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By Barry Kaplan, Sr. VP, HR/OD, SHRM-SCP - At first glance, it should be a no-brainer as to how training relates to workforce optimization. You need to know “how” to optimize performance, and the only way to learn is to be trained. If it were that simple, however, this would be a very short article. Training must encompass more than the skills needed to meet each standard; it should also include the principles of labor management and optimization as well as the discipline to enforce and maintain those consistently. The whatWorkforce optimization in the hospitality industry starts by piecing together the answer to these four questions.
By analyzing the answers to these questions, we can determine how well we are forecasting, scheduling, and executing in our organization; to put it simply, how well we are optimizing workforce performance. Training people to understand this principle of labor management is easy. Every hospitality manager we train grasps this concept within a few short minutes. The howOnce they understand the concept, then it is a matter of teaching them the tools to be able to forecast well, schedule well, execute well, then how to evaluate well and make any necessary adjustments. But even more important than teaching them those things, the most important point to drive home in the “how” of workforce optimization is to be disciplined in the process. Workforce optimization doesn’t just happen through single events; it occurs through repeated discipline to the process of forecasting, scheduling, executing, reporting, and evaluating day after day, week after week, month after month. Quite candidly, the tools used to forecast, schedule, and report are secondary to the discipline in examining and responding to the data presented. The secretSo, if it is all this simple, why does it fail? Why do some places — understanding the same concept and using the same tools — achieve great success in optimizing workforce performance and some fail at it? The answer is as simple as the question. The purpose of training is NOT to train; the purpose of training is to change behavior. Whether it is soft skills training or tools training, the purpose of training is to change the behavior from its current state to a desired state. Therefore, training isn’t true “training” unless you address the change management aspect of the behavior. Changing behavior
Create a sense of urgencyOnce you train on the concept, train on the tool, and establish the process by which you want to be disciplined, then create a deadline for implementing it. Make the deadline aggressive but realistic. If the deadline is too far out or even non-existent, the managers will set aside their newfound knowledge and skills for something they deem as more important. If you set an aggressive deadline, then the managers will feel that leadership deems this important. It is natural to feel that the further away the deadline is the less important it is. Form a powerful coalitionWho’s driving the change? Do the people who are wanting and directing this change have any power in the organization? Or to put it bluntly, if you are driving the change, and the response you hear back is “who cares what you want,” then you don’t have the power to drive this. Make sure that the people who are striving for workforce optimization are powerful enough in the organization that people will listen. Develop a visionCan you articulate what the future looks like if you are truly optimizing performance? Will people see the benefits of that vision? If the answers to these two questions are yes, then you have a vision. Remember, a vision isn’t you saying, “I’m the boss, and they’ll just do what I tell them.” Communicate the visionOnce you have a vision, don’t keep it to yourself! Spread the word. Tell them what the vision is, tell them how they will benefit from it, and put some fanfare behind it. The communication needs to be as motivational as it is educational. Identify & remove the obstaclesDon’t pretend there won’t be obstacles, and don’t think even for a minute that you can “direct” your way over these obstacles. Attack them head-on. Find out what would stop people from optimizing workforce performance. How entrenched are people in their old ways, and what are their concerns for implementing this new way of life? It is not just a matter of implementing the new way. It is also being honest about what bad policies, processes, and behaviors that are currently embedded in the company and must change to make this initiative successful. Generate quick winsIf you truly understand where you are and where you want to be, you should be able to forecast where you will achieve early success. But even if you can’t forecast, you at least should be able to spot success when it happens. Make sure you celebrate that success. Announce it; claim it as due to the new initiative. Success breeds success, and once you have evidence of success, it will be easier to have more successes. And with each success, it will become easier to overcome the obstacles you identified in the earlier phase.
Build on the changeAfter you have had success, it might be natural to tell yourself how hard it was, but now that you have had a few successes, it is time to relax. Don’t! Be aware that resistance to change is always waiting to reassert itself. While it would be great if those wins were organization wide, it is more likely that those wins come through independent acts within specific parts of the organization’s structure. To really consolidate and build on the change, start looking for ways to create wins within interdependent parts of the organization. This will obviously be harder to make happen, but once it happens, the power and the impact of it is more exponential than linear. Anchor the change in the cultureWith the first seven steps of the change process complete, it is time to anchor the change within the culture. How can all the training in workforce optimization, all the work, all the change in behavior remain through the months and years? First, remain disciplined to the process, and don’t ever let up. Don’t assume that success and improvement will still occur if you aren’t monitoring, evaluating, and making the necessary adjustments along the way. Second, make sure that as people come and go, they see that proper behavior is rewarded and undesired behavior is sanctioned. You won’t truly know if you have engrained the change in the culture until you start turning over people and see if the change remains entrenched with those that weren’t even there when the change process started. Wrap-upIf you are looking to optimize workforce performance and you have tasked your training team to educate that workforce, then you must understand that the training consists of the following:
And if you want a surefire way to determine if workforce optimization has been engrained in your culture, ask yourself what would happen if everyone with the hotel today left for other jobs. If everyone who was involved in implementing workforce performance optimization left the company and you are still disciplined and operating effectively, then you have engrained the principles into your culture. Good luck.
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Almost anything is easy to do once. However, because I stated that the most important point was to be disciplined to the process, it is on that track where the behavior change needs to focus and where it is easy to get derailed. If to optimize workforce performance means to make as perfect, effective, or functional as possible, then it must be true that the current performance is not deemed as optimal. So fine. We teach managers to understand the concept—check! We teach people how to use the tools—check! So how do we teach them to change their behavior? There are several change-management methodologies from which to choose. I subscribe to the method proposed by John Kotter in Leading Change. I’ll explain how his model fits into the hospitality industry.
