Bring on your people to help bring in business

There's a formula behind any well-run pub. It may all look effortless - but it isn't. Training yourself and developing your own business skills are vital to your success, but it's equally important to invest in your team and train your staff.

But it's a hassle! Trying to get everyone together (think of part-timers with second jobs, evening shift staff and lunch-timers) can be a nightmare - and who serves the customers when everyone is huddled together role-playing "up-selling"?

The thing is, so many pubs are still getting the basics wrong and this ultimately comes back to a poorly trained team.

Here are 10 reasons to make the effort to train your staff:

1"What if I train my staff and they leave?" is the objection I hear the most. The reply is simple: "What if you don't train your staff and they stay?" If we don't give our staff training we are putting the success of our businesses into the hands of unskilled people to whom we pay little more than the minimum wage - hardly a recipe for success.

2Your staff are often the only point of contact with your customers. How can you expect them to serve to your standards if you don't show them exactly what you want?

3Competent staff give the impression of a professional, friendly and well-run premises. Customers are very willing to overlook the fact that you haven't had a "refurb" for a while if the service they receive is genuinely good.

4Well-trained staff are happier, more motivated and confident. This is very good news in the hospitality industry where these qualities are specifically what we look for.

5Training ensures your standards are met even when you are not there. It'd be lovely to come back from a day or week off to find that everything has been handled just the way you would do it - no long list of complaints or queries. It's far more likely if you train your team.

6Training your staff to sell, not just serve, will improve your sales, business performance and profits.

7Staff who have been shown the correct way to pour a pint and store products will reduce waste. Frothing and spilling beer is like pouring money down the drain.

8Well-trained staff have a direct influence on turning customers into regulars, who - as we all know - spend more, reduce your need to advertise to attract new customers and promote your business for you by word of mouth.

9Competent, confident and committed staff care about and take ownership of the

running of your business. By constantly improving themselves, they allow you to move forward. The strongest teams are those that have worked together and progressed together over time.

10 Keeping legal. The new licensing regime sets great store by responsible retailing. If you don't train your staff in licensing law you can kiss goodbye to a claim of due diligence should one of your team be caught breaking a licensing objective.

l Ali Carter is licensee of the Bayview Inn, Widemouth Bay, Cornwall, and is a former BII Licensee of the Year.

No lingering KISS, just keep it simple, sunshine

One of the biggest mistakes and turnoffs to training is trying to cover too much in one session.

Effective training delivers bite-sized chunks of knowledge which will not make a huge demand on time and not overload the trainee with too much information.

It is far more practical and effective to give three 15-minute training sessions a week than one 45-minute session.

Equally important is that staff see themselves progress and you must identify each staff member's starting point in order to measure their success. This is best done visually. A chart on the staff notice board is great and adds an element of healthy competition between team members.

Staff training records have never been more important following the arrival of the new licensing regime.

As well as details of on-going in-house and external training received by individuals it is crucial that you have some basic information in place. I suggest that this includes the following for each member of staff:

l A signed statement by the member of staff to say that they have read and understood the Health and Safety policy statement(s) for the premises

l A signed statement by the member of staff to say they have read and understood the premises licence

l A signed statement by both the DPS and member of staff to say they have been authorised to sell alcohol by the DPS and have been given training to do so

l PAYE details

l Contract of employment

l Disciplinary records

l Copies of training certificates

l Details of in-house training (including dates) and signed by the individual

l Licensing Law training programme details.