CHICAGO Set against a Survivor theme, the April 5 closing general session of the American Hotel & Lodging Association conference here targeted hot issues the panelists wanted to see voted off the island of hospitality.
Moderated by AH&LA chairman John Russell, the panel entitled Profiles in Leadership, featured Mary Mahoney, president/CEO Howard Johnson International; Valerie Ferguson, regional vp and managing director, Loews Philadelphia Hotel; David Jones, president/CEO, Opryland Hospitality and Attractions Group; and Dieter Huckestein, president-hotel operations, Hilton Hotel Corp.
All agreed the most pressing issues currently centered on labor, energy, diversity and franchising and that leaders needed to be responsible, creative, motivating and have integrity to help drive employees to meet the challenges created by such issues.
On the energy front, for example, panelists reached a consensus on the need to be proactive and lead by example. Mahoney noted it was also important to establish a clear and consistent strategy throughout the corporation, so individual operators who may think they re saving energy might actually be working against the greater good.
As to diversity, Ferguson noted there s a lot of programs out there, but we haven t seen numbers rise. She did, however, categorize the programs that are in place as very exciting.
Diversity makes good sense, said Huckestein, noting being inclusive is a very motivational force to put before employees.
All the panelists concurred that training and acclimation programs for not only line-level employees, but for those who hire them, e.g., franchisees, were important for increasing retention levels.
With some 4,300 employees needed to staff the sprawling Opryland Hotel, Jones said the company has been utilizing H2, J1 and F1 visa programs that allow for temporary U.S. employment over a continuous period with workers returning to their native countries for short periods of time and then back again to their jobs in the U.S. We have 31 countries that are now represented, said Jones. It s worked out very well for us. He noted 98% of the staff from Jamaica return every year.
Mahoney noted a key issue of franchising is getting franchisees to use what they pay for in terms of marketing support and other services a franchisor can deliver, and that leading them in the right direction benefits both franchisee and franchisor. (4/6/01) Stefani C. O Connor