Houston, TX� June 22, 2007 - The Hospitality Industry Diversity Institute (HIDI) located at the University of Houston is pleased to announce the workshop series �Managing the Staffing Crisis in the Hospitality Industry�.  The workshop series is comprised of three elements:

1.  Motivating Employees for Greater Productivity and Profitability

Motivating employees who have reached the top of their wage category or those with longevity or workplace tenure can be challenging.  Employees may feel that they are worth more than they are compensated.  With this thought they may decide to adjust their productivity to reflect the gap between what is actually paid and their perception of what they are worth. 

This workshop focuses on identifying some reasons why employees choose to be less productive in the workplace and suggests strategies to keep employees actively engaged in the workplace. 

2.   Employee Selection:  Making and Retaining Good Hires 

Hiring and retaining good employees is a critical function of staffing with labor cost representing one of the largest organizational cost centers.  A meeting of the minds is important between new hires and the hiring organization.  After the courtship, a relationship is formed.  The cost of turnover can be reduced with greater retention and improved employee selection.

This workshop offers a step-by-step process focused on employee selection and on-boarding with low-cost strategies to improve the odds of making good hourly and management hires.  Balancing expectations of new hires and the organization is discussed along with strategies for recruiting a diverse workforce. 

3.  Managing the Intergenerational workforce

With four generations actively engaged in the workplace, differences in preferences, behaviors, lifestyle, and management exist. 

This topic will examine differences between the workforce generations and offer strategies to manage these differences and similarities.  The focus will be on identifying barriers to teamwork and strategies for workforce cohesion. 

With the increased cost of turnover and challenges in finding and retaining qualified employees, these 4-hour workshops offer strategies and information for immediate application to the hospitality industry.  Targeted towards small- to medium-size independent and franchise properties, Managing the Staffing Crisis workshops were designed to accommodate the busy hospitality manager who may have limited access to formal staffing resources. 

To ensure that the subject matter is timely and meaningful, a panel of industry executives representing lodging, restaurant, and support services was assembled to share expertise and current challenges related to the hospitality industry.  With their input, three free-standing workshops were developed to provide interactive discussion, strategy identification, a web-based resource collection for further information, and valuable take home references to serve as reinforcement tools.

For more information about Managing the Staffing Crisis in the Hospitality Industry, please contact Faye Hall Jackson, HIDI Director, at (713) 743-2428 or via email at [email protected].