Directing The Spotlight On ‘Big Data’, Technology And Sustainability
February saw, for the first time, the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) come to Europe. [...] Taking the opportunity to be together in one spot, Aethos™ caught up with Monique Borst over a cup of coffee in Amsterdam. Monique is a seasoned industry expert and can draw on more than 20 years of experience in food service and food retail. She has worked with world-recognised brands such as Harrods, Sodexo and the Compass Group, and has held commercial as well as board-level functions. Nowadays, Monique uses her corporate and start-up experience to help restaurant entrepreneurs kick-start and/or expand their business.
Read moreBoard Diversity Within The Lodging Industry – Moving Away From Ordinary Thinking
Results from a recent gender diversity study I conducted for the lodging industry indicate that of the 238 board seats available among the 28 U.S. lodging companies, only 51 were occupied by women (21%), a woefully low number. If we live in a world where women account for 80% of consumer spending and a multitude of credible studies point to a correlation between greater gender diversity and strong board performance, it is certainly time for us to address this issue head on. I have personally facilitated countless client board meetings and can say with unwavering confidence that gender diversity within the boardroom leads to first-rate ideation and collaboration. Here are some of my thoughts to stimulate change within the lodging industry.
Read moreRedefining “Environ-mental Impact” in Cruise: The Fusion of Wellness, Design, & Hospitality
Cruise companies have been dipping their toe in the wellness waters for quite some time, with Seaborne being one of the latest, announcing two new Wellness Cruises for 2019 and 2020, one from Athens to Dubai and the other from Auckland to Sydney. The question for the cruise industry is not whether to pursue wellness theory and practice to entice the “new-to-cruise” set, or even to help tantalize and retain loyal-cruisers. The critical question is how brands should best do this. As such, this article communicates important findings from leading-edge research and the current thinking about best practices to support the cruise industry and their employees and guests to “seas the day.”
Read more2019 Psychometric SWOT – Understanding High-Performing Restaurant Operations Executives
The tech era has highlighted the importance of data mining and data wrangling and has made these processes critical when it comes to decision-making and even tactical execution. It is easy to assume that evidenced-based insights and models would only apply to business metrics and issues, but the burgeoning science of Human Resources shows that “big” data can help in “big” ways to positively impact people metrics and issues. The use of legally defensible psychometric assessments in hiring and succession planning offer clear examples of this.
Read moreHospitality Leadership Solutions Series: The ‘Hospitality X-Factor‘, Foundation Of Long-Term Success
High X-Factor employees legitimately possess a widely transferrable skill set. Retaining such talent is akin to an “HR annuity” and it pays dividends in promoting productivity and ongoing bench strength in succession plans. The lesson is simple and straightforward—strive to hire and promote people who have a strong capacity for contextual performance, not just domain knowledge. Your service standards, guest satisfaction ratings and net promoter scores should increase in accordance with X Factor levels in your employees … up and down the organizational chart.
Read moreCEO Turnover 2018: A Study of the Top50 Largest Hotel Management Companies
Turnover of Chief Executives at the world’s 50 largest hotel groups remained flat for 2018, with new faces appearing at the head of four companies, the same number as for the prior year. Changes in CEO positions were seen at G6 Hospitality, Extended Stay, Millennium & Copthorne and B&B Hotels. Of these, three were planned moves. Jennifer Fox’s three-month stint at Millennium & Copthorne, though, can only be assumed to have been anything but planned. A sector turnover rate of 8% is well under the average for the general industry and speaks to a current period of leadership stability that has run since we last saw a spike of 14% in 2015.
Read moreHospitality Leadership Series On ‘Professional Visibility’: Heartburn vs Insomnia
We are in week eight of the new year and it is fair to say that 2019 is well and truly underway. But ask yourself this, does the same hold true for your own new year’s resolutions…? Chances are that the answer to this question is a resounding “no”. As part of our personal brand building and professional visibility leadership series, we have therefore decided to inspire hospitality executives and to provide them with the one new year’s resolution which should be easy to live up to – and, if pursued rigorously, it can proof powerful in helping executives to enhance their own personal brand.
Read moreIn Conversation With Restaurant-Pro Monique Borst, Non-Executive Board Director and Adviser To F&B Entrepreneurs
February saw, for the first time, the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) come to Europe. [...] Taking the opportunity to be together in one spot, Aethos™ caught up with Monique Borst over a cup of coffee in Amsterdam. Monique is a seasoned industry expert and can draw on more than 20 years of experience in food service and food retail. She has worked with world-recognised brands such as Harrods, Sodexo and the Compass Group, and has held commercial as well as board-level functions. Nowadays, Monique uses her corporate and start-up experience to help restaurant entrepreneurs kick-start and/or expand their business.
Read moreCross-Industry Hiring Decisions: Recruiting Leaders from the (System Chain) Restaurant Industry – Opportunities and Threats for Lodging Operators to Consider
Hoteliers have historically considered the Food & Beverage (F&B) department as a loss leader, a ‘must-have’ to appease paying hotel guests. To put it bluntly, money was to be made on the rooms side of the business. Yet, times and attitudes have changed. Clients have become more discerning and thirstier for authentic and local experiences to tease their taste buds whilst hoteliers have recognised that their in-house F&B offering can be a point of differentiation.
Read moreHotel CEO Pay and Performance 2018
The latest shaming of US CEOs appears to be in the form of the Dodd-Frank CEO Pay Ratio initiative. Groups like the AFL-CIO are using this topic to rationalize the disappearance of the middle-class. Their most recent analysis puts the average CEO pay at 361 times the typical worker ($14M to $39K). This will continue to be a sore spot for income equality proponents. But think about CEO pay in relation to athlete pay. Floyd Mayweather made over $275M last year for a couple of exhibition fights, while Lionel Messi made $101M for playing soccer and endorsing sneakers. Super Bowl winning QB, Tom Brady made $34M in salary, bonus and endorsements last year. Yes, CEOs make a lot of money. Yes, some of them don’t deserve it. But the answer is in better compensation administration, not government regulation. Will the CEO pay gap create economic instability or unsustainability? We think not.
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