Member Blog

Throwing things up and seeing what sticks to the ceiling or wall is not the best approach to e-learning.

Turnover has always been a challenge for the hospitality industry, particularly for housekeeping and food-and-beverage departments. When the economy is doing better, unemployment is low, more jobs become available, and if you are not prepared, you can see your turnover statistics dramatically increase.

By the time you finish reading just this first sentence, your mind might have already started to wander. I won’t take it personally because it’s not necessarily your fault for not focusing, and it’s not necessarily my fault for failing to engage you. According to a 2013 study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, the average attention span for humans is only EIGHT seconds (compared to nine seconds for a goldfish!). And that’s down from 12 seconds just a decade earlier.

The events of today really reinforced for me the professional importance of CHART and why I’m so excited to attend our 92nd Hospitality Training Conference in Charleston this summer. Because today was a very Gabe day. Here’s what I mean:

In the ever-evolving world of hospitality, the topics of onboarding and new employee training are often at the forefront, particularly for those of us in charge of the new-hire experience. Rarely do we find ourselves being the new hire, however, as I realized when I recently had my third “first day of work” in 17 years of employment. The trainer was about to become the trainee!

As the aging Baby Boomers exit the workforce, they will take with them a great deal of skill, knowledge, wisdom, institutional memory, relationships, and the last vestiges of the old-fashioned work ethic.

Your company has a team of leaders whose focus is to support achieving the company’s mission and goals. That group provides insight to the executive team in the pursuit of driving sales, growing profits, and strategizing for the next five, 10, and 20 years

There is a “Great Generational Shift” underway in the workforce today. This is the post-Baby Boomer shift that demographers and workforce planners have been anticipating for decades

In 1776, artistic consultant Pierre Eugene du Simitiere suggested the adoption of the U.S. motto “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of Many, One”). The original meaning of the phrase was that out of many colonies rose a great nation. However, in recent years, its meaning has evolved to suggest that out of many peoples, races, religions, languages and ancestries has emerged a single people and great nation, illustrating the concept of the melting pot.

What is restrictive scheduling? Sometimes called predictive or penalty scheduling, it is a national labor movement that wants to require businesses to notify employees well in advance of their work schedules (generally 2 to 4 weeks ahead of time).

I’m back in the office after a fantastic CHART (Council of Hospitality and Restaurant Trainers) conference. The full conference was four straight days of 200 L&D leaders in a room, brainstorming and networking.

The day is fast approaching when the hospitality training community will descend upon Seattle for CHART. Trainers often feel stuck in a thankless task of checking the box when really they hope their content is making an impact on their learners’ careers. So you’re probably excited to be in a room with 200 other people who think about the same things you do.