the kitchen where it takes place on a daily basis, as it does for front-of-house F&B staff.

Alexandre Maurisseau: We don’t have the software, but it’s the same kind of system for us: all new employees go through the basic house training, then as soon as they are assigned to one of the outlets they go to daily and weekly on-the-job training. After that, it comes down to finding the best staff to put through for cross-training between outlets. It’s always helpful to have a few staff that can be rotated, depending on demand.

Sandra van Reenen: With the opening of the hotel, it has been very interesting implementing our F&B training system; a lot of it has been from the most basic level. I think it helps that the place has a dedicated F&B trainer though, which is beyond the regular resources for HR and training at a hotel.

Do you feel training gets sufficient support today?

Esta: I would say we get about 33% of our hotel’s training budget and that’s decent, in the current climate. Our department makes up 45% of the hotel’s workforce, which is quite sizeable, so we do need a major focus on the training.

Morin: I think that things have changed a lot over the past five years; 10 years back, there wasn’t really any emphasis on training — then you got people coming here with little or no experience in the field, so they all had to be trained from scratch. That meant spending time and money on instruction and it became a real focus.

And now, since so many new properties have opened, the market’s becoming more crowded. Again that means people need to spend time on training, so their F&B options remain competitive.

Rinaldo Boscaro: A lot of employees are brought from abroad, from countries where F&B may not be viewed as a career but just a job to pay the rent. Also, probably because of the salary structure we have, we’re hiring people with zero starting knowledge.

Customers will often expect staff should be up to scratch almost right away, which puts a lot of pressure on us. At the same time these new staff are training, they’re also working in day-to-day operations and some do find it difficult to work and study at the same time.

Maurisseau: The way we’re going about it is trying to get people with just the right attitude at the recruitment stages. We can provide training support for skills and knowledge, but you really have to be approachable and cheerful to work with customers.
 

How important is the training you offer with regards to attracting and retaining staff?

Morin: A few years ago, people were looking for training and development, the opportunity to grow; now I think a decent training programme can still attract people, but more those in management roles. F&B line staff are often not looking for development.

Maurisseau: We’re just coming up to two years old, as a property and as a company, and in my experience training has definitely helped us retain people — along with the fact that we have more projects in the pipeline, which gives staff another reason to stay.

After that, wages obviously play an important part in the decision that associates are going to make, but I would say today people are coming back to looking at the bigger picture.

Esta: I believe nowadays it’s not only the salary, it is about development. We and most other hotels have a personal development plan for each of our staff, so they can see where they are going and where training could take them, which definitely retains and encourages people.