The work addresses the need for continuous training of workers in the tourism sector as a way that contributes to them providing an excellent service to customers and thereby achieving full satisfaction of them. The weaknesses that are still manifested in the work of the Bartender in the hotel facilities of the tourist pole of Varadero, Cuba are specified and it is based on how the implementation of a training program in the workplace, can constitute a suitable training variant to overcome these difficulties.
Introduction
Training can be considered the central nucleus of the organic development of an organization, and an instrument that teaches, systematically develops and places anyone in a competitive situation, which is why it cannot be seen as a cost but as an investment.
In the guidelines of the economic and social policy of the party and the Cuban revolution, it is proposed "Achieve that the country's business system is made up of efficient, well-organized and effective companies…" and "increase Cuba's competitiveness in the markets, starting mainly from raising the quality of services… ”This is not possible unless training is seen as a factor of success.
Law 116/2014 Labor Code in the seventh section Training and improvement of workers, in article 39 establishes the obligation of the employer to organize the Training of workers in correspondence with the needs of production and services and the results of work evaluation.
In the Policy of Preparation, Formation and Training of Human Capital of the entities that make up the Tourism System, Resolution No. 21/2015 in the fifth reason that it is stated that: the development of Tourism in Cuba demands an effective preparation of the human resources, so it requires paying special attention to their continuous training, in order to guarantee a performance of excellence, as well as ensuring that the entities that make up the Tourism System make optimal use of and control training resources¨.
In response to this claim, the social commission of the Training Center of the MINTUR Delegation in Matanzas is to train and develop the human resources of our tourist entities.
Taking this social commission as a reference, the idea of this work arises:
Justification of the problem:
The Services area constitutes a decisive Department in the provision of services to external customers and the satisfaction of their needs, within this area the attention offered in bars occupies an important place, all under the responsibility of the Barténder, who are in charge of preparing preparations with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as light foods. In the diagnoses carried out by the teachers of the Training Center, difficulties have been detected in the performance of professional functions such as:
- Handling of work and service utensils. Skill and compliance with the basic rules of service in general.
In addition, they are manifested as weaknesses that also affect the service, the presence of psychosocial factors that influence the disposition at work, such as motivation, development possibilities, among others.
1.1 Theoretical considerations about training in the company.
From the moment he is born, the human being interacts with the environment around him, continuously receiving the influences that he assimilates according to his personal inclinations, which subsequently modify his behavior. This generates actions that are reflected in different areas, one of which is working life. Therefore, you need a level of knowledge that allows you to adapt and perform efficiently in your work, which you can acquire through Training.
This element is extremely important within an Organization, where man is the main protagonist in the action (he receives knowledge and uses it in the development of his work).
As each member of the Organization is more prepared in the execution of his role, he will do it more efficiently, with higher quality and the Organization will benefit from being able to provide better productions and / or services to his clients, which will allow him social recognition and enduring in time.
Below are different concepts about the term Training that appear in the consulted bibliography:
In the Cervantes dictionary Training is defined as: The action or effect of making one fit, enabling him for something.
According to Simón Dolan, employee training consists of a set of activities whose purpose is to improve their present or future performance, increasing it through the improvement of their knowledge, skills and attitudes.
Gary Desster argues that training consists of providing employees with new or updated skills necessary to perform their jobs.
The NC-SGICH-3000 presents training as a set of continuous and planned preparation actions, conceived as an investment developed by organizations aimed at improving the skills and qualifications of workers, to fulfill the functions of the position with quality, ensure their successful performance and achieve maximum productive or service results.
In our environment, the Company Training process currently responds to the existence of normative documents from the Ministry of Tourism that govern and implement the Human Resources Training and Training Policy, the Training Center of the Ministry of Tourism in Matanzas is the in charge of planning, instrumentation, organization and control in this regard.
These regulations require the heads of the Entities to adopt the necessary measures to strengthen the management of Training and their obligation to train and train their subordinates. They also require the preparation of an annual Training plan that integrates all the Tables, Reserves and workers from all occupational areas as well as trained and practical students, which will be duly approved and evaluated by the Board of Directors and will have budgetary support. that guarantees the execution of the actions at installation level. (RM 21/2015)
Training as it has been manifesting is the key to success in an Organization and responds to different moments of the Human Resources stay in an installation, for example:
- In the incorporation of people to the Organization, in the development in their job and when there are movements for the reduction or creation of jobs and even for the occupation of responsibilities and future jobs.
Human Resources are the most important asset and the true basis of competitive advantage in a strategic development plan.
Knowledge and experience are distributed throughout the organization, there is not a single person who masters all the information necessary to conduct it efficiently.
To achieve effective performance, enthusiasm and commitment must be "injected" into the workers, two qualities that the organization can gain but not impose.
The adaptation of the Company to them requires a special commitment of its human resources. The identification of the human being with the Company is the only basis that will make permanent change possible to prevent the advancement of competition.
The Training helps the members of the Organization to carry out their current job, its benefits can extend throughout their working life and can influence the development of that person to fulfill future responsibilities. Development activities, on the other hand, assist the individual in managing future responsibilities regardless of current ones. (Carribero, 2006).
