Editor’s note: This article first published in the June 2023 Special Edition of Beyond the Meeting Room, ALHI’s printed magazine, a luxury lifestyle publication focused on sharing compelling, inspirational and educational stories from beyond the four walls of a meeting room.
Hotels and hospitality organizations are doubling down on workforce training and development, especially with global tourism at 80% of pre-pandemic levels as of the first quarter of 2023, according to the U.N.’s World Tourism Organization.
That means workforce levels are critical as the business meeting and event industry continues to recover at a strong pace.
“Employers have really started investing in people,” said Altaf Sovani, founder and CEO of Alzen Consulting, specializing in the hospitality, tourism and event industry, and author of the book “Labor Crisis in Hospitality, Tourism and Event Industry.” “They’re realizing after the pandemic their biggest asset is employees.”
The strategies include everything from cross-training front-line employees so they can backstop colleagues to training supervisors in managing Generation Z, often building on existing programs and making them stronger.