Thesis report by Wei Chen edited version 2015.7.6

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Thesis Report

Wei Chen

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Thesis Report

Author Name: Wei Chen

Student number:308433

Ongoing Thesis Year:2015

Ongoing Thesis Place: Chengdu, China

Name of the organization:

Kempinski Hotel

Chengdu

1 st

Examiner: Ralph Van Dijk

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Executive Summary

Kempinski Hotel Chengdu is a renowned International chain hotel which has 10 years’ business success in Chengdu, China. The hotel is facing an unprecedented fierce competition and it is necessary for all stakeholders to work together to strengthen the core competitiveness of the hotel. Employee training, among all the essential HR management practices, is ranked as the most important domain by the hotel management board, especially the director of HR department-Youmans Zhang. In order to fulfill the company’s internal commitment, which is to offer the best career assistance and personal development to the employees, the hotel management board (represented by Youmans) entrusts the author to conduct this thesis report to gain insight of the employees’ perception about the current employee training quality and present a number of feasible suggestions regarding improving the employee training quality based on the research result.

The thesis report is composed of 3 parts: Firstly, the introduction part will state the background information and the overall objectives of this thesis. The second part is the research part where a theoretical framework will be offered and it includes a review of the previous study result of the thesis subject. The next section is the methodology for the field research conducted at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu. The research result will then be analyzed and the central research questions will be answered at the end of the research part. The third part of the thesis report is the advisory part where in total five pieces of advice regarding improving the employee training quality will be elaborated with specific implementation plans and financial implications. The thesis report will also include a reflection part.

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Table contents

I Introduction---P5

1.1 Background information of the client---P5 1.2 Reason for the project and its Relevance for client---P6 1.3 Objective for advisory part---P7 1.4 Objective for the research part---P7 1.5 Reading guide to the remaining of the thesis---P8 II Research Part---P9 2.1 Research part Introduction ---P9 2.2 Theoretical Framework ---P9 2.2.1 Core concepts elaboration---P9 2.2.2 Theories and models regarding the relations of core concepts---P12 2.3 Literature research methodology ---P15 2.4 Field research methodology ---P16 2.5 Literature research result---P19

2.6 Field research result---P22

2.6.1 Data collection result---P22 2.6.2 Data analysis result---P22 2.7 Research Reflection---P29

III advisory

Part---P25 3.1 Advisory part introduction ---P25 3.2 Alternative solutions overview ---P25

3.2.1 Training passport---P25 3.2.2 Train the trainers---P28 3.2.3 Department training coordination system---P31 3.2.4 Training evaluation system---P33 3.2.5 Wechat training platform---P36 3.3 Alternative solutions assessment---P39

3.4 Implementation plan---P40

3.4 conclusion of the advisory part---P40

Afterword---P42 Thesis reflection---P42 Value of the thesis---P42 Appendix---P47 Questionnaire design---P47 Research data analysis elaboration---P53 Assessments of alternative solutions---P68 Reference---P86

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Chapter I Introduction

1.1 Background information of the client---Kempinski Hotel Chengdu

Kempinski Hotel Chengdu is imaged as a city-iconic hotel which dedicates to deliver the unparalleled luxury hospitality service to each and every guest and the hotel also dedicates to build a home-feeling atmosphere for its employees. The hotel is reputed for its authentic European-luxury hospitality style and its highly qualified employees. It is favored by both domestic and international guests and is ranked as one of the best luxury hotel by TripAdvisor in 2014. However, as a matter of fact, with the rapid development of the hospitality market in the city the hotel is facing an unprecedented fierce competition that its leading role in high-end hotel sector is being challenged by the emerge of other international luxury hotel brands for instance Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance. One of the greatest problems Kempinski Hotel Chengdu faces now is its high employee turnover rate and its weakened ability of retaining the productive key employees.

Youmans Zhang is the director of the Human Resource department and the representative of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu in this thesis project. Youmans has more than 10 years’ international hospitality industry working experience. He is reputed for his professional expertise regarding human resource with an excellent international scope. In 2010, Youmans made one of the most important decision of his career---joining the legendary kempinski hotel group and started his new professional development at kempinski hotel Chengdu as the director of Human Resource department.

1.2 Reasons for the project and its Relevance for client

Youmans (2014) argues that “The fierce competition at Chengdu’s hotel market is getting even intensive than ever before and the ability of retaining those productive employees is the most significant factor for a hotel’s business success in this age”. Unfortunately, for the past years Kempinski Hotel Chengdu has suffered from severe brain drain, staff turnover rate increased and reached the peak in 2014 with a worrying 35%, which is higher than the average index of 31.2% for high-end hotel sector in Chengdu. If this disturbing phenomenon does not stop, Kempinski hotel Chengdu will lose its core competitiveness in the market. Youmans (2014) showed his great concern and stated “Brain drain will not only result in a depressed working morale among the hotel but also bring about heavy finance burden”.

Based on this consideration, Youmans believes the major work focus of HR department is to strengthen the hotel’s ability to retain the employees by improving employees’ job satisfaction level. As the department head, Youmans has planned to lunch a series improvement plan to upgrade the hotel’s HR practices for a higher employee satisfaction level.

Training, as one of the core HR practices is rated as the key area for the plan by Youmans as he believes “a more productive and valuable training system will largely benefit the employees’ job satisfaction level and enable the employees to stay”.（Youmans, 2015）Youmans’ argument has been proved by a large amount of previous study regarding the relationship between employee training and employees satisfaction level. Aselage (2003) describes if the employees receive the support from the employers, such as training, they will trust the employer and be satisfied with the working environment

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perceived investment in employee development is positively related to the affective commitment and the employee’s intention to stay in the organization.

As the representative of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu for this thesis project, Youmans would like the author to gain insight into the employees’ perception about the current employee training quality in the hotel. Based on the research findings, Youmans would also like to hear some concrete suggestions on how could HR department could improve the training quality in the further for the ultimate purpose of employee job satisfaction level improvement.

