Summer Spirit Pass proposed
If you are a participant in the Whistler Spirit Program this year, you probably were one of the almost 2,200 residents to receive a follow-up survey from the Whistler Chamber of Commerce.
The response to that survey was overwhelming, with more than 550 forms returned.
The majority of respondents thought the qualify of service in Whistler was declining, supported the creation of a Summer Spirit Pass with discounts for locals, and were in favour of taking training programs and professional development courses – as long as they have the support of their employers (i.e. time off) and don’t have to pay.
Now the survey is being used as the basis to overhaul the chamber of commerce’s Spirit Program and the way training and professional development programs are offered by the chamber. The chamber has already processed and analyzed the survey results, and is working to create new employee programs that will, at the end of the day, help businesses to keep staff and maintain Whistler’s number one status.
"We have to offer benefits that help businesses to retain their valuable employees, because these employees are a big part of our success," said chamber president Brent Leigh. "We have studies that show that when you give them the opportunity to learn and to advance, employees stick around longer, work harder, and make a greater contribution to the community."
According to Leigh, the Whistler Chamber of Commerce has increased the number and diversity of courses offered in recent years, but participation was poor, and a significant number of courses were cancelled.
"The primary insight of the survey is that people’s schedules and budgets didn’t allow them to take the courses they wanted to take," said Leigh. "We realized that increasing the numbers is incumbent on partnerships with companies who want to participate."
The survey also indicated what courses employees and employers would like to see introduced, and made a powerful case for an incentive program for training, such as the proposed summer Spirit Pass.
According to Don Dewar, the consultant who put together the survey and helped to analyze the results for the chamber of commerce, the bottom line for the resort has always been superior customer service, and that means retaining valued staff members for the long-term.
"One of the keys to retaining employees is for them to feel like they’re gaining ground in their jobs, learning new skills, and beefing up their resumes," he said.
According to Dewar, the perceived decline in customer service is related to the decline in the number of people participating in training courses in the resort.
In the past two years, the chamber has offered 77 different types of courses, 24 in 2001 and 53 in 2002, with a total of 188 programs. Sixty per cent of the employees taking part in the training attended the top-five courses, including first aid and food safety, which are mandatory for some jobs, an Employment Standards course for employers and managers, Level 3 First Aid, and a course entitled "Dealing with Difficult Customers."
Furthermore, 73 per cent of participants attended only the top 10 courses offered, leaving just 27 per cent of participants taking part in 67 different courses.
As a result of the low turnout, 55 of the 120 programs on the schedule were cancelled outright in 2002.
In addition, the support from the chamber’s roughly 590 business members was lacking. Although 168 of the member businesses used the training programs offered in the past two years, only 27 businesses used the programs more than five times.
Since the training program’s are an integral part of the chamber’s service strategy, it was discouraging to discover most of the 21 customer service courses offered were cancelled. Last year just 70 employees participated in the courses, with more than half taking Conflict Resolution and Dealing with Difficult Customers.
Some examples of the courses that have been offered in the last two years include Interviewing Skills, Motiviating Staff, Customer Service Excellence, Team Leadership, Train the Trainer, Retail Sales in Tourism, Emergency Childcare, Effective Marketing on a Shoestring, and Small Business and the Worker’s Compensation Board.
"To maintain our position on top, we have to maintain a core workforce that’s growing with the industry, and growing with the service strategy," said Dewar. "We don’t know how many people come here to stay every year, but we do know there are more people staying. These are the people we want to develop. They provide leadership, and set the example for new people coming through. Of course it’s in a business’s best interest to keep valued, productive employees, and training is needed to give these people a sense of growth as well."
Survey highlights:
• More than 50 per cent of respondents work in the accommodation, food and beverage or recreation industries.
• 22 per cent of respondents were first year employees and 78 per cent have been in Whistler longer. Since many of the training programs are geared to long-term employees, removing the first year responses gives the chamber a more accurate picture, according to Dewar.
• More than 62 per cent of long-term employs said they planned to attend a chamber workshop or program. Thirty per cent of employees said it was doubtful or that they would not attend a program, "which is the opposite of what we want to do," said Dewar. "How do we interest this 30 per cent?"
• When asked what kinds of courses they would like to see offered, computer courses, communications, and customer service topped the list with between 60 and 75 responses each.
• More than 92 per cent of respondents took part in the Spirit Course because of the discount for the ski pass. "That tells us that employers also want value, and we’re looking at expanding the program. It’s already popular, and we only have a couple of sponsors," said Dewar.
• 90 per cent were in favour of a summer Spirit Pass. When asked what they would like the Spirit Pass to offer, the top responses were golfing, the mountain bike park, accommodation for themselves and family members, restaurants, recreational activities, and discounted transportation in Whistler and to Vancouver. According to Dewar, the summer Spirit Pass program could start as early as this summer, with more discounts and benefits phased in over the next few years. "We could make it happen very quickly with the right attitude, the right people and the right will," said Dewar.
• 55 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the quality of service has declined in recent years. Only 14 per cent disagreed.
• In an interesting contrast, a large majority of employees rated their own customer service as good or excellent.
• The majority of respondents said they did receive some training from their employers, but only about half were given any customer service training. Still, most employees felt that the training was pretty good or good enough to do their jobs.
• A large number of respondents did not know about training programs that were offered. Many respondents, about 20 per cent, found out about courses through local newspapers, or because they were posted by employers.
• If they have to pay themselves for courses, more than 50 per cent said it wasn’t likely that they would enrol in courses. Only 30 per cent said maybe.
• If the employer pays, 85 per cent said they would be more likely to take a course if timing wasn’t an issue.
• Time and scheduling combined as the top reason that people did not participate in professional development workshops. Cost was the second reason, followed by the relevance of the courses offered.
