Opinion Articles

August 16, 2012

The Importance Of Setting Goals - How To Get Them Out Of Your Head And On Paper

When someone decides to create a company, one of the first orders of business is to develop a business plan. A business plan is a road map, in writing, that serves as the foundation of the business and sets forth the goals and objectives that are projected to be achieved over a five-year period. If a company does a good job at creating and carrying out the plan, the business has a better chance in succeeding as compared to those that don't.

By Tom Costello, iGroupAdvisors

Houston, Texas, United States

May 3, 2012

The Cost of Luxury Leadership: Luxury General Manager Pay in North America

In almost every single search I worked on this past decade, I can count this amongst the first three questions I am asked, both by clients as well as candidates: "What is the job paying?". My recent search for a luxury hotel General Manager in North America was no different. It seems luxury comes with a price tag depending on where in North America you are looking. During the course of the search I found significant disparity in pay amongst the candidate base.

By Andrew Hazelton, Managing Director, AETHOS Consulting Group

January 23, 2012

Hotel Managers Labor To Control Labor

Coming out of lodging industry recessions, we have historically observed fairly significant increases in hotel operating expenses. Since the initial revenue recovery is typically driven by occupancy, variable expenses naturally rise with the increased volume of rooms occupied and guests served. In addition, hotel managers desire to reinstate the services and amenities that were discontinued during the downturn contributes to above-average expense growth.

By Robert Mandelbaum, Director of Research Information Services, CBRE Hotels

October 3, 2011

The candidate experience: A look at executive search in the hospitality industry

HVS and NRN have partnered on two compensation studies set for publication in the coming months. A look at pay-for-performance metrics and the 2011 Restaurant Executive Compensation study will soon be available. As a long standing executive search professional I have heard of almost everything when it comes to the candidate experience when utilizing an executive search firm. If executed successfully a candidate gets an incredible opportunity to enhance their career and the hiring organization gets a return on investment. However, when a search firm executes poorly it can lead to a disastrous situation for all parties involved. This article illustrates what a potential candidate should expect and has the right to know when considered for a job opportunity.

By David Mansbach, HVS

August 30, 2011

The Boss Takes a Pay Cut, Partially

For the first time in a long time our annual survey of CEO performance revealed that there was a decline in CEO base pay. This corresponds to a similar trend in the Fortune 500 companies. What was the driving force behind the decline? A more relevant question for the shareholders may be: did the CEO truly earn his or her pay? In our opinion it looks like hotel CEOs took smaller salaries or declined salary increases in favor of more bonus pay. In fact, base pay as a percentage of total pay declined from 18% in 2009 to 13% in 2010. In contrast, bonus pay increased from 27% to 32%, while equity pay stayed unchanged at 45%. In concept, most pay-for-performance advocates should be pleased.

By Keith Kefgen

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants

March 14, 2011

Illegal Immigration: Today’s Challenges and a Way Forward for Employers

The hospitality industry is under increasing pressure from a dramatic shift in US government strategy to enforce existing illegal immigration law. While a new federal immigration policy remains elusive, what practical options are available to hospitality employers who seek to build a strong, tenured - and legal - workforce? One promising alternative: transformative HR practices.

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Radical Innovation Hospitality TECHNOLOGY

Radical Innovation is an initiative that challenges creative thinkers and visionaries in hospitality TECH to pioneer compelling innovations that fuel the future of the hospitality and travel industries.

Radical Innovation

December 1, 2010

“Dem-Bones” Connect with Your Employees…

Every spent a week at camp? What an experience and ton's of fun, too. Backpacking, swimming, lake canoeing, archery, music, trail riding, sport & games, special events and campfires. Campfires were one of my favorites. Telling spooky stores, roasting marsh-mellows and singing. Did you ever sing about "Dem Bones"? You know, the toe bone connected to the foot bone, the foot bone connected to the heel bone, the heel bone connected to the ankle bone and so on. The song gets you thinking about how when things are connected together properly, they work efficiently.

SmartBizzOnline.com

October 21, 2010

What’s in a Name but Letters? - The Value of CMHS

Most serious-minded hospitality professionals understand the need for continuous learning and value the certifications acquired in their career as being emblematic of their personal growth and professional level of expertise. certifications build pride and promote higher levels of hospitality-specific knowledge in a language easily recognized industry wide. (This is just a sample list of industry sponsored certifications. There are many more, especially when brand-specific training programs are included.)

By Kathleen Hogan, HoganHospitality.com

September 8, 2010

U.S. Hoteliers should be vigilant about elections

U.S. hoteliers need to consider a number of key issues as the midterm elections draw near. During an interview held in conjunction with the recent Southern Lodging Summit @ Memphis, Marlene M. Colucci, executive VP of public policy for the American Hotel & Lodging Association, outlined areas of concerns that hoteliers should keep their eyes on as they consider for whom to cast their votes.

May 4, 2010

Zap the Gap! | How to Work with Multiple Generations

The people we encounter on the job today come in at least four generational flavors. Each generation comes with a unique set of expectations and perceptions and each has a different motivation. These differences can lead to a dynamic union or a combative conflict. You can adapt your approach to the generation or generations with whom you’re working to make the most of these differences and minimize the conflicts when you know what motivates and drives each generation. Companies who adjust approaches based on generational preferences create better working environments.

Meagan Johnson

March 15, 2010

Want To Improve Staff Productivity? Hire Teachers

Every once in awhile an author’s think-piece hits the bulls-eye. A recent article by Elizabeth Green titled “Building a Better Teacher” (New York Times, March 7, 2010) does just that. But what does this have to do with hospitality? Actually, it’s a no-brainer.

Joseph M. Gravish

March 2, 2010

For college grads, flexibility key in tough job market

When Kaitlin Simonetti dove into the applicant pool after graduating from the University of South Carolina’s School of Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Management in May 2009, she never expected to be struggling against the current just to land an hourly job. After all, other hardworking graduates who had entered the workforce before her were landing higher-paying managements jobs with major, national hotel chains.

Radical Innovation Hospitality TECHNOLOGY

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Radical Innovation

February 17, 2010

Eight things to avoid during job transition

Many hospitality executives worked through the toughest year ever to find themselves no longer employed. The reality that one’s loyalty to a company and its goals does not always result in a rewarding situation must be faced. But positive aspirations and results do lie ahead! In my 10 years as an executive search consultant, I’ve never witnessed so many highly accomplished, talented and successful professionals’ resumes come across my desk. Their pedigrees are solid, achievements significant and credentials clearly demonstrate all that it takes to reach strong expectations for a solid career ahead of them. Unfortunately, their previous management or asset company took a sharp downward turn, leaving these extremely gifted individuals without a current senior-level chair to sit in. What do these seasoned hospitality executives do when they find themselves in this predicament?

January 14, 2010

Personal Branding: The Key to Thrive in Today’s Marketplace

Today’s employees need to manage their own careers and proactively seek resources such as coaching to achieve desirable outcomes. Personal branding is a strong component of this process, and one that promotes employability and self-confidence.

December 15, 2009

Sales 3.0 Technology | Key to New Business Development in 2010 & Beyond

You know that sales 2.0 is so last year when everyone now is touting their sales system as sales 2.0. We are moving into sales 3.0 and not a moment too soon as it is this paradigm shift that will propel sales processes in the future. We may still be in sales 2.5 but moving rapidly toward 3.0.

November 30, 2009

PR strategy: How to respond during a hotel strike

A strike should be considered a crisis and therefore managed accordingly. It goes without saying that all hotels, regardless of size, should have a comprehensive crisis plan in effect that identifies roles and responsibilities and specifies actions to be taken in the event of any eventuality, whether it be a strike, fire, criminal act or natural disaster.

November 19, 2009

The Current Economic Storm and Hospitality Chief Executive Officer Job Stability

As the hospitality industry has been one of the hardest hit segments HVS Executive Search reached out to leading hospitality board directors and CEOs to gain insight on CEO departure trends in the U.S.

By David Mansbach, HVS

By John Hogan, CHA CHMS CHE CHO, HoganHospitality.com

November 11, 2009

A “High Touch” Lesson for Hospitality Managers - Understanding Body Language

Like many other industries, the every day environment of hospitality includes some very useful high tech tools that help project revenues, identify the level of sales booking pace, manage inventory, monitor payroll and more. It remains essential though in our world of welcoming people to our establishments that we retain a solid focus on the “high touch” side of the every-day interactions with people.

September 16, 2009

HOTEL CEO Pay - The Hot Potato

Just when you thought that nothing else could be written about CEO pay, the financial crisis brought it back to the forefront. Shareholders and legislators screamed about pay-for-performance like never before. Congress even passed a new bill that gives shareholders a right to vote on executive pay. Hotel CEOs have not been the poster child of excessive pay but there are plenty of reasons why they should examine our yearly analysis. We know that shareholders and media pundits will be reading it very carefully. In its 16th annual CEO survey HVS Executive Search included thirty companies, down one from last year. With private equity and hedge funds looking for bargains, we suspect that this trend will continue.

By Keith Kefgen