Employee Education and Community Involvement |
| For a hotel, training its staff to its environmental programme
is no less important than the programme itself. A well-thought-out
and well-executed education and training effort is a prerequisite
for environmental initiatives to be both successful and sustainable. |
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| The basic purpose of staff training is to instruct and guide
hotel employees about the procedures and practices they must
follow, for their department to achieve its environmental
targets. There is also a larger purpose: the need to educate
employees about the company’s environmental and/or responsible
business policy. And it is not enough for individuals to be
simply aware of their company’s policy and ethos; they
need, through education and training, to develop the sensitivities
that enable them to contribute both within, and to, an eco-friendly
environment. |
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| In developing training programmes, management is faced with
at least two main questions: the ‘how to’ of staff
education and training; that is, will the education and information
sessions take place in a large, formal set-up involving staff
across departments and operations and take the aid of presentations
and information manuals? Or will the education and training
take place within individual departments, involving small
groups and their particular supervisors? Moreover, what combination
of these alternatives will be utilised? The second question
is ‘how often’; in other words, how frequently
must training take place to keep the hotel’s environmental
programme in the forefront of everyone’s minds? |
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| Regular and frequent meetings help hotels maintain staff
awareness of its efforts and targets; they also provide opportunities
to educate and share information with team members—about
the need for sustainable hotel operations and how their individual
and collective efforts can make a difference. In addition
to updating staff on the progress achieved, managers can use
briefing sessions to let their respective teams know how savings
will be used by the hotel. The knowledge that the money saved
through their efforts will fund a particular social or environmental
project (or provide a similar tangible benefit), strengthens
employees’ interest and participation in the programme. |
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| A hotel’s community awareness and outreach effort
is a good barometer of its environmental commitment. And the
success of these efforts is driven by employees’ belief
in their hotel’s environmental programme. Community
Development initiatives are therefore awarded points under
this fourth globe – Employee Education and Community Involvement. |
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The Orchid
Mumbai |
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Rodas
Mumbai |
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Lagoona
Lonavala |
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Hotel Gautam
Mahabaleshwar |
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The Uppal’s Orchid
Delhi |
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Cabbana Orchid
Phagwara |
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The Fern
Jaipur |
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The Beach Orchid
Kollam |
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