To investigate how hotel chains can better align policy and practice, we interviewed a local hotel management team that had recently overseen the construction of a hotel while simultaneously pursuing enfranchisement and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. We found that despite the franchise company itself advocating sustainability, the hotel management faced challenges in terms of brand standards, staff training and technological support, although they ultimately succeeded in their pursuit of third party certification.

Two breakthroughs in waste-to-energy technology—one currently being implemented within the lodging industry and another with the potential to be used in lodging—have the potential to dramatically change how “waste” is considered. The first breakthrough, engineered by International Wastewater Systems, Burnaby, B.C., involves the recovery of heat from the wastewater that leaves buildings—not just the greywater from laundry, showers, dishwashers, laundry, etc., but also the blackwater (water from toilets). The second breakthrough, Harvest Power's recently opened Central Florida Energy Garden in Bay Lake, Fla., involves the transformation of food waste, fats, oil and grease (FOG), and biosolids from an adjacent water treatment plant into energy (electricity) and useable fertilizer.

The US economy is on the up and the hotel industry is going along for the ride. Hotel room demand has recovered at an accelerating pace in the past year. To such an extent, in fact, that US hotel demand is now predicted to outstrip supply within 2 years, in 2015/16. That should help ADR and RevPAR so long as we don't see further federal government shutdowns (which impacted November 2013 significantly). The improving economy is reflected in a number of lodging industry statistics. For most of 2013, occupancy levels, ADR and RevPAR were all higher than last year.

Tangible tasks, creative designers, innovative architects, accurate measurements and efficient operations lead to getting the physical dimensions of a hospitality environment right. Though physical, these elements have the power to evoke emotions, set the stage, and greatly impact the guest experience. Intangible behaviors, effective leadership, thoughtful training, soft service skills and perceptual insight lead to getting the emotional dimensions of the role that the people have in creating the guest experience.

Have you ever requested guest feedback but didn't get good response? Perhaps it's because you sent the query at the wrong time or you asked questions in the wrong manner. Maybe you asked too many questions or didn't offer an incentive to get guests to engage. In "Using Feedback to Exceed Guests' Great Expectations," Shayne Paddock, CIO of ZDirect, identifies the best ways for hoteliers to gather stay history and preference data over the entire guest lifecycle. He cites when to send surveys, what to ask for, how often to ask, and through which mediums, plus, he provides step-by-step instructions for structuring surveys using Hotel Marketing Automation techniques.

Big Data grabs the headlines. But it's the actual application of insights from all that customer information that drives the top and bottom lines. Hotel operators can improve business performance through improved utilization of customer insight at all levels of hotel operations. Specifically, hotel operators need to empower every employee to use insights based on customer behavior and preference data to enhance guest experiences. The results will be dramatic.

Does your hotel's employee value proposition — what the organization wants and expects from its employees and what it provides in return — contribute significantly to employee engagement, motivation, and productivity? A strategically developed and communicated value proposition conveys why the total work experience at an organization is superior to that at other organizations and helps attract, retain, and motivate employees. Employees who are connected with your hotels' value proposition will commit more discretionary effort to bringing your organizational culture, mission, vision and values to life while driving business success.

It seems that everywhere we look these days someone is talking about the WAR for Talent and how it's affecting businesses, productivity and quality, and maybe even our ability to compete as a nation. I think it's mostly hype. Now don't get me wrong: most hiring managers will tell you that one of their primary concerns is finding good people, but I suggest it's not as hard as they make it out to be. I suggest you seriously consider 'hiring for attitude and training for skills'.

Restrictive covenant agreements can be a powerful tool for a company that wants to protect its most valuable information and relationships. However, there are major state law variations that impact what an employer can do with these contracts. Additionally, an employer needs to take a hard look at both the interests that it is trying to protect and the employees who will be signing the agreements before rolling them out. If answered honestly and accurately, a simple question should guide the process: What can this employee do to harm my business if he/she chooses to join a competitor?

A hotel's staff holds it in their power to make a guest's stay an experience of a lifetime. Each employee carries a very important mantle of responsibility: conferring the hotel property's brand promise. To do that consistently across all of a global hotel's locations, effective training is mandatory. But ensuring that the employee training delivered to staff in one country will resonate with staff in another region can be a challenge, considering linguistic and cultural differences. This article details some best practices for effectively adapting training materials—eLearning courses, virtual learning environments, mLearning and more—through professional translation and localization.