Choice Hotels International has made Training Magazine’s annual list of the top 100 training organizations.
Choice Hotels was the highest ranked mid-scale hotel chain on the list, and one of only three hotel chains that appeared on the list.
The Training Top 100 is a ranking of organizations that excel at human capital development, as determined each year by Training magazine. According to the magazine, not only do these companies make a sizable investment in their human assets, they do so strategically and creatively.
“This award is a tribute to the outstanding efforts of our Organizational Development, Diversity and Learning department, and our Hotel Performance and Reservations Call Center training teams,” said Tom Mirgon, senior vice president, human resources and administration. “Our training teams have excelled in developing innovative and diverse programs that produce measurable results not only for the company, but for our associates and franchisees on a personal level as well.”
The company’s ResCoach training also was named one of the Top 10 Training Initiatives by the magazine. The program begins with interactive, self-paced learning focusing on the basics of telephone etiquette and reservations selling. Reinforcement comes in the form of regional and on-site workshops. To complete the circle, three random reservations test calls are made to hotels each month and employees are scored using standardized criteria. The hotel general manager receives an e-mail performance report following the call. The goal of the program is to promote effective selling techniques and exceptional guest service, thereby increasing the number of calls converted into reservations.
In addition, Choice’s, “Sales Apprentice: You’re Hired” training program was nominated for a Best Practice Award. This two-day highly interactive program provides hotel sales and management staff at all levels valuable information on prospecting, making sales calls and following up.
Other hotel companies on the Training Top 100 list included Ritz-Carlton and LaQuinta. Other non-hotel companies on the list included Starbucks, FedEx, Home Depot and IBM.
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