About Arturo Castro - Principal

Arturo Castro established Spanish Systems in 1989. He holds a degree in Hotel Management from Mexico City, and he has been an English Language design/translation and leadership consultant for firms such as Marriott International, PGA Tour and McDonald's. He has provided his services in Canada, México, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and throughout the United States.

Highlights:

  • Certified instructor for the State of Illinois Sanitation and Food Safety Certification Course
  • Translated the SERVSAFE products for The Educational Foundation
    Facilitates his own Leadership of Latino Employees Workshop
  • Designed the only Spanish for Hospitality Managers Course in the U.S.A.
    Fully bilingual in English and Spanish
  • Consultant for leaders of multicultural teams for firms such as McDonald's and Marriott International
  • Helped establish a partnership between the Educational Foundation and Mexico's Hotel and Restaurant industry to develop a national certification program in Servsafe*
  • Is a professional simultaneous interpreter for multi-day seminars, conventions and training programs, both domestic and worldwide.
  • Guest speaker at the AHMA Quality Convention and the '96 Council for Hotel and Restaurant Trainers Convention in Vancouver, Canada.

Facilitation and Training Experience

1. Foundations of Leadership - Marriott's management development program for entry level managers. The 4 day seminar includes: Communication Skills [listening, feedback and questioning skills]. Performance Management, Customer Service, Interviewing Skills [Behavior-based interviewing], Balancing Work and Personal Life, TQM background and tools, Problem Solving, Team Building,Cross-cultural Communication, 7 Habits, Self Development Plan.

2. Large-scale TQM seminars - Marriott's introduction to TQM for properties. A three-day session which includes general TQM principles, measurement tools [Pareto Charts, Flow Charts, Run Charts, etc.] problem statement, Vision Statement, Internal Customer concepts.

3. Training Skills - a two-day training and presentation skills seminar.

4. Welcome to Marriott - a two-day session for new Marriott properties.

5. Sexual Harassment Awareness - various one day workshops. Facilitated over 25 sessions [1,300 employees] for one company. Designed by Spanish Systems, Inc.

6. Partners in Career Development - a two day workshop designed to help managers manage their career and development path at Marriott.

7. Understanding Hispanic Cultures - Spanish Systems, Inc.

8. Hispanic Career Development - McDonald's

9. ServSafe Certification and Train the Trainer (Food Safety)

10. Team Building Retreats

Consulting

Arturo has worked extensively with the hospitality industry in areas of Spanish communication, cultural and training fields. He have coached executives on Leadership, Team and cross-cultural issues.