City Lodge Hotel Group (CLHG) has 57 properties under five brands located throughout South Africa, with an aggressive expansion plan into East and West Africa as well as the SADC region.

CLHG is committed to service excellence and being in the hospitality industry, their main assets are their people, says Sheree Snyman, group skills development facilitator at CLHG.

“To offer superior service to our customers and ensure that they receive the very best care during their stay, it is imperative that all our employees are trained to the same high standard,” he says.

“Since our teams are widespread, it was important that we looked for a cost effective, user friendly e-learning solution that would accommodate anywhere, anytime learning.”

Snyman says the group had heard about aNewSpring, and after receiving a full demonstration of the systems capabilities, decided it was the right fit for the training needs of its employees.

“We currently have 1200 employees on the aNewSpring solution and as the online facilitator, I can easily track how they are doing with the course materials, allowing us to make modifications if necessary or even to just assist learners that may be struggling.”

She says that New Leaf Technologies, the sole distributors of aNewSpring in Africa, went above and beyond when it came to the service, support and system training received.

In addition, aNewSpring developed an integration into CLHG’s HR solution, providing a far more holistic view. “We are planning to use more features that are built into the solution such as the Memotrainer, a learning retention tool that keeps learners engaged and enthusiastic as well as providing CLHG with an accurate way to determine ROI on the training.”

Paul Hanly, co-founder of New Leaf Technologies, says: “We see the aNewspring learning platform creating huge value for the City Lodge Hotel Group. They can accurately measure employee progress and ensure they are progressing as planned. Any difficulties in the learning process are also highlighted early so that the necessary changes can be made.”