Conducting the research project could enable Kempinski Hotel Chengdu (represented by Youmans) to gain insight into employees’ opinions of the current training quality in the hotel. The findings of the research part would be then used as the basis for the advisory part where a number of possible recommendations regarding the training quality improvement will be presented.

1.3 Objective for advisory part

The objective for advisory part is to present a certain number of feasible and practical recommendations regarding how Kempinski Hotel Chengdu could improve the training quality based on the research result. The recommendations will lay the emphasis on the following training quality aspects: the trainers, the training content, the training method and the training application. The recommendations will be presented as a comprehensive training quality improvement plan covering all or some of the above-mentioned training dimensions with specific implementation schedules and financial forecasts. The hotel (represented by Youmans) could pick up the possible best recommendations after comparing all options and implement them as the training quality improvement strategies.

The central question that is going to be answered within the advisory part of the thesis is:

 How could Kempinski Hotel Chengdu improve the employee training quality?

1.4 Objective for the research part

The main objective of the research part is to gain insight into the employees’ perception regarding the current training system quality at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu on multiple dimensions. In order to realize the employees’ perception regarding the current training system quality it is also necessary for the author to be familiar with the current training system at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu in the first place. The result of the research part will be utilized as the basis for the advisory part, where a number of possible recommendations regarding improving the employee training quality will be presented.

Questions to be answered in the research part Central questions:

 What is the current training system at Kempinski hotel Chengdu?

 What is the employees’ perception of the current employee training quality at Kempinski hotel Chengdu?

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Chapter II Research Part

2.1 Research introduction

The main objective of the research part is to gain insight into the employees’ perception regarding the current training system quality at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu on multiple dimensions. In order to realize the employees’ perception regarding the current training system quality it is also necessary for the author to be familiar with the current training system at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu in the first place. The result of the research part will be utilized as the basis for the advisory part, where a number of possible recommendations regarding the employee training quality improvement in Kempinski Hotel Chengdu will be presented.

Questions to be answered in the research part Central question

 What is the current employee training system at Kempinski hotel Chengdu?

 What is the employees’ perception about the current training quality at Kempinski hotel Chengdu?

Related sub questions:

-What is the employees’ perception of the current trainers’ quality at Kempinski hotel Chengdu? -What is the employees’ perception of the current training content quality at Kempinski hotel Chengdu? -What is the employees’ perception of the current training effectiveness quality at Kempinski hotel Chengdu?

-What is the employees’ perception of the current training administration quality at Kempinski hotel Chengdu?

2.2 Theoretical Framework

2.2.1Core concept elaboration Concept of Employee training

According to Michel Armstrong (2007), “Employee Training is a systematic evolution of the knowledge, skills and attitudes required by an employee to perform adequately a certain task or job”. Edwin(2005) argues that “Employee Training is the act of increasing knowledge and skills of an employee for doing a particular job, The term ‘training’ indicates the process involved in improving the aptitudes, skills and abilities of the employees to perform specific jobs. Training helps in updating old talents and developing new ones.” Jackson(2006) also states that “The principal objective of employee training is to ensure the availability of a willing and skilled workforce to the organization. On the top of that, there are four other objectives: Individual, Organizational, Functional, and Social

Specifically, Jackson (2003) indicates the following 4 aspects of the objectives for employees’ training:  Individual Objectives–Trainings are helpful for employees in achieving their personal goals, which in

turn, enhances the individual’s contribution to the organization.

 Organizational Objectives–Trainings assist the organization with its primary objective by bringing individual effectiveness.

 Functional Objectives–Trainings help to maintain the department’s contribution at a stable level to the organization’s needs.

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 Social Objectives–Training ensures that the organization is socially and ethically responsible to the needs and challenges of the society.

Combs (2008) in his study, revealed that ”Training can reduce probability of failure as training effects performance, enlarges the skill base and develops the level of competence, It helps in developing climate for learning which not only aids in training to flourish but also supports self-managed learning practices like coaching and mentoring” Bowley (2007) found that “Training positively impacts productivity, which results in a higher level of customer and employee satisfaction thus increasing brand value.”(P.18) aligned with the aforementioned researchers findings”. Smith (2006) claims” Employee training is an elusive phenomenon and it is a very formal, systematic and step wise process and the process of training is a systematic acquisition of skills, rules, concepts or attitudes that result in improved performance in organization”.

Concept of “Training quality”

Anthony (2003) defines training quality as "the totality of characteristics of a training entity that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs." Coetzer 2006 also argues “ The stated and implied training quality needs are the inputs used in defining training requirements from the donor and the

beneficiaries”(p.42) Training quality is also defined by Diane(2005) as“ Conformance to requirements or fitness for the training receivers, the training product or services must meet the intended objectives of the training and have a value to the donor and beneficiaries and that the beneficiaries can use the training material or service as it was originally intended”(p.17)

Cohn (2005) elaborates “the central focus of training quality is meeting or exceeding stakeholder’s expectations and conforming to the training design and specifications” (p.37)Allen (2004) argues “the ultimate judge for training quality is the beneficiary(trainees), it represents how close the training outputs and deliverables come to meeting the beneficiaries’ requirements and expectations.”

Tanner(2003) states “ how a beneficiary defines quality may be completely subjective, but there are many ways to make quality objective by defining the individual characteristics and determine one or more metrics that can be collected to mirror the characteristic.

Concept of “Training Quality Evaluation”

Shawn(2004) argues “The assessment of training quality is not an event - it is a process, a consistently high quality training product or service cannot be produced by a defective process. Training Quality management is a repetitive cycle of measuring quality, updating processes, measuring, updating processes until the desired quality is achieved. Universally, the assessment of training quality

assessment lay focuses on the quality of the trainers, quality of training effectiveness, quality of training content and the quality of training administration.”

