Hotel and tourism-related professionals looking to develop and hone their leadership skills, recently participated in an intensive day-long Leadership Development workshop sponsored by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association and Springboard Caribbean.
Springboard Caribbean was honoured to facilitate the Leadership Development Workshop at CHIEF 2016, held at the El Conquistador Resort in Puerto Rico from September 30 to October 2.
CHIEF, an annual event organized by the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), is the Caribbean’s largest educational forum created specifically for hotels and tourism businesses.
The one day workshop, “Unlocking Your Leadership Potential to Drive Business Performance”, showcased one of the programmes from Springboard Caribbean’s Professional Development System. This engaging and interactive workshop was designed specifically for hospitality supervisors, managers and any staff member responsible for improving business performance through their team.
The workshop helped participants explore the concept of leadership, learn about different styles of leadership, and reflect on their own natural style and its impact on the performance of their teams. Through a range of fun group activities, they also learned how to motivate staff in order to drive business performance forward.
According to the CHTA, about one out of every five jobs in the hotel industry in the Caribbean is at a supervisory or management level. The development of sound leadership skills is essential to the industry’s overall development throughout the region.
Springboard Caribbean’s Professional Development System offers a range of training courses endorsed by the Institute of Hospitality (IoH, formally HCMIA). The IoH is the professional membership body for managers and aspiring managers in the hospitality industry.
The IoH’s primary purpose is to promote the highest professional standards of management and education in the international hospitality, leisure and tourism industries. They are working with Springboard Caribbean to make this goal a reality in the Caribbean region.
Springboard Caribbean and the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association are currently in discussions to identify how best to partner to promote and provide ongoing professional development for employees at all levels within the Caribbean hospitality industry.
Frank J. Comito, CEO and Director General of the CHTA, said this about the proposed partnership: “At our annual CHIEF conference, we offer our members high quality, professional development learning experiences. Feedback from this year’s Leadership Workshop was extremely positive. Participants commented on the workshop’s comprehensive and interactive nature, and the relaxed and open style of the facilitators, creating a fun and easy-to-learn environment.
We look forward to building upon our relationship with Springboard Caribbean as we identify how our members can further benefit from this and other programmes in Springboard Caribbean’s Professional Development System.”