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 on...
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 on...
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 on...
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 on...
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 on...
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 on...
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 on...
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 on...
Home
Feature Focus
Hotel Newswire