LABOR TALK
HOW THE LARGEST THIRD- PARTY HOTEL OPERATOR is tackling hiring and nurturing careers
By DAVID EISEN
Aimbridge is a big hospitality company . It has more than 1,500 hotels in its portfolio , works with 80 brands and independent hotels across 20 countries and employs a Contributed by LAURA RESCO , HOTSTATS global workforce of 55,000 people . It ’ s a lot of properties and it ’ s a lot of positions to fill . Leading it all is Ann Christenson , who is chief human resources officer at Aimbridge , having joined the company in 2017 . She ’ s been in the HR field for more than 20 years and seen a thing or two . In this wide-ranging Q & A , Christenson discusses the impact and changes following COVID-19 , how to support employees along their career journey and what jobseekers are looking for in a company today .
HOTELS : According to the AHLA , 80 % of hotels are dealing with staffing shortages . How is Aimbridge , the largest thirdparty management company in the world , dealing with it ? Christenson : Labor and staffing continue to be top-of-mind as we think about the future of hospitality , our business and how we create the most positive employee experience . The early days of the pandemic impacted the employee experience as associates worked to deliver exceptional service despite staffing shortages and operational changes , but it also proved to be a chance to reexamine how we think about talent and culture in a new context . In closely analyzing trend data , we were able to anticipate the rebound in travel and took that as an opportunity to enhance our systems and platforms , launch development programs and address some of the biggest legacy challenges in our industry , like job flexibility .
One example is the Aimbridge Leadership Framework that we developed and rolled out during the pandemic . It ’ s a threepart program series that equips associates with the most critical skills to succeed , such as problem solving , relationship building and providing effective coaching and feedback . Every leader at Aimbridge , regardless of role or seniority level , commits to completing the first leadership framework course at a minimum . In 2022 , 600 leaders completed at least one program module and we expect participation to more than double by the end of this year .
We ’ re also rethinking old ways of scheduling and staffing . Within our network of managed hotels , associates now hold the power to select shifts through an app , expanding availability for shifts across hotels and giving team members more choice in when and where they work .
HOTELS : How would you characterize today ’ s average frontline worker ? What are they looking for in a position and how do you convince someone that working at a hotel can be more than a job , but a career ? Christenson : Most of our associates work at the property level and because of our footprint and unique business model , there ’ s tremendous opportunity for associates to chart a career path from
82 hotelsmag . com Jul / Aug 2023