Implementing staff training across large enterprise organizations comes with a specific set of contradictions and challenges. That's why you need help coming up with a solution.

In hospitality and retail, you might need to train personnel across several different concepts to all manage operations according to agreed protocols that reflect your company’s culture as a whole. But (simultaneously) you also require service at each of those venues to deliver a different customer experience – because of brand, geographical location or demographic, to name just three. So in fact, you already need three solutions.

One size fits all rarely works when it comes to staff training. Drill down even further, and specific products, menu items, opening and closing protocols, SOPs for guest relations, among many other details, will all vary according to each outlet (even those that share a concept).

And then you’ve got the challenge of cost. Whether you’re running physical instructor-led classes or using an online learning management system (or both), the larger the organization, the larger budgets need to be. If budgets can’t keep pace, or need to be trimmed, very soon you compromise on either reach or frequency of training. 

Even if you can reach everyone, and can accurately measure engagement and progress – your ROI – will your budget allow you to re-train, re-test and measure performance again in three months, six months, and again in a year’s time?

Small Batch Learning solves all these challenges for staff beverage training with a single online learning solution that has been built specifically for hospitality and retail, and – crucial for groups – for training at scale. Here’s how:

1. Organizational structure

Groups of stores, bars, hotels and restaurants can be managed through Small Batch Learning with ease. At group level, head office (with a group L&D manager or group beverage manager in charge, for example) sets up a training account, while outlets in the group then set up individual training accounts (with their own team added as learners). These sub-outlets sit under the group’s parent account. The group account then authors all its necessary training content and shares to its sub-outlets, so that the same content doesn’t need to be uploaded multiple times. Scale without hassle? Check.

Since training can also be assigned to individual sub-outlets, you can also target specific stores or venues with specific content (or geographical groups, or groups of brands – depending on how you've set up your outlet hierarchy). Localised training management? Tick.

Next, your organisational structure can extend down multiple tiers. So, for example, you could arrange all venues in one state belonging to a particular concept as sub-sub-outlets under one sub-outlet (for that state), but still with a single head office account above them all. Or perhaps you need to organise geographical clusters for the same brand under one sub-outlet, but still allow each of the individual locations to train through its own account. No problem. Any organisational structure is accommodated.

2. Training content

As explained, the parent outlet can author content which is then available to add to all sub-outlets within the group (but not to any other account outside that organization). This might be a company-wide handbook, recipe training or customer service SOPs, and can feature text, photos, video, other attachments such as pdfs, or even audio files.

Once training has been added to each sub-outlet, the content can still be updated at parent level – with updates appearing instantly for all sub-outlets. In the past, especially with SCORM-compliant training files, updating meant all content needed to be re-wrapped and re-uploaded, everywhere. But in hospitality and retail, where SOPs need to be modified often, or new drinks or products uploaded, we’ve built a system that respects a manager’s need for flexibility, so that updates can happen effortlessly in real time (however small the change). No compromise in your training, with content that accurately reflects your most up-to-date service strategy.

3. Product & recipe training

Simply put, product training previously has been fragmented (the internet), pitched at consumers (the internet, again!) or dependent on either your own manager’s or a brand ambassador’s diary being free. Plus think about the logistics of getting your whole frontline team in one room, on the same afternoon – as everyone knows, impossible.

For hospitality groups, our power also lies in being able to share recipes down through the whole organisation, so that all outlets are trained to make, say, classic cocktails to the correct specs and pouring the right SKUs. And for products, training on all the house pours or other contracted spirits (or wine or beer), sold across the group, can be added to your training program for all sub-outlets. 

This way, a group training manager can work on prepping essential, core training content for all outlet managers, freeing managers to focus on running service and implementing training at team level. Efficiency! 

4. Announcements

Yes, we all know most individual bars, let alone groups, have cottoned on to using Whatsapp (or similar) to communicate important messages to teams. But we’ve added an announcement feature to Small Batch Learning too – because we’re guessing that most group L&D managers don’t have the phone contact of every single team member in their company saved on their own phone. 

In short, if your team member has an account on Small Batch Learning, you can reach them. And you can link announcements to sales promotions, new products, new training, or whatever, and it can be targeted to the whole group or individual sub-outlets.

5. Customisable content

Another game-changer. Remember that content can be uploaded once by a group account and then shared down through the organization to all the sub-outlets. 

Well, let’s say that content was only 95% correct for all outlets, but specific details or lessons needed to be customised or authored at outlet level (not just service details – but opening times or emergency services info, for example). Our authoring system allows a whole lesson or course to be customised by each outlet. Convenient.

And this applies not just to your content, but ours too. We’ve written hours and hours of fantastic, peer-approved beverage service training for hospitality and retail – and we love it. But we’re also fine if you want to change it. Take it, then add, edit, delete or re-write whatever detail doesn’t fit with your values. 

This not only saves managers huge amounts of time, if they don’t have a training program in place (you get ours, ready-written), but can also be used to plug gaps for those companies that do have material ready to upload. Flexibility at our core.

To find out how our benefits can help your business smash its training and development goals, get in touch via the link below.

Request demo