Concept of “Employees’ Perception”

Robbins(2012) states “Perception can be defined as a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. Perception is not necessarily based on reality, but is merely a perspective from a particular individual’s view of a situation. In dealing with the concept of organizational behavior, perception becomes important because people’s behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself”.

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Buckley (2011) also argues ”Employee perception is a factor that can make a huge difference in the quality of the workplace. When employees view the workplace as being positive, there is a good chance the employee will be productive and remain with the employer for a long time. Negative perceptions of the company and the working environment can cause employees to seek opportunities elsewhere. Some of the factors that can impact employee perception include the nature of the working conditions, the policies and procedures of the business in general, and how much trust and respect is present between managers, employees, and coworkers. In addition, the offered training and development opportunities by the organization and how the programs help the employees’ work can also have a huge impact on the perception of an employee.

2.2.2 Theories and Models regarding the relationship of the core concepts

Training quality evaluation framework- CIPP Evaluation Model

In order to process the field research where the detection of the current employees’ perception on training quality is the main objective, a guiding training quality evaluation model is needed.

Daniel (2007) states

The CIPP Evaluation Model is a comprehensive framework for guiding evaluative perception of

instrumental training programs, projects, personnel, products, institutions, and systems”. Patton (2003) also argues “In this decision-oriented approach, training program perception is defined as the

“systematic collection of opinions and feedbacks about the activities, characteristics, and outcomes of the training programs to make judgments about the training, improve program effectiveness, and/or inform decisions about future training programming”.

Specifically, Mertens (2012) argues ”The context evaluation stage of the CIPP Model creates the big picture of where both the program and evaluative perception fit. This stage enables the employees to identify the needs, assets, and resources of a program in order to provide programming that will be beneficial. Context evaluation also identifies the administrative climate that could influence the success of the training program. To achieve this, the employees shall comply and assesses background

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Kempinski Hotel Chengdu, the employees’ perception regarding the training administration is to be researched and analyzed in this context evaluation stage”.

To complement context evaluation, input perception can be completed. In this stage, opinions and feedbacks are collected regarding the layout, content, and sequence of the training program. Its purpose is to assess the program’s strategy, merit and work plan against research, the responsiveness of the training program to the trainees, and alternative training content offered in similar programs. In the specific case of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu, the employees’ perception regarding the training content is to be researched and analyzed in this input evaluation stage.

In addition to context evaluation and input evaluation, reviewing program quality is a key component to CIPP. Process perception investigates the quality of the training program’s implementation. In this stage, program activities are monitored, documented and assessed by the training beneficiaries (trainees).Primary objectives of this stage are to provide feedback regarding the extent to which planned training activities are carried out in an effective and innovative way. In the specific case of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu, the employees’ perception regarding the trainers’ performance is to be researched and analyzed in this process evaluation stage.

The final component to CIPP, product evaluation, assesses the employees’ perception of the positive and negative effects of the training program had on its target audience (trainees), assessing both the intended and unintended outcomes. Both short-term and long-term outcomes are judged. During this stage, perception of stakeholders is analyzed, viewing outcomes that impact the group, subgroups, and individual. Applying a combination of methodological techniques assures all outcomes are noted in verifying evaluation findings. In the specific case of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu, the employees’ perception regarding the training effectiveness is to be researched and analyzed in this product evaluation stage.

Training quality improvement framework-PRACTICE model

Leslie (2012) introduces a practical model that will assist managers and trainers in integrating the training resources with the workplace for better training quality and effective behavior change. It is named as the PRACTICE model in order to emphasize the central theme of designing, implementing and applying the learning to workplace practice for the benefit of the organization.

Each element of the model captures an essential workplace factor for the effective transfer of learning. The elements are as follows:

For each of the key elements of training quality improvement, Leslie(2012) has the following explanation:

Procedures

Where the training is part of a change programme, the documented policies, procedures and work instructions need to be congruent with the new expected behaviors and require them in the workplace.

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These documents may need to be reviewed and revised, or they may need to be created if not already in existence.

Roles and Responsibilities

For transfer to be maximized, staff will require a clear message that they are to be held accountable for their actions and performance following the training. The training management department shall also establish an effective training evaluation system to ensure the trainees’ responsibility and behavior after the training. Role descriptions will need to be updated with unambiguous statements on the required behaviors and performance expectations.

Aids on the Job

Training aids used during training are ideal for replication in the work environment for employee use on the job. These include models, guides, diagrams, manuals, templates and checklists. Other opportunities to enhance the benefits of training include the development of forms, macros, go-no go gauges and poke yoke devices. Such on-the-job aids will serve to increase training transfer and improve workplace productivity and product quality and service.

Coaching

The importance of on-the-job coaching once training participants return to the job is now well documented. Assistance on-the-job may be synchronous or asynchronous, in person or mediated by technology. Assistance includes on-the-job coaching for more immediate skill requirements and mentoring for more long-term development or career needs. Many e-learning solutions are available now include training resources’ sharing on social media platform and mentoring via email and chat rooms.

Targets

Setting organizational objectives before training design begins is the cornerstone of successful training quality improvement. Establishing the training evaluation system could largely ensure the training has a clear and achievable target. If the organization doesn't know where it is going, all roads will take it there. So, firstly, identify the organizational outcomes that the improvement and training programmes will serve to achieve. What is the benefit to the organization of this programme? This may be a reduced number of defects shipped, increased proportion of new products in the range, reduced time to market, reduced waste, improved employee retention, and so on.

Incentives (Award & punishment policy)

Some staff will actively join the training progressions and apply the behaviors learned during the training for its own sake. These staffs are highly motivated by internal drivers, such as pride or a strong personal interest in self-development or new skills. However, many staffs will only join the training programs if urged and some staffs will positively react against the new expectations. For these latter two groups, transfer of training will remain minimal unless there is clear and dependable award & punishment policy of participating in training programs.

