Access to easy-to-apply, industry-recognised, real-world upskilling is the holy grail for employers and employees in the hospitality industry. In our latest article, we explain how flexible training integrates into your hospitality business without pulling staff off the floor. 

---

New Zealand hospitality is on its way to being back on its feet: the sector now employs 145,000 people and logged $15.7 billion in sales for the year to March 2024 – up 5.8 percent on 2023 (MBIE/Restaurant Association). Yet the post-Covid recovery has exposed an old problem: finding time and budget to train staff without pulling them off the floor. 

ServiceIQ’s answer is simple: nationally recognised, task-based courses delivered almost entirely in the workplace. Trainees learn at their own pace – online between shifts and on the job beside their team leader – so they can earn while they upskill, and the roster keeps running at full strength.

This level of flexibility also has an advantage over more traditional training types, where employees are taken out of the business or roster for a week’s training. Off-site courses mean you’re paying twice – once for the absent staffer and again for a fill-in.

In an industry that’s measured on consistency, clients want standardised programmes, recognised qualifications and nationwide assistance, with service advisors available in their region. ServiceIQ’s team of national Service Sector Advisors around the country guide the trainee and the team leader to understand the requirements of the assessment.

For medium to large-sized businesses, this means your team in Invercargill follows the identical programme as your people in Auckland – safeguarding against staff shortages through illness or sudden departure, allowing management teams to problem-solve quickly and efficiently while fostering a culture of flexible opportunities. 

SME or family business? If your barista or senior front-of-house person is unavailable, you have the personnel ready to step up, fill in, and safeguard against and future-proof possible service interruption.

Now is an ideal time to explore your options. With customer numbers lower than in peak season, winter and spring provide leadership teams with breathing room to focus on the business; set high-level strategies, address operational inefficiencies and pinpoint knowledge gaps. Those gaps offer opportunities to invest in staff through flexible training and development before business ramps up again. 

In such a diverse industry with numerous functions, responsibilities, and training requirements, as well as irregular schedules and seasonality, leaders need their employees to be present and on the ground. ServiceIQ’s programmes are task-based and bring together a set of skills that are always pertinent to the job.

If it’s value-laden and comes with different funding options available (including Government funded opportunities), then it’s scalable, and can be absorbed into annual budgets, enabling decision-makers to roll out training as and when it’s required. 

Upskilling has been proven to improve staff morale, motivation and engagement, as employees feel valued and invested in. The seminal 2018 LinkedIn learning report found that 94% of employees stated they would stay at a company longer that invested in their career development.  

Further, employees like learning, and when applied to real-world work, it is stimulating and rewarding, so everyone wins. Replacing a departing employee in New Zealand can cost anything from one-third to twice the employee’s annual salary. According to the influential HR Industry Benchmark Report in 2022, it takes an average of 40 days to fill an open position, at an average cost of $23,860 to hire a new employee.

This cost encompasses various factors beyond just the hiring process. Advertising involves time lost in sifting through CVs and conducting interviews, as well as the time spent onboarding new team members and getting them up to speed. Failure to invest in the team also sees knowledge, productivity, and experience walk out the door with them.

There’s also a growing body of evidence suggesting that employees respond more positively and effectively to flexible training approaches compared to traditional, rigid methods, including a 2024 LinkedIn report that discovered 76% of employees prefer organisations that support continuous, flexible learning.

Make today the day you grow your people and grow your business with affordable on-the-job hospitality training for your employees. ServiceIQ, the workplace training specialist for the hospitality, retail, tourism, aviation, travel, and museums sectors, New Zealand wide.