|
|
Hospitality Today Magazine Investment in Training an investment in improved profitability It is great that high numbers of Hospitality Association members and others have turned out to participate in a number of recent training opportunities being offered by the Association. 2006 saw the pilot of the HANZ Training Passport. The success of this pilot, with the support of the Hospitality Standards Institute, resulted in over 1,000 participants going through the programme and being upskilled in critical areas such as customer service, food safety, host responsibility, and the requirements of the Licence Controller qualification. Based on this success, the HANZ Training Passport will run again in 2007 and will include the new qualification developed for door staff. This is a great opportunity to get door staff up to speed with how they can ensure premises comply with the regulatory requirements while maintaining a warm and welcoming face for hospitality. For many busy urban premises the only way an operator can be confident that minors and those who have had too much to drink are excluded, is to have good well trained door staff. The risk of not complying with the law is just too high as the enforcement agencies continue to run controlled purchase operations and other enforcement activities. Having all staff trained and doing the right thing can be the difference between being a profitable business or facing a costly suspension or cancellation. The Association’s food profitability seminars have also been extremely popular. For many hospitality businesses food is a key driver and it is an ongoing challenge ensuring that the food operation is both meeting the customers’ requirements and making a profit. Lastly, the Association’s legal adviser, Alyn Higgins, will be doing a tour of the country in early 2007 providing a seminar to members on the implications of the 4 week holiday provisions which apply from 1 April, and Kiwi Saver which kicks in later in the year. Well done to all of those who are taking advantage of these opportunities to upskill themselves and their staff, to assist in improving productivity and profitability. Bruce H Robertson 5 February 2007 |
|