Communication

A comprehensive communication plan is the backbone to successful improvement and training programmes. Information that will require dissemination includes:

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 Training course objectives and schedule

 Purpose, instructions for use and location of on-the-job aids  Availability and contact details of the trainers

 Formal and informal employee performance feedback  Availability of staff incentives

Ensure that each piece of communication is sent to all appropriate levels in the organization is extremely improvement for the training quality improvement. Experience indicates that it is often overly optimistic to expect that information given from higher levels of management (For instance the HR department or training department in an organization) will be passed on to supervisors and frontline staff. While when this does happen, the filtering process in many cases leaves the original message unidentifiable so it is necessary for the training management part to keep clear and frequent contact with other stakeholders inside the organization.

Engagement

Employees need to be engaged in the learning process and later workplace application if training is to be effective. The trainers must work hard to motivate training participants to learn through a variety of techniques. However, currently a lot of the trainers’ training (teaching) skills are insufficient for a productive training program that there are not enough explanations, examples or interactions carried out during the training and the trainees will not choose to actively engage with the new skills if they perceive the training as dull or irrelevant for their jobs.

2.3 Literature Research

Through the literature research, the following central questions will be answered:

 What is the current employee training system at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu? 

Selected search method: Desk Research

Selected search resource:

<<Kempinski Hotel Chengdu Employee Training Manual>> (2014 edition)

<<Kempinski Hotel Chengdu Employee Training Manual>> is jointly written by General manager and HR department and it is the only dependable and authorized guiding manual for all training-related issues at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu including the current training content, training administration, trainers contact list, training room usage rules and so forth.

2.4 Field research methodology

The following central question will be answered by the field research:

 What are employees’ perception regarding the current training quality at kempinski hotel Chengdu?

Selected field research strategy: Quantitative Research The selection is based on the following reason:

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could generalize the research finding when it has been replicated on many different populations in a less time consuming way.” In this specific case of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu, the employees’ perception of training quality could be reflected from employees’ satisfaction level toward the training quality. In total there are about 500 employees working at the hotel therefore using the quantitative research could help the researcher to understand the employees’ perception on training quality and their job satisfaction level in an intuitive and time-effective way.

Selected data collection method: Questionnaire

Using questionnaire is a powerful tool to gather data(Oanh,2003).Available questionnaire solutions have led to widespread use of quantitative surveys, to collect, analyze, and use data to formulate strategies for problem solving in a business company. (Susan, 2005) Compared to other research method, a survey research often includes the following advantages: cheap cost, broad extensibility, high flexibility and proven dependability.

Questionnaire design:

The main objective of conducting the questionnaire survey is to gain insight into the employees’ perception regarding the current training quality at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu. Based on the result of the literature review, Shawn (2003) states “Employees’ perception regarding the four aspects of a training program could complete an comprehensive evaluation of the training program’s quality: Trainers’ quality (performance), Training content quality, Training effectiveness quality and training administration quality.” Therefore all the four aspects of the training quality will be covered in the questionnaire. On the other hand, these four components of training quality also correspond to the CIPP training program evaluation method invented by Patton (2003) where four dimensions of training program quality are included in a complete evaluation circle.

Shawn’s training quality dimension theory Patton’s CIPP training program evaluation theory

Training content quality Training input Training administration quality Training context Training effectiveness quality Training product

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Research Population

A research population is generally a large collection of individuals or objects that is the target and focus of a research program (Drury, 2009). In this case, the population of this research is the employees of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu with an approximate size of 500.

Research sampling frame

In statistics, a sampling frame is the source material or device from which a sample is drawn. It is a list of all those within a population who can be sampled, and may include individuals, households or institutions (David, 2005).In this case, Using this webmail system could ensure the designed questionnaire easily reach all the employees. Therefore the internal webmail system list is selected as the sampling frame for this research program.

Research sampling method-cluster sampling

Cluster sampling is a sampling technique used when "natural" but relatively homogeneous groupings are evident in a statistical population (Kish, 2005). Based on the fact that the sampling population for this case is comparatively big (around 500 employees) and a clear organizational chart has already been established therefore it is wise to cluster the population by the department setting inside the hotel.

Training Quality

Training content Quality Trainers’ Quality _{Training effectiveness Quality} Training administration Quality Clear goal setting

Relevance to the job

Usefulness for work performance improvement

Suitability for the current skills level

Curtain and innovation

Preparation

Knowledge level

Knowledge delivery skills

Ability of creative positive learning atmosphere

Explanation and example

Application

of

various

training method

Impact on work behavior

Impact on work efficiency

Impact on work knowledge

Impact on altitude and creativity

Evaluation of training achievement

Impact on work altitude or creativity Training attendance Physical condition Management support Policy support

Training consistency

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Sampling size

Sharon (2009) states: “Before calculating the sampling size needed for the project, it is necessary to know the desired confidence level, answer percentage and population.” According to Lohr (2011), most researches choose to have a 99% confidence level. As for confidence interval, it is decided by Answer Percentage and Population Size of the standardized research index. According to William (2000), the mostly settled index for Answer Percentage of quantitative research is 50%(meaning 50% of the respondents could choose “Yes” and 50% respondents could choose “No” for the questionnaire questions) and the assumed population in this case is 500 (employees). When all these three factors have been confirmed, it is wise to use the research sample size calculator, which is invented by Freedman (2003) to calculate the necessary sample size. The result of required sample size for this research project is 315, taking up 63% of the whole population.

