It’s no secret that strong recruitment and selection has become an increasingly important factor in the ongoing success of our venues.
The Hospitality Academy
Investing In Staff Development & Team Working
As a family business, the hotel group prides itself on flexibility, professional development and providing progressive, diverse career opportunities for staff.
The hospitality sector is a highly competitive environment and here at English Lakes Hotels we are taking positive steps to encourage more people to forge a career in the sector or return to the industry with a more rewarding role. We also understand the importance of staff retention.
That’s why we have established a new hospitality training academy to invest in staff development, broaden career experiences and improve customer service.
Professional Training in Partnership with Kendal College
Working in partnership with Kendal College, we are helping our team members to attain nationally recognised qualifications, with Level 2 NVQs including food safety in catering, hospitality team member and personal licence holder for managing retail sales of alcohol.
Courses are available to existing staff and new recruits of all ages and are being delivered over a 15 month period, with a dedicated tutor assigned for each participant
A key aim for the academy is to accelerate the careers of hospitality new starters, provide best practice support and training and up-skill existing team members.
This is on the back of the success of our now established culinary academy which has been training the next generation of commis chefs, as well as bespoke training for specialist staff like our spa therapists.
Training with the Hospitality Academy gives participants the requisite baseline of knowledge and skills. We want to embed first rate hospitality and team working skills, and the ability to recognise customers’ individual needs so that every guest feels special.
Hospitality roles are by nature highly varied and team members can work in a range of diverse environments, from food and beverage services and food preparation through to housekeeping, concierge and reservations. So they have to be adaptable and ready to support colleagues across the business.
Our aim is to develop critical thinking, team building and leadership skills, and all of that in turn leads to a more customer focused approach. We also want to build strong teams from all age ranges and backgrounds.
Developing Our Teams & Culture
Investing in workforce development initiatives such as this equips both existing staff and new trainees with the skills they need to succeed.
There are multiple benefits for our venues. Our team members are widening their skill-sets and gaining a much better understanding of how their role fits with those around them.
As well as getting new qualifications, academy trainees will attend masterclasses and demos from industry professionals and collaborate with other hotels to gain more experience.
Our teams are also trained to adopt a '+1 culture', which encourages service that goes above and beyond usual expectations to create memorable and enjoyable environments for our guests.
Our commitment to workforce development includes support not only to help embed strong customer service and team working skills, but also seeking to provide additional work benefits that make a difference in terms of working hours, travel to work and offering accommodation where we can.
Careers in Hospitality
We are currently recruiting for staff across a range of hospitality industry disciplines in English Lakes hotels in both the Lake District & Lancashire.
"Although hospitality team members tend to specialise in an area, they have to be adaptable and ready to support colleagues across their business. It’s great to see English Lakes Hotels making such a defined commitment to workforce development in this way."