The waitstaff received almost no training and the result? Chaos. Orders were improperly taken. Orders were delivered to the wrong tables. Customers were served and were then subsequently ignored. Other customers were presented with their bill without any effort being made to ask if they wanted dessert. Guests with severe food allergies complained about their meals since most of the waitstaff were unable to tell them about the ingredients used in each entree.

The business lost money and the waitstaff had an unusually high turnover. The owner eventually fired the manager.

Most of these problems could have been avoided through proper training.

If you're fortunate enough to find a good employee who is honest, dependable, and hard working, treat that person well. Train them to your level of expectations but monitor the progress of your training.

If you want this person to be able to step into your shoes as an innkeeper, it won't happen overnight.

Training an employee too quickly can result in confusion and demoralization.

Good training begins with a description of your expectations. It is followed with an orientation to introduce the employee to the work environment. This should be followed with a literal step by step instruction for each task that has to be done. (If your facility has an operating manual, giving the new employee a copy of the sections relevant to housekeeping could be a big help).

As this person develops confidence in these skills and begins to work independently, talk to your employee and get feedback.

How does this person feel? Are there any questions or concerns about the job? Address any concerns you find.

When I first broached the subject of having my housekeeper take reservations, Drema was terrified. She told me that she just wanted to clean rooms. She didn't want to interact with people. When I asked her why, it only turned out to be a lack of confidence.

In listening to me take reservations, she had come to admire "my patter."
"I can't remember all that," Drema complained. "I wouldn't know what to do or say."

So I wrote out a script for her that included everything she shoud say word for word. I gave her a flyer that listed all of our rates. I showed her my reservation book and taught her how to take reservations.

I then role played as a prospective guest on the phone.

We started out simply. Drema read her script and I played the role of a rather undemanding guest who had called to make a one night reservation.

"That wasn't so bad," said the housekeeper after stumbling through the script.

We continued to role play. As she developed confidence, I began throwing problems at her. I interrupted her as guests will sometimes do. I asked for clarification about some of the guest services and amenities. When she asked for my credit card number, I craftily suggested that I wanted to pay in cash at the time of check out.

Drema was politely insistent. If I chose to pay in cash at the time of checkout, that wouldn't be a problem, but the inn required a credit card number with an expiration date.

I grinned! The housekeeper had done a wonderful job and she was ready to schedule reservations.

I hovered beside her during her first phone call but other than having a slightly shaky voice, she did fine.

She is now quite competent at taking reservations and I am gradully increasing her wages while giving her more and more responsibility.

I am already quite comfortable with leaving her in charge of the inn while I take short day trips outside the Lykens Valley. The only skills left to train include putting out the breakfast buffet and checking the computer for on-line reservations through hotels.com.

In time, I hope to have the housekeeper fully capable of taking my place for several days at a time while I take some much needed time off and visit relatives on the west coast.
_________________
Inn at Elizabethville