These two concepts are defined below as defined in our social context:
Training: A set of preparatory actions developed by labor entities aimed at improving skills, qualification and requalification to fulfill the functions of the job with quality and achieve maximum productive or service results. This set of actions allows creating, maintaining and elevating the knowledge, skills and attitudes of workers to ensure their successful performance.
Development: Continuous and simultaneous process to the Training, directed to achieve multi-abilities, skills and values in the workers that allow them to perform wide profile jobs, with the competencies for satisfactory performance.
The process of incorporating members to the Organization does not end with their selection and hiring. Today's Organizations are in a dynamic and changing environment that requires significant efforts to adapt, (introduction of new technologies, product changes, restructuring of subsystems and jobs) which requires rapid changes in the professions and occupations in the that promotion systems intervene.
Today the selection for an Organization is insufficient if it is not taken into account that next to it a series of training programs must be planned. The professional training of the members of an Organization is not enough, it requires a systematic orientation, to teach the knowledge, skills and aptitudes necessary to carry out the tasks that demand a job, for future promotions and that provide development to the individual.
Training is a more specific type of professional education than professional training or improvement. It is, therefore, an educational process aimed at generating behavioral changes. It should not be considered as an expense, but rather as a short-term benefit, since it responds to the needs of Organizations in a given place and time.
Companies have the need to adapt to changes and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the environment in order to achieve viability, and one of the strategies to achieve this is Training.
Training serves to prepare personnel, providing the necessary skills to immediately carry out the various functions or tasks of the organization. In addition, it provides opportunities for continuous personal development, not only in current tasks, but also for other functions in which it may be developed in the future.
It is a palpable reality that Training helps to change people's attitudes, in order to create a more pleasant climate among workers, increase their motivation, achieve a better receptivity in the instructions of supervisors or clients, enhance attitudes communication and troubleshooting. (Collective of Authors, 2006).
No intervention, no change alone can fix all problems, but if the human ingredient is ignored, nothing else will work as well as it should. For years to come, companies whose people collaborate better will have a competitive advantage over those that have failed to develop this strength in their employees.
The legal obligation to train must be seen as the opportunity to professionally educate the personnel who work in the Companies and senior management must assume it as a strategic challenge, for which this implies: Education and Training to be better men, better companies and better citizens.
As fundamental ideas on this aspect, the following can be pointed out:
- The man is the main protagonist of Training in an Organization (he receives knowledge and transmits what he has). Training is a process that begins with the entry of a worker to the Organization through the socialization process aimed at behavioral changes that guarantees that an Organization lasts in the environment and in time. Training has a great impact for the Company as it fosters systemic thinking, personal mastery, new mental models, a shared vision and teamwork.
There are different training modalities such as: courses, postgraduate training, postgraduate courses, rotation and technical training on the job, among others.
Idalberto Chiavenato considers training as a form of training. It states that it is a short-term educational process, applied in a systematic and organized way, through which people acquire specific knowledge related to work, attitudes towards aspects of the organization of the task and the environment, and development of skills that they need to carry out. effectively your work. (Human Resources Administration, 2006).
In the present investigation, this modality is selected because it is considered the most feasible for the development of technical-professional skills and capacities in the Barténders because it enables them to learn-by-doing.
This research arises from the need to solve the weaknesses detected in the performance of the Barténders in the hotels of the Varadero tourist pole.
Research techniques used.
Research method: External or direct observation.
Selected technique: Structured interview.
Their fundamental characteristics are defined below.
External observation as a research method can be defined as the attentive, rational, planned and systematic perception of the manifestations of the psyche in its natural conditions, with the aim of offering a scientific explanation of its internal nature.
External observation is characterized by the study of the spontaneous manifestations of the phenomenon in its natural setting, this means that the researcher does not intervene in the production or development of the phenomenon, but merely registers its natural manifestations as they occur.
To fully develop scientific observation it is necessary to meet a series of requirements:
- It is essential that the researcher clearly delimits the aspects that will be the object of observation. This selection will correspond to the objectives of the investigation. Observation must be systematic; it means that it is necessary to observe the phenomenon at different times; already in a single observation the phenomenon can be manifested in a casual way. The observation must be characterized by its objectivity, this means that the phenomena must be registered as they occur in reality; For this, it is necessary that there is an observation plan that helps the researcher to organize the collected information. For this purpose, guides, valuation scales or other instruments that guarantee the objectivity of the registry should be used. It is important that, whenever possible,the investigated subject does not know that he is being observed because it would modify his behavior.
- The description of the phenomenon must be distinguished from its interpretation, since the same fact can have different interpretations.
For the use of this method in the present investigation, a checklist was prepared.
Checklists
According to Armando Cuesta, the checklists are observation guides, which allow obtaining results in a simple and fast way on the phenomenon that you want to study. These lists are drawn up by the researcher himself, depending on the objectives and the information you want to obtain
Interview
The interview can be defined as a conversation between the researcher and the investigated subject through which the researcher obtains information about the fact or phenomenon that he studies.
