Hospitality Chain Turns Around Receding Business by Implementing Competency-focussed Scenario-based Assessment and Development Program
Company info
Tourism and Hospitality Sector
10,000+ Employees
India, US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Europe
Global
Business Need
This Fortune 500 organization has around 500 hotels across the globe and hires over 1,000 front-line, customer-facing roles each year. Unlike typical customer service roles, these incumbents are required to handle complex and unpredictable customer situations that require skills ranging from rapid problem solving, communication skills, decision-making, skills and multi-tasking skills.
As per the client’s customer survey application, there has been a downward trend in customer satisfaction. There has been negative feedback on diverse social media platforms. The escalation matrix showed an upward trend, and the customer service cell saw a surge in customer grievance calls.
Solution
The team at KS reviewed the process of different departments of the Hotel Chain. KS team met with relevant key stakeholders of the hotel and its franchisees. During the analysis phase, we gathered multiple knowledge assets that consisted of feedback forms, audio calls, and video recordings substantiating the low customer satisfaction index. Thereupon, it was decided that the KS team will interact with representative employees working in different departments of the hotel chain to gain a deeper insight.
The team at KS interacted with representative employees working in Food and Beverage department, Housekeeping department, Kitchen department, and Front-office department. Upon discussion, we found the following gaps that were resulting in poor customer service:
- The new staff was not aware of the SOPs.
- The existing staff was not trained to handle multitasking.
- The existing staff was not trained to handle multitasking.
- There was no ongoing training program to upskill the staff.
- The staff lacked the essential problem-solving skills as they were not well-versed in the protocols of handling an irate customer or demanding situation.
Delivering Effective Customer Service Training to Employees
KS recommended EasySIM—Simulated Learning & Assessment Platform to define, design, create and manage organizational competency-driven learning and assessment.
The ES team worked with the client to define critical competencies for each role. The team then built multimedia-rich branched simulations based on realistic scenarios created around the identified role-specific competencies. EasySIM®’s Open Response template was leveraged to “watch” participants respond in the simulated settings.
For instance, in the kitchen department, the major competency issue faced by the employees was multitasking. The kitchen team was not equipped to handle the situation if there are multiple orders at a time or the order that was given by the client was not listed in the menu.
A scenario-based simulation was created based on critical thinking, time management, team management, quick decision making, kitchen health & hygiene, and teamwork, which help them perform better and sharpen their multitasking skills.
Another department we supported was Customer Service. Functional competency assessments and question-level
competency maps were created for the Front-line managers to work on their problem-solving and decision-making skills while they were dealing both with the customers at the reception and over a call at the same time.
The EasySIM platform helped the hotel’s executive team monitor each employee’s performance and job readiness. The platform also provided competency-based analytics for decision-making.
As part of the Professional Development Program, the hotel created a library of competency-mapped simulations using an array of responsive audio-visual templates.
As a result of this process, the employees now better understand why a customer is irate and the reasons for their frustration. They are also better prepared to de-escalate tense situations and satisfy the customers.
EasySIM made a smoother transition in training and improved the client’s customer satisfaction index by –
- Providing a low-pressure way to practice high-stakes conversations
- Helping the employee develop essential problem-solving skills, communication skills, decision-making skills, and multi-tasking skills
- Ensuring a consistently positive customer experience using a multimedia reach training module
- Providing an instructor-based hybrid evaluation tool
- Generating real-time performance analytics for the client to make informed talent management decisions
Result
As per the client’s internal feedback mechanism, the customer delight index of the hotel has shown an improvement of 3%. The escalation matrix has started a downward trend. The negative post on diverse social media platforms overall decreased by 4%. The attrition rate of employees has also declined by 2% as employees have begun to see personal growth and recognition.
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