While all three – happy, productive, skilled – are related, it’s often the last that’s most important. People with the right skills can be more productive, more confident and happier in their work. All of which lead to better customer service and a great experience for your regulars and tourists alike – and a higher chance of you getting excellent website and social media reviews.

“Upskilling staff can be easier and cheaper than some imagine, especially with ServiceIQ on-job programmes which have options where the training can even be free,” says Dean Minchington, ServiceIQ CEO. “With news reports of shortages of skilled staff becoming more frequent, it’s clear that employers need to develop capability and build capacity with effective on-job training.”

“As the Industry Training Organisation for New Zealand’s service sector, our training programmes have been developed by industry for industry and, unlike other training, the learning is done on-job in a real workplace. A manager or supervisor carries out the verification of competence, so the business has close involvement and really gets to know its people’s attributes.  The employer also has the option to have someone trained – at no cost – as an assessor, and that means the programme is free.”

Dean says that training programmes that lead to qualifications offer more benefits than just a consistently positive customer experience. “Businesses we’ve worked with have seen an increase in sales, more repeat business, and lower staff turnover – and some have used their qualified workforce to enhance reputation and brand. Employees, too, benefit by gaining specialist skills and knowledge, a better understanding of their role, greater job satisfaction, and an insight that the service sectors offer a career and not only a job.”

ServiceIQ also has options for larger businesses and operations that already have in-house training programmes. With these, companies can connect that training to assessments, leading to New Zealand qualifications for their staff.