Generally, the interview is used as a technique to enrich and deepen the information obtained from the observation.
The interview has the advantage, in relation to other particular methods such as the questionnaire, for example, which allows not only to record the responses of the subjects to the questions asked, but also their emotional expressions that constitute valuable elements of information, at the same time that it allows to deepen, through conversation, the evaluations that the subject offers us about the phenomenon being studied.
The interview has as a limitation the fact that it cannot be applied massively because it would imply an extraordinary waste of time and a large number of interviewers, so it is mainly used in clinical practice (case studies) and in investigations in which few subjects participate.
To carry out a good interview it is essential to meet a series of requirements such as the following:
- It is necessary to start the interview establishing an affective relationship with the interviewee in such a way that he does not feel tense or self-conscious. The interviewer must first of all assume an impartial attitude, know how to listen without making judgments and evaluations, not interrupt the interviewee unnecessarily and always show attention and respect.
- The interview must be structured in three fundamental parts:
- an introduction in which affective relationships with the interviewee are established, a development that includes the essential content of the interview, in which all the questions are formulated, conclusions in which a summary of the aspects addressed is made and satisfaction is expressed for the interviewee for their cooperation.
Results of the Diagnosis carried out.
Direct observation and interviewing the managers of the food and beverage area of a hotel in the tourist pole of Varadero were applied as scientific methods.
The observation method was used with the objective of detecting the difficulties that manifest in the performance of the work of the Barténders of a hotel selected as a sample (12 workers from that area), yielding the following results:
| Technical skills | With difficulties | No difficulties |
| Handling of work utensils | 9 | 3 |
| Handling of service utensils | 10 | two |
| Cutting, use and assembly of decorations | 7 | 5 |
| Compliance with the basic rules of the serv. | 9 | 3 |
| Workstation setup | 12 | - |
| Preparation of cocktails according to standards | eleven | one |
| Social skills necessary for the Service | ||
| Effective communication | 7 | 5 |
| Customer focus | 7 | 5 |
| Size, appearance and personal presence | 12 | - |
As can be seen in the table above, 100% of the workers who carry out this work in the hotel present problems in the technical skills necessary for the performance of functions, as well as in the social skills essential to provide an excellent service to the client.
To deepen this aspect, a structured interview was applied to the managers of the A + B area with the aim of determining which elements they consider as fundamental to the performance evaluation of these workers in the area of Gastronomic Services, the general results of These interviews were as follows:
Workers in this area have fully received service-related training courses, but only 61% have a degree in gastronomy and none have received specific courses on technical-professional skills to be developed by the bartender.
The evaluations focus on very general aspects such as: punctuality, attendance, fulfillment of the very generalized work (they are not specified in specific indicators for the performance of this job), participation in extra-labor tasks, etc.
This means that at no time are the specific professional technical aspects of the activity carried out evaluated.
The control and supervision that is carried out in bars is poor and with little systematicity and levels of demand regarding the fulfillment of technical-professional skills.
Taking into account these results, which mostly coincide with the problems detected in the Diagnostic visits made by the professors of the Gastronomy Department of the Training Center to these areas in the hotels of the pole, the design of a program is proposed of training in the workplace for the Barténder as a way of training for the solution of the aforementioned problems.
Conclusions.
1.- On-the-job training is the most suitable way for the development of professional skills and abilities in the Barténder because it performs an eminently practical task (learning-by doing) which constitutes one of the pillars of the education proposed by UNESCO for the 21st century.
2.- Technical-professional difficulties are manifested in the Barténders in the hotels of the pole that limit the provision of an excellent service to achieve customer satisfaction.
3.- The implementation of a training program in the workplace for the Barténders of the pole would help to overcome the difficulties that are manifested today in the technical-professional performance of the Barténders.
Bibliography
- Collective of authors: Psychology for educators Editorial Pueblo and Education Havana.1998Direction of Training of INTUR "Cantinero A and B". Editorial Orbe, Havana City 1979Fabregat P. and E. Reyes, "Cantinero a la Medida". Editorial Balcón, Havana City 2002. Goleman, D: Emotional Intelligence, why it is more important than the intelligence quotient. Javier Vergara Editor. Buenos Aires. 1996. González F, MM (2014) Labor Code. Sixth Section. Article 39. Training and improvement of workers.Kotschevar / Tanke Food, Bar and Beverage Educational Institute United States of America 1999. Economic Guidelines approved at the Sixth Congress of the PCC.Verdecía Viltres Marcelo Y otros, Text by Cantina, Havana City 2002.
Data of the authors.
Dagoberto Fiallo Alonso: Agricultural Engineer. 35 Years of experience in teaching. Diploma in Food and Beverages and Psychopedagogy for Tourism, Sommelier, professor of Gastronomic Services at the Training Center for Tourism, Varadero Cuba.
Miriam Corzo Corzo: Lic. In Psychology Pedagogy, Master in Community work. With 33 years of experience in teaching. Diploma in Management of Tourist Companies and Educational Psychology for Tourism, Professor of Business Administration at the Training Center for Tourism, Varadero Cuba.
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