The Essential Elements of a Quality Job in the Hospitality Industry

A growing network of organizations, believing in the basic principle of “Strength Thru Diversity” has adopted the following principles that define the essential elements of a high-quality job in the hospitality industry.

Compensation

• Fair and equitable compensation for all employees at all levels of the organization
  
  
• Affordable and accessible health coverage and other family-supportive benefits for employees at all levels of the organization
  
  
• Full-time hours if desired, stable work schedules, balanced workloads, and no mandatory overtime
  
  
• Fair and equitable sharing of holiday and weekend hours to facilitate a family-supportive employment environment
  
  
• Acknowledgment of holidays other than the “traditional” Judeo-Christian holidays recognized by the United States government, and to proactively support employees from all religious traditions and cultures to celebrate, without penalty, religious and cultural holidays important to them

Opportunity

• Excellent training that helps each employee develop and hone all skills—both technical and relational — to advance within the organization
  
  
• Participation in decision making, acknowledging the expertise that experienced employees contribute to workplace organization and management
  
  
• Clearly articulated career advancement opportunities and “career ladders” within the organization
  
  
• Promotion from within the organization whenever possible
  
  
• The creation of a management structure that mirrors the organization’s workforce at all levels, which may involve the encouragement of women and minority candidates in filling management positions to achieve equity and diversity at the management level

Support

• A workplace environment that is safe, both from injury and harassment of any kind
  
  
• Training that equips managers with the skills to deal with the challenges of supervising a complex and diverse workforce, and to respond quickly and effectively when problems arise
  
  
• Supervisors who set clear expectations, require accountability, and at the same time encourage, support and guide each employee to succeed
  
  
• Managers who use participative, on-going “quality improvement” practices to strengthen the quality and core service relationship between the employee and the customer
  
  
• Linkages to both organizational and community services, as well as to public benefits, to resolve barriers to employment for low-income workers (i.e. housing, transportation, childcare etc.)
  
  
• Proactive managerial-level training before problems arise, to turn “cultures of turnover” into “cultures of retention” at each service location

Contact us to learn more about the “Strength thru Diversity” movement, and the growing network of organizations that are improving the quality of service by transforming the quality of the hospitality industry job.