The overview of the designed sampling result is as follow:

Department name Population Sampling size

Cluster 1 Front office 86 50

Cluster 2 Food & Beverage 92 63

Cluster 3 Kitchen 95 76

Cluster 4 Housekeeping 123 63

Cluster 5 Back-office department 102 63

In total 498 315

Selected data analysis method: SPSS computing

When all questionnaires are filled by the respondents and returned to the researcher, the data analysis process will start, since all questionnaire items regarding the employees’ perception of the current training quality are interpreted into the 5-point Liker answer sheets so all of the collected data belong to the “scale” level in SPSS system. The following univariate analytical data would be applied to the data analysis process:

o Frequency distribution

o The mean score (as the measure of central tendency) o The mode score (as the measure of dispersion.)

2.5 Literature research result

According to the <<Kempinski Hotel Chengdu Employee Training Manual>>, the current training programs inside Kempinski Hotel Chengdu could be divided into the following three categories:

 Employee onboarding orientation training  Departmental vocational skills training  Individual competence training

 Employee onboard hotel orientation training

The hotel onboard training is organized and implemented by HR department and the targeted audiences are the new employees who newly joined the hotel. The onboard orientation training will take place twice a month to ensure every new employee will have the chance to attend this important training as early as possible. The average length of the onboard orientation is two days and the regular venue for this training is training room No.1.It is compulsory for all the employees to participate in the onboard

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orientation. The content of the onboard orientation mainly includes:  Introduction of Kempinski Hotel Group

 Introduction of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu  Introduction of the hotel management board

 Introduction of the HR policies ( including employee perks, welfare and holiday, etc,)  Introduction of the hotel venues and facilities

 Introduction of the hotel departments

 Introduction of the employee code of conduct

 Introduction of the employee grooming and etiquette

 Introduction of the Hotel fire control knowledge and protocol  Team-building game

 Training testing

HR training officers will be the onboard orientation trainers and they are all quite experienced and proficient regarding the onboard training procedure. Usually they will use some visual aids (for instance PowerPoint and videos) to facilitate the training bur some of the visual aids are out-of-date (for instance the Kempinski hotel group’s introductory PowerPoint was made 6 years ago).Occasionally the trainers will ask questions or raise the discussion among the employees.

 Departmental Vocational skills training

According to << Kempinski Hotel Chengdu Employee Training Manual>>, the departmental vocational skills training refer to the trainings organized by department and aim at improving employees’ working performance. The planning of the departmental vocational skills training is based on the required service standard of the hotel and the actual need of the department. The departments head (usually the directors and senior managers) are responsible for formulating the << Annual department training plan>> at the beginning of the business year which specifies the training objectives, contents, selection of the trainers and implementation details. The training plan will be handed to the HR department for inspection. If the annual training plan is approved by the HR department then the department will be allowed to execute the formulated training plan.

Usually the departmental vocational skills training could be categorized into the following2 types:

Initial job skills training

The initial job skill training is targeted for those new employees and the general objective of the initial job skills training is to enable the new employees to be familiar with the job description and working procedures. The initial job skill training helps the new employees to adapt to the working environment and cultivate the sense of belongingness to the department. The trainers for the initial job skills training program are the experienced department supervisors or managers, the average training length of the initial job skill training differs from 3 days to one week(mainly depend on the level of difficulty of the working position) after the new employee joins the department. Most of the initial job skills training take place on the working spot while a small number of the trainings take place in the training room.

On-job skills training

On-job skill training is the most important component of the departmental vocational skill training system. The target audiences of the on-job skill training programs cover all the employees who work in

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the same department, the planning of the on-job skills training is mainly based on the specific job-description of the working position in the department. During the on-job skills training the employees will get the chance to improve his/her proficiency level of the standard working procedure and learn new skills and knowledge. The trainers for the on-job skill training program are the experienced department supervisors or managers. The actual training hours for an employee during one week shall not be shorter than 4 hours. Most of the on-job skills training take place on the working spot while a small number of the trainings take place in the training room.

Normally the departmental vocational skill training shall be implemented under the supervision and guidance of HR department but in fact the communication between the HR department and other departments is quite weak. No department so far has an officially appointed “officer in charge of the training” therefore there is no regular report from the other departments to HR department regarding the training progress, attendance rate or the employees’ feedback for departmental training. The lacking of the communication between the two parts might have a negative impact on the quality control of the departmental training programs.

 Individual competence training

Another critical part of the training system of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu is the individual competence training organized and implemented by HR department. Unlike the onboarding orientation training or departmental vocational skills training, the individual competence training does not focus on the working skills improvement but rather employees’ comprehensive individual quality growth. At the current stage, the HR department is offering the following training programs:

 English training

 Safety and Hygiene Training  Etiquette training

 Make up and grooming training  physiological guidance training

All of the above mentioned individual competence trainings will hire external experienced trainers to conduct the training and all the individual competence training programs are open to the employees as voluntary training programs. HR department will publicize the information of these training programs through internal webmail memo or the training poster on the employee gallery. Employees who are interested in those training programs are welcomed to register at HR department and HR department will deliver the specific training agenda to the employees via email or phone. The HR department will keep a record of the attendants’ names and the attendant race of these training programs while there is no regular evaluation procedure for the individual competence training.

2.6 Field research result

2.6.1 Data collection conclusion：

The questionnaire was distributed in digital form through the internal employee webmail system in the name of HR department at 11th_{May 2015 and the actual data collection time for this questionnaire is 2}

weeks. The number of the realized responds for the questionnaire survey of different departments is shown below:

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Departmental name Scheduled sample size Actual received responds

Actual respond rate

Front office 50 47 94%

Food & Beverage 63 52 83%

Kitchen 76 64 84%

Housekeeping 65 34 52%

Back-office department 63 55 87%

In total 315 304 78%

Gap between the expected sampling size and the actual realization:

Unfortunately by the time HR department launched the research program the hotel was experiencing a high business season that the room occupancy rate has boosted to 85% during the 2 weeks’ period so the operational departments especially the room division (Front Office and Housekeeping department included ) employees might not have sufficient time to conduct the questionnaire. Another limiting factor is the different level of the accessibility to the online digital questionnaire for different departments, Back-office departments(for instance finance and marketing department) present the highest respond rate and this phenomenon might mainly resulted from the fact that every employee in these department is equipped with a computer but for the housekeeping or kitchen department it is very difficult for the employees to get access to a computer and conduct the questionnaire during their heavily-loaded working hours.

