As the economy improves, managers in most sectors, including hospitality, find themselves again challenged with finding, and keeping, the best people to run their businesses, and serve their guests. The last few years have given rise to the mistaken notion that we don't really need to worry too much about how we treat our employees. Things like staff training, merit increases, and employee recognition have slipped from the priority list. Recognizing the need to recommit to the people practices that we know improve business results, this article lists nine practical ways to stabilize and enhance the team, starting with ideas for retaining the good employees you've already got on staff, and then tips for finding, attracting, and hiring the best to build your team. READ MORE

If history repeats itself, your employee turnover is about to shoot up. This has been true during the recovery periods after each recession in the past 20 years, and it makes sense that workers who have slowed their urges to change jobs now have pent-up drives to do so. Various studies indicate anywhere between 50% and 90% of workers plan to change. Who is held accountable for undesirable turnover? Does your company solve retention with processes driven from the top or with programs driven by HR? Learn the "secret sauce" - three key solutions that will help you solve this problem. READ MORE

A 17 year old cook working with a 40 year old sous-chef. A 65 year old housekeeping supervisor working with a 22 year old room attendant. A 35 year old front desk manager working with a 50 year old reservation associate. These are all realities within the hotel and hospitality sector, where multigenerational teams need to work effectively together. All four generations are in the workplace (Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Gen Ys), and often you may have younger generations managing older employees. In such a diverse age environment, it is important for executives to realise that people strategies can no longer take a 'one-size fits all' approach. READ MORE

Even in today's challenging economic environment, many hotels and other companies are bringing on new staff and hoping that they will be able to make a real difference as quickly as possible. There's plenty of work to be done and, in a time of real budget constraints, there's even more pressure to make the best hires and get the most out of every employee. But all too often we begin these new and very important relationships with a set of old and tired ideas. Ideas that fail to unlock the real brilliance and potential of every new hire and, in the process, fail to build the type of connection that will earn their engagement and loyalty. READ MORE

Turnover and retention topics have lost their appeal with the recession, but not their relevance. Even in high turnover environments like leisure and hospitality, most employees do indeed elect to stay on average a minimum of 2.5 years, with greater tenure found in the management and professional ranks, as well as with workers over age 35 . Exploring what compels staff to stay with a company offers employers the unique opportunity to understand what is actually working well. A review of retention and turnover drivers provides further insight as to what existing programs - or investment in new ones - are likely to drive a better return on investment and retention of the right employees. READ MORE

As the economy continues to recover, competition for talent will heat up and employers in the hospitality industry will need to be more creative and proactive to attract top talent. Well-qualified candidates always have options. Today's savvy workers are your new consumers and they expect to be sold. They want to know why your company is a good choice for them and what they will gain from working for you. If you are one of those hotels that are concerned about attracting and retaining top talent, it's time to look for ways to communicate a compelling story about why your company is a desirable place to work. How can you stand out from the crowd and attract the best talent? Here are some tips to give you an edge: READ MORE

Hospitality is about people. Therefore, when making hiring decisions, we need not only evaluate the hard skills candidates bring to the table, but also take the softer, human side into consideration--regardless of the position. In this article, Holly Stiel identifies four "softer" qualifications for hiring successful concierges and adapts them to help management in all areas of the hotel make well informed hiring decisions. Because qualities such as "spirit," responsibility, cooperation and the desire to serve can be more difficult to assess than the more concrete, job-specific skills, Stiel offers stories, interviewing tips and sample questions that help bring the more intangible attributes to light. READ MORE

While much is written about-and many lament-the new generation of workers, Gen Y employees offer employers a hidden gift that employers, managers, and "experts" fail to recognize. Gen Y employees offer a critical gift to the astute employer: an early warning signal that can help them improve employee engagement, morale, and retention for ALL employees. When it comes to the employee experience you deliver, when it comes to attracting, retaining, and engaging talent, your Gen Y employees are your Canary in the Coal Mine. READ MORE

This article focuses on the need to plan to attract, recruit and hire the employees that you really want. The planning and considerations for business and the job candidates are considered. Too often people view the hospitality industry as a pass through career. It is our goal to make this industry and its individual businesses, the leaders in employee recruitment and retention. READ MORE

Attracting, developing and retaining the best employees is much easier said than done. Without an intentional, deliberate approach to this talent equation, you will demoralize employees, destabilize business and create situations where you must defend a mediocre guest experience.  And mediocre guest experiences aren't good for you, your employees, your guests or your business.  Find out how you can attract the best talent for your hotel while reducing business costs and improving guest experiences. Rene Lewis discusses tips on creating a great workplace and great culture that will make your hotel more attractive to the best talent. READ MORE

Remarkably, two hospitality companies were named among the ten Best Places to Work out of more than 2,000 that applied in competitions sponsored by business journals in 44 states throughout the U.S. Winners were determined by employees completing a 37-question employee engagement survey administered through third-party data collector, Quantum Workplace of Omaha, Nebraska. The two winning employers--Joie de Vivre Hospitality, which achieved the highest score on valuing employees, and Gaylord Hotels and Resorts, which tied for highest score on senior leadership, are very different businesses, but strikingly similar in their workplace cultures. READ MORE

