Guest ServiceINTERNATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM Estes Park Center, YMCA of the Rockies
This Exchange visitor program is designed for a citizen of a foreign country. The Intern and Trainee program offers the opportunity to add an international experience in your field of study or expertise.
Phase 1 – Orientation
Objective:
The YMCA of the Rockies Estes Park Center is a non-profit Family Resort Conference Center on 860 acres that can host up to 4,000 guests at one time. The YMCA provides not only lodging in the form of cabins, lodge rooms, or family reunion cabins, but also meals and a variety of outdoor activities. The participant will be a Guest Services trainee learning how the YMCA of the Rockies operates a successful non-profit organization in the hospitality industry.
Task:
During Orientation the participant will be introduced to Guest Registration, the Conference Office, the Kitchen, Buildings and Grounds, Housekeeping, Conference Setup and Support, our Chapel and Chaplain, Sweet Memorial and the Administration building. The participant will attend the Estes Park Center HR full-day orientation to learn about the YMCA of the Rockies, its history, policies, procedures, etc. The participant will learn about the reservations system as it relates to our groups and receive in-depth training and preparation for group arrivals. The participant will learn beyond the black and white in providing excellent guest service with professionalism. The participant will learn tasks through shadowing the front desk supervisors. The participant will learn to complete financial transactions including check-ins, check-outs, balancing a drawer and evaluating a transaction shift report for the deposit to be turned into our cashier. The participant will learn to check-in and out family/individual and groups as well as making family/individual reservations for walk-in guests. The participant will be taken on a guided tour to visit one or two of our lodge rooms, cabins and meeting spaces. The participant will learn how to make keys, verify room assignments, verify meeting rooms, check room rosters, create meal tickets and prepare some legal documents for our groups including tax affidavits. The participant will begin attending formal classroom sessions led by leadership such as the CEO and the CFO at the YMCA of the Rockies in order to learn about running an 860 acre property with over 700 lodge rooms, over 215 cabins, over 40 meeting rooms, and 10 reunion cabins, in addition to our recreational facilities throughout our campus.
Phase 2 – Guest Registration
Objective:
As stated in Phase 1, the YMCA of the Rockies can host over 4,000 guests in one evening. The participant will be a trainee in Guest Services focusing on learning our resort management software and how a large conference center manages its information and guest registration.
Task:
The participant will learn by shadowing front desk supervisors and then through hands on training while being shadowed. We will teach the participant the intricacies of our guest registration system including check-in/out, making adjustments, adding/removing items, and many other functions within our guest registration system.
Phase 3 – Guest Services/Departmental Visits Stage 1
Objective:
The YMCA of the Rockies offers more than just lodging for families, it also hosts very large conferences as well as weddings. The participant will be exploring these different areas of guest services. The participant will continue to train in the guest services department as their main function.
Task:
While continuing their training in guest service, the participant will visit the conference department, group sales and spend time with our wedding/banquet coordinator. We may adjust the dates that trainees visit these departments.
Phase 4 – Guest Services/Departmental Visits Stage 2
Objective:
The participant will continue to explore the different areas within guest services during this phase. Not only is the YMCA of the Rockies a family conference center, but it is also a non-profit organization. An additional role that the participant will have is to participate in the International Training Classes taught by leaders within our organization. The participant will continue to train in the guest services department as their main function.
Task:
While continuing the participant training at the front desk and in guest services, the participant will also track deposits made by each department, verify account balances and analyze/run reports from other departments.
Phase 5 – Guest Services - Back Office Function
Objective:
The participant will be a guest services trainee learning the back office functions of the guest services department. The participant will continue to train in the guest services department as their main function.
Tasks:
The participant will have shadowed the night auditor in the previous stage, learning to generate, review and distribute Maestro specific reports. The participant will continue back office training in reviewing guest departure reports to prepare charges for the next day. The participant will learn how the inventory control process relates to internal cash control. The participant will also see some of our accounting policies for Estes Park Center. The participant will attend a quarterly safety meeting led by our risk manager Dave Francis.
Additional Phase Remarks
The participant will receive classes during the Fall, Winter and Spring seasons as part of their training program. The classes will cover a variety of topics. The leadership of the YMCA of the Rockies will hold classes on the operations of a hospitality business, the financial processes of a non-profit, how both Estes Park Center and Snow Mountain Ranch operate, basic notions on philanthropy and the importance of donations for the YMCA of the Rockies. There will also be speakers talking about professional skills necessary in the participant’s future career such as Conflict Management, Diversity, Marketing, Public Speaking, Creating and Using High Performing Teams and Maintaining Healthy Relationships in the Workplace (topics are subject to change). The participant will also learn about personal skills that are key in becoming independent such as how to Budget, Resume Writing and Interview Skills. The participant will have to do 2 presentations, one in a local school about their home country and culture, and one in front of YMCA of the Rockies supervisors and coworkers about the YMCA in their home country.
Note
The phases, topic of the offered classes and dates might change.