2.6.2 Data analysis result

Based on the result of the field research at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu, the following statements could be drawn regarding the employees’ perception of the training quality:

Employees’ perception Regarding Training content quality

Most of the trainees do agree that the current training programs are useful and related to their jobs or individual competence development and all the training programs have clear and specific goals. Some training contents are perceived as “not suitable for my current level of knowledge or working skills” indicating that the difficulty level of some trainings need to be adjusted. Especially for the departmental skill training section, large number of employees expressed their concerns of the difficult training contents and the lack of clear explanations and examples about the training content. The monotony of the current training is another point that deserves attention, many employees believe the current training method is still based on the traditional classroom-teaching style and the interactions between the trainers and trainee are not enough. The employees are expecting new training methods or platforms that could enable the training to be more innovative and interesting.

Employee’s perception regarding trainers’ quality

Both the internal and external trainers are perceived to be very responsible for the training programs that most of the employee agree that they all make full preparation for the training and they are fully knowledgeable regarding the training content. However, according to the research result, huge distance exists between internal and external trainers’ performance that external trainers outperformed the internal trainers regarding many aspects for instance the ability to motivate the trainees, the ability to

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create inspiring learning atmosphere and the ability to use visual and audio aids during the training. The research result indicates the truth that comparing to the professional external trainers，who work at training company，the internal trainers need to improve their training skills so the training knowledge could be delivered to the trainees in a more effective way.

Employee’s perception regarding the training effectiveness

For short-term hotel onboarding orientation training, most employees agree that the orientation training does help them to know the hotel and their jobs better. While for the long-term training programs like departmental vocational skillful training and individual competence training ，because the lack of systematic training evaluation system, employees’ perception regarding the training effectiveness is very limited and vague. Because of this shortcoming of the current training system, the departments do not lunch follow-up activities to confirm and track the training effectiveness and improve the training program design accordingly.

Employees’ perception regarding the training administration

Based on the research result, the training administration is quite alarming regarding the departments’ support toward their employees’ attendance on the training program. Large number of employees stated that their department supervisors and managers do not support their attendance on the training program and when conflicts happen between employee’s working agenda and the training agenda the supervisors will always choose to sacrifice employees’ training opportunity to serve the working schedule. Especially for the individual competence training, because it might not be directly related to employee’s work ability, the department heads are not willing to allow the employees to attend the trainings even though the training has been proved to be useful and productive for the employee’s personal development.

The specific SPSS data analysis numeric output and analysis for separate questionnaire item could be found at the appendix of the report.

2.7 Research Reflection

After drawing the conclusion of the research findings and answer to the research question. It is necessary to exam whether this research report is validity and reliable and is worthy of being used as the basis for the advisory. The reflection will focus on the following part：construct validity，internal validity，external validity ,reliability of measurement instrument, reliability of the sample and reliability of measurement procedure.

Construct validity assessment：

The core judgment standard of construct validity is whether the operationalization cover the core concept of the research question (Patricia,2013). In this case，the core concepts is “training quality”. The operationalization is believed to be sufficient and specific enough. According to the literature research, four major sub-concept of “training quality” are presented and covered within the questionnaire in the form of 22 sub-sub components being operationalized and transferred into measure questionnaire items. However some sub-sub components are overlooked in questionnaire design such as “trainers impact on working altitude “and “the policy support for training administration “that there are only one or two questions related to these sub-sub concepts presented in the questionnaire. For these overlooked

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sub-concept aspect there are relative or similar questionnaire questions presented so this part of validity shortage could be compensated to a small extend.

In general，the validity of the construct（operationalisation）is basically good even though there indeed is a room for improvement regarding the comprehensiveness of the questionnaire design.

Internal validity assessment

The core judgment standard of internal validity is where the conclusions about causality is drawn rightfully. (Patricia, 2013) As a matter of fact, the conducted research is a descriptive research with only one core variate( perception on the quality of training) and intends to factually reflect the facts regarding certain subjects therefore there is no obvious causality exist in the research. It is believed that the choices the respondents made in the questionnaire is the result of the casualty of the research because the respondents used to take part in the training programs so they have formulated certain opinions regarding the training programs and the questionnaires are the supporters for them to express their views and opinions. Therefore there is no spurious relationship exist in the research.

To summarize the conclusion is rightful and supported by the logic therefore this report possess a strong internal validity.

External validity assessment Patricia (2013) states:

The core judgment standard of external validity is if the risk of systematic errors is lowered enough and it contains following three aspects：

Sampling frame (the sampling frame should be relevant and not contaminated) Sampling method (the sampling method should be probability-based)

(Non-) response (should not lead to bias)

First of all, the sampling frame for research is the internal webmail system of the hotel which contains the detailed employee profiles of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu. Every employee has the unique email address in the system. During the data-collecting process it has been founded that there are some email-address turn to be invalid or belong to the ex-serving employees. So there is a certain level of contamination and irrelevance exists in the sample frame. However this amount of false sampling frame is believed to be only a small proportion because the author only receive less than 20 error warnings that the email address do not belong to the current available employees.

For sampling method, cluster sampling is selected as the sampling method could both ensure the employees from different department could be involved in the research program and the sampling size is 315 employees, which is more than 60% of the total population meaning every employee’s possibility of being selected is higher than 50%.

For (Non-)response situation，the initial sample size is 315 and the realized simple number is 252 and the non-response sample number is 63(The possible reason for this is discussed in the data collection result part) therefore the non-respond percentage is 30% and the respond bias of this research is believed to be acceptable because of the fact that from the realized samples the author didn’t find any

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evidence of identification bias（they are all employees of Kempinski hotel Chengdu and they all use valid internal webmail system to answer the questionnaire）

To conclude, the external validity of this research is believed to meet the basic standard even though the slight level of contamination on sampling frame and the small number of non-response could reduce the validity to a small degree.

Reliability assessment：

Reliability of the measurement instrument：

The author believes the questionnaire questions are unambiguous and clearly understandable for every respondent. The client of the thesis report, Youmans also inspected the questionnaire carefully and no objection mentioned. There is no complaint from the receivers that the questionnaire is hard to understand either. The questionnaire questions are based on the operationalization and are specific enough to be distinguished from each other. Therefore the reliability of the measurement instrument is dependable.

Reliability of the sample：

Two aspects should be assessed regarding the reliability of the sample：The size of the sample and the size of the respondents (Patricia, 2013). For the sample size, 315 employees are targeted by the research and is believed to be enough for a five-star hotel like Kempinski hotel Chengdu. The realized respondent volume is 252(71% of the sample size). The comparatively high rate of response will ensure the reliability while the non-response rate (29%) is acceptable for both the author and the client Mr. Youmans. Reliability of measurement procedure：

Since this research is a web-mail internet research so the condition for each respondents are equal. The Time of filling in the questionnaire is believed to be short（less than 5 minutes）so it is believed that the respondents could focus on the questions in this short period of time and give a true answer. However there might be certain situations that the questionnaire is filled out by someone else other than the respondents him/herself which is almost unavoidable in web-mail questionnaire survey. In general，the reliability of measurement procedure is high.

Conclusion：The validity of this research is believed to be high and the author trusts the outcome of the measurement will lead to the same outcome if the measurement is repeated.

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Chapter III Advisory Part

3.1 Objective for advisory part

The objective for advisory part is to present a certain number of feasible and practical recommendations regarding how could Kempinski Hotel Chengdu(represented by Youmans Zhang) improve the employee training quality.

The advisory part will firstly present the selected alternative solutions all aiming at improving employee training quality at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu based on the field and literature research result. All alternative solutions will be roundly based on an authoritative project assessment tool named Harmonised Quality Assessment. Besides the assessment, the implementation plan based on the PDCA cycle for the alternative solutions together with the financial implication will also be presented.

Kempinski Hotel Chengdu (represented by Youmans) could pick up the possible best alternative solutions after comparing the assessment results of all alternative solutions and their corresponding implementation plans. The selected solutions could be utilized as the upgrading plan of the employee training system at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu for the ultimate purpose of improving the employees’ job satisfaction level and lower employees’ turnover rate.

3.2 Alternative solutions overview 3.2.1 Training passport

Aimed shortcoming of the current training system---Insufficient support and supervision for employees’ training participation

According to the research result and analysis it has been indicated that the supports and supervisions on employees’ participation towards both the on-job vocational skills training and individual competence training are not sufficient. Specifically the mean score of the questionnaire item “my supervisors and managers allow and supports me to join the on-job vocational skills training is” 2.7, while the mean score of the questionnaire item ““my supervisors and managers allow and supports me to join the personal competence skills training is” 2.3. Both the research findings imply the fact that the department leaders do not place sufficient importance on the necessity of their employees’ participation of the on-job vocational skill training and individual competence skills training.

On the mean time, the conducted literature research also implies the significance of a well-established incentive supervision system for the training participation. Leslie (2012) states in his PRACTICE model of the training improvement method that “Many staffs will only join the training programs if urged and some staff will positively react against the new expectations. For these latter two groups, transfer of training will remain minimal unless there is clear and dependable award & punishment policy of participating in training programs”.

The disturbing truth of the current training system is that because of the insufficient supervision and management for the training programs, large number of employees failed to attend their desired training programs. This phenomenon will not only waste the training sources but also will reduce employees’

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satisfaction level.

Training Passport Design

Objective

The objective of using training passport is to strengthen the supervision of the employees’ training participation so that more employees could join the desired and necessary training programs.

Distribution

The training passports will be distributed to all current employees at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu once they are printed out. The new employees will receive their exclusive training passport when they process the employee check-in procedure at Human Resource department.

Content

Training passport will list all available training programs of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu which are possible for ordinary employees to join. The following each page of the training passport will specify one particular training program with the short description. The feedback column on the bottom is designed for the feedback-giving from both trainers and trainee. At the bottom of the page a blank column will be presented for the trainers to confirm trainees’ completion of the particular training program. Below is a conceptual design of the page inside the training passport:

All available training programs in this training passport will be basically divided into two categories: the compulsory trainings and optional trainings. The training passport will specify those compulsory training

Training program name: Employee Onboard Orientation

Training Type: compulsory Training

Training length: 3 days

Trainers: training officers from HR department

Training description: the employee onboard orientation training is aiming for helping newly onboard

employees to know the basic information of Kempinski Hotel Chengdu and the code of conduct as an

employee at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu.

Date of training:_______________________________________________________

Trainers’ feedback

---

Trainers’ signature

---

Trainer’s signature for confirmation Trainee’s signature for confirmation

--- ---

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that the employees have the obligation to finish within 3 months or within 1 year. On the other hand, the training passport will also specify the required training hours that an employee must fulfill for the optional training programs.

Training passport management

The main objective for issuing the training passport is to improve the employees’ attendance rate for training program and utilize the training resources in a better way. Once all the training passports are delivered to the employees, The HR department will write the memo to inform all departments the start of the training passport usage. Every employee in the hotel is required to read through the training passport and be aware of both the compulsory and optional training programs and their corresponding time-limit for participation. When the employees go to the training they are required to bring the training passport and give it to the trainer, the trainer is responsible for offering feedback on behalf of the trainee’s behavior during the training and signing the signature for the confirmation of trainee’s participation.

HR department is responsible for collecting every employee’s training passport for the examination on a regular basis (preferably every quarter). With the training passport record the HR department will be able to track every employee’s training update，seeing whenever he/she receives the necessary trainings and how he/she performed during the trainings according to the feedback provided by the trainers.

Award & punishment policy

The smooth implementation of the training passport project could only be ensured with rigid award & punishment policy. For those employees who actively take part in the training programs and meet the training requirements the HR department will award the employees with extra bonus (approximately 200 RMB for every quarter) and for those employees who do not fulfill the training requirements HR department is obligated to find the reason through face-to-face communication with the employee. If the employee’s limited involvement of training is due to the personal reluctant intention then the training officer will enlighten the employee about the importance and benefit of the training. However, if the employee’s absence of training is because of the supervisor’s order then the supervisor will be responsible for the employee’s loss. Either the employee or his supervisor will have another quarter’s time to improve the employee’s training attendance rate. If this phenomenon does not get better at the end of next quarter then the employee or the supervisor will be punished with a notice of violation plus a fine (approximately 200RMB).

Financial implication of the training passport project

The main cost of the training passport project is the purchase fee of the paper material, the approximate purchase price for one training passport is around 3 RMB therefore the total purchase fee of the training passport for all employees (including the spare copies )would be RMB 3*600=1800 RMB. The replacement for new training passport is expected to happen every 2 years.

3.2.2 “Train the trainers” program

Aimed defect of the current training system ---Internal trainers’ inadequate training skills

According to the result of the conducted research, it is clear that the internal trainers, especially the trainers for the departmental vocational skills training are not excellent at training skills and although

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most of the employees agree that they have good preparation for the training but the trainers are not able to conduct the training in a stimulating and inspiring way and their teaching skills need improvement. Trainees’ training effectiveness and motivation are directly affected by trainers’ performance therefore it is highly necessary to improve the Internal trainers’ performance during the training. The conducted literature research also emphasizes the importance of the trainers’ training skills, In the PRACTICE model of training quality improvement，Leslie(2012) argues “Employees need to be engaged in the learning process and later workplace application if training is to be effective. The trainers must work hard to motivate training participants to learn through a variety of techniques.”

As a matter of fact, the trainers for the on-job vocational trainings are mostly the supervisors or managers from different departments who profound working skills but are lacking of training skills and experience. Based on this consideration, lunching a training program that specifically designed for the internal trainers are believe to be beneficial for both the training quality and the personal development of the trainers.

The objective of “Train the trainers” program

The goal of the “Train the trainers” program is to improve the trainers’ training skills and performance and eventually benefit the hotel’s training quality. According to Jacoby (2005), a successful vocational skills trainer in hospitality industry shall possess and master the following knowledge and skills:  The importance of training

 The characteristics of adult education

 Teaching tactics and skills for adult education  Procedures of designing a skill training

 How to effectively use training methods  How to use study material during the training  How to use the visual/audio aids during the training  How to motive the trainees during the training  How to evaluate the training effectiveness

The listed trainers’ qualities are also defined as the specific training objectives of the “Train the trainers” program at Kempinski Hotel Chengdu.

Training design for the “Train the trainers” program

In order to ensure the quality of the “train the trainers” program, a highly experienced and professional training team is necessary. Since the training focus of this program is the training skills and techniques rather than actual hotel vocational skill therefore it is believed that the trainers must be extremely familiar with both hotel industry and adult training skills.

Concerning these two requirements, the professors from Chengdu’s most famous hotel school-Chengdu YinXin Hotel Schools are considered to be the best candidates for the program. Most of the teachers in

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hotel business knowledge including the effective way to conduct training in a hotel. On the other hand, years of teaching and researching experiences at school enable them to know the most effective methods of adult education. Considering the long-established business relation between Kempinski hotel Chengdu and YinXin hotel school( every year the school will deploy their senior students to conduct the internship at kempinski Hotel Chengdu) , asking these professional teachers to conduct trainers’ training program is highly feasible and is likely to strengthen the corporation between the school and hotel.

The selected teachers from YinXin hotel school will sign a part-time working contract with Kempinski Hotel Chengdu specifying their working hours, job description as well as their rights and obligations regarding this job. The payment of this part-time job will be discussed between HR department and Yin Xin Hotel School to ensure a fair and reasonable remuneration standard.

Financial implication of the “Train the trainers” project

The main cost for the “Train the trainer” project is the teaching fee for the external professors from YinXin Hospitality School. The teaching fee is calculated in an hour-based standard. According to the scheduled training agenda, during a business year there will be 64 hours’ of “Train the trainers” classes and the average hourly fee for the professors will be around 200 RMB (€25) therefore the total annual cost for the “Train the trainers” project will be :

200RMB*64hours=12800 RMB (€1900)

3.2.3 Departmental training coordination system

Aimed shortcoming of the current training system---lacking of coordination between HR department and other departments

The research result illustrates the fact that many employees feel the departmental training management and supervision system is not well-developed and could not ensure the smooth training participation for the employees. Some department managers might still believe the training management and supervision is still “the business of HR department” instead of an indispensable part of departmental work. The previously conducted literature research also signify the importance of the training communication within an organization, Leslie (2012) states: “A comprehensive communication plan is the backbone to successful improvement and training programmes. Ensure that each piece of communication is sent to all appropriate levels in the organization is extremely important for the training quality improvement.”

Currently no department has appointed manager or supervisor that specializes in managing the departmental training and communicating the training result with HR department. The severe lacking of departmental training management and the shortage of coordination between the department and HR department is believed to be one of the bottleneck for the training quality improvement in the hotel.

The Objective of the departmental training coordination system

The objective of the departmental training coordination system is to improve the management quality of departmental training and tighten the connection between HR department and other departments on training domain. Specifically，the establishment of this system is expected to generate the following effectiveness: