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Marina: Hi Steve, have you got a moment?
Steve: Sure, what is it?
Marina: Well, Roberto had a word with me last night. He is worried about the level of training that new staff members have. That kitchen fire was just a silly incident but if Roberto hadn’t known how to use the fire extinguisher properly and speedily, the consequences could have been much more serious.
Steve: Hmm, I agree – but isn’t Jenny going to plan some Health and Safety training for new staff?
Marina: Yes, but I think we should do some refresher training for all staff both new and old – it would be useful for everyone to remember the basics before the conference. If anything serious happened, it would be disastrous for our reputation.
Steve: You’re right. Let’s mention that to Jenny. Anything else?
Marina: Yes, I’d like to be able to reassure Roberto that the people he deals with during the conference will have experience in hospitality. The more I think about it, the more I don’t think we should employ inexperienced students – they may work out cheaper but it’s a risk, and Roberto won’t be happy if things don’t run smoothly, especially not after last night.
Steve: Hmm, If we hire experienced catering staff, it will definitely push our costs up.
Marina: And if we don’t hire them, we could lose Roberto, and have a whole lot of problems with people who don’t know what they are doing! If we are trying to make a good impression with our first big conference, we really can’t afford to do that.
Steve: Well, if that’s the case, we’ll just have to see where we can cut corners elsewhere in our budget.
Marina: Okay, I’ll look at the menu again with Roberto and see if we can find any room for savings there.
Steve: Good, and I’ll tell Jenny to organise some refresher training for all of us. And I’ll bring up both these points at the all-staff meeting we’re having later this week.
Marina: Great, I think that we can sort something out…
(At the general meeting)
Steve: Right, okay, moving on to the last point on the agenda, and really it’s over to you, eh, if you’ve got any questions about the bid to host the conference, we’re here to answer them. So, are there any questions?
Female staff member: Ehh, yeah. I work in housekeeping, will we be expected to do overtime that weekend? There are going to be a lot of guests by the sound of things.
Steve: Good question. The management team – myself, Jenny and Marina that is - think that it would be better to hire extra help just for the Saturday when we would need to get a lot of rooms tidied – we’ll probably hire four to five extra people for that day. Rosie the housekeeper already has a list of people who may be able to help out…
Rosie: That’s right.
Steve: Then once guests are checked out, we can deal with getting the linen washed and so on in our own time. We are trying to keep our costs down in the proposal because if we win this bid, it will mean a lot more business for us in the future, and that is good for all of us. Okay?
Hotel staff: Yes...that’s fine...thanks.
Roberto: I can understand the need to keep costs down, Steve, in fact I think Marina and I have created two great menus with this in mind, but I am worried about having inexperienced people working directly with our guests, I am talking about catering staff here. If we want to offer great service, we need experienced, trained, competent waiting staff, not people who are going to cause trouble in my kitchen all the time.
Jenny: Yes Roberto, I can answer you there. We have decided that it is best if we hire people who have catering experience, so we have chosen to employ an extra 10 waiting staff over the conference weekend from a specialist catering agency, all of them with a lot of experience, so you can put your mind at rest there.
Roberto: Oh, that’s a great relief, Jenny! Thank you.
Steve: So, er… any other questions? Yes, Dave, I know you wanted...
(later on)
Naomi: Did you hear that, Luke? Roberto just won’t let me forget about that stupid fire.
Luke: Don’t take it personally, Naomi. I’m sure he wasn’t referring to you. Look, I know Roberto, if he had something to say to you, he’d say it directly to your face.
Naomi: Well, maybe. Sometimes I just think I’m not cut out for being a waitress.
Luke: Nonsense! Customers wouldn’t leave you such big tips unless you were a great waitress, right?
Naomi: I guess you’re right, Luke. I just hope I can convince Roberto of that and hang onto my job at the same time!
