Management Training With The Smugglers’ Notch Resort Leadership Team

After Redpoint presented keynote motivational speeches at the Smugglers’ Notch employee rallies two years in a row, the Smuggs team developed a fondness for our distinctive brand of training, which is – in their words – “so much fun you don’t even realize you’re learning, and all of a sudden…BOOM…you’re smarter.” They asked us to come back for a third year, and this time, they wanted us to lead custom management training for their resort managers and an executive briefing for their officers and directors.

Though we already were familiar with the resort operations and culture from our past research to craft employee motivation sessions, more concrete intelligence was needed to develop relevant training workshops that tied directly to their needs and goals. In particular, the resort was about to launch an ongoing series of professional development discussions, and Redpoint’s workshop content needed to pair well with the future program.

We worked closely with the HR team and the leadership committee to understand the issues targeted for core training, and to place them in context within the resort’s infrastructure. A robust day of management training was created, which included useful, interactive discussions around such topics as:

Nurturing positive communication skills
Building a strong team
Handling conflict and confrontation
Empowering employees and effective delegation techniques
Motivating employees…and yourself
Managing intergenerational staff

Redpoint’s knowledge of resort operations, guest service, and seasonal staff challenges was invaluable to this training day…participants discussed and analyzed real life examples to make learning easier and more memorable.

Of special note: throughout the day, participants were given the chance to share private messages with the Redpoint leader…anonymous, candid thoughts on how each topic relates to Smuggs in both positive and negative ways. These were then cataloged and compiled – and stripped of any possible nods that could be traced to their source – and shared with the resort’s officers and directors in a special Executive Briefing. This precious knowledge was then used to make management and training decisions throughout the year.

Here’s another direct quote from a Smuggs executive following the completion of the management training: “Every time you come here, you make us better.” (we’re blushing)