Struggling to Engage New Hospitality Staff from Manipur: How Can I Help Them Open Up?

Dear Friends,

I have recently acquired a new group of employees for the hospitality industry. The problem is that despite repeated attempts and activities, I am unable to bring them out of their shell. All the participants are from Manipur, but they understand English quite well. However, the moment I start asking something, they either lower their heads or stare blankly.

Kindly suggest some ways to help them interact better. Being in the hotel industry, it is crucial for them to interact and be friendly with the guests. How can I encourage them to do that?

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Warm Regards, Divya

Hi Divya,

You have not given enough info as to what the activities involve. I would suggest that you prepare some short case studies and form them into groups. Ask them to discuss the cases and elect a spokesperson to give feedback. Make the teams rotate the spokesperson.

Alternatively, you could try role plays where a worker acts like a customer and the other person deals with the customer.

Have a nice day.

Simhan

Dear Simhan,

Thank you for the response. I have already tried case studies and role play. During case studies, they will not speak. They just stand and look at the floor. In the case of a role play, they don't do anything except stand, and if I tell them to do anything, they tell me they don't know how to act. Kindly suggest some other activities.

Warm Regards,
Divya

Dear Divya,

If they are from the hospitality industry, then please train them on "Presentation Skills." Once they master this skill, they will be able to overcome their nervousness. But above all, the trainability of the staff is also important. Was any IQ test conducted while recruiting them? Lack of responsiveness could result from either nervousness or low IQ.

Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
+91
dineshdivekar(at)yahoo.com

Hello Divya,

I can understand your frustration. I had similar problems with some Chinese and foreign students not taking an active part during the MBA course. That was mainly on account of their deficiency in spoken English. Could that be the same case with your students?

Without knowing students' backgrounds, their age, etc., it is not easy to advise you. One idea may be to appoint individuals to take over the session, leave the room, and ask them to generate responses to key questions that you want answered, and write it up on a flip chart or a board. This step may remove the fear of exposing their weakness to the trainer.

I have successfully tried this method with mature students. Hope this works for you, too.

Have a nice day.

Simhan