Staff Training

by Frank Mitchell

Introduction to Staff Training

Welcome to our new monthly column on training household staff.

Staff training is a crucial resource in improving service delivery. It is an investment both in the individual staff member, as well as an investment in the successful running of the household.

When hiring an external trainer, you can be sure the principal will want to see a return on investment. Even the best training, if poorly planned or inappropriately targeted, will have unsatisfactory outcomes. Having the knowledge to conduct good research and plan training properly is essential, even if you will not conduct the training yourself.

It is often assumed that smaller households lack the skills and resources to conduct their own training. This is incorrect. You should be able to train simple skills. Being an expert in your field is insufficient: training requires a different skills-set to serving and managing. Good planning, a structured approach, and sound training technique will not only improve service delivery and staff morale, but also reduce the costs and risks associated with running a household.

It is not unreasonable for an employer to expect you to raise service and safety standards through training. Doing so combines well with the butler ethos of constant improvement.

In next month’s newsletter, we will be looking at the argument for training household staff.

Frank Mitchell’s background is as a private-service butler who then became a head butler at a hotel, and then a butler trainer with the Institute. While he continues to train butlers for the Institute occasionally, his focus for the last decade has been on training staffs. He has written several columns for the MBJ over the years. 

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.