"We Hire The Smile" Was the Comment From The Employer!

Training and development has a tough mission today to be efficient and practical. Whether for those on the job or looking for a job, the focus of managing human capital is dependent upon being able to shape and utilize resources whether a gloomy economy or not!  Workforce development is best viewed through a prism of hiring candidates with basic values, traits and character that will blend into the organizational culture and help achieve outstanding customer service.  As eloquently stated in a Working Ventures October 2001 report, there are some obvious things to look for and want. 


“ ‘We hire the smile,’ says a spokesman for

the hospitality industry. ‘We can train the

skills.’ Increasingly, in an economy dominated

by communication and teamwork—

whether electronic or face to face—the

“smile” that employers say they want is

really just shorthand for a cluster of

personality traits, social graces, facility with

language, and personal habits that many

older working people take for granted and

most find hard to list. Any such list would

include a good deal more than a smile—

although the more cheerful virtues, such

as friendliness and optimism, would surely

rank high.” (p5, Hard Work on Soft Skills: “Creating a Culture of Work” in Workforce Development, By Ted Houghton and Tony Proscio, Oct 2001) -  www.ppv.org

The report goes on to describe what every training curriculum should include and how it is best embodied through its philosophy.

Training Philosophy Comprised of 6 Elements of Value:

1) "Integrate soft skills training into every element of the curriculum."

2)  "Create work or work-like tasks and establish teams to complete them."
 
3)  "Put trainees in the employer’s role from time to time, so that by

managing they can learn to be managed."

4)  "Establish the discipline of the workplace in all aspects of the program." 

5)  "Recreate the physical environment of work to the fullest extent possible."  


6)  "Give participants lots of opportunities to get to know successful people."