Editorial Board   Guest Author

Ms. Grennan

Kim Grennan

Co-Founder & CEO, FindSideGigs.com

Kim Grennan is the Founder and CEO of FindSideGigs.com, a free lead generation service for freelancers and those wanting to make extra money part-time. Ms. Grennan is also the CEO of Axle Eight, a marketing and strategy agency for tech start-ups. Over her career, Kim has worked with 100+ companies in a variety of industries helping launch and scale their businesses. Prior to starting FindSideGigs.com and Axle Eight, Ms. Grennan worked at a sell-side investment bank in Chicago specifically focusing on deals within the plastics, chemicals, and packaging industries. Wanting to get more into the tech world career-wise, Ms. Grennan transitioned from investment banking into corporate strategy where she joined Verizon's Global Innovation Team working at the Verizon Innovation Center in Boston. Here she focused on crafting organization-wide strategies for entering new non-core B2B markets such as healthcare, education, IoT, digital media, virtual reality, augmented reality, energy, and transportation. She was also responsible for building strategic partnerships and sourcing venture capital and M&A deals within these non-core B2B markets. After Verizon, Ms. Grennan wanted to focus more on working directly with start-up companies so she made the switch to a private design and innovation agency and built out their first market research and strategy business unit. Here she worked with more than 50 companies to bring their products to market. She holds her M.B.A. from Loyola University Chicago and her Bachelors in Economics from The University of Arizona. Ms. Grennan currently lives in Scottsdale, AZ with her husband and her English Lab named Nellie. In her spare time she actively advises several start-up companies, is a personal finance nut, and an active real estate investor.

Please visit http://findsidegigs.com for more information.

Ms. Grennan can be contacted at 480-225-7178 or kim.grennan@gmail.com

Coming up in March 2019...

Human Resources: An Era of Transition

Traditionally, the human resource department administers five key areas within a hotel operation - compliance, compensation and benefits, organizational dynamics, selection and retention, and training and development. However, HR professionals are also presently involved in culture-building activities, as well as implementing new employee on-boarding practices and engagement initiatives. As a result, HR professionals have been elevated to senior leadership status, creating value and profit within their organization. Still, they continue to face some intractable issues, including a shrinking talent pool and the need to recruit top-notch employees who are empowered to provide outstanding customer service. In order to attract top-tier talent, one option is to take advantage of recruitment opportunities offered through colleges and universities, especially if they have a hospitality major. This pool of prospective employees is likely to be better educated and more enthusiastic than walk-in hires. Also, once hired, there could be additional training and development opportunities that stem from an association with a college or university. Continuing education courses, business conferences, seminars and online instruction - all can be a valuable source of employee development opportunities. In addition to meeting recruitment demands in the present, HR professionals must also be forward-thinking, anticipating the skills that will be needed in the future to meet guest expectations. One such skill that is becoming increasingly valued is “resilience”, the ability to “go with the flow” and not become overwhelmed by the disruptive influences  of change and reinvention. In an era of transition—new technologies, expanding markets, consolidation of brands and businesses, and modifications in people's values and lifestyles - the capacity to remain flexible, nimble and resilient is a valuable skill to possess. The March Hotel Business Review will examine some of the strategies that HR professionals are employing to ensure that their hotel operations continue to thrive.

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