Leadership Development is going to be one of the conversation starters for our industry this year. Emerging leaders are moving to companies that value their goals and development. If we are not investing the time and money to grow our current leaders, we will be on the hiring merry-go-round. Teach them how to be an empathetic, compassionate, energetic, and fair leader, and you will have a lifer on your hands.

Heading into 2023, it has never been more important to make a positive impact on our guests. With increases seen across all industries, training to “Deliver Value” is paramount. Within the guest experience, we must train the value of hospitality to increase the experience. We must equip our people to bring profit. We feel so strongly about this focus that we have a brand-new “People Bring Profit” podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Support and retention are training trends to pay attention to in the year ahead. In high turnover industries, it’s impactful to focus on support and retention as soon as an employee is hired. Providing a warm welcome and smooth onboarding process plants the seed that the organization committed to employee success. Ensuring their training is organized and easy to understand along with providing a dedicated path to development within the organization will all contribute to employee retention.

I expect to see a request of training functions to provide solutions to train the workforce faster and more independently, allowing seamless integration into day-to-day operations. With turnover at an all-time high, operations partners need people ready to contribute and serve guests faster. Teams are stretched thin, and they need support now. Building learning that can support this trend and prevent burnout and attrition will help to break the cycle.

The main trend I’m watching is the movement to understanding and delivering what team members need in their workplace experience. As a friend of mine always says “the guest experience will never exceed the team member experience.” Training that understands and reflects that insight will dominate the year ahead.

I believe a trend for 2023 will be personalization. One-size-fits-all training does not work for today’s learner, and by creating a personalized training experience, hospitality trainers will be able to better engage with their learners. Hands-on training and adaptive learning strategies are key to help with personalization. At the end of the day, better engagement leads to better retention, and everyone wins!

As the needs of operators grow and evolve at a rapid pace, the need for trainers to upskill is increasingly vital. Digging into the ways adults learn, learning the methods of content design and delivery, and project management fundamentals will be vital for those who are wanting to grow beyond field trainers. More than a recommendation from leaders, I see this becoming the norm in hospitality training.

I believe training professionals must continue to focus on the basics in 2023. As turnover continues to be an opportunity area, we must focus on ensuring our associates are fully trained and have the confidence to take care of guests and each other. Simultaneously, the new year will bring a new way of training, both in operations and academia. I see a place where instruction happens via e-learning or video/virtual courses, and application happens in person or on-the-job.

We need to focus on what really matters. We all work because we need an income, but I believe that, especially in the hospitality industry, we need more people that truly like, and hopefully can even love, this industry (again). The only way the industry can bloom is if the people (and it is all about them) working in it find satisfaction in it. It will be a tough job, but I’m sure that together, we can!

More partnership with universities as a source of preparing the next generation of workers, both as a source of recruitment, and also a source of making sure universities are preparing students with the skills that they need to be successful in a hospitality organization as they start their careers.

Targeted and intentional cross-training will define hospitality training in 2023. These days, getting fully staffed seems to be as possible as spotting big foot riding a unicorn. That means the people we do have must be better trained and more flexible than ever. The more time you spend cross training people in your restaurant or hotel, the less likely call-offs or low staffing will impact your business.

The key trend that I believe will impact hospitality training this year and in the years to come, is the embracement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. At Wienerschnitzel, we have implemented AI into our proprietary LMS to assist our Franchise Community. AI technology allows our Franchise Community to be more efficient. I see this trend also being embraced by fellow brands out there in the drive-thru, with taking inventory, and even with staff scheduling. Technology advances will continue to teach us how to be more efficient in our restaurants.

I expect to see a shift toward training systems that allow learners to test out. Our new talent pool brings different skills to the table. Many new team members have already mastered aspects of the roles for which they’ve been hired. If we validate their abilities in advance through quizzing or demonstration, we can let them skip ahead. The result of this approach is a fast-track system, customized to the exact needs of each learner.

I’m finding that one of the byproducts of the “Great Recession” is that our industry and restaurants have seen a dramatic increase in applicants and new hires with little to no applicable restaurant experience. This has raised some challenges. But mostly, I am excited for the challenge of revisiting our training materials to ensure no topic takes anything for granted. It’s all about getting back to basic hospitality, and we are here for it!