Hospitality Operations and Risk Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Hotel Operations Managers, Front Office Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-TH-027

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience in a hotel, resort, restaurant, serviced apartment, event venue or hospitality support function.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Hotels, resorts, serviced apartments, restaurants and event venues depend on hundreds of linked daily decisions: room readiness, staffing, stock, guest recovery, cash control, food safety and incident response. When these controls are inconsistent, the effects appear as complaints, wasted labour, weak margins, safety exposure and managers spending shifts firefighting. Operations managers need a disciplined way to set standards, identify exceptions early, assign ownership and act before a service lapse becomes a serious event.

This intermediate course develops the practical management skills required to run hospitality departments with consistent service, financial control and sound risk practices. Participants examine guest journey design, service blueprints, standard operating procedures, workforce scheduling, rooms operations, food and beverage controls, procurement, budgeting, quality assurance and emergency response. They use HACCP, ISO 31000, RACI matrices, SERVQUAL, root-cause analysis and operational dashboards to turn daily data and observations into clear management action.

Teaching combines instructor briefings, hospitality cases, group analysis, operating simulations and structured application planning. Cases reflect common issues such as overbooked rooms, guest complaints, staffing shortages, stock variances, allergen incidents, payment-data exposure and utility failure. The course is delivered over five days in a classroom in 50+ cities or live online, with approximately 32.5 contact hours from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Participants receive a certificate of completion and leave with reusable operating templates, control checklists and a 90-day improvement plan for their own property or department.

What you will be able to do

  • Map guest journeys and service blueprints to identify failure points and recovery actions
  • Design department SOPs, RACI matrices and shift handover controls
  • Build occupancy-led staffing rosters and productivity measures
  • Control rooms, front office, housekeeping and food service operating routines
  • Apply HACCP, menu engineering and stock control to food and beverage operations
  • Interpret departmental budgets, revenue reports and procurement variances
  • Assess service quality and operational risk using SERVQUAL, ISO 31000 and root-cause analysis
  • Produce a 90-day operations and risk improvement plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Run daily briefings, handovers and escalation routines with greater control
  • Identify service failures before they become formal guest complaints
  • Use occupancy, labour and revenue data to support staffing decisions
  • Manage food safety, security and incident reporting with clearer procedures
  • Present a credible 90-day improvement plan to senior management

For your organisation

  • More consistent guest service through defined standards and recovery procedures
  • Lower labour waste through occupancy-led staffing and productivity measures
  • Improved food, beverage and operating margin control through stock discipline
  • Reduced exposure from documented safety, security and incident controls
  • Clearer accountability for cross-department handovers, corrective actions and reviews

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can map the guest experience and establish service recovery controls for critical touchpoints.

  • Guest journey mapping from reservation enquiry through post-stay recovery
  • Service blueprinting links visible touchpoints, backstage tasks and failure points
  • Moments of truth identified for arrivals, dining, housekeeping and departures
  • Segment needs translated into service standards, amenities and communication protocols
  • Complaint taxonomy distinguishes service defects, safety concerns and compensation cases
  • Recovery decisions use apology, correction, compensation and documented follow-up

Participants can establish operating responsibilities, procedures and daily control routines across departments.

  • Departmental operating model clarifies front office, housekeeping, kitchen and maintenance accountabilities
  • RACI matrix assigns ownership for handovers, approvals and escalation decisions
  • Daily operations meeting uses occupancy, arrivals, events and maintenance priorities
  • Standard operating procedures specify sequence, controls, records and exceptions
  • Shift handover logs capture unresolved guest requests, incidents and equipment status
  • Escalation thresholds distinguish supervisor action, duty manager referral and emergency response

Participants can plan staffing, measure productivity and manage team performance against service requirements.

  • Demand-based rostering matches staffing hours to occupancy, covers and event schedules
  • Labour productivity ratios track rooms cleaned, covers served and payroll percentage
  • Briefing routines set service priorities, allergen alerts and VIP requirements
  • Skills matrices identify cross-training gaps, licence requirements and supervisory coverage
  • Coaching conversations use observed behaviour, standard comparison and agreed actions
  • Absence contingency plans protect minimum staffing, breaks and critical controls

Participants can control core rooms operations from arrival planning through night audit.

  • Forecasted occupancy drives room allocation, housekeeping releases and maintenance blocks
  • Front desk controls verify identity, payment authorisation and key issuance
  • Room status codes reconcile front office records with housekeeping inspections
  • Overbooking procedures prioritise walk prevention, relocation agreements and guest communication
  • Lost property registers maintain chain of custody and release controls
  • Night audit reconciles postings, cashiers, interfaces and daily revenue reports

Participants can manage food and beverage quality, safety, stock and menu profitability controls.

  • Menu engineering combines contribution margin, popularity index and item placement
  • Recipe costing controls portions, yields, waste and selling price decisions
  • HACCP plans identify hazards, critical control points, limits and monitoring
  • Allergen management separates storage, preparation, service communication and incident response
  • Food and beverage stocktakes reconcile physical counts, transfers and variances
  • Banquet event orders coordinate menus, timings, equipment and staffing requirements

Participants can interpret operating results and apply purchasing and inventory controls.

  • Daily revenue reports compare actual results with budget, forecast and prior period
  • Departmental budgets separate fixed costs, variable costs and controllable spending
  • Purchase specifications define quality, quantity, delivery terms and acceptance criteria
  • Three-way matching checks purchase orders, delivery notes and supplier invoices
  • Par stock calculations set reorder points, order quantities and safety stock
  • Variance investigation traces price, volume, waste, theft and recording causes

Participants can measure service quality, investigate recurring defects and manage corrective action.

  • Service standards convert brand promises into observable employee behaviours
  • SERVQUAL dimensions diagnose reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness gaps
  • Quality audits sample rooms, outlets, public areas and back-of-house controls
  • Mystery guest reports distinguish factual evidence, interpretation and improvement priorities
  • Root cause analysis uses five whys and fishbone diagrams
  • Corrective action registers assign owners, deadlines, evidence and verification

Participants can assess operational risks and manage safety, security and continuity responses.

  • ISO 31000 risk registers record causes, consequences, controls and owners
  • Risk matrices score likelihood, consequence, residual exposure and treatment priority
  • Fire safety procedures cover evacuation roles, assembly points and guest assistance
  • Security protocols address access control, suspicious behaviour, theft and violence
  • Incident reports preserve facts, timelines, witnesses, actions and escalation records
  • Business continuity plans cover utility failure, cyber disruption and supplier outage

Participants can apply key compliance controls affecting guest data, accessibility, suppliers and environmental practices.

  • Data protection controls govern reservations, payment records, CCTV and guest requests
  • PCI DSS principles protect cardholder data during payment acceptance and storage
  • Accessibility reviews identify barriers in routes, rooms, signage and communications
  • Alcohol service controls address age verification, intoxication and refusal procedures
  • Supplier due diligence checks licences, insurance, food safety and ethical sourcing
  • Environmental operating controls reduce energy, water, waste and chemical use

Participants can monitor operational performance and create a focused departmental improvement plan.

  • Balanced scorecards connect guest, people, process, financial and risk measures
  • Daily dashboards highlight occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, labour and complaint trends
  • Action plans convert audit findings into priorities, owners, dates and measures
  • 90-day implementation plans sequence quick wins, resource needs and review points
  • Management reviews test results, barriers, decisions and accountability commitments
  • Personal operating commitments define one service, cost and risk improvement

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Guest journey and service blueprint template
  2. Departmental RACI and shift-handover pack
  3. Occupancy-led staffing and productivity dashboard
  4. Food safety HACCP monitoring checklist
  5. ISO 31000 hospitality risk register
  6. 90-day operations improvement plan

Who should attend

  • Hotel Operations Managers — need consistent control across guest-facing and support departments
  • Front Office Managers — manage arrivals, room allocation, guest recovery and shift handovers
  • Food and Beverage Managers — control service standards, food safety, stock and margins
  • Housekeeping Managers — coordinate room readiness, productivity, inspections and lost property controls
  • Resort and Venue Managers — oversee multiple functions, events, safety and commercial performance
  • Hospitality Supervisors — prepare for broader responsibility in daily operational management

Skills and tools covered

Hospitality operations controlService quality managementWorkforce schedulingFood safety controlOperational risk assessmentPerformance reporting

Tools and standards

HACCP, ISO 31000, RACI matrix, SERVQUAL

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce operating methods, followed by hospitality cases, group analysis and simulations of common management decisions. Participants work with room-status reports, staffing data, guest complaints, food safety records, stock variances and incident scenarios. Facilitated discussions compare alternative responses and the controls needed to prevent recurrence. Each participant applies the methods to a current operating issue and prepares priorities for a 90-day departmental improvement plan.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in a hotel, resort, restaurant, serviced apartment, event venue or hospitality support function. Familiarity with daily service routines, basic staffing arrangements, guest requests and departmental reporting is assumed. The course suits supervisors moving into management as well as managers seeking more consistent controls. No formal qualification in hospitality management is required. Participants do not need prior knowledge of HACCP, ISO 31000, financial accounting or specialist risk systems; these are introduced through hospitality operating cases.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have practical experience in a hospitality role, ideally with responsibility for a team, shift or department. No formal management qualification or prior risk-management training is required.

Participants should bring examples of current operating challenges, such as guest complaints, staffing issues, stock variances or safety concerns. A laptop is useful for live online delivery, but course materials are provided.

It is suited to hotel, resort, restaurant, venue and serviced-apartment supervisors and managers. It is also useful for staff preparing to take responsibility for wider operational performance.

This course focuses on daily operating controls, service delivery, financial discipline and risk management. It gives less attention to tourism marketing, destination management and long-term business strategy.

Participants leave with templates that can be adapted for their department, including service blueprints, risk registers, handover controls and action plans. The final module converts identified issues into a 90-day improvement plan.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided among instructor input, case analysis, group activities, operating simulations and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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