Training Articles (formerly Member Blog)

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Why Do Labels Matter? Using Gender Pronouns Correctly

Learning and honoring a person's preferred gender pronouns is an important part of showing respect. So what are gender pronouns, how do you learn the appropriate pronouns to use, and what should you do if you make a mistake? Here are a few clarifying definitions, helpful tips, and further resources.

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There’s No Crying in Baseball: 5 Steps to Increase Empathy in Your Organization

Empathy is more than "being nice," it's an understanding of what motivates your employees and how they find meaning in their work. Empathy is at the heart of the employee experience. Employee experience drives engagement, which leads to increased performance, so it literally pays to build empathy in your organization.

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4 Ways Technology Makes Training Fun and Games

The principles of how people learn, engage with their environment, define success, keep score, and try again are universal. Incorporating technology in training programs can provide a mechanism to tap into our natural curiosity to meet the training goals. Here are four potential ways to add tech into your training program along with some simple-to-implement resources to get your staff hyped about learning.

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Effectively Dealing with Supply Chain Disruptions

Supply chain disruptions are common right now, but there are steps you can take to minimize the impact on your organization. Prioritizing communication and being proactive with suppliers, employees, and guests can go a long way to smoothing the rough roads caused by unavoidable shortages of ingredients and supplies.

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Transform Live, Instructor-led Training into a Virtual Program

When confronted with the challenge of converting live, instructor-led training into virtual programs, the Best Western training team developed a six-step process that can enhance collaboration, deliver more focused and interactive content, and improve outcomes for learners.

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10 Steps to Boost Your Off-Premises Sales

For many restaurants, off-premises sales were only a minor part of their business prior to the coronavirus pandemic, but even though dining rooms are opening back up, many customers are still continuing to utilize takeout and delivery options, making off-premises sales a critical part of restaurants' business strategies going forward. Here are 10 steps to develop or refine your off-premises sales system.

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Pride in the Workplace

June is Pride Month within the LGBTQ community. Even though many 2021 Pride events continue to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitality managers can still support their LGBTQ employees in the workplace with these 5 suggestions.

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Tackling Frontline Turnover – 5 Tips to Keep Your Team in the Game

As restaurants and retail businesses across the nation and the world rush to re-open their stores, re-engage their customers, and re-invigorate their balance sheets, there is another challenge: the race to hire frontline talent. Most in the industry are all too familiar with the talent war, but recruiting isn't the only battle. Retaining top talent is crucial! Here are 5 tips to keep your team in the game.

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The Silent Side Effect: Mental Health in the Hospitality Industry

Hospitality training experts gathered at a recent Regional Training Forum to share best practices around creating a workplace that supports mental wellness. These practical and powerful tips and resources will help you lead with care and confidence. You can also access the session recording to hear directly from the experts!

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No More No-Shows: Eliminating Candidate Ghosting at Your Workplace

Getting candidates to show up for interviews is not going to be an easy task as we move forward and re-open the US economy, and candidate ghosting can be a very frustrating occurrence for our managers. Here are twelve tips for connecting with potential new hires and preventing interview no-shows.

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Beware the Scope Creep! (and prevent it in 5 impactful steps)

Avoiding the dreaded scope creep can be quite hard for any project manager. A project that is not well-defined or controlled can lead to implementation delays, cost overruns, and an inferior end product. You can build an immunity to this wily trickster and help your department and your company be more successful in the long run through these 5 tips to prevent scope creep.

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[Video Interview with Jim Sullivan] Multiunit Leadership in the Post-pandemic Era

In advance of his upcoming webinar on the same topic, Jim Sullivan talks about the most critical changes multiunit leaders need to be ready for during the next five years. View the 10-minute video interview conducted by Cindy Poulos, VP of Marketing for DiscoverLink.

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