People 1st calls for ‘systematic’ approach to hospitality training

The hospitality industry needs to develop a more ‘systematic’ approach to training, according to industry skills body, People 1st. 

Thee body’s new insight report, ‘Talent Management’, found hotels and restaurants alone invested over £2.7bn on training in 2013, but 39% of hospitality employers reported that staff performance did not sufficiently improve.

A further 28% of hospitality employers believed that staff did not receive the ‘appropriate’ training.

The report said that the £2.7bn equated to £2,500 per person trained which is roughly in line with the average of £2,550 per person trained across all employment sectors.

Despite the “substantial amount of money” spent on training, only 41% of employers have specific training plans to upskill or improve productivity.

The report found that the hospitality sector has a higher proportion of skills gaps than the economy as a whole, with 21% of employers reporting that members of staff are not fully proficient.

People 1st said that these findings revealed “a culture where training and development is not being systematically evaluated nor are wider organisational factors being considered when training is being initiated.”

Martin-Christian Kent, executive director at People 1st, said: “The numbers suggest that training and development are not being systematically evaluated by the employers who are investing in them.

“We believe that it is vital that businesses take a step back and consider what they want to get out of their training before they embark on it. Thinking about how you will measure the success of a piece of training often helps businesses think afresh about how they go about their training.”