Our industry has at times lagged behind others in terms of embracing training as a vital driver of success. Thankfully, the majority of hoteliers today fully appreciate the true value of having a structured approach to training, so the attention must now shift to ensuring that the training budget is spent as wisely as possible. This article focuses on some key factors to consider, across three important dimensions, when seeking to optimize the benefits derived from training and particularly so in the context of small and medium sized hotels. READ MORE

In the hotel industry, the quality of your staff and the services they provide directly affects your bottom line. As your frontline brand ambassadors, your employees' performance is what drives your organization's true competitive advantage. To succeed, you need to attract, develop and retain competent, enthusiastic and accountable employees, and keep them engaged and motivated. This article examines the value of talent management to the hotel industry, and focuses on three key talent management practices that have a major impact on the bottom line - goal setting, pay for performance and coaching. READ MORE

A passion for excellence pervasive in a hotel's service culture makes stunning settings, beautiful architecture or the physical attributes of a great hotel only secondary to the overall experience. It is the staff and their extraordinary skills that personalize the guest experience by delivering signature care and facilitating every aspect of a hotel's passion to please. The best hotels focus on hiring people with great character and a desire to create phenomenal experiences, not just for guests, but for their fellow Associates as well. This is most effective when programs are in place that drive Associate satisfaction. READ MORE

The traveling public has many different choices of where to spend their time and money. Great customer service can be the key to a traveler becoming a repeat visitor who recommends your property to others, while poor service can result in exactly the opposite. Staffing decisions are critical to a hotel's success. First, management must look for creative ways to attract top talent, as there is no substitute for a quality team. Once top talent has been secured, management must employ motivational programs to keep everyone at the top of their game. Peer recognition, financial incentives and employee awards are all ways to help your employees shine. READ MORE

New employees receive a lot of training in a short period of time and have little opportunity to retain the knowledge to its fullest. Among longer-term employees, trained behaviors often give way to speed in the name of efficiency. If left unchecked, employees in both situations risk sacrificing revenue and customer service. Help your employees avoid these potential issues and maintain your hotel's standards by implementing an effective ongoing training program that takes your staff to the next level. READ MORE

Here are some fresh ideas and politically incorrect suggestions on the biggest expense (and loss) for hoteliers: personnel and their penchant for quitting every 18 months or so. Perceptions and expectations have changed over the last couple of decades: loyalty and longevity used to be a given virtue and now, fabulously enough, have become signs of a "loser." Resumes of inveterate job hoppers, once frowned upon, now signal a person with "ambition and drive," someone to have on the team. Thus looking after #1 has become a virtue and the company is somehow expected to flourish when peopled by a preponderance of team members who aren't. The other side of the coin, of course, is what on earth have corporations been doing to so alienate their best resource? Two thousand years ago, slaves could rightly complain of many things, but job insecurity was not one of them-that's reserved for today's lonely employee. READ MORE

The economic challenges of the past four years have led many companies to re-examine the ways in which they do business and how they deploy talent. In many cases, the work did not go away and fewer people were left to carry on the tasks that had previously been shared among many. As we work our way out of the recession and look forward to a healthier economic environment, there is an understanding that despite recovering business levels, we may never see the return of former staffing levels. This "new norm" of operating with leaner teams has led Human Resources professionals and people managers to look at career development and growth opportunities in a new light. READ MORE

What would you do if you knew one in three of your employees was hoping to exit your organization within the next twelve months? Would you pull the blanket over your head and pretend you were having a bad dream? Or would you take off your blinders and be willing to stare reality in the face? Your answer to this question could determine the fate of your organization, as employees begin expressing discontent with their feet. This is your wake-up call folks. Where you go from here is up to you. Read more to learn what you can do to prevent your best workers from exiting. READ MORE

The key to a hotel's success is its employees. The finest restaurants, most luxurious guest rooms and latest amenities are meaningless if your team isn't behind them. Leaders, no matter what industry, must inspire passion in their employees if they are to achieve success. While there are many ways to motivate others, it is important to recognize that one method will not work for everyone, so it is often best to use a combination of tactics to reach your goals. READ MORE

Money does not motivate employees (at least, not long term). This is often a very controversial statement with employees. Quite simply, they want to believe that they are motivated by money, and definitely want others (e.g. their boss and employer) to believe that they are indeed motivated by money (for fear that salaries and / or bonuses will be reduced). Most employees, of course would never explicitly admit that money does not motivate them. On surveys, ratings for "I am adequately compensated" are consistently low across all industries and with all companies. No one wants to give their company a license to cut pay or to reduce raises. READ MORE

Being a leader means more than making great speeches. It means modeling the day-to-day values that you want your employees to exemplify. What gets measured gets done, we have all heard that, but the way a leader spends his/her day is what employees interpret to be important. How are you spending your days? Do you say one thing yet do another? If so, you are sending a mixed message to your employees and you shouldn't be surprised when they don't perform the way you hoped they would. READ MORE