A heavyweight boxer preparing for a big fight never gets thrown into the fray
without proper training. The same should be said for concession employees. Ideally,
being able to show your new employees the ropes before they reach the counter
can create an effective and knowledgeable workforce and lead to less turnover.
Whether you are hiring full-time, part-time, volunteer groups or seasonal employees, acclimating them to their duties in a timely and effective manner is crucial. In many cases the process of teaching employees their responsibilities comes in the form of a training session. Because training uses valuable staff time for both trainers and trainees, it is vital that the time be used efficiently and effectively. The result of a well-planned and targeted training program can net you rewards in productivity and per capitas.
Due to the importance of training sessions, many concession operators like to put their own stamp on orientating new employees. Training may be held differently depending on the venue and type of employees the venue hires.
Judith Grotts, CCM, is concession manager of the Thomas & Mack Center at
the University of Nevada Las Vegas, which hosts UNLV basketball, concerts and
special events. She is a big believer that the work done to hold training sessions
produces competent employees. She devotes a great deal of staff time in order
for new employees to be trained the right way.
Basic format
The format of Grotts training sessions zeros in on the basics. "The format
is simply what we use, what we do, what we expect, using the materials they
will work with every time they are here," Grotts said. "This way they
become familiar with the look and feel."
The sessions set out to answer potential employee general questions ahead of time to save time. "Everyone who works our stand needs to know why we do things the way we do. In the training we answer the 'whys,' " Grotts stated. The average group size during her training sessions are 35 to 45 people, Grotts said.
Robert Garcia, CCM, is general manager of Ovations Food Services at AutoZone Park, home of the Memphis Redbirds minor league baseball team. He uses the following three-part format for his training sessions: The first part of his training sessions uses a classroom style format. During this phase new employees receive information, guidelines, rules and regulations, what is expected from the employee or group and what can be expected of the staff.
The second part of Garcia's sessions use mock training which they set up potential
situations on the job with equipment, customer relations, and cash handling.
When Garcia sets up potential situations he says they may teach "how to
deal with an underage person trying to purchase alcohol, or dealing with a kid
who has dropped his soft drink and other types of fan interaction."
The final part of the training sessions for concession employees at AutoZone
Park includes inventory control, inventory procedures, and balancing sales.
Garcia noted his training group typically begins with 30 to 40 people for the classroom style training but eventually breaks up into smaller groups for the hands-on sessions. The total time of training sessions varies depending on how many people attend but Garcia said the sessions usually last three to six hours.
UNLV's Grotts prefers to use her own employees to conduct training sessions. She noted this is a great way of empowering her staff. "Our stand supervisors and lead cashiers do all of our hands-on training," Grotts said. "We pay them a special rate for coming in and doing this for us. This has helped in so many ways, they feel good about themselves because we trust them to do this, and it helps the new groups and employees bond with someone before they start work."
The training program for the group trainers lasts 8 hours. Garcia and Grotts also prefer to use their own employees to train, primarily someone from their management staff.
Mark Murin, director of concessions for Signature Theatres based in Oakland, Calif. and operators of screens in California, Hawaii and Montana, said his company begins training sessions with a verbal orientation session that lasts no more than 30 minutes. The session then moves on to an overview of work-related machinery.
"It starts with a member of the management or senior staff person reviewing the registers and showing the employee where everything is." Murin explained.
This is a partial version of the complete story that appeared in the Summer 2003 issue of Concessionworks, the newsletter for NAC members. To become a member of NAC click here. Members that would like to receive the complete story can call the NAC office at (312) 236-3858.