In 2014, the popular 4.5 star haven won the Supreme Award for service excellence at the New Zealand Hospitality Association Awards, and Qualmark has awarded it the coveted Qualmark Enviro Gold rating.

Most recently, Jet Park Hotel added yet another award to its tally as winner of Excellence in Marketing 2015 at the Westpac Auckland Business Awards.

But mostly, the trophy-laden mantelpiece is testimony to the outstanding customer service visitors enjoy at Jet Park Hotel.    

Jet Park Hotel HR and Marketing Manager Sonja Herrmann says the business has always been committed to giving staff the skills they need to do the best job possible for customers.

“We have always invested in training people and the result is a skilled and loyal team who are dedicated to helping our customers have an enjoyable and comfortable stay,” says Sonja. 

“Our team is very loyal and this means our staff turnover is low. Many of our people joined us when we first opened and are part of our long-service staff programme.”

Sonja uses on-job training programmes designed by ServiceIQ, ITO for the hospitality sector and others, to help upskill staff kick-starting their career in hospitality.   

“For someone to come along with previous hotel experience and be able to work to our standards it’s going to be pretty hard to find. Instead, we recruit for personality, talent and a desire to learn, and then we give them the skills they need to do the job,” she says.

“It works because the training programme is hands-on and our people need to demonstrate that they can achieve and perform consistently to the standard we have set.  
 

“To get a qualification these days is really expensive. Our people really appreciate the fact that they can get a recognised qualification by earning and learning on the job.  If they were going to do this on their own, they’d have to work less and pay to go to an AUT or another tertiary provider.”

Jet Park Hotel also uses on-job training to help with succession planning for the business; progressing staff skills to create a pool of experts who can take on more responsibility including management roles.

“We are looking for opportunities to promote people we can cross-train. It helps our succession planning for the business plus we are able to create a career pathway for staff,” says Sonja.

Sonja has hired many people who arrived at reception with no skills, and have gone on to train and qualify their way to more senior hotel positions. From porter to assistant front office manager, commis chef to demi and chef de partie, room attendant to executive housekeeper, wait staff to food and beverage supervisors and receptionist to reservations and sales.

Sonja recommends that businesses having difficulty finding the right people could try using a combination of in-house experts plus training programmes to develop talented staff.

“In order for it work you need skilled supervisors or department heads who will take on the role of training to make sure you establish the right standards. I also recommend that you have your own in-house assessors who can provide oversight and objectivity,” she says.

Right now, the business is expanding.  In November 2015, Jet Park Hotel opened a boutique hotel in Rotorua which is already exceeding expectations in customer numbers. And in June this year, the large new Jet Park Hotel Conference Centre will open at the hotel's Auckland Airport location. This includes six new conference rooms and increases capability to host up to 250 conference guests.