Ideas To Overcome The Current US Employment Conundrum
Today’s employment environment is like nothing we have experienced before. The last pandemic happened in 1918, with a very different labour and economic atmosphere. There are no easy answers to a vast number of questions and nuanced circumstances. The travel industry has been particularly hard hit, as so many people were furloughed last year without any real answer about when they would return. As an “academy industry,” a large portion of these furloughed people were in line-level and entry-level management positions – the most vulnerable faction of the American economy.
Read moreHospitality’s Second Act: Capitalising on the Enchantment Economy
Companies that apply new learnings of the enchantment economy only to product offerings or curated experience packages will fail to fully capitalise on the economic rebound and recovery. This is because the most basic component of guest experiences must also be considered, i.e., the people delivering on brand promises. Sadly, many hospitality organisations across the globe continue to struggle with entice employees back to work. It is reasonable to deduce that the economic recovery might be at risk if employees themselves are not ‘enchanted’. The obvious question becomes how businesses can effectively accomplish this.
Read moreLoss and Perseverance
Post-pandemics leaders must ensure that their organizations stay intimately connected to a higher purpose and value system that reframes “loss, frustration, isolation, and adversity” as an opportunity to appreciate and model “gratitude, fortitude, humility, and service.”
Read moreA Conversation with Le Cordon Bleu about Talent, Trends, and Entrepreneurship
I recently connected with Dr Thomas Kyritsis, Senior Lecturer at Le Cordon Bleu and Director for the Master and Bachelor programmes which the organisation runs together with Birkbeck College, University of London, Our conversation started on the impact of Brexit on education and the UK hospitality industry but quickly moved to other topics. Are industry executives still ‘taking the plunge’ to pursue their own entrepreneurial endeavours? If so, what trends or shifts in consumer behaviour should individuals keep in mind that might shape the industry …?
Read moreNew Technologies to Balance “Speed-Accuracy Trade-Offs” in Hiring
Psychology says that decision-making is complicated by a “speed-accuracy” trade-off. This issue becomes more salient as the post-pandemic “rebound and recovery” period approaches. Many organizations will need to increase their talent bench-strength quickly to meet pent-up demand. New psychometric research and AI-technologies confront the traditional trade-off by facilitating more efficient and effective hiring decisions than ever possible before.
Read moreHospitality’s ‘Hot Seat’ Leadership Series: COOs – A Tale Of Two Fortunes
curiosity about the ‘hot functions’ is keeping both organisational leadership teams as well as individual executives preoccupied. How can one best reshuffle or complement one’s existing leadership team? Are there specific experiences or skills which could further enhance one’s own executive profile – and thus one’s ‘marketability’?
Read moreA Conversation About Investor Sentiment and the Role of Human Capital in Acquisition Due Diligence
With local and regional lockdowns still in place, Romain and I caught up over a cup of coffee, using one of the now omnipresent video chat platforms which have, throughout the past 12 months, proven so helpful in maintaining ‘face-to-face’ contact and a sense of normality [...]. We started talking about sentiment amongst the hotel investment community, about the role of human capital and talent in the acquisition due diligence process and about prospects for 2021 and beyond.
Read moreCompany Cultures and Residual Shockwaves from 2020
Social and economic disruptions often shift people’s behaviours ― sometimes in small ways, other times more seismic. On this point, Aethos™ conducted a ‘COVID Gap’ analysis for the C-suite within hospitality organisations at the end of last year. Yet, our ongoing interactions with industry investors and operators reveal that the pandemic has affected considerably more than an organisation’s senior leadership teams. Industry feedback consistently indicated that last year’s disruption clearly had a lasting impact throughout the organisational chart. We therefore examined empirical data to clarify the nature and extent of these apparent cultural shifts to organisations.
Read moreGovernance in a Changing World
The restaurant industry has been hit especially hard by COVID. Layoffs, closures, a shift to delivery and outdoor dining, as well as mergers and acquisitions have dominated the news this past year. Many executives and even board directors have taken pay cuts during this health crisis. We also have seen restaurant boards in the news over the last several months. For example, in March 2021, Mellody Hobson will become the first African American Chairwoman of the Board of a Fortune 500 company – Starbuck – which is long overdue.
Read moreHospitality’s ‘Hot Seat’ Leadership Series: Trends in Key Functions
We are frequently asked by leaders in our industry what roles are ‘hot’ and where are we seeing movement? That curiosity is reflective of our highly competitive sector, one where individuals are eager to further their professional development but also an industry where scarcity of talent remains an issue – and the pandemic, perhaps counter-intuitively, will probably exaggerate this even further. Of course, one cannot deny that at present there is a larger than usual talent pool for employees to pick and choose from. However, the pandemic has also caused some considerable ‘talent haemorrhaging’, with executives having taken the decision to re-orient their career or to leave the sector for good. On top of that we have already witnessed well-capitalised industry players starting to ‘snap up’ talent so that they are ahead of the curve when it comes to driving and shaping the recovery.
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