More Service Best workshops in Prince Albert

STEC has scheduled Service Best workshops in Prince Albert at a reduced rate to help area businesses create Canada's first Service Best City.

Prince Albert Tourism, Prince Albert Chamber of Commerce, Prince Albert Downtown Business Improvement District and North Central Enterprise Region have challenged local and area businesses to become designated as Service Best Businesses. Prince Albert becomes a Service Best City when 300 of the 500 businesses that are members of the Chamber of Commerce achieve Service Best Business designation.

For workshop dates and registration information, visit www.steconlinelearning.com.

Lake Diefenbaker area teachers ready to deliver Service Best in high schools

Mid-Sask Enterprise Region organized a Teachers’ In-Service workshop in Outlook in November. Seven teachers from schools in the Sun West School Division, and another from Prairie Spirit School Division in Blaine Lake, certified as facilitators to deliver Service Best in the destination region’s high schools to give students a competitive advantage in their summer jobs. Most people get their first job experience working in tourism, so early customer service training can really help.

Diefenbaker Destination Developments is setting the groundwork for becoming the first Service Best Area. As part of its destination strategy designed to improve tourism infrastructure, training and awareness, the non-profit organization and its partners, Whitecap Dakota First Nation, Tourism Saskatchewan, Lake Diefenbaker Tourism, and the Mid-Sask Enterprise Region are working to create a culture of service excellence.

From now until the end of March, the destination area is setting up Service Best in Outlook, Elbow, Central Butte, Lucky Lake and Davidson. STEC is making the workshop available at special group pricing that makes it easier to empower frontline staff to deliver superior customer service. For workshop dates and registration information, visit www.steconlinelearning.com.

Tourism Saskatoon looking for marketing director

Tourism Saskatoon is looking for a Director of Markets & Advertising. Application Deadline is January 20. For details, visit the Tourism Saskatoon careers page.

Upcoming Service Best workshops

Sign up today for STEC's award-winning, internationally recognized workshop, designed to help your frontline staff deliver superior customer service. This entertaining and interactive workshop provides useful tools to help you create memorable customer experiences, identify and respond to customer needs, and turn dissatisfied customers into loyal allies.

If your business achieves 60 per cent or greater staff or management participation in Service Best, it will receive recognition through our Business Recognition program.

If you want to give your business a competitive edge, register for this one-day workshop today!

• January 10, Regina
• January 17, Saskatoon
• January 18, Prince Albert Service Best Initiative
• January 24, Humboldt
• January 25, Prince Albert Service Best Initiative
• February 1, Prince Albert Service Best Initiative
• February 8, Prince Albert Service Best Initiative
• February 15, Prince Albert Service Best Initiative
• February 22, Prince Albert Service Best Initiative
• February 29, Prince Albert Service Best Initiative

Register online: www.steconlinelearning.com User registration and ID required. We never share your personal information. Registration is fast, easy and free. If your organization is a member of Tourism Saskatchewan, your discounts are applied automatically each time you register for a workshop.

Contact: stec.training@sasktourism.com

Toll Free: 1-800-331-1529

Open to the public. Pre-registration required.

Download the Service Best flyer.

HR Essentials workshops, Saskatoon and Regina, February 7 and 8

Human Resource management for those who don't work in human resource management

The Human Resource Essentials Workshop provides essential tools and templates to help you with:

• HR Planning
• Staffing and Orientation.
• Training
• Performance Reviews
• Retention

All participants receive an emerit HR Toolkit, designed to give business owners, managers, and supervisors a starting place for building a more effective workplace. The emerit HR Toolkit provides a wide array of tools and templates for organizations to customize. Our facilitator guides you through the topics and tools, helping you gain the confidence to apply these concepts to your own organization.

What did participants say they took away from the workshop?

"A whole new outlook on HR."
"Information shared and exchanged among facilitators and participants."
"A toolkit and action plan."

February 7, Saskatoon; February 8, Regina
Length: 6 hours
Cost: $175/person + GST
Register online: www.steconlinelearning.com
Contact: stec.training@sasktourism.com for registration information
Questions about the workshop: Jan Rodda, STEC Manager of Industry HR Development
Toll Free: 1-800-331-1529

“Bridging the Gap” Workshop

The Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council, in collaboration with the Saskatchewan Tourism Education Council (STEC), is offering a free, half-day workshop for employment service providers and community-based service organizations called "Bridging the Gap" – Preparing Internationally Trained Workers for Careers in the Canadian Tourism Industry.

The workshop addresses common challenges that these organizations face when assisting their clients who may be transitioning into the tourism sector:

• Identify the needs of employment service providers working with newcomers working in tourism.
• Introduce specialized tools and resources that ease newcomers’ transition into the Canadian tourism sector.

The workshop will take place in Saskatoon on Wednesday, November 30 from 8:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. For more information, or to register, please contact Darla Wyatt, STEC Career Coordinator at 1-800-331-1529 or darla.wyatt@sasktourism.com.

Help create a National Occupational Standard for Hotel General Manager

The Saskatchewan Tourism Education Council (STEC) is looking for hotel managers to participate in a one-day focus group to provide feedback on a proposed emerit National Occupational Standard for Hotel General Manager. The Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council is developing the National Occupational Standard and Essential Skills Profile in collaboration with STEC.

We are looking for managers responsible for day-to-day management of their properties and staff, including those working in limited service or full service properties, and independent or chain hotels. Your knowledge and experience will help create an emerit standard that accurately reflects the realities of the occupation.

The focus group will be held in Saskatoon on Tuesday, November 29 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Reimbursement is available for pre-approved travel expenses, accommodations and incidentals.

For more information, please contact Darla Wyatt, STEC Career Coordinator at 1-800-331-1529 or darla.wyatt@sasktourism.com.

10th Annual Tourism & Hospitality HR Forum

The Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council (CTHRC) and the Tourism Industry Association of PEI (TIAPEI) present the 10th Annual Tourism & Hospitality HR Forum, November 14-16 in Charlottetown, PEI. The Forum is open to HR and non-HR professionals, both inside and outside of the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Hands-on sessions will focus exclusively on helping you find solutions for the toughest challenges you face today:

• Staffing seasonal operations
• Handling labour shortages
• The impact of social media on your workplace
• Integrating new Canadians and temporary foreign workers in the workforce
• Partnerships connecting education and industry
• Finding the right talent
• Compensation
• Succession planning
• Recruitment and retention strategies Register online today by visiting the CTHRC website.

Nominate a business for the Hotel Association of Canada’s Hall of Fame Awards of Excellence

We have some of the best employers in the country – and they deserve to be recognized for their hard work. The Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) is now accepting nominations for the 2011 Hall of Fame Awards of Excellence.

The Canadian Tourism Human Resources Council sponsors the Human Resources Award, given to programs that develop a human resources culture that attracts, develops, and retains highly qualified employees. The result is motivated staff who are able to generate new or repeat business, create goodwill among guests, provide special services, reverse negative public relations situations, and effectively resolve guest complaints.

Information about all of the awards, eligibility criteria, and nomination forms are available on the HAC website. Applications must be submitted by Monday, November 28.

Service Best workshops around the province

The Saskatchewan Tourism Education Council has organized province-wide Service Best workshops for this fall and winter, making right now the perfect time to register your front-line employees for training in the delivery of superior customer service. This entertaining and interactive workshop provides useful tools for creating memorable customer experiences, responding to customer needs, and turning dissatisfied customers into loyal allies.

Workshops are scheduled throughout the province: Estevan/Weyburn, Humboldt, Meadow Lake, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Regina, Saskatoon, Swift Current and Yorkton.

If you do business in Prince Albert or the Lake Diefenbaker Tourism Destination Area, you can register for one of four special Service Best workshops, Service Best Management, or Service Best Teacher In-Service. Prince Albert aims to be Canada's first "Service Best City", with at least 60% of the city's businesses achieving the designation. Lake Diefenbaker Tourism Destination Area also plans to have 60% of businesses designated, creating a culture of service excellence and drawing more visitors to the area.

For more information, visit www.stec.com or www.steconlinelearning.com.

CTHRC 10th Annual Tourism HR Forum

An exciting program is being developed for the 10th Annual Tourism HR Forum, which is taking place November 14-16, 2011 in Charlottetown, PEI at the Rodd Charlottetown. Visit the Forum website.

Lake Diefenbaker aims for region-wide Service Best delivery

The Lake Diefenbaker Tourism Destination Area aims to become recognized as a Service Best Region.

Mid Sask Enterprise Region, Diefenbaker Destination Developments, Whitecap Dakota First Nation, and the Saskatchewan Tourism Education Council are working to designate the region as a Service Best Region, with 60 per cent of the businesses and 60 per cent of the staff in those businesses participating in STEC's Service Best program. The region wants to create a "culture of service excellence" that draws more visitors.


Good service doesn't happen by accident. Creating a service culture requires an investment in training to develop the skills, and to engage fontline staff, supervisors and managers in conversations around what it means to give customers superior service.


We're opening up opportunities throughout the Lake Diefenbaker Tourism Development Area to learn more about providing great customer service.

• Service Best Teacher In-Service workshops. The Service Best Teacher In-Service workshop certifies educators to deliver the Service Best workshop in their schools and to the public.
• Service Best in High Schools. Most students get their earliest job experiences in tourism businesses, yet they often enter the job market without a good understanding of customer service. Providing the Service Best workshop in high schools not only gives students valuable skills to land their first job, but also to help them in subsequent work in the tourism sector and throughout their careers.
• Service Best. Enrolling your frontline staff in a Service Best workshop gives them the skills and confidence to deliver superior customer service. They'll learn useful tools that create memorable customer experiences, identify and respond to customer needs, and turn dissatisfied customers into loyal allies.
• Service Best Management. Enrolling frontline staff in Service Best gets the customer service conversation rolling, but it doesn't end there. For business owners and managers, the Service Best Management workshop will help you create the right environment for delivering superior customer service. This workshop will benefit your business on every level, from a more positive work environment and higher staff retention to satisfied customers, repeat business, new patrons, and increased profits.
• Service Best Business Recognition. A businesses that attains at least 60 per cent staff or management participation in Service Best is recognized as a Service Best Business. Business recognition sends a strong message to consumers, creates a powerful promotional punch, and opens opportunities for businesses to cooperate in demonstrating their Service Best competitive advantage.
• Service Best Region Recognition. When at least 60 per cent of businesses in a region have achieved Service Best Business designation, that region receives recognition as a Service Best Region. Service Best communities are cities and towns across Saskatchewan that have achieved 60 per cent or greater frontline and management participation in Service Best. Our goal is to see the entire Lake Diefenbaker Tourism Destination Area recognized for its participation in Service Best, becoming our first Service Best Region.

To learn more about the Lake Diefenbaker Destination Area Service Best initiative or to find out how your school, business or community can benefit from this training, please call:
Holly Vollmer, Economic Development Officer, Mid Sask Enterprise Region, (306) 860-7404.

To register for a workshop or to find more about how Service Best can help your organization perform better, contact STEC:
Register online: www.steconlinelearning.com

NOTE: User registration required. We never share your personal information. Registration to gain access to the online learning site is fast, easy and free. If your organization is a member of Tourism Saskatchewan, your discounts are applied automatically each time you enrol in a workshop.

Contact: stec.training@sasktourism.com
Toll Free: 1-800-331-1529
STEC Service Best Programs: http://www.stec.com/training/workshops/service-best

Find upcoming workshops listed on our training and events calendar.