19 Dec 2024
Resident Hotels feted for training programme
Resident Hotels was named Top Training Programme for Employee Training in the Talent LMS Training Excellence Awards 2024.
The company was described as having “redefined learning with its ‘Your Journey’ programme, crafted almost entirely from in-house content”.
The judges added: “Through videos, live online sessions, and interactive courses, the programme offered a deeply personalised experience that drove higher learner engagement, elevated guest service, and boosted compliance – empowering team members to achieve exceptional results.”
The programme was originally launched during lockdown to keep team members engaged and has grown to deliver bespoke learning content for teams across three brands.
Jennifer Watts, Head of People and Culture, Resident Hotels, said: “A huge thank you is due to our learning and development team.
“For us, it all starts with recruitment and personality is a huge part of the recruitment process. There are some skills we look for, but an awful lot that can be taught and to support this we have invested heavily in learning and development.
“The focus is a combination of individual development and delivering excellence in the guest experience, all around our core value of mutual respect.”
In addition to training, the company also drives engagement with regular surveys. Watts added: “You can have a beautiful hotel and well-presented team members, but that doesn’t create those exceptional experiences for the guest/our guests. You need to have team engagement, an understanding of reputation and a wish to drive it. That’s how you create a cohesive team who want to stay with you.”
The company also prides itself on paying its teams at least the real Living Wage.
Ameesh Shah, CFO, Resident Hotels, said: “We believe that hospitality is a skilled profession, with a real career path and that is one of the reasons why we are proud to be an accredited Living Wage Employer. The real Living Wage is higher than the government’s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living. We choose to pay the real Living Wage because we believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.
“This ethos runs throughout our hotels, helping to drive the exceptional service which has contributed to our Covent Garden property being named the top hotel in the UK by TripAdvisor, in the 2024 Travellers’ Choice awards, with three others in the top 25.”
