ANOTHER 70-PLUS Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) members are benefiting from an intense hospitality-focused training programme called Leadership 21.
The programme, an initiative developed by the Association and the Potter Center, is geared towards significantly enhancing the leadership competencies and effectiveness of managers and supervisors in the Barbados hospitality industry, enabling sustained excellence in service delivery and assuring Barbados’ generation of income from the sector.
Speaking to the participants at the launch of the second segment of the programme, BHTA’s chief executive officer, Sue Springer, explained that the first programme last year also attracted over 70 participants and by the end of the full programme in 2016 over 300 BHTA managers and supervisors in the industry would have completed the training.
“Three recent studies, the 2009 BHTA Tourism Competitiveness Study, 2010 NISE Study on Service in Barbados and 2014 Draft Tourism Master Plan all identified the lack of management and supervisory skills in the industry. This emphasises the importance of this training at this time across the board and we are extremely pleased that in this segment one of the Cohorts is dedicated to Senior Management and includes a number of General Managers.
“Let me congratulate each of you participating over the next three months as I strongly believe in personal development - opening yourself to new techniques and new skills. If Barbados is to remain competitive it is essential that we continuously improve our skills for consistent and reliable delivery of service excellence,” Springer said.
She also noted that the programme, funded by the Competency-Based Training Fund (CBTF), was designed and delivered in concert with CVQ Management Level 3 Occupational Standards, which is recognised certification locally and across the Caribbean.
Providing an overview of the programme, founder and Principal Consultant of the Potter Center, Toney Olton, explained that participants will develop tools and techniques to improve their performance management, communication, change management, problem solving and decision making skills.
He added that a minimum of 80 per cent geared to complete full or unit CVQ Management Level 3 Certification within six months of completing the training.
Participants of the first segment, Teresa Nicholls of Hilton Barbados Resort, Michelle Estwick of Caribbean ARI and David Forde of Courtyard Marriott, shared their experience with the new students, noting that the programme focused on personal development, team work and motivation. “You will learn a lot about yourself during this course but do not procrastinate as it will not work here and do not be daunted by the work as it is based on your day to day job,” was some of the advice they gave.
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