We both travel much in our work as consultants and keynote speakers. We watch for ideas to help our clients create environments that support, nurture, and retain talent. We seek insights to nurture resilient organizations that grow through engagement challenges. We realize one source of continual insights often comes from our experience as guests in hotels around the world. When asked to write this article, our collective brains hit upon an idea that many of you already have in place: superb training to enhance the guest experience and encourage repeat visits. READ MORE

If you don't measure it, you don't manage it. If you don't manage it, you can't change it. No one is more aware of the wisdom of these adages than hotel operators, who measure many expenses on a cost per occupied room night basis. Yet this is generally not the case for their hotel owned or on-premise (OPL) laundry costs. Shouldn't it be? Improved laundry practices can reduce a hotel's carbon footprint and boost the bottom line, important objectives amid intensifying sustainability mandates. READ MORE

Although some claims of sexual harassment made by hotel and restaurant employees may not prove to be true, an employer's failure to properly address sexual harassment complaints may render the employer liable for significant damages to a prevailing employee. Once an employee has complained of sexual harassment, an internal investigation is necessary to address and resolve the claim. This article describes best practices to take when conducting an internal investigation of a sexual harassment claim. This article also describes policies and procedures an employer can implement to help avoid sexual harassment claims READ MORE

For some time, the biggest buzz in business has been around the influx of Big Data and its application to hospitality - and specifically to revenue management systems. Historically, revenue management systems (RMS) were already the biggest data owners within the hospitality enterprise, with two or more years of detailed reservations data consumed by the system, across a variety of room types, customer segments, length of stays and more. With this data, RMS analytics generated billions of forecasts used for further optimization, subsequently producing billions of pricing, availability and overbooking decisions. That is to say, Big Data existed in revenue management systems before it was even known as “Big Data.” READ MORE

Given the increasing usage of smartphones for travel-related online research and purchases, the importance of having a seamless mobile website presentation cannot be understated. Unless a hotel's mobile website loads quickly, however, it runs the risk of dissuading consumers from direct bookings as well as utilizing the brand.com for subsequent inquiries. This is compounded by the fact that websites typically load slower on mobile platforms. While this is a constant issue for developers and programmers, there are many solutions that senior managers can initiate and undertake themselves. READ MORE

The intense competition to secure the best talent continues, with organizations engaging evermore creative recruitment strategies to ensure they get the best from international graduate pools. Fueled by new technologies, market globalization and frequent changes to business models, the demand for organizational talent grows. Talent supply, however, is another issue with the World Economic Forum and the Boston Consulting Group (2011) indicating shortage across 25 countries by 2030. A ready-supply of engaged talent is needed to enhance service quality and to achieve this, graduate talent skills sets must become culturally embedded investments across international hospitality industry organizations. READ MORE

The U.S. labor market in October reached its longest stretch of job creation since at least World War II. U.S. employers, which added 214,000 jobs to payrolls last month, are on track to post the best yearly gain in employment since 1999. The steady job growth has pushed the nation's unemployment rate down to 5.8%, which is great news for job seekers and not so great news for anyone in search of talent. READ MORE

After spending 13 years with the Ritz-Carlton Learning Institute and the last 15 years working with the best hotel companies in the industry, I have learned the best lesson in business today. Inspect what you expect and don't hire the first warm body that comes through the door, even if they 'look' the part and talk a good game. Recruiting great talent takes a lot of time, will try your patience and bust your HR budget on professional recruiters, if you don't have a plan. The best hiring practice is to 'select' NOT 'hire.' READ MORE

The workforce is aging, and many organizations remain unprepared for the changes necessitated by increasing numbers of retirements. What are the old assumptions about retirement, about productivity of older adults, and about what employers can and should do to effectively manage through these changes? This article outlines how the workplace will likely change, and suggest new assumptions and new strategies for maximizing the benefits of an aging workforce. READ MORE

I suppose I can blame it on my dad. You see, whereas some people have been given the musical gift of perfect pitch (as was my husband), Dad was given the gift of perfect color tonality. While most people will look at two swatches of the same color and see them as identical, he would look at them and see any infinitesimal difference in their shades or tones as easily as you see the difference between a mountain and a molehill. Fortunately or unfortunately, I have been given the same gift. READ MORE

All employers face challenges when it comes to recruiting and retaining qualified talent, but hospitality workers often enter the field with particularly diverse backgrounds and experience, which can make talent management even more demanding. Ultimately this diversity stands to benefit hospitality employers because it can spur innovation and help companies be more relevant to a diverse customer base. There is no doubt however that procuring and growing talent is often difficult in an industry with so many career paths. In fact, as University of Phoenix was developing its new Hospitality Fundamentals associate degree and certificate curriculum, we spoke with hotel leaders around the country who often expressed the hiring process can feel more like a “casting call.” READ MORE

With over nine out of ten of people selecting a hotel now consulting user reviews prior to booking, manage a hotel's online reputation has become essential. Based on multiple years experience helping hotels develop and implement their social media strategies, this article outlines how hotels can maximize the benefit they can gain from online review sites, offering practical tips and techniques to help maintain and enhance their online reputation. READ MORE

Sharing and communication are good, right? We learned that in kindergarten. Unfortunately, sharing and communication in the hotel industry are sorely lacking, at least when it comes to databases. Most hotels rely on multiple solutions to manage guest communication and feedback; when these solutions can't communicate effectively, the same kinds of confusion and misunderstanding occur as when people can't connect. READ MORE

Your employees are assets to the hotel or organization. All assets require maintenance and upgrading. Conferences, workshops, webinars and educational meetings afford opportunities to benefit the organization and the individual by providing that maintenance and upgrading. This article provides ideas to fully realize that benefit from these educational opportunities. READ MORE

Social media is evolving. Given how pervasive it now is for any and all hotel marketing efforts, we must change how we utilize these channels for the best results. Namely, we must recognize that social media are advertising vehicles, but with very different calls to action over other, more traditional platforms. Once you understand the passive nature by which social advertising functions, the tactics you employ will be clear as will the path to long-term success. Moreover, knowing that social media works as an advertising vector will hopefully reinvigorate your prospects in using traditional mediums to this